The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1918-09-11
FIREMEN'S
FIELD DAY
!. SATURDAY
A Perfect Day and Lots of
Fun for the
Boys
GAS MASK
DEMONSTRATION
Speeches at the Dinner by
our Fellow TOWnsmen


The second annual outing of the
st. Johnsbury Fire Department was
held on the Fair Ground Saturday.
The department was well represent
ed as only very few firemen were
absent and there were a number of
former members of the department
present. The large dining room of
TIL Pavilion was nealy filled when all
sat down to dinner which was well
arranged and promptly served. The
dinner was served by Mrs. S. J.
Someville and the menu consisted of
Fricasseed chicken, mashed potatoes,
green corn, squash, Parker House
rolls, apple pie, blueberry pie toasted
crackers and cheese pickles, tea, cof-
fee and water
After the cigars were passed around
there were short speeches by George
H. Cross, Harry H. Carr, Henry M.
Cheney and several others.
The athletic sports opened in the
forenoon with ball game. The first
event of the afternoon was the shot
put. Andrew Dean threw the eight
pound weight As feet, 1 1-2 inches
and Dean Hall AZ feet, inches.
This was followed by the gas mask
demonstration.
This apparatus has been designed
for enabling miners OF fremen to
make their way in safety through
noxious atmosphere or smoke. The
apparatus may be safely worn in the
most poisonous atmosphere for from
30 to so minutes, according to the
amount of exertion of the wearer.
The wearer breathes through a
mouthpiece and tube into a potash
cartridge, the expired air passing
over metal trays filled with granu-
lated alkali which absorbs the gas,
and thence into the breathing bag
where it mixes with fresh oxygen
which the wearer passes from time
to time into the bag from the oxy-
gen cylinder by means of valve.
The revivihed air is then re-inhaled
after passing once more through the
potash cartridge. Several of the
firemen used the apparatus in a
building filed with dense smoke
caused by oil and wool waste
burning, with the additional fumes
from pyrene extinguishers, which is
deadly poison. Some remained 10
minutes.
The relay flag race attracted much
interest. Each relay of four men
ran one-eighth of mile. There were
four relays, making the distance once
around the track. The race was won
by No. 8. The time for the half
mile was 2 minutes and 20 seconds.
The CREASED barrel proved lots of
fun for all the participants. The
sport consisted of a three inch pipe
oil barrel with holes cut through the
16 feet long upon which there was an
oil barrel with holes cut through the
heads, allowing the barrel to slide
back and forth on the pipe which had
been creased. The pipe and barrel
was placed horizontal, supported at
the ends about 3 feet from the
ground and a rope fastened to one of
the supports, with the barrel station
cd at the other end of the pipe. The
aim was to sit straddle of the barrel
and pull yourself to the other end of
the pipe This created more fun than
any sport seen on the Fair Ground
in many years, no one being able to
perform the trick.
In the fat mans race the runners
showed their usual good form and
careful training. There were five en-
tries and C. Whitney was first, Harry
Conley second, Joe Walker third. F.
Robinson and o. H. Adams "also
ran" The time was 10 seconds.
In the tug Of war Archie Campbell
of No. and William Mathews of No.
6 were the respective captains and in
a one minute pull Capt. Mathews
team won. The ex-fremen then
made up a team to pull Capt. Math-
ews' team and the latter were again
winners.
The ball game was played between
two teams captained by Arthur Alli-
son and Alphonse Lapane. The
game was won by Capt. Allison's
team, the score being to 2. Later
the winners played game with an
other team captained by Frank Lynch
and also won this game to A.
The day was pleasant with not a
very bright sun and an ideal one for
outdoor sports. The committees hav-
ing the affair in charge worked hard
and were successful in making all
arrangements for the. second annual