The Washington herald., 1914-03-08
tCopynsht. Hlll
wo fremen carrying chemical ap-
paratus strapped to their shoulders

ed from the house of Engine Company
No. q to the new Intercontinental Syn
dicate Building, three blocks away. tc
answer a still alarm transmitted through
IRE headquarters.
The hour was three IN the afternoon
and the time of the year was October
the month when the first gales Of ap
preaching winter on the North Atlantic
coast lift their shrill voices in the mason
" tnterstices of Manhattan's skyline
The four firemen hurried through the
Broadway entrance of the building tc
the Information desk in the center Of the
street floor. They found the supcrin-
tendent of the building waiting for them
there, and he called q porter to serve
them as guide.
There is some trouble below the en-
Eine room" he told the fremen. The
men disappeared behind the porter, and
the superintendent turned to the chief
elevator starter, who was waiting to
make a report of the buildings daily pop
ulation. The little counting machines
used by each elevator operator showed
that total OF 9.7I people had been taken
aloft, during the course of the day. to
occupy the 2, 900 rented offices in the great
structure, which. because of its conven-
ience, was attractive to busy men.
Your office wants you. Mr.. Blake." "
said & telephone clerk at the Information
desk.
The superintendent took the receiver
from the clerks hand and listened to q
message.
Il am looking after the matter" he
said finally. Telephone them that the
annoyance is only slight and that it viii
cease very shortly. How's that? No;
just a little trouble below the engine
room"
The complaint had come from the res
taurant. Kitchen employees had COM
planned of smelling smoke. The odor was
also noticeable in the bathing establish
ment.
Far from the annoyance being eliminat-
ed in a few minutes, the managers Of
the restaurants and the baths complained
within half that time that the electric
lights had gone out. Lamps and candles
were demanded.
The superintendent was telephoning his
supply department for candles and
lamps when there staggered to the day
light of the street floor one Of the fire.
men who had been sent from Engine
Company No. l. His face was black with
smoke and his eyes were like two holes
burned in a blanket
He turned to the right and then to the
left in a bewildered manner.
What's the matter?'' demanded the
superintendent, his voice still possessing
that calm of the New Yorker who al
ways takes it for granted that his safety
is assured.
Telephones! Telephone!" the fireman
gasped. At the same moment he saw the
instrument on the information desk and
jumped for it.
Fire headquartersr' he grunted husk-
lily into the mouthpiece. He writhed with
impatience as he waited the few seconds
necessary to make the connection.
This is O'Brien, of Engine Company
No. J." he said, when he heard the crisp
Hello" of the operator at headquarters.
I'm at the still alarm in the Intercon-
tinental Building. Start them rolling"
In less than thirty seconds-well within
the average time Of a good New York
fire company-the engines. trucks, and
rolling with a thrilling clamor Of bells
tered streets of downtown Manhattan.
The high pressure hose was stretched
in through the crowds of people entering
and leaving this one building with pop
ulation of nearly ten thousand. A COM
pany of fire fighters trooped below the
surface and was lost to sight.
With a constantly rafting gong, the
battalion chief pulled up before he en-
trance to the skyscraper, jumped from
his light buggy and disappeared, follow
ing the hose downward.
The smell of smoke was now succeeded
by the smoke itself as an iron door at
the hear of the stairway leading to the
vitals of the building was opened and
made fast for the men with the hose. Oc-
cupants Of the luxurious lounges of the
baths complained bitterly, and then hur-
riedly dressed and departed for the street
above. Walters, cooks, scullions, and
patrons of the restaurant below began
beating a retreat. the proprietor bring
ing up the rear, coughing and sneezing.
but holding fast to two money bags con-
tanning the receipts for the day.
Five minutes after the apparatus Of the
First Battalion reached the Interconti-
mental there arose a fresh clamor in the
downtown streets, and the four COM
panies of the Second Battalion arrived
in response to a second alarm.
From far uptown the chief OF the fire
department came in his high-powered
machine, came like a fash of blood
whipped through the air and with a
never-faltering shrek of the red cars
siren. He arrived in time TO see half a
dozen men dragged to the air from the
deep pit extending beneath the building
to the tops of the caissons. No human
being could live down there, for the place
was now not only a furnace of flames,
but also a pit OF rapidly forming poison
Gus gases.
The chief found the iremen working at
the sole entrance below which they had
been able to discover. The smoke pour
ing I'D from this iron stairway was get
ting hotter and hotter, and coming with
the increasing speed of q blast in pro-
cess Of gathering.
Ia a structure OF less modern design. |
the picks Of >the attacking crews Of the |
Ire department could have ripped holes |
In the floors and their axes could have
smashed down walls. But In this mod |
ern firetrap all was steel. finely tested |
for lasting strength. stone, and asphal- |
tun. There was only one weapon with !
X=S S7H6S