The Opelousas courier., 1907-08-10

gible list is not without precedent, but
1t is only recently that the commits
sioner has had very much room to ex-
ercise his power. Heretofore the quail
flying mental examinations were sc
stiff that only about enough men to
fill vacancies ever got on the list to
go before the head the department,
Today the physical exam.," expert
ence Sheet" memory test" and
rules rank in Importance in the or
der named, and while the require
ments are none the less stringent, still
a man with limited schooling has
much more of a chance than he ever
had before. The movement towards
this qualifying process has been grad
ual, and the opportunity given the ap-
pointing power to pick seasoned tim
ber' is heartily endorsed by every bat
talon chief from Harlem to the Bat
terry.
THE men are paid to risk their
necks," was the way n chief ex-
pressed It; ito sacrifice them, if nee
essary. A fireman must be able to
take punishment as long as he can
toddle on his legs. If he quits after
the first of the gaff, we don't want
him. 1t costs money every time a
man goes to the hospital or on the
pension list, and every fireman knows
the department is short of funds. We
don't even like to have firemen sick.
The man must be tough, used to ex-
posure, and willing to be whipped if
he 1ags. Books won't help him any.
He's got to be born and bruised to it..
The farms give US the best firemen,
n we get almost as good ones off
the streets. We pick them out of fac
tories, railroad yards, and off the front
end of trolley cars-any place where
the brute in man is eager to butt
against something huskier than him
self and get hurt"
The Test of "Heart."
According to the standard that
seems to be set up by the department,
a fireman may be little or he may be
big, but he has got to have heart"
The examining surgeons test this with
the stethoscope, the fire chiefs by driv-
ing their man into a hole full of
choking smoke. They may stand him
against a scorching wall of hot flame,
OF chase him up a crumbling wall with
a scaling ladder. If he had heart
he makes good" If he lacks it, there
are plenty of men anxious to take his
place, apd they are not kept waiting.
A man stands the best chance if he is
accustomed to exposure in the New
York climate. He is like a horse in
many respects. Scores of big, strong
horses are shipped here from the
west, but they are usually sensitive to
the climate, and have to be seasoned.
Consumption, the great white plague,
the husky men Of the fire department.
Maybe 1t is the sudden changes from
heat to cold, possibly the choking hot
smoke, the poisonous vapors, or the
chill of damp cellars. Anyway, a stur-
dy pair of lungs and regular habits
are required to keep off the dread dis
ease in this vocation. Once a man
shows weakness in his lungs, the sur
geons hustle him out of the depart
ment, and many a poor fellow has suf-
fered like a dumb brute rather than
confess his sickness and be retired.
When discovered, they are advised to
go to the plains of the southwest,
where with their pension they can
ave mora and win back Sheir
strengtA SoHss of them are given
leave of absences but few Are viking
to lforsake the fascination of the city
and isolate themselves on a ranch.
Fear of the dread disease Is what
makes the surgeons search carefully
for the slightest trace, and reject so
many hundred men a year.
The physical requirements for the
fire department are more severe THANH
In any other of the munkipal organ
ization. For instance, in 1899, out
of n batch Of about 1900 applicants,
some 6so-odd passed the physical ex-
animation. Out OF This $50, 40 only
passed the mental tests. Today, of
that 40, % are assistant foremen, sew
eral have died or been killed, 4 are
foremen, and the rest engineers. One
of these foremen, in speaking of those
who had met death, referred to them
this,
"a tank fell on Billie - up on
Civfh ouarrn. sRH;oIx;as -.-I |
a floor down in Mulberry
Bend, And Henry got choked in a
cellar. Shorty -, oh, yes, Shorty
got the CON- and is laying brick on
skyscrapers, won't leave the city,
cause he knows he's only got a short
time to live!"
Discipline Paramount.
ALI the training the men need they
get in the department; only, as a vet
cram chief pointed out, s%elf-control
means much, and an applicant who
show good clean papers from
some disciplined force will be taken
On Immediately. Discipline is abso-
lutte in the fire department. It is as
strong almost as in the army or navy,
and that is perhaps the reason why
The fireman whom the public. meets
N trolley cars, subway, or elevated
rains are Invariably quiet, inconspic-
1ous, and d%isorderly. One will
more fully appreciate this trait by
comparing them to the average DO
.iceman under similar circumstances.