Reminiscences of the old fire laddies and volunteer fire departments of New York and Brooklyn. . it struck 261. When itstruck 2, that was one of our stations, and if it had stopped there wed have gone it struck 6, making 26, which is another of our stations; but when the 1 sounded,that showed us that the fire is at Bleecker and Macdougal streets, out of our district. Do you get the alarm and man the engine every time there is a fire anywhere inthe city ? Yes; if we waited till the gong stopped, to see whether we had to go out or not,we would lose some seconds, and every second counts.
Reminiscences of the old fire laddies and volunteer fire departments of New York and Brooklyn. . it struck 261. When itstruck 2, that was one of our stations, and if it had stopped there wed have gone it struck 6, making 26, which is another of our stations; but when the 1 sounded,that showed us that the fire is at Bleecker and Macdougal streets, out of our district. Do you get the alarm and man the engine every time there is a fire anywhere inthe city ? Yes; if we waited till the gong stopped, to see whether we had to go out or not,we would lose some seconds, and every second counts. No matter what we are doing,night or day, when the gong strikes the engine is manned. Come upstairs and see howwe live. 334 Reminiscences of the Old Fire Laddies. The stairway leads to the officers room, in the second story. A handsome carpetcovers the floor. In front, by the windows, are two desks, one for the foreman, theother for Chief Rowe, of the First Battalion, who makes this his headquarters. (Atpresent Chief Rowe is located at 193 Fulton Street.) One side is partitioned off, making. Using the Slirlin^-pole. three sleeping-rooms, with beds for the officers. The back room, forty feet long, per-haps, by thirty wide, is the mens sleeping-room. On one side is a row of four littleiron bedsteads; on the other side there are six. The bedding is as clean and white asbedding can be, and there isnt a speck on the bright oil-cloth that covers the floor. These are our bachelor quarters. said the foreman. Every morning a womancomes in and cleans up for us, and makes the beds. Of course youll stay with usfor a couple of days, and youll have a chance to try one of the beds. In the thirdstory we have a sitting-room; come up. Theres a table where the boys play dominoes Ready! in Fourteen Seconds. 335 and checkers. In those closets they keep their clothes. In this back room, here, wekeep the horses feed, and slide it down to them through this shute. Come down andsee the chief; he can te
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