New-York tribune., 1908-02-23

and the lurid dart Of flames A safe ieii d 'no
worth street nre February T. kiihhs IVY -
Smoke and gas put host of IRE hgheers ou. 80 -
action and sometimes kill them Two me" IN - -
f.b,c.co denartment worked AZ a blaze "leie
muriatic acid gas liberated and seemed .on'
the worse for it, yet they were founo oean !"
bed forty-eight hours later. Ordinary sihoAe p.
duces bad headache for twenty-1our noni . "nN
the lungs yield quantities Oh oiaeh -,
about twenty fremen were overcome os si,oNo
:. -, pa,o,,eton building fire. in Broadway. last
Nav and those not taken TO the hospitai "e'
laid on the sidewalk and dosed Win Ni0hs o.
milk Chief Graham and Fireman HeaieS ou
, :, an iron shutter were made UNCONSCIOUS pS
,,a o,,,r,,sh Of smoke and fell into cellar Sh
masks have been tried and found wanting i
&C. nothing TO do but hold your breath ano se'
the air nearest the floor
1--WE are all brave-one man is toout tle sa
as another said a company CHIEF Inc ram ~
ele are not behind their leaders. who nave 'he az
vantage of standing in front and caihng out ZINC
on boys We officers get the reputation OF oeiiis
the very hest | am supposed TO be tougher anu
pervier than any man in NY crew ha'e " n
them think so, especially the young ones ou'
can't stand any punishment than theg can,
When / go TO fire 1 husband my strehsuh'
a.wavs walk upstairs through the smoke Ny fheh
come I'D on the run, dragging heaVy nose in''
are tired the start never touch 'he i.o'
When the smoke is too strong for me say Neep
her right there and quietly walk back 10 .'ie
window for a breath of air They begin TO ask for
reliefs and wonder at the caps endurance Inns
is little trick that the veterans understand ana
don't mind
A tale of bravery still recited in the back rooms
Of fire houses. though 1t happened more than
dozen wears ago. concerns Deputy Chief Anearh
at time when he foreman Ihere was
fire in the gas tank district Of the East SIDE A
tank of naphtha 100 feet high and ~ 1eet III
diameter was enveloped in fame and expected 10
explode at any moment. The naphtha was being
drawn off. yet the mere fumes filling an empty
tank would be enough TO cause a tremendous e4-
plosion The red glare showed Ahearn the figure
of a man on top of the lofty tank. He ascended
ladder and crawled On the tank with two lines or
hose playing about him and enveoping him with a
protective mantle of falling water A few feet
away from him the shower was vaporized by the
intense heat. Ahearn went ahead and saved MS
man while spectators watched with chilling fear
in their hearts To-day Ahearn is Scared and cut
by many hard adventure.
Terrible choices are sometimes made when life
and death hang in the balance. Shall the fireman
save the young the old. the woman or the
child? IF II myself. would my wife
before the children said a fire fighter. gravey
But the women ready 10 sacrifice themselves
for the little ones. You always find the mother
staving by her children. am sorry TO say
that the man is often gone He quits The mother
don't
Lieutenant Michael Martin, of Company Is.
told there is a woman up there. the only Chris
1ian in the house.. on the occasion Of a Delaney
street last year. The fire sweeping down
the stairs from the third floor Martin told his
men 10 play the hose the ceiling of the stairs
He followed the watery path thus made through
the flames and found the woman in upper
room. Everything about her burning. includ
ing her clothes. Martin picked her up and carried
her downstairs. His helmet had been knocked
off by a stream from the hose and his head face
and hands badly burned His clothes were
set on fire. For this deed Of daring Martin
ceved a medal the hands of the Mayor before
his comrades drawn up in Union Square