The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1908-03-19

Paper Read BEFORE the ChatauQua Circle.
<I"HE Rival of the Fire Horse"
is the title of an article by
Chss. A. Sidman In Har-
per's Weekly of January l8,
1908, in which the author informs us
that the automobile fire engine, as a [
fighter of flames, is fast banishing !
from city streets the splendid fire
horses SO frequently seen galloping |
three abreast before some huge fire
extinguishing apparatus. After read |
ing the article just mentioned the
writer recalled to memory several visits i
made to "New York's Fire Boat" dur
ing the summer of 1894, and thought |
that brief description of these visits
might prove interesting to the men,
tbers of the Pierian Circle, the result is
this paper. With her whistles blow
ing warning to vessels of all kinds to
clear the way, New York's fire boat,
officially known to the department as
''The New Yorker, or Engine 81" is,
on her way to fire, an inspiring sight
Also she is q mighty comforting one
to all the owners of the millions of
dollars worth of shipping and station
airy property along the water front, be-
cause the property owners know the
capabilities of the boat, and that un-
less it is a very extraordinary fire, in
deed, engine 81 will get there in time
to drown it out before great damage Is
done.
Engine 81 is one.of the most valua-
ble pieces of fire fighting apparatus in
the entire department, and the officers
and men who compose her company
say that, placed on one side of a dock
Gre and with plenty of water to 6oat
the boat, they can do more toward put
ting out a big blaze than all the eighty
odd land-going steam engines in the
department combined could do placed
on the opposite side of the blaze.
However this may be, the land-going
firemen aren't quite as enthusiastic
about the fire boat as are her company,
who know her best, altho they do ad-
NIT that engine 81 is a wonder in the
fire fighting line, and they are always
delighted to see her anchored along
side blazing pier with her water bat
teries turned on full force.
1 was Informed that engine 81 could
throw $4,000 gallons of water minute,
and keep it up indefinitely, while the
most powerful of the land-gOlng steam
engines could throw only about 1oOC
gallons of water minute. From
this we can see that it takes nine OF
the best land engines to equal 57's
capacity at water throwing. Besides
she distributes salt water, which be-
lieve has a tendency to increase hel
fire fighting qualities at least a third
for have heard that some OF the ex
perts or fire shaTps have figured Ou
that for the purpose of fire squelchin.
two gallons of salt water are equal t.
three of fresh water.
Engine 81 is not only the depart
ment's chief reliance in putting on
water front fires, but she is depende'
upon to lend assistance of the YER
highest order at fires some distanc
from the docks, or along number o
streets in the business section wher
many millions of dollars worth o
property can be reached by the sal
water service, which is provided thr
the powerful pumps of the fire boat.
Beginning at Pier "a" on the We
ter front, there is specially laid lin
of heavy pipe across Battery Parl
thru Broadway to City Hall Park, an
down Vesey St. to Washington st. a
an auxiliary to the regular fresh wate
service of the land-going fire engine
There are fifteen hydrants along th
salt water line, and when fire break
out anywhere in the district With
q thousand feet or SO OF either side {
this line, the fire boat proceeds to tt
end of Pier ga" attaches her powerf'
pumps to the salt water line, sends
lot of her heaviest hose and bigge
nozzles ashore and proceeds to pus
volumes of old ocean into the cent?
s. of the financial district. 1t is said th'
when the fire boat begins ;pumpir
salt water thru the pipe, they put