New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-05-14

An alarm OF FIRE is generally associaueU' ,.t
mind OF the average person In this co"i., -.
CHANGING bells screening whistles anu INC 80,
OF bright and shining apparatus pelne " .,s-No
,,os+ btro as fast as two and sometimes three,
horses can gallon If he is a true American ne W"
crop anything he may be doing-boslness pe,,
OF even a hrtauon-and Join the nlao's - h
crowd. Without any good or appdie -, -,
will probably begin to shout ioudiy' ti4eie'' -
n, much If the breath necessary for MS heeus 4'
running purposes and conveying no ihIoi iil''o,.
whatever to any ore. There is entlreiy 'oo ii
noise and confusion 10 hear what ne sAS'' ,,..ia
everybody else is too busy having "i' 80 o..
veil 10 nav the least attention. The one OBJECT 40
ali ,s the ere-to get there first and to at'ract as
many people as possible TO follow "heh me ~
.,,. red faced out Of Breath. but apparently per
fectIv happy confusion will be fouhd OH! aie
che rsnidiv increasing number Of spectators Aihois
rbe fremen though there Is some sllou'iis -
,,pirs, about IT IS all done with an object Eve!
where is shown the result Of the most carelul u
ing Each man knows exactly what 10 90, anu -.
q as rapidly and as thoroughly as possiple NJ "
minute Of valuable time is lost ana man
and millions of dollars worth Of properly nay {
1,een saved bv the prompt action Of an active ana
efficient fire department =, -
Tis sort OF way Of handling fires may be all very
well for the high strung and excitaole AineI'caS'
bt It does not do for the quiet. slow and uneScla
HE Russians A fire in Russia is a solemn occasion
.-d must be treated as such by the persons VINO
attend The fireman is \ great ana lInpor tdi' pc
sonagc particularly in the small towns; ne MUS
he careful TO preserve his dignity and take care OF
,,fs expensve and sometimes elaborate UNIFORM III
the large cities there is generally PAID Depart
,a,. ,,t the smaller places depend on volunteers
Every citizen must take his turn in serving IL 'e
local company and certain men are 10 Dc Iou
~, 6utv at all times There are no elecu4c ~
alarms and generally the most picturesque pulld-
ing in cities. towns and villages is the IRE looA-
ont tower Nearly every place Of any size mas d.
least one and IN the large cities they are localeu
Of different points OF vantage, generaHy apoul
nile apart. At the top IS tan slgna4 poio VIZ
MANY halyards and two men, dressed IN conPIe00
uniform are always watch. On a IRE oelhs us
,ere5 nv the men on duty or they being informed
Of one by messenger telephone the alarm is
given. This is done during the day by means Oh
colored flags and large black leather spheres nc
sernbllng gigantic footballs, and at night WIN co
ored lanterns The populaCe pause in their wore
read the signals (they seem perfectly farnlar WIN
,ber,l and il the fire IS not in the immeulaIe VI
irt Of their homes proceed with their occupations
Why should it have second thought uey e-e
not PERSONALLY interested? As for attending iie
o,,t of curiosity It never enters Russian heao
r. - ~, reader a clearer idea Of exactly what
does bsppen II would perhaps be well 10 oescilOo
large fire in St Petersburg at which Ihe VIZ VIZ
had the opportunity Of being a spectator IiO-" -
m finish Driving down the NeVsA tfoSP0OC' '
attention suddenly attracted 10 one "a sl-T
ara towers I had often watched the TWO O'fss
,I-,e+ed men walking about on the top ana
,,o-aerad what really would happen II Hre ulu
occur At last my curiosity was 10 Dc q 1870
Suddenly they became busy large req anu se,'0"
&c we're run I'D and three black balls holsIeu o.!
smother halyard. People stopped and TOOK caIeiC 81
80 ~ the signals and then went on qulety WIN
t5eir business Occasionally, howeV er man "oulu
start off suddenly in the direction from winch 'e
come and looking back, 1 saw large clou'S VI
black smoke rolling up over the oululHsS "O0O'
half q mile away 80,
1ssra was nv fire. without doubt. and, like
good American. I wanted TO 60 and go quickly. l
shouted TO my drosky driver TO turn aoouI LIE
was the effect of the fire, Of course, as ne was
on,-y few feet from me. and could have informed
~, a a nerfeotlv natural tone of voice. Here my
4rort,eg began 1 had engaged him at the railway
station 10 30 10 a certain hotel. Nothing had oeen
said at the time about driving TO a IRE. II was
exactly in the opposite direction from WneFe De
had been instructed TO go. My hotel was IN no
danger being nearly mile away; therefore, why
should I wish 10 change my mind? 1t was i'm
possible 10 make the stupid isvoschick understand
that wanted to go to the fire; that was beyonc
him He had contracted 10 drive me to the MOTEL
ana IN the hotel we went. Here another bargain
was made In which speed was a part, and we were
soon living back up the Nevski, in a more or less
excited state Of mind. fearing had missed some
thing or the fire would be out before we arrived
But IL takes some time for the men on the tower
70 inform either bv mounted messenger or tele-
phone the different fire houses, so as we dashed up
the street We began overtaIing and passing the
companies leisurely trotting along. There does not
appear TO be any speed limit for street rafhc IN ST
Petersburg except for fire companies. Droskles
fly along and you viii often see troika with the
three horses going at good hard gallop, but FIRE
companies must 90 slowly not to make too
much excitement. 4 ST. Petersburg fire company
IS a peculiar organization. First comes mounted
trumpeter. who plays. as he trots along, certain
calls TO warn people TO get out of the way and
to tell them the direction in which the fire is. Next
carr wing he
four men. One holds a large flag. which designates
the company. I two alike There were
blue and red red and white. blue with white ball
and all kinds OF combinations. Next comes the
engine an old fashioned hand affair with long
handles for eight men TO work the pump. Follow
ing are at least three, and sometimes more, one
horse wagons equipped with large barrels. The
extra men OF the company rode on these wagons.
There is no fire supply Of water in St Petersburg,
for Il there was it would probably be frozen up
eight months il the year. and therefore useless.
The water must be brought from wells which are
always kept open. During a fire there is a continual
stream Of barrel wagons going and coming in dit-
ferent directions with the necessary water supply.
The iremen themselves are well dressed par
ticularly the officers. and every man. before leav-
ing the station, must be fully uniformed and
equipped. The uniform IS a heavy brownish gray,
double breasted coat. trimmed with different col
ored braid scarlet, or blue according to the
company branch OF service to which the man
belongs DARK green lIOuSeIS, very luIA' al
stuffed into the regulation Russian boots, and a
beautiful highly polished Roman crested brass
helmet completes the costume.
Upon reaching a fire every man remains seated
in his place, until the company's arrival has been
reported Tho officer Of the company does this to
his Immediate chief who reports it in turn to other
higher officials until il reaches the commanding Of
hcer Of the department. He has the rank of gen.
eral and at recent fire arrived in dashing trioka
with three fine gray horses. He was il, fun uni
form with numerous orders and decorations, and
directed the operations without leaving his car