The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-02-22

Bremen have blinky eyes these days since sleeping on the pave ment floor of headquarters building is required these nights, under an official order of the department chief that ali members shall re- main on 24 hours continuous duty until all streets are made passable and safe for travel by fire appar- Rtus. Many of the men are war veterans, and so the hardships of the loss of sleep counts very little with them. The same is also true of Engine 2, located on East Main street, near Orange street and all of the other stations of the city.
 The men are practically living at various stations, with meals brought to them now and then by members of their respective fam flies.
 A reporter drifted into fire head quarters last night, late, just for the purpose of observing the situ- ation. The watch was alert at the telephone, in full uniform, fire sta ton watches have direct and full charge of the station during their two hours of duty, and their reign is supreme.
 But up stairs in the commission CTS room found eight or ten mem- bers trying to sleep, with uniform overcoats their only covering. In the hallway we stumbled over one or two men, wrapped in news papers, and a newspaper covering the cold cement under them.
 The chiefs office had it's occu- pants. The chief himself lounged in his office chair; he hasn't been home since the storm started. Deputy Chief Lynch got a nod now and then in an ordinary chair. Big Marty Campion, as acting deputy chief, would stretch out now and then in the long corridor. boots, and all; would get up in a few minutes and flop again in the com missioners' room.
 The fire marshal's office was also on duty; at the telephone, in a long beach chair, sat Captain Will Ham G. Russell. Alert to every move, the captain didn't wish to let a call to the marshaPs office not get answered. In 2x4 room across the office, Jerry Griffin and Gene Legge, aides in the bureau, thought they were again back on the bat tie fields of France. Both have good records from the war. Captak Joe Kelley was the officer of the day, a walking sentinel. He hasn't got g. minute of sleep since the two platoons force has been func- tioning as one platoon.
 Booster Murphy, who served in the navy, and who was on 8 boat that was torpedoed, kept everybody sShip Ahoy."
 All members had to scram for themselves. It seemed as though they were out of luck, for each time they headed for Q certain spot, they found some one else euddled up there.
 Engine 2 of East Main street had It's troubles, too. The men paced the floor all night. They had few places to flop, so crowded is the space in the second floor. The same was true of the Burton street com panies, where Lieutenant Jack Stevens and Captain Whitaker tried to bunk together. But the bed, an old-fashioned one, was big enough for only one. Stevens final ly landed on the floor.
 The little bungalow, out east, SOld Engine 5" as it is commonly known out there, had it's full ten men on duty, in four little rooms. There Tucker Magraw, one of the niftiest little firemen of the city, is acting lieutenant, and so he and Captain Booth started to doze off together in the pee wee bed sup piled the officers. Just like Lieu tenant Stevens up at Engine l, Tucker was accidentally pushed out onto the floor, when big Charley made a left handed turn, without proper signalling. Fabe Laffin another ex-navy man of the World War and frequent visitor of China during his navy days, thought for moment he was back in Shanghai. But Fabe was pre- pared. He sent out an sos signal, and in a short time, new red fan nels arrived for his convenience and comfort. Red fiannels are Fabe's favorite garment since both feet and ears were frozen during