The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1907-07-27
How F1RE-F1GHrERs ARE MADE FROM
The ROUGH.
Qualities the Medical Men Can't Find But Which Are Absolutely
Necessary-Fnemen Must Stand Punishment and tx
posure-The White Plague and Whiskey
Hard to Avoid

II is only recently that lne coihiiii9
sioner has had very much room to eX-
ercise his power Heretofore the quail
flying mental examinations were SO
stiff that only about enough men y
all 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
2 man with limited schooling has
much more Of chance than he ever
had before. The movement towards
this qualifying process has been grad
uai, 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 one 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
ne Tags. Books won't help him any.
Hes got to be born and bruised to it.
The farms give us the best firemen.
and 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.
q 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 drlv-
Ing their man into a hole full OF
choking smoke. They may stand him
against scorching wall of hot fame,
or chase him up a crumbling wall with
scaling ladder If he had heart
he makes good;" if he lacks it, there
are plenty Of men anxious to take his
place, and 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,
is getting too common a trouble with |
the husky men of the fire department. |
Maybe it is the sudden changes from |
heat to cold, possibly the choking hot |
smoke, the poisonous vapOrs, or the
chill of damp cellars. Anyway, stur-
dy pair of lungs and regular habits
are required to keep of the dread dis
ease in this vocation. Once man
shows weakness in his lungs, the sur
geons hustle him out of the depart
ment, and many poor fellow has suf-
fered like a dumb brute rather than
confess his sickness and be retired.
When discovered, they are advised to
60 to the plains Of the southwest,
where with their pension they can
save money and win back their
strength. Some of them are given
leave of absence, but few are willing
to forsake 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 than
in any other Of the municipal organ
ization. For instance, in 1899, out
Of one batch Of about 1000 applicants,
some 6S0-odd passed the physical ex-
animation. Out of this ESQ, 40 only
passed the mental tests. Today, of
that 40, % are assistant foremen, sew
eral have died or been killed, are
coremen, and the rest engineers. One
Of these foremen, in speaking Of those
who had met death, referred to them
casually like this,
"A tank fell on Billie - up on
Sixth avenue; .Mickie' - went
through 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
'kyscrapers, won't leave the city, ,
cause he knows he's only got a short
line to iive!"
Discipline Paramount.
All the training the men need they
.et in the department; only. as a vet