The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-12-08
THE BIRMINGHAM AGE-HERAID, SUNDAY DECEMBER S. 1918

in density, and almost all the men com posing it bore a1oft exquisite Japanese paper lanterns. 1t was a continuous, singing lane of fantastic decoration that wound onward until it .ended on the borders ot the conflagration itself As the crowd increased the noise grew in volume until it became roar of sound. Everybody seemed excited Nothing seemed systematized. False appearances, both a
 FIRE FIGHTERS BORN
 Now si eat shout arose anu men wav-j ing huge lanterns forced a passageway In the middle of the street. A hand- pump on four wheels, drawn and pushed by perspiring men, ytoiled up, followed by hose reel similarly propelled. The fire men had strange Japanese letters and designs on their floating garments; their lsneads and faces were shrouded in hel. nets of some thick stuff that resembled o-i cloth. The children had gone to bed and seemed to have stayed there, but
 men and women, talking and gestculat- ing, stood outside their tiny wooden ltouses casting glances of anxiety, first al the advancing flames and then al their own endangered homes Was it time to flee? It appeared not Capable 2o-ieemen were passing back and forth seeming to Write the Japanese characters VI calm in the air as they thrust the 1 omnipresent lanterns back and forth Stlst nearer the flames fose up. the rhythmic chant of men swaying at the pumps, One, two; one, two; one, two!" Other detachments had cleverly worked heir way around the conflagration and l ;tationed themselves near supplies of wa | ter, and it was evident that the firemen 1 eened thes time had arrived to make ! I bold stand te stop the progress of the | elames
 A UNIQUE CEREMONY A hundred yaf4s away s.nglng firemen stretched a long bamboo ladder to the roof of an untouched house and nipnbly clambered thereon, dragging after them huge triangular block of wood, paint ed white and bearing the name of a | ire company, the block resting on long shaft of wood to which streamers of 1 cloth were attached
 1 This shaft the firemen proceeded to | alant firmly on the roof Of the house and two men stood there holding it in ] .siace, as soldiers stand guara over a | nlanted standard of battle. Men and l haft stood out in striking silhouette against the flames, motionless and thrill l Nan desp kat" (What is it?) asked .t.the correspondent
 l That repl ed the Japanese eompan- i lon, "is of the ancient poesy of our 1 fighters of fire. In a word, it means l Thus far, and no farther. Living up 70 it has cost the life of many a man. It means that the fire brigade in charge of this flank of the fire s akes it's repu- ,ation that the flames will be checked ai this spot. There have been many | iases where color-hearers have perished {, rather than abandon ths Sphinx like asp of the emblem that incarnates the honor of their bligaae'
 Right in front where the street made
 } sharp turn and telegra pin, poles were
 5urninS fercely, threa tening to collapse
 nder their weight of wires. a liimble
 fireman made his way to the crumblins
 -oof of lfeonsumed dwelling and wrenched off several shutters that him dered the effectiveness, of the streams of water. His life was c,early in dan
 ger, but he showed about the flames
 With great coo.ness, jumping easily to
 afety just before the roof fell into the
 it of fire. /N
 .Colr.. reous, I remarked
 FIRE FIGHTERS BORN
 Yes" Vas the answer, ''it is a mat
 ter of honor with them You know k
 Japan. firemen are born. rather than
 made. A family is fremen for genera
 lions. The youngsters lealn the first les-
 sons in boyhood and then it becomes a
 life's work. as we'll as a passion for
 them.
 Suddenly squads of soldiers arrived
 from nearby barracks. While in the
 United States dynamite is used to stop
 the course of conflagrations in Japan the method is more simple but equally
 effective. and nicely adapted to condi-
 tions. The little Japanese houses are pulled down. the debris carried away and thus is circular zone created
 around the fire wherein is nothing upon which it can feed.
 The arriving soldiers were armed witt l stout, long poles and they at once
 charged a line of dwellings previously evacuated and emptied of its furnish ings-and these pretty little places crum- bed swiftly like toy houses before the iadroitadsstroyerS The fragile fabric O