Evening star., 1928-11-25

/ ,
and now" this veteran declared, that
if the entire public could only know of
| the many tragedies ! have witnessed
| at fires, fires which gained great head
! way before they were discovered, or
else they were the type of fire which
| spreads rapidly, why. they would never
willfully or carelesSly obstruct a fire
| engine even in the slightest degree as
| long as they lived. If they could but
see just once, the look in an anguished
] mothers eyes as she watches the efforts
of the f1remen who are attempting to
rescue her children from the upstairs
of her blazing home. And how often
do we read of children who are trapped
and burned to death in their homes.
How often have / seen some stubborn
fire grow and grow until our lives were
in danger just working near it.
, How often have I stood on the
| ground and watched some window and
prayed for the temperance Of one Of
by brother flremen who was somewhere
inside of that smoke-f1lled inferno. How
often have I followed their bodies to
! their last resting place. And how often
have I attempted to console the be-
reaved family of some man with whom
had fought many fire
No one" he declared, would ever
lose their lives and there would be very
little property damaged If all fires were
discovered in time and the fire appara-
tus reached 1t promptly, with the ex-
ceptions of great explosions or other
disasters of that sort.
Raps False Alarms.
There is another thing" this veteran
declared, which causes the Fire De-
partment an awful lot of truble and
expense, and that is false alarms
Il recently read" he said, "in news
paper an account concerning a mock
serious contest which was held in a
small Western town in an attempt to
discover the 'meaneSt' man in town.
Well, the grand prize was won by a
man who received the unanimous vote
of the committee designated to award
this prize. They gave to this man a
paper to certify that he had won the
grand prize which was worded like
this, We, the committee, award the
grand prize to Johnny Jones, who has
produced sufficient proof to convince us
that he is the meaneSt man in town.
This proof shows that he has on sew
eral occasions pulled false fire alarms.
We, therefore, take great pleasure in
awarding him the lined Ounce cap.'"
Perhaps the meaneSt, most inconsid-
crate person in the world is the one
who willfully and with malice afore-
thought, turns in false alarm. Firemen
are, or course, required to exercise the
same speed and care in getting to the
scene that they would use in the in
stance Of real fire. This writer has
Otter wondered if the culprit, just be-
fore he reached his hand up to perform
this most contemplate of acts. has ever
paused to think just what consequences
were entailed by his pulling of that lit
tie lever In the fire alarm box. Paused
to think of the scene in the fire house
Just before the alarm comes in, when
the firemen sit grouped around their
recreation room tor maybe 1t Is night
and they are asleep with the exception
OF the men on watch; the engines rest
ing TRANQUILITY, all shining and clean
from hours of polishing, their sleek
hoods and glittering appendages giving
little hint of the tremendous power and
brute strength they possess.
The man on watch, ensconced on his
little throne, glanceS anxiously from dial
to DIAL, from indicator to indicator,
which tell him the exact condition in
each firehcuse in the city. These dials
tell him what engines are In and what
engines are out. Little bells ring al
most constantly, each one with its own
individual message, which he inter-
pretS accurately and records in an open
book which sits in front of him. This
book tells at glance the next morning
the history of the previous "a hours
as regards runs made, fires attended
to, etc.
Throws Men to Action.
All is peace and quiet and over
everything there broods sense of well
ordered movement. Suddenly this peace
and quiet are shattered by the clang-