Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-11-25

tho Councilmen and other officials. One
class then went to work and they
performed like Trojans with never
a lctup. and the spectators admitted
1t was all hard work and no play
The stunt was to build to the roof o,
the six story tower. using the two
rows OF windows on the east side of
the structure and the scaling ladders
to attain the top.
The firemen each had life belts on
and the way they put up the scaling
ladders and then scampered up to the
top OF the tower was astonishing. Six
stories 10 long way from the ground
but they did not seem to mind 1t.
Every man knew his place and just
what 20 do and when to do 1t and,
sticking up a section at n time they
were on the roof almost before the
crowd realized 1t. The scaling ladders
clung TO the window stills, apparently
only by precarious holds. but the men
seemed to think they were secure
enough. for they never faltered. Once
on top thy were given short breath
ing spell and then signalled to come
down. This they did, bringing the
ladders with them. The first class
Finished the second did the same stunt
sill over again and just as efficiently.
Rescue Work.
The next demonstration was an ex-
hibition OF how persons can be rescued
from adjoining windows in buildings
by means of the scaling ladders and
rope lines. This work was performed
at the fourth floor. Some Of the fire
men went up the wall with the ladders
and coils of rope over their shoulders.
The line was tossed to the ground and
made secure and the next instant the
crowd was thrilled when they saw an
apparently lifeless man being lifted
from the window. The rope had been
made secure about his legs and shoul-
ders and neck and once out in space
he swung as II In n cradle. He was
then lowered to the ground. The
manner in which to tie such rope
cradle and do it in a hurry has been
taught TO every man In the school
and all In the department will be able
TO do 1t. Three or four came down
In this manner and this part OF the
program was most interesting.
Next the firemen showed how tC
build their scaling ladders all the way
To the sixth floor and climb In pairs
This showed fast work, the men COINS
up from floor TO floor with only theii
single section of scaling ladder an6
then coming down the same way.
|
thing OF a thriller. Some OF the mer
climbed the face of the wall with tn,
scaling ladders to the fifth floor. The,
took a stout section of rope with then
and after making It secure inside the,
showed how easy IL is for a fireman
apparently. with a life belt to slid
down the rope to the ground. The!
came one at "A time, their belts bein,
secured on the rope in such a wa.
that all they had to do was keep them
selves away from the face of the wal
with their feet. They were also abb
TO regulate the speed at which the.
descended. Then came a fireman wit
a second man over his shoulder. |
was TO represent a rescue of a com
rade overcome by smoke or an occu
pant of the building who had bee
trapped. The fireman was secured b
his life belt and the two OF them cam
down as easily as one man had de
scended.
The scalding ladder work conclude
with an exhibition OF straddling sill
with the ladders. One man at each ro'
Of windows climbed all the way to IN