The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1911-04-02
FIREMEN THE PRIZE HOUSEKEEPERS OF WASHINGTON
For Neatness and Cleanliness the Fire
fighters Have Most Housewives
Beaten Mile"-Do All Their
Own Work, Too.
Own Work, Too.

of his fellows at the risk of his life IN
that days big fire.
There is as much rivalry in keeping
the record of their house high for neat
ness and cleanliness among the f1remen
of the different sections of the city as
there is in racing a neighboring company
&c fire or in competition at the confia-
grafton itself. When The Washington
Herald reporter dropped down TO Truck
8. at Fourteenth street and Ohio avenue,
10 take some photographs of the firemen
sbout their household tasks he antici-
pated some objection on their part to
being pictured in so unromantic guise.
To his surprise, the boys entered into
the spirit of the thing with a vim and
gave him every assistance possible.
We keep a regular bachelors semi
nary down here" said Capt W. A. Dix
on. No woman ever comes in this
rouse to scrub or do any other work, nor
in any of the fire houses in the city. We
90 everything ourselves, as you can see
by the boys at work upstairs and on the
apparatus floor. Mind it? Not a bit.
You see, when there amt many fires or
even alarms time hangs little heavy on
cur hands down here and the boys like
to put in some of it keeping everything
It
il our regular cleaning-1p day for the
entire house, but we keep things so clean
during the rest of the week that Fri
days cleaning doesn't amount to much
more than what we do every day.
And judging from the way the boys
were Swobbing things up and daShing
around with broomS and mops the cap
tain'S remarks were not exaggerated
With a lot of good-natured joshing and
by-play, work was halted long enough
for the photographer to get time-expos-
ures of some of the men at their tasks.
The truck and the big, shining water
tower, used in the bodybuilding district
lad Just come back from a false-alarm
rum Did you ever notice how angry the
fIremen look as their horses go trottinS
lack to the engine-house after a false
alarm? Perhaps you think it Is because
they were disappointed in not having TO
risk their lives in some big blaze Not at
ali. 1t is because they will have to spend
an hour or so polishing the apparatus
and grooming the horses, a job that has
to be done every time the dash is made
cut of the big double doors and up the
street 1t isn't the work they object to,
but the idea of being loaded up with an
extra job just through some ones fool
headed excitement over smoking waste
paper basket.
Experts with Broom.
Everything the f1remen do in their
housekeeping is done with such dexter
ity, as well as thoroughness, as to delight
the eye OF the practical housekeeper.
When it comes to the handling OF
broom the average fireman can outsweep
any woman that ever lived. There is an
art even in sweeping. and it is an art
that the fire laddies have learned to per
lection. Not a stroke of the broom is
wasted: every stroke brings the job
little nearer to completion. This is the
secret of Recommending. The average
ran. aud many women. have to make
several strokes over the same spot before
il is clean. but the fireman's strokes are
so firm and sure that each leaves per-
fectly clean streak in its wake.