Evening star., 1925-07-23
ENGINE 23LOWERS
E|GHT-SECOND TIME
IN FIRE SPEED TEST
Wins Star Cup and Sets New
National Marx as Fast
est Company.
40 ORGANIZATIONS BEAT
RECORD OF BALTIMORE
Victors Break Triple Tie of Three
Washington Companies,
Made Yesterday.

Just two and one-fifth seconds after
the big gong in their station had com
pleted the strokes that called them
to mythical fire at Box 13, Engine
Company %, located on G street near
Twenty second. had raced clear across
the sill of it's door and was thunder
ing down the thoroughfare to the
imaginary scene of action.
BY so doing it won the honor of
being declared the fastest engine
company in Washington, obtained
clear title to The Evening Star cup
for a year. knocked three seconds off
the best time made by Baltimore's
banner company, and earned the title
of the fastest fire-fghting outfit in the
United States until another company,
working under official test, betters its
record
Breaks Triple Tie.
b From the second the gong began to
sound the box until the company was
on its way-clear of the house and
flying at top speed down G. street
exactly seven and one-f1fth seconds
elapsed. Gt takes five seconds to ring
the gong) That broke the tie be-
tween engine companies S, % and 9,
which had established new records of
eight seconds each yesterday and the
day before in the official test of the
entire Washington fire department TO
determine the supremacy of its fast
est company.
Incidentally, the victory of Engine
% added new argument to the truth
of the proverb that "the last shall be
the first. >. Twenty-three was the last
company to be visited of the 40 or
more in Washington, and it seemed al
most certain to the judges that-'it
would be necessary to have the three
companies tied with records of
seconds run the tie off Saturday. The
most modern engines in Washington
had failed to beat it.
Tested as Others.
The same conditions under which
every other company in Washington
had been tested were followed by No.
%. The extreme rear of the appara-
tus was placed SO feet from the door.
Drivers and men stood well back OF
this At the first stroke of the gong all
ran to their stations, the motor was
started running but the engine could
not turn a wheel until the box number
had been completed and the captain
shouted. BOX 13, Co.
Two timers stood at the door with
stopwatches of the same make. The
timers were Battalion Chief Thomas
O'Connor and a reporter for The Star.
W. w. Dean, fire prevention engi-
neer of the War Department, stood
beside the apparatus to make sure 1t
did not start off ahead of the COM
pleted alarm. Private Biondi, aid to
Chief O'Connor, sounded the alarm.
The watches were stopped as the ex-
treme rear edge of the engine passed
over the farthest sill of the house
which meant that the engine was ac-
tually on it's way at full speed.
Have Fine Records.
Capt. B. w. Weaver commanded the
record-breaking company, and Private
Paul B. Ballinger drove the engine.
Both have enviable records in the de-
partment. Capt. Weaver, whose home
is at 230 Eleventh street northeast,
joined the fire department in 1900. He
was decorated for heroiSm the night of
the Knickerbocker disaster and only
recently was commended by the Dis
trict Commissioners for his efficient
work at the Kann's warehouse fire.
Pvt. Ballinger became fireman in
1918. He, too, was decorated for her
oism or the night of the Knicker-
booker disaster and is known as one
of the best drivers in Washington.
AS every judge agreed this morning,
he did not make a mistake in getting
his engine under way. Many other
drivers "stampeded' in the excite
ment of the test, but Ballinger had
his engine turning over fast an6 his
gear enmeshed before the gong had
finished it's last stroke. AT the word
go" he was off like a bullet and
never let up until he was part of the
way down the block.
Engine Cranked by Hand.
The winning apparatus was crank
ed by hand. One of the surprises of
the whole test has been the apparent
superiority of hand-cranked engines
| over those with self-starters. In
nearly every instance the hand-crank-
/ ed apparatus made the best time, de-
spite the fact that it is much older.
| The difference was noticed, however,
in the inability of the self-starters to
! get their engines going before four
| or five turns. Only one was necessary
with the hand-cranked machines.
Another outstanding achievement
of the test was the record of the fire.
boat Firefighter yesterday. Al
| though 1t was realized the boat could
| not possibly win the cup, the speed
with which it got under way was
amazing From the second the gong
began to tap of "13" until the stern
! of the stocky little craft had slip
ped past the end of it's dock only 81
seconds elapsed. Lieut.. G. w. Wells
was in command, Pilot G. E. Kline
handled the wheel and Engineer T.
w. Reed threw in the throttle that set
the propeller going. 1t required FIVE
times as many motions to get the
Firefighter under way as 1t did TO
start the engine companies motors.
Results of Tests.
The remaining tests Of late yester-
day and today, which completed the
test of the entire department with En-
CINE %, resulted as follows: Engine
27, Benning, Lieut.. F. H. Samuels
commanding, Pvt. F. e. Warner driv
ing. time 9 seconds; Engine 10. Ran
dali Highlands, Capt. c. c. WOLF com
manding, Pvt. I. H. Williamson driv-
ing, time II seconds; Engine 25. Con-
gress Heights, Capt. NJ. Coughlin com
manding, Pvt. ]. L. McGarvey driv-
ing, time IL seconds; Engine 15, Ana
costa, Sergt. c. II. Bray commanding.
Pvt D. J. Jameson driving, time 9
seconds; Engine 1S. Ninth and K
streets southeast, Sergt. G. z. Thrift
commanding, Pvt. w. II. Boswell.
driving. time II seconds; Truck Z.
Continued on Page 2, Column b Z