Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-29
ENGINE COMPANY
i, No. q CAPTURES
!. STAR FIRE AWARD
Victory in 1929 Competition
Gives Unit Permanent
Possession of Cup.
HANGS UP FAST TIME
Of 6 AND as SECONDS
No. 5 Truck Wins Merchants and
Manufacturers Trophy in
z and 2-5 Seconds.

trict Fire Department and claimant to
national speed honors, the right of No.
81 Engine Company to retain permanent
possession of The Evening Star trophy
cup by reason of a third victory this
year was upheld against field of close
competitors in the concluding speed
tests run off yesterday.
Clearing its quarters on fire alarm
in the remarkably fast time OF 6 4-5
seconds, No. 81, under the command OF
Lieut.. H. T. Davis, scored margin OF
a fifth of second over its nearest rivals
in its run on Friday. Although it
failed to equal its record time of 6
seconds, made in 1926. No. 81 scored
notable victory over No. % Engine. cup
winner of 1925 and last year, which
slowed down to 8 seconds in its test
run. No 2l's other victory was in 1927.
No. S Wins Other Award.
No. Truck Company, commanded
by Lieut.. w. H. Nash, made a speed
of 1926 seconds and established beyond
dispute its claim to the cup awarded
annually by the Merchants and Manu-
facturers' Association to the fastest
truck in the District Fire Department.
In doing so, it spoiled the chance of the
veterans of No. IA Truck twice previous
winner in. its class, to keep permanent
POSSESSION OF IIle trophy.
The two victorious companies, each
supreme in it's own field, will be pre-
scented with the trophies at an early
date by Commissioner. Proctor L..
Dougherty. Confirmation of their vic
tories will be made in a formal report
on the speed tests which Chief Engi-
neer Thomas O'Connor drill master OF
the Fire Department Is preparing to
submit tomorrow to Chief Watson.
u-tn YNlo II.
ties in conducting the two days of the
gruelling tests, was enthusiastic in
praise of the excellent performances,
unmarried by single accident. With
a majority of the engine companies
setting marks of 10 seconds or under,
the former national speed time estab-
1ished by Baltimore some years ago,
that the District Fire Department as
a whole is inferior to none in the
country. 49,.
Three Companies Tied.
The real thrills of yesterdays COM
companies in the downtown district
which tied in seven seconds each, a
mere fifth of a second from equaling
the record of the champion. These
were No. IA Company, No. Company
and No. Company, the latter com
pOSeQ OF a COlOTeQ crew.
Starting out at 8 o'clock yesterday
morning, the judges concluded the
tests by noon, after. visiting the Fire
Tug. No. Rescue squad, 10 individual
engine companies and four truck oon-
panieS in the downtown and outlying
districts of Anacostia, Randle High
lands, Congress Heights and Kenil-
worth. With a veteran driver In E.
Winters at the steering wheel, the off,
io1 riu nj nfaOinec
in clearing the suburban hills in the
northeast and southeast districts.
Each company was visited unawares
The tests were run under nearly actual
fire alarm conditions. w. w. Deane,
who is in charge of all fire apparatus
for the War Department, carefully
tapped off the 29-foot distance that each
apparatus had to run to clear the door
sill. Each member of the crew was
posted II feet from the apparatus, their
choice of positions being left to them
selves No motor was allowed to run
before the gong was sounded, and II
necessary the apparatus was pushed
into place.
the official gong striker, F. A. Miondi,
would strike the signal that set fren-
zied crews in lightning motion. The
signal was ."1-3" At the first strike
of the gong. the driver and cranker,
if one were used, leaped to their jobs
and within a second or two the motors
would begin roaring With the COM
mand, Thirteen, CO." the motor was
thrown into gear and the apparatus
would fly out of the house, usually
of the street. Chief O'Connor and q
reporter from The Star officiated with
the stop watches.
Winners Cranked Motors.
Some of the crews chose to crank
their motors instead of relying on the
self-starter. Among those who trusted
to human crank power were the two
winners. A. GoldWater was the man
who ccanked the somewhat old motor
of No. Twenty-one Engine to win and
T. H. Fenton Steered it to victory. In
H. D. Shepard, No. Four Truck had
master hand at the crank, while F. F
Ardigo did the driving.
Except for an unfortunate happening,
No. Four Engine Co. might have had
a chance to pluck the laurels in the
opinion of the judges. This crew OF
|! colored men under Capt. j. G. B. Key,
/ furnished the big thrill of the morning.
/ They were prined for action.
At the signal from the gong, j. r.
\ Bush gave a wild leap for the crank
and In one mighty spin had the motor
IN ROlIR. ElLIIUoL Ill OkhC
II second at the command CO., Driver
Il J. M. Carter threw in the clutch and
II, the apparatus gave forward leap.
\ Then without warning 1t slowed down
4 as the hood passed the sill, but plcKeo
II up again with a squirt in a matter OF
H seconds Carter had to throw the motor
III into second gear and in doing SO lost
III that bare fraction of seconds that pre-
vented a better time than seven
seconds. ,.
HI Displays Sportsmanship.
III Can't. Key took his disappointment
like a real sport. He and his men hac
been practicing day and night ant
II! claimed to have made the run In 6 z:
seconds earlier in the day. Considerlnt
III the fact that the apparatus used yes
terday was one. of the oldest IN TN
III Fire Department the men OF NO. Wer'
II declared by Chief O'Connor to hav'
III done q remarkably good job.
II :f,e first place visited 5y tfe judges
4 YESTERDAY was No. 3 Truck, on Four
= feenth street near B street Its TIM
was II seconds fiat Lieut.. w. A. Smltf
was in command, with ]. w. Wissmar
driving. They trusted to the sell
From this house, the next to be vislret
was No. 16 Engine Company, on d stree
between Twelfth and Thirteenth streets
Driver j. H. McDermott got away to
beautiful start, but slowed up too soon
At that the time was 8 1-5 seconds
=. Sergt. r. D. White was in command
D street is very narrow and McDermot