Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-15

I OIIG,
in front of a coal cart, broken spirited, yet
| pricking his ears and quickeniHg his step for
| moment at the familiar sound OF gong and
| bells. Another he met while standing tor an
hour in a cold drizzle at longshore fire on the
| East Side. This one still belonged to the city,
| but was hitched to a refuse wagon now.
| Twice in his career Ginger took part in con-
| tests in horse athletics and made two station
records; this with the help of Billy the driver,
| as two men might ruin together in three-legged
race. Standing fourteen feet from his collar,
he had hitching record of two and a fifth
| seconds from the clang of the gong till he stood
ready harnessed to the engine. In three and
| a fifth seconds more he had moved, alone, an
| apparatus weighing fifty-one hundred pounds
a distance of thirty-six feet. At another time,
with a single mate, he had pulled the same ma
chine eighth of mile in eighteen and fifth
| seconds.
Once there had been great exhibition in the
| presence of the Mayor and other city officials.
! Ali about the door of the statiqn-house and in
two lines down the street for three blocks or
more a crowd had gathered to see the fire
| horses run. The chief sounded the eleven
taps which is the test signal for calling out the
| apparatus. In five seconds the engine had
| crossed the sill of the building and was headed
down the street Bareheaded and with the
sleeves of a new shirt rolled up, Billy urged the
| three big horses as the smoke rolled forth
above the ever-steaming engine. Following,
at break-neck pace, came the hose-cart, and
| then the truck, bell changing. In minute and
| three-quarterS by the watch the engine was
drawn up alongside the stone walls of a Nat
| ional Guard armory and long stream of water
was reaching to its roof
| The gong rang one day toward the close OF
his sixth year as a fire horse, bringing work OF
| a different sort. The blaze was in a West Side
garage for automobiles. and as the engine
reached the scene and the water began to play,
the exploding tanks of the steam machines,
scattering fragments of iron and wood, could
| be heard above the craclde of the flames. Into
the cellar the fire patrol had plunged. Knee
| deep in the water which poured about them,
| with barrels filled with gasolene on every hand,
| the men worked reckless of danger to save the
machinery
| Presently came grinding sound from over
| head, and great mass of machines fell through
| the broken girders of the second floor to the
| first, hung there moment, then in gnarled
heap smashed through the cellar. Scrambling
! by ones and twos through the windows to the
| sidewalk came the patrol. Not all of them.
| Too short had been the warning of the crumb-
| ling beams, and three men stayed behind.
| The front wall of the building trembled for
moment, weakly held by the abutting sides,
| then, its support knocked from under it.
buckled outward, and sank in heap into the
street
A thin shower of brick and mortar like so
much ejecta of volcano, fell around the
| CINE of station FortyFour. A splinter from
a rafter hit the driver on the head, dropping
him in his tracks. Two policemen raised Billy
| TO his feet and began TO lead MN away.
| But Billy was recovering from the stun of
the blow, and only half consciously but wildly
he struggled to free himself. I'm all rightl''
he cried. Leave me herel This is my place.
| Leave me with the horses"
But the officers persisted. The injured man
! was no longer useful in their opinion.
To Ginger a poceman's uniform was not
new. At every great fire he had seen it, stand
ing about at the fire-lines, keeping the crowds
back while the fremen worked. But though
it thus had its place, it was something apart to
him. something which he did not recognize to
have right of interference with engine Forty
Four.
As Billy struggled past in the grasp of the
policemen, "GingerP he muttered, still half
dazed as he caught glimpse of the horse at
center with his head turned toward him.
The ten-thousand-pound engine was too
great weight for whiffletree at single
jump, and as for the second time it snapped in
two Ginger plunged forward, and policeman
cried out in pain. The horse had gripped his
arm, biting through the cloth, and held it vice
like. Billy shook himself free, and tottering
over to the animal took his head gently, trem-
blingly between his palms, often he had
done in the quiet of the station house.
In the station that night Ginger appeared in
trouble. He did not lie down in his stall like
the other horses, worn with their long ordeals
in the drizzle of rain and the smoke and fumes
of the fire.
When the sun broke clear and warm in the