The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-29

IN my Dtlly lndl IL tdhe jim hllihB'
Guerin, red eyed from lack of sleep,
hungry as a wolf himself and dog tired,
looked his man bet tween the eyes.
'Son," said he. you're a good boy, but
you are making a monkey of yourself.
Come herel'
He caught the young fireman by the
shirt sleeve and pulled tot the crumbling
edge of the tunnel.
Hey, Fischer" yelled Guerin, how are
you getting along down there? Speak up
old mani
Fischer's voice came out Of the tunnel,
weak and piping, but brimful Of ginger and
pluck.
Fine and dandy, chief he called back.
sim after singin' we a song"
Upfrom the hot, dirty hole came the chorus
Of Il love to see my dear old father work.
Fischer piping up cheerily, but gritting his
teeth as he sang to down the pain of legs
crushed under a ponderous weight Of rocks
and dirt.
Chief said the young fireman, its
back to the hole for me. I don't want a
relief for another hour
Good boy. Good shot" said Guerin.
sLie tight and keep your nerve, Fisch, and
we'll have you out and home to breakfast"
Twenty-Five hours without rest or a bite
to eat was merely a part OF the days work
with Chief Guerin, the man who saved the
Williamsburg Bridge about four years ago
by volunteering to lead a squad into the
Manhattan tower when it was red hot and
everything seemed on the point of going
to smash. Yesterday and last night the
Job he was on took brains, and az the Rev.
Clayton Howard of the Kingsley Methodist
Episcopal Church Of Tompkinsville, the
little preacher who sat by all night long,
ready with a rope or a cheering word, put it:
"Chief Guerin is a mani"
The boss of the Staten Island iremen
went on the job a few minutes after II
o'clock Wednesday morning, when word
went in to his headquarters that a man was
buried alive at Richmond Turnpike and
Cedra avenue. Guerin called out all Of
the men OF Hook and Ladder Company
lO3 and two men from every one of the other
companies. By noon he had thirty-five
husky, wiry young men to back him up.
1t was a tough job from the start. Fischer,
who is a young plumber employed by Con-
tractor Barry of Tompkinsville, started to
work Wednesday morning to make a con-
nection from an old sewer that runs twenty
feet under Richmond turnpike to the house
of Mrs. John Welsh, mother of Fire Captain
John Welsh, who was killed at the Downing
street fire in the lower West Side a few
months ago. He dug a well at the side OF
the sewer toward the Welsh house, a hole
about three feet in diameter. When he
had burrowed to the level of the old sewer
he started a tunnel toward the Welsh house
and had got about ten feet when the cavein
caught him. The tumbling earth and rocks
filed the we'll he had dug and walled him
tightly in the tunnel he had made. Air
came to him through c%revices in the mass
of rock and dirt that filed the we'll hole,
but he was gripped fast, buried up to the
under the fallen rocks and sand. His.
shovel fell s~quarely across this legs, jammed
down hard by the great weight from above.
When Guerin's men got there, after the
emergency gang of the street car company
had given up the rescue as hopeless. Guerin
ordered them to dig a new approach to the
helpless Fischer. In Guerin's crew are
all sorts Of handy men, carpenters, plum
ekill was a big help. They went to work
with a will, Guerin singing them with words
they liked, and in a couple of hours they
had a trench twenty feet deep, three feet
with timber u~prights, a trench which led
to Fischer, who had been forced by the
weight of rock on him to a painful crouch.
How are you, Fischer" sang out Guerin
as soon as he caught sight OF the cramped
figure under the rocks.
aBully, chief" said Fischer, "but I'm
s%ufferin' for a cigarette. l can move my
arm IL I try hard, 80 throw me down one
Guerin lit a cigarette and lowered it
In a tin pail. Fischer, twisting his right
arm around painfully, got it and pulled
away calmly. ..
Chief, can you stake me to a drink2'
said Fischer q minute or two later. Il
hate the stuff but II there ever was a time
when a man needed a drink this Is it n
I'm the man.
Getting a drink down was a harder job.
FINAL uuerin lowered a small bottle Of
whisk y which had been up pGo Fisohi
and get the neck Of the bottle between his
Now said Fischer, Il am just the same
as a dead one 1 suppose, SO I'd better tip
until l get to the undertaker,s shop
'IIl break your head when get you out
Of that hole" said Guerin. There you
are lying nice and easy, nothing to do and
kicking as hard as a mule"
1t was about that time hat the crowd
began to gather. The news went all over
Richmond borough that there was a fight
on for a mans fife and people flocked to
the turnpike from all the villages. By
the middle of the afternoon there were at
least 5000 people massed about the hollow
square which the police drew around the
tunnel. Suddenly a thin, pale little woman,
weeping and calling out her husbands
name pushed through the crowd, a scared
h'bIo XII ''N'ht '"i 49,.
afraid of the big, bluecoated cops. Guerin
dropped work long enough to take the
little woman aside and lie like a Christian.
He told her that it was the simplest job
in the world to get Fischer out, merely
the work Of an hour or two, nothing to
fuss or worry about. He told her to go
home and get supper and forget about 1t.
He took her to the side OF the tunnel and
knowing the stuff Fischer was made Of,
called out:
sFisch, here's your wife. Tell her you're
oil o. X. and will be out in a jiffy.'
Sure Mike said Fischer. How are
you, old woman2 I'm all to the good. You
go home and get my supper
Mrs. Fischer dried her eyes and went
away, happy, while the wise ones in the
crowd and the cops looked at Guerin in
wonder undisguised.
sChief," Fischer called up feebly, you're
a hot sport, and that's the truth"
From then, with minor Interruptions, the
work went on straight through the afternoon
and the night. The hole dug by the firemen
put the Silver Lake line Of the trolley COM
pany ont Of business temporarily, the