Reminiscences of the old fire laddies and volunteer fire departments of New York and Brooklyn. . spital during the night, but the great majority were provided forby their friends. Thus the weary night was passed. The number of killed and missing at this fire has been variouslyestimated, but the number identified and subsequently buried wastwo hundred and seventy. Thecharred and unrecognized re-mains of a very large number,however, were collected to-gether and publicly buried atGreenwood. The day of thispublic burial I shall neverforget. The elements sounded aloud dirge about the cold grave, %a
Reminiscences of the old fire laddies and volunteer fire departments of New York and Brooklyn. . spital during the night, but the great majority were provided forby their friends. Thus the weary night was passed. The number of killed and missing at this fire has been variouslyestimated, but the number identified and subsequently buried wastwo hundred and seventy. Thecharred and unrecognized re-mains of a very large number,however, were collected to-gether and publicly buried atGreenwood. The day of thispublic burial I shall neverforget. The elements sounded aloud dirge about the cold grave, %and the two thousand personswho reached the cemetery willno doubt recall the wildnessof the scene. Private funeralprocessions arrived at intervalsduring the late morning hoursto witness the public burial began to appear in considerable num-bers. Between i and 2 oclock the storm was at its height. Ladieswere admitted into the visitors room and into the office, both atthe Gothic gate-way. The windows were filled with faces lookingsadly at the large mound of earth at the foot of Battle Hill. The. George V. Zundt. At 1 oclock people who came 726 Reminiscences of the Old Fire Laddies. first thing done by the new-comers was to rush to the grave, intowhich they peered till the cold drove them back to the gate-houseWhen the rooms were filled, the crowd sought shelter in the lee o:the structure. From the bay the gale came sweeping on, ancgathering dust, gravel, and sifted snow, beat with all its fury on theslopes of Greenwood, which looked all the more weird for its white monuments and effigies ofthe dead. A few hundredfeet from the entrance,where Bay View Avenuebranches off from BalticAvenue, laborers werestraining every muscle tocomplete the men had beenat work for days. Two menwere preparing blasts intwo large bowlders whichcould not be lifted out ofthe pit. The excavationwas almost complete. Thegrave was a circular trenchfourteen feet wide and eightfeet deep. The e
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidldpd63166850, bookyear1885
