The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-05-14
FIRE LADS ARE fine
THOSE OF NEW YORK ENTITLED
TO GREATEST PRAISE.
How They Respond to the Call; and
They Rush to the Most Dangerous
Spots; Policemen, Too, of the Me-
tropolis Not Lacking in Courage;
Keep Order Without Displaying
Much Force; Sure Finest.

rspeeIal to The Free Press.l

Especial to The Free Press.l
New York, May ll.-New York's
varied population disagree on nearly
every topic or situation that may be
presented in the flight of time, but on
one subject they are united. They ad-
mire, and at some periods almost wor-
ship the firemen of the city. They are
certainly a SPLENDID lot of men, ready
at any moment to answer call, and
stopping at nothing to get there"
Only recently one arrived at the scene
of the blaze with his face covered with
lather. The call caught him in the
act of shaving, but the razor was
dropped, and in the wagon he jumped
with his face lathered, pulling on his
coat as he was whirled along but
not thinking of the interrupted shave
until the boys made fun of him for his
incomplete toilet.
Rush For Danger Points.
Nearly every day presents some such
incident When the fremen gets
there he rushes for every point of
danger, searches for persons in peril.
risks his life, and in many eases,
loses it, while performing seemingly
impossible feats in saving human lives.
Real heroism is a feature of nearly
every five of consequence and the
papers of the next day are filled with
pictures of their carrying women and
children down ladders, of their taking
them from windows by chains of hui
man hands, of wonderful leaps that
bring rescue of, in fact, anything and
everything that can be done to save
life. Throughout it all the fireman,
at the tap of the bell, seems to become
almost semi-god, goes out an en-
ploye of the city, comes back an UNI
crowned hero, and yet a modest one,
content if no mention is made. No
wonder that New York loves ner fire
men, with human faults and frailties
perhaps, but taken as whole the
best body of men in the world.
Policemen Brave Also.
Another body of men, more numer.
Gus and more constantly under the
observation of the public is the police
force. Compelled to meet all classes,
to mingle with all kinds of citizens,
to brush against humanity in all pos
sible ways, the police strike differing
opinions, not only of their own actions,
but of the benefcence of the laws they
are called upon to enforce, the police
are blamed by many, and in some
cases justly. In some cases brutality
takes the place of cool, deliberate ac
tion, and the policeman mistreats a
prisoner, but these cases, upon inves-
tigation, die down to very few, com
pared to the heavy force employed in
the aggregate.
Order Without Force
1t can be truly said that New York
is proud of its police, especially as it
sees them maintaining order in the
street without any manifestation of
force. But when the annual parade
comes around, and the average citizen
sees the great army of its defenders
marching along on magnificent Broad
way, it applauds them with the ut
most gusto, and no disparaging word
finds its way to his lips or appears in
the newspapers. Observers get a sense
of the embodied power of the forces
that make for the protection of them
selves, their families and their pro-
perties. Burglars escape, corrupt things
are charged and sometimes proven, but
the public believes that the great mass
of its policemen are true devOtees to
duty.
Conducive to Pneumonia.
New York has just been passing
through its annual contest between
the weather and the trolley lines. The
chief trouble lies in the fact that the
use of the open car, with it's lack of
fleXibility. The cars go out and come
in according to the calendar. Once
on the run no regard is made to temp
est, storm or cold. If open cars are
on the schedule, they run, no matter
if a snowstorm blocks the tracks. The
subber slides, in most cases, do not
fit, and the passenger is kept in a
draught of air that in cold weather
thoroughly chills him to the very bone.
A large increase in the number of
cases of pneumonia and ordinary colds
can be looked for by the running of
open cars in April and May. 1t doesn't
seem safe to take down stoves, change
underclothing or run open cars until
the Fourth of July.
Ban Placed on Peanuts.
This is the last day peanuts can be
cracked at the zoo. Tomorrow Director
Hornadays order goes into effect, pro-
hibiting visitors from bringing UNI
shelled peanuts into the park, which
will be posted at the entrances. If
possible, the crusade will be conducted
without making arrests.
The chief offenders, DIR. Hornaday
said yesterday, are children, and he
has asked the COOPERATION of the
Board of Education not only to keep