Evening star., 1922-07-09

thcy prefer to be dashed to death or
manned for life rather than be
burned. A minute delay-yes. even
five seconds delay-in our arrival may
mean the life or death of one or more
persons. Motorists. pedestrians and
railway men should take these facts
into consideration when they hear us
coming. Motorists should pull I'D
to the curb at once. pedestrians
should stay on the sidewalk and
motormen should halt their cars. We
can dodge them If they are standing
still. 1t is the duty of every citizen
to play his part in helping US when
we are on the way to a fire. Quite
| recently we had to dodge ITup 'imes
in block and a half, and THAI Gelay
might have meant the ioss OF life
not only to the occupants of the
building, but to the firemen on the
engines and trucks as well as pas
sengers in the street cars. 1t is
peculiar mental something that
causes every one to dash after the
first piece of fire apparatus that passes,
thus impeding the progress of those
that are to follow. Some people have
| an idea that II is a sort of parade.
and they must get in right after the
first engine"
| The chief is particularly proud of
| the water tower. which has rendered
such excellent service at recen. fires.
and invited the writer to accompany
him on his tour of inspection of the
firehouse on 14th street just below
Pennsylvania avenue. Close at our
heels was the chiefs personal go
| devil" painted red-but after you
have ridden to a couple of fires with
the chief you begin to wonder how
any paint stays on it's sides. so rapid
is its flight through the air. and il
any of the readers of this article have
an idea that Murphy, De Palma or
Barney Oldield are the only ones
who know how to drive a car at a
hundred miles an hour or more, they
should climb into the seat beside the
driver who pilots the chiefs auto
mobile. The driver is a rather mild
hammered, quiet young person when
in repose. but whenever he gives it
the gas" he seems to do with that
steering wheel the things that Tod
Sloan used to do with race horses on
the big tracks. He just lifts thai
automobile over street car crossings
so that the bump received by the
front wheels is lost by the time the
rear ones hit the ground. If you
started to repeat the alphabet at the
Peace Monument while riding with
him. you probably would not get
much further than the letter ''E" be-
fore you reached the District build
ing. and when you comment upon the
rapidity of flight, he modestly replies
that he thought she could do little
better than that II he could only find
time to tune her up a bit. The chies
answers all second alarms, day or
night
A VISIT to the place where the
"A water tower is kept disclosed the
latest thing in fire-fighting equipment.
The tower reaches to a height Of
seventy-five feet, and within less than
ten seconds is ready to receive water
from the engines that have coupled
| their pumping hose to any one Of the
numerous attachments on the side.
Each man Of the crew has his station
and knows just exactly how to handle
this large American-La France model.
AS the tower is run up, supporting
braces hold 1t in position, while cast
| or anchor lines are fastened to OBJ
jects on the sidewalk, thus braeing II
in all directions A towing or guide
line directs the pointing of the noz-
lzle, through which the * Inch stream
is thrown. This stream has a force
from 225 to $50 pounds. and is suffi-
cient to knock down a brick wall, for
1850 gallons of water can be dis
charged each minute.
The hundred and five horsepower
the rate of about twenty-five miles
per hour. Attention should be called
at this point to the men who handle
the steering wheels at both front and
rear. These men have to work in
direct harmony or the tower would
be speedily piled up on the sidewalk.
and the helmsmen have no time TO
view passing scenery while on their
way to a fire. Chief Watson has
equipped the truck in the same en-
gine house with an auxiliary water
tower, and intends, as soon as ap-
propriations permit, to equip in
similar manner all the trucks.
The motorization of the fire depart
ment necessita,es an up-to-date re-
pair shop, because no fire department
has time to wait long for repairs
The repair shop of the local depart
ment is located on North Carolina
avenue between 9Th and eth streets,
and here a force of trained auto
mobile repairmen and machinists are
employed in keeping up the equip
ment to concert pitch.
Despite the severe blizzard last
winter. at which time many pieces
of apparatus lay helpless by the
roadside, Chief Watson on the night
of the Knickerbocker disaster fought
successfully two fires. besides render
ing service at the theater at 18th
street and Columbia road.
The total loss by fire during last
year was almost one million dollars
in the District of Columbina. This.
of course, includes losses by fire in
buildings under the jurisdiction Of
the United States government. De-
Quoting these, the loss was about
four hundred and twenty thousand
dollars for seventeen hundred and