HOW RECRUITS ARE TRAINED.
Tramp, tramp, tramp! Two lines of wiry, muscular young men march into
the centre of the yard.
"Halt! Right about face!"
Quick as thought the men pause and wheel around.
Indian clubs and dumb-bells!
The opening of the drill this afternoon is a course of exercises with
these familiar appliances; but they soon give place to other evolutions,
such as jumping in the sheet, practise with the engines, rescue by the
fire-escape, and the chair-knot.
Round and round whirl the clubs. Every day some section of the drill is
taken; but on Wednesday afternoons, the whole or combined drill is
practised. All candidates must have been sailors; no one need apply who
has not been at least four years an A.B. Further, they must be between
the ages of twenty-one and thirty, and able to pull over the escape;
that is, they must be able to pull up a fire-escape ladder from the
ground by the levers. The height of the ladder is about 28 feet, and the
pull is equal to a weight of about 244 pounds. It is a hard pull, and a
severe test of a man's strength; but after the first twelve feet, the
weight seems lessened, as the man's own weight assists him. In this
test, as in some other things, it is the first step that costs. Should
the candidate pass this test successfully, he is examined by the doctor;
finally, he comes to headquarters for his probationary drills.
[Illustration: TESTS OF STRENGTH FOR MEN ENTERING THE FIRE-BRIGADE:
PULLING UP THE ESCAPE.]
"Open order!"
The men break off from their gymnastic exercises, and in obedience to
instructions some of them run for large canvas sheets, and spread them
out, partly folded on the ground. Then others calmly lie themselves
down on these sheets. What is going to happen?
The recruits approach the recumbent figures, which lie there quite
still, and apparently heavy as lead; the lifeless feet are placed close
together, and the limp, inanimate arms arranged beside the body. Then,
at a word or a sign, the bodies are picked up as easily as though they
were tiny children, and carried over the recruits' shoulders--each
recruit with his man--some distance along the yard. The men are
practising the art of taking up an unconscious person, overcome may be
by smoke, or heat and flame, and carrying him in the most efficient
manner possible out of danger.
There is more in this exercise than might at first appear. It might seem
a comparatively easy task--if only you had sufficient strength--to throw
a man over your shoulder and carry him thus, even leaving one of your
hands and arms quite free; but you would find it not so easy in the
midst of blinding flame and choking smoke; you would find it not so easy
to pick your uncertain way through a burning building and over flaming
floors, over a sloping roof or shaky parapet, and even down a
fire-escape.
Hence the urgent necessity that the fireman should be so well practised,
that in a moment he can catch up an insensible, or even conscious person
in exactly the most efficient manner, and, with hand and arm free, be
able to find his way quickly out of the fire.
He must be cool and clear-headed, dexterous, and sure-footed, ready of
resource, and quick yet reliable in all his movements; and to these
ends, as to others, the drill is directed.
Captain Shaw's advice to those beginning "in the business of
extinguishing fires" may be quoted here from his volume on "Fire and
Fire-Brigades." "Go slowly," he says, "avoid enthusiasm, watch and
study, labour and learn, flinch from no risk in the line of duty, and be
liberal and just to fellow-workers of every grade."
But shouts of laughter are rising, as presently two or three of the
recruits at the drill appear in a long flowing skirt, and look awkward
enough in their unaccustomed garments as they stride along. They imitate
women for the nonce, and are rescued in a similar manner, the men also
carrying apparently lifeless figures down the ladders of the escapes.
[Illustration: ESCAPE-DRILL.]
The sheets, however, are used for other purposes of drill. See! A group
of men are opening one out, and carrying it below an open window some
twenty-five feet above the ground.
There are fourteen or so of these men, and they grip the sheet firmly
all round, and spread it out a little less than breast-high. A man
appears at the window, twenty-five feet or so above. He is about to jump
into the sheet far below.
At the cry he leaps, or rather drops, down plump into the sheet; and the
force of the fall is so great, that, unless these men were all leaning
well backward, it would drag them toward the ground, and the rescued man
sustain injury. As it is, they are all dragged pretty well forward by
the impact of the fall.
A person jumping like this into a sheet should drop down into it, not
spring, as though intending to cover a great space. And the persons
holding the sheet should lean as far backward as possible. If they
simply held the sheet, standing upright in the ordinary way, no matter
how firm the grip, they would probably all be dragged to the ground in a
heap.
The jumping-sheet is made of the best strong canvas about 9 feet square,
and strengthened with strips of webbing fastened diagonally across. The
sheet is also bound round at the edges with strong bolt-rope, and is
furnished with about a score of hand-beckets, or loops. If at a fire all
other means of rescue be unavailable, the sheet should be brought into
use. Volunteers, if necessary, should be pressed into the service, and
instructed to stretch out the sheet by the beckets, holding it about two
feet or so from the ground. They should grasp the becket firmly with
both hands, the arms being stretched at full length, their feet planted
well forward, but their heads and bodies thrown as far back as possible.
Even then the volunteers will probably find great difficulty in
maintaining the sheet, and preventing it from dashing on the ground. If
possible, a mattress or pile of straw or some soft object should be
placed on the ground beneath the sheet. The uninitiated have no idea of
the weight of a body suddenly falling or jumping on to the sheet from a
great height, and this occasion is one for the putting forth of all the
strength of body and determination of will of which a man may be
capable.
But, now the sheet is being folded, and men are appearing on the roofs
of the buildings above. A new exercise is beginning. Rescue by rope is
now to be practised, and long threads of rope begin to appear. Imagine
yourself a fireman on the top of a burning house, with smoke and flame
belching out of the windows below, and agonizing screams for help
ringing in your ears. No fire-escape is near, or, if near, not
available; for it sometimes happens that persons cannot be rescued by
ladders, and the staircase is a mass of flames. What would you do?
It is then that the firemen use the chair-knot, or, speaking popularly,
they try rescue by rope. Every engine carries excellent rope of tanned
manilla, and the fireman carries a rope about his body. Quickly the ends
of the rope are fastened to two points, one on either side of the
window--to a chimney-stack, if possible; then, as sailors know how, by
means of what is called a "tomfool's knot," loops and knots are made in
the rope--one loop to be slung under the arms, and the other to support
the knees, and together forming a sort of chair. Speedily the loops are
adjusted round the person to be rescued, and then he is gradually
lowered to the ground. A guiding-rope has been attached, and thrown to
the men below, and is used by them to steady the person's descent, to
prevent him from bobbing hither and thither, or to draw him out of reach
of the flame and smoke.
This exercise being over, there is a rattle and a clatter, and into the
yard dashes a horsed fire-escape. The men pounce upon it at once, and in
a trice whip it off its carriage and wheel it to the building. The
present escapes are great improvements on the old forms, and two men can
extend it with ease.
The first or main ladder of the escape reaches about 24 feet high; and
in the 1897 pattern the 40-feet ladders having one extension. Other
escapes have extending-ladders rising to a height of 50 feet, and even
70 feet, these being in three lengths. But an Act of Parliament now
provides that all buildings above a certain height must have means of
exit attached; this generally takes the form of iron ladders or
stairways outside the building. All parts of an escape are as far as
possible interchangeable, and the ladder-vans are designed to carry any
ladders in the brigade.
And now the escape-drill is about to commence. The machine is placed
against the building, which we must suppose to be burning. Up runs a
fireman, with hands and feet on the rungs, to the window where the top
of the ladder rests. If the window will not open readily, he may, in
case of real need, smash it with his axe to obtain ready entrance.
Then, if you watched him closely, you would see he did something which
you would never think of doing. He fastens the end of his rope to the
rung of his ladder, and, with the rest of the rope coiled over his arm,
disappears into the room. The rope easily runs out as he moves, and
affords him a means of speedily finding his way back to the window
through the smoke; a very valuable arrangement it may prove to be, when
the fireman finds an insensible person or a couple of children to
rescue.
One child he carries in his arm, and the other he throws across his
shoulder, in the recognized brigade manner; and loaded thus, he gropes
his way, guided by his one free hand, along the rope.
Or there may be more than one adult to save. Then the rescued person is
carried over the shoulder to the top of the trough, or shoot of
netting, with which some escapes used to be fitted at the back of the
escape-ladder, and is slipped down it feet first to the firemen waiting
below; while the plucky fireman above returns for the next person in
peril.
The fireman will probably follow the last down the shoot by turning a
somersault and coming down head first; meantime, holding the other's
hands, and regulating the speed of the descent by pressing his knees and
elbows against the sides of the netting. But without the shoot he
descends by the ladder.
Should the fire occur at a house surrounded by garden-wall, shrubs, or
forecourt, the machine is wheeled as close as possible, and the
extension or additional ladders can be placed at a somewhat different
angle from the first, so as to bridge over the intervening space and
reach the farthest window. The ladders of fire-escapes may also be
useful substitutes for water-towers. A water-tower is a huge pipe,
running up beside the ladder, or tower; and as three or four steamers
play into the base of the huge pipe, the water is forced up it, and the
jet at the top can then be directed anywhere into the burning building.
"But we don't want any water-towers," exclaimed a fireman; "we can make
one ourselves, if we need one." That is, by using the fire-escape
ladders to obtain points of vantage.
We soon see this accomplished. With a rush of horses and a whiz of
steam, a fire-engine tears into the yard, the steam raising the
safety-valve at a pressure of a hundred and twenty pounds to the square
inch.
Off leap the men, as though actually at a fire; each one attends to his
prescribed duty; and ere long you see one of the men hurrying up the
escape-ladder bearing the branch in his hand--_i.e._, the heavy nozzle
end of the hose. In a second the engine whistles, there is a spurt of
water, and the fireman directs the jet from the distant head of the
ladder to a tank in the centre of the yard.
The beckets on the hose, placed at intervals of seventeen and then
twenty feet, over a hundred-feet length, are made of leather; and are
most useful for fastening it to a chimney or any point of vantage by
means of the fireman's rope. The weight of a hundred-feet length when
complete ranges from sixty to sixty-five pounds, and when full of water
much more.
The hose for the London Brigade is woven seamless, of the best flax; and
the interior india-rubber lining is afterwards introduced, and fastened
by an adhesive solution. Unlined hose is used by some provincial
brigades; and it is contended that the water passing through it keeps it
wet, and therefore not liable to be burned by the great heat of the
conflagration. On the other hand, the leakage is said to be a very
objectionable defect. The internal diameter of the hose is two inches
clear at the couplings, but a little larger within.
The steam-man is taught to remember the great power he rules; otherwise
he may, by neglecting to give the warning whistle, endanger his
brother-fireman's life by suddenly sending the water rushing through the
hose, or bringing a great strain upon it, when the men controlling it
are not prepared.
It may appear an easy thing to stand on a ladder or a house-top, and
direct the jet on the fire; but it is not so easy to carry and to guide
the long, heavy, and to some extent sinuous pipe, full of the heavy
water throbbing and gushing through it at such tremendous pressure,
especially when your foothold is none too secure.
A fireman lost his life one night, when holding the hose on the parapet
of a roof in the Greenwich Road. He overbalanced himself, and fell
crashing, head downward, sixty feet or more below, and met a terrible
death.
Whether this fearful accident was entirely due to the heavy hose, we
cannot say; but unless hose be laid straight, it is apt to struggle like
a living thing. The reason is obvious. The water rushes through it at
great pressure; and if the hose be not quite straight, the pressure on
the bent part of the hose is so great that it struggles to straighten
itself. Consequently, a fireman turning a stream will probably have to
use a great deal of strength.
The increase in velocity of the water by the use of a branch and nozzle
is, of course, very great. A branch-pipe is defined by Commander Wells
as "the guiding-pipe from hose to nozzle." Some branches are made of
metal; but leather branches are being substituted for long metal pipes.
Some of these latter measured from 4 to 6 feet long, and were not only
very cumbersome to carry, but often impracticable to use with efficiency
inside buildings.
Leather branch-pipes are sometimes longer, and are tapered from 2 inches
in diameter to 1½ inch at the nozzle. When, therefore, a stream of water
from two to two and a half inches in diameter, forced along at a great
pressure, and distending the hose to its utmost capacity, is driven
through the narrowing path of the branch-pipe, it spurts out from the
nozzle at a much higher velocity; and it is just this narrowing part of
the hose which the fireman has to handle, and whence he directs the jet.
Some nozzles are like rose watering-can pipes, and are furnished with a
hundred holes to distribute the water. These nozzles are useful in
interior conflagrations and smoky rooms.
Yet, all important as is the engine-drill, and invaluable as are the
engines for serious conflagrations, it is interesting to read in the
Brigade Report that in 1897 no fewer than 808 fires were extinguished by
buckets, and 460 by hand-pumps, while 98 were extinguished by engines,
and, as we have said, 466 by hydrants and stand-pipes.
The brigade bucket carried on the engine holds about 2½ gallons, and is
made of canvas; it is collapsible, cane hoops being used for the top and
bottom rings. Drill is maintained even for bucket and hand-pump; and the
latter appliance is so portable, that the whole of the gear pertaining
to it, including two ten-feet lengths of hose, is carried in a canvas
bag.
Hand-pumps are often used for chimney fires. Two men usually attend, and
expect to find a bucket in the house. They pour small quantities of
water on the fire in the grate, and allow as large a quantity of steam
as possible to pass up the flue. When the fire in the grate is quenched,
the men use the hand-pump on the fire in the lower part of the chimney,
and then, mounting to the roof, pour water down the chimney.
As sometimes the ends of wooden joists are built into the flues, an
examination should be made to discover if the lead on the roof or in any
place shows signs of unusual heat, and the joists have caught fire; for
outbreaks of fire have been known to occur from this obscure cause. A
comparatively simple but effective means of dealing with a chimney fire
is to block up both ends of the chimney with thoroughly wet mats or
sacks; while one of the easiest methods is to throw common salt on the
fire. The heat decomposes the salt, and sets free chlorine gas--common
salt being chloride of sodium, and chlorine being a gas which very
feebly supports combustion, and tends to choke and dull a fire, if not
to extinguish it entirely.
And so the drill goes on, with scaling-ladders and long ladders,
hose-carts and horsed escapes, steamers and manual-engines, the object
of the whole being, not alone to perfect the men in their knowledge of
the gear and machines, and skill in using them, but also to develop
quickness of eye, and readiness and firmness of hand. A systematic
routine is followed by fully-qualified instructors, part of the course
being theoretical and part practical; while about the year 1898 a new
syllabus of instruction came into use.
Among other alterations, it was arranged that a selected officer should
take charge of the recruits' drill for about two years, instead of
engineers appointed at comparatively short intervals. Further, it was
decided to permanently increase the authorized number of recruits, with
the anticipation that never fewer than thirty men will be under
instruction; and to prohibit them, if possible, from being called away
to engage in cleaning or other work, so that their instruction drill
should never be interrupted.
When the men have passed through a three months' course of instruction,
they should be ready to be drafted into the ranks as fourth-class
firemen. The men in the brigade are divided into four classes; in
addition to which, there are coachmen, and licensed watermen for the
river-craft, also engineers, foremen, and superintendents, the whole
being in charge of a chief officer and a second and third officer.
First aid to the injured is also included in the instruction of the men;
and the Recruits Instruction-Room and Museum contains a
beautifully-jointed skeleton, kept respectfully in a case, for
anatomical lessons.
[Illustration: RELICS OF THE BRAVE.]
Further, if you search the indispensable boxes on the engines, you will
find among the mattocks and shovels, the saws and spanners and
turncock's tools, a few medical and surgical appliances. Every engine
carries a pint of Carron oil, which is excellent for burns. Carron oil
is so called from the Carron Ironworks, where it has long been used, and
consists of equal parts of linseed oil and limewater; olive oil may be
used, if linseed oil be not procurable. Carron oil may be used on rags
or lint; and triangular and roller bandages are carried with the oil,
also a packet of surgeon's lint and a packet of cotton-wool. Accidents
which are at all serious are, of course, taken as soon as possible to
the hospital. But, alas! some accidents occur which no Carron oil can
soothe, or hospital heal; and on that roll of honour in the little room
beside the big engine-shed, and in the blackened bits of clothing and
discoloured, dented helmets in the museum in the instruction-room, you
find ample demonstration that a fireman's life is often full of
considerable risk.
These are the mute but touching memorials of the men who have died in
the service; to each one belongs some heroic tale. Let us hear a few of
these stories; let us endeavour to make these charred memorials speak,
and tell us something of the brave deeds and thrilling tragedies
connected with their silent but eloquent presence here.
Listen, then, to some stories of the brigade.