The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-01-22
= oRMAN and Hanrahan. the two
u probationers newly assigned to

u probationers newly assigned to
Engine company No. - were
the first of their crew to reach the roof
OF the sixteen-story Mansard building
, They had the nozzle of a line of hose
1hat was being laid from the Standpipe
OF the top floor to wet down the north
wall OF the "SkyScraper: and they
came out into the night. dragging
their length of the line to face a gale
of wind that took the breath from be-
against il, through the darkness, to-
ward the light of fire over the parapet;
and they looked down there. through
the smoke. at the flames in the roof
of an adjoining clothing house twelve
stories below them.
Captain Ball had followed them.
Turn on your water, he beloved
above the storm TO the men behind
swell q the line of hose and gushed
from fhe pipe" He SwOre al il. 1t
can't spit past it's chin he said.
1t strengthened slowly they
watched IT, Keep victim her down, =
he shouted in Germans ear. Get up
another line" he cried to the rest of
the crew.
The rushing of the wind drowned
their answer, but they hurried below
to obey him. He remained with Cor
man and Hanrahan. watching the fire
spread and brighten in the roof of the
clothing house German was still
grinning at his Cant spit past its
chin"
they were 200 feet above the street
level and the storm. hurting itself
across the huddled roofs below them.
drew up draft OF heat and smoke TO
them as II they We're looking down a
chimney They could guess what the
heat must be in the street. for across
the road the woodwork of the windows
of a five-story building had caught
fire without the touch of any flame.
and pygmy crew were drenching it
with 2 stream which they shot up
straight from the sidewalk officers
she size Of manikins ran up and down
in the ruddy glow. waving their little
arms The fire flowed over the roof S
IF il were a burning oil: and the smoke
came up to them thicker and the heat
more sitting with every breath
Their weak stream dribbled down
the wall. to dry out on the hot bricks
before Ii touched the point of danger;
and German leaned over the parapet to
see that the paint was beginning to
peel off i'm great scales far below.
Hanrahan and he tried hopelessly to
reach these by swinging the pipe from
side to side. They might well have
tried to irrigate desert with it. Their
eyes were dry and beginning to smart.
The rest of the crew came up again.
dragging a second line.
Captain Ball turned to the lieuten-
ant. NO use bringin' more lines up
breakin.' There amt a shutter on the
whole blamed buildin.' Fireproofl
She's matchwoOd! Back down TO the
twelfth floor Get lines stretched to
the airshaft there"
The men went back with their hose
DO the best you can up here" he
advised German. Chiefs orders to
wet her down. Look out for the air
shaft"
German caught the first of these in
hTlr Win 90 .SaT
that last warning of danger. and the
captain turned and left the two men
unconscious of the catastrophe which
vas preparing for them.
The airshaft. in fact was acting as a
sheltered flue for the flames 1t cut a
deep groove into the wall of the Man
sard building at Germans left and the
wind. rushing into it, rose straight
aioft, blowing up sparks like the draft
of blast furnace. German, Watching
only the wall and the windows below
him. pitied the crews at work in the
street He was wishing for a quid of
chewing tobacco, and he remembered
with transportation that Hanrahan
would have none. That was one of
Hanrahans social limitations-he did
not chew. He had been nicknamed
delicate Pete" by his fellow proba-
TONERS at fire headquarters. and Cor
man-WhO was known as Bull Cor
man. being the big man Of his class
had despised him from the day that the
instructor. having pitted them against
each other in a race with scaling lad
ders. had then publicly compared Cor
man to baby hippopotamus in point
of nimbleness because Hanrahan had
run away from him.
These two were being broken to-
gether with all the hard work of the
but there was no friendship
between them They rarely spoke to
each other; for Gormon had found