Sketcher

Southern Cross, Volume 4, Issue 2, 11 April 1896, Page 4

Sketcher

?rp,B bonbon fire brigade. A GREAT INSTITUTION.

(From Tifc-Bifcs.)

Prom personal experince, I should say there is no more popular service existing than the Metropolitan Fire Brigade. And everything about it is characterized by a pecular appropriateness : the very in which Captain Simonds made his appointment with me had a fiery scarlet heading. At the time appointed I presented myself at the offices in the great ip-emises at Southwark; and while waiting to see the chief officer, I passed the time in attentively studying the firemen’s 1 Ro 1 ! of Honour ’ -an immense oak tablet with carved edges, bearing sixteen -brass plates, on which are inscribed the names of those heroes who have lost their lives while fighting the flames. The Roll of Honour commences ■with 1 Superintendent James Braidwood Tooley Street, June 22nd, 1861, 1 and ends with ‘ Martin E. Sprague, Hew Church, , Court, Strand, W.C.. October 29th, 1895 ’ The head-quarters of the Fire Brigade is, as one might imagine, a singularly fascinating place, on every side there are rows of shining helmets (cheap at 16s 6d, each), splendid fireengines, and mysterious telenhones and electric call-signals. My look Tonud, however, was interrupted by a rather small but sympathetic fireman, who conducted me impressively into the office of his respected chief. Captain J. Sexton Simonds is a fine specimen of the British officer. He tells me he became connected with the Fire Brigade about fifteen years ago. having been chosen out of 126 applicants, mainly an account of bis exceptional skill as an engineer. 1 Now, Captain Simonds,’ I began in the soothing tones necessary on these occasions, 1 perhaps you had better give me, first of all, some idea of the general organisation of the Fire Brigade.’ 1 Very well,’ was the reply ; 1 J think I have it all ready for you from last year’s report. Now theri the present strength of the Brigade consists of 792 firemen of all ranks, from nitNKif downwards; 51 land steam fire-engines, 9 floating fire-engines, with 8 steam tugs for towing them to the scene of operations. 95 manuals, 225 fire escapes, 116 hose-carts and reels, 137 horses, and 35 miles of hose Of course, I needn’t worry you ahou hose and ladder trucks, barges and skiffs, long fire-ladders, vans, and waggons. All these are distributed over 57 land stations and 4 floating or river stations. Then there are 56 hose-cart stations, 7 hose and ladder track stations, 200 fr- e-escape sta? ions, and 148 watch-boxes. Nor must 1 omit to mention our 75 coachmen wonderful drivers all —and 16 pilots.’ ‘ Now about the system F’ 1 We divide the Metropolis into five districts : the A, or West-end ; the B, or City; the C or East-end; the D. or South-Eastern ; the E, or SouthWestern district. The head-qua piers of the Fire Brigade are in the penultimate division, and constitute, as it were, the central sun of the system. Briefly, there are minor suns in each division in the-shape of district headquarters, each in charge of a superintendent. Around each district headquarters are grouped the ordinary fire-stations, and these in turn have smaller outlying stations and duties more or less dependent, on them.’ I learn that all of these are connected by a perfect network of telephones, of which there are 81 between fire-stations, 20 to police-stations, and 81 wires to public and other buildings, such as the Tower, etc. Besides these there are 57 alarm circuits round fire-stations, with 565 call-points. Captain Simonds tells me that the Brigade pays no less than £IO,OOO a year to the Post Office for all these electric communications. Of course,

the central district stations have direct communication with the Southwark head-qnarteps. When a fire alarm is received by the officer or so peri ri ten dent in a district, he at once diiects the engine to proceed to the spot, at the same time telephoning to the officers in charge at two other stations in his district, warning them to stand by in case of emergency. He also telephones to the minor stations tb come along with the hand-pump, escape, and hose. In the event of the fire being but a slight outbreak, the officer, of course, countermands these instructions. 4 The causes of fires are distinctly interesting. Of course, 4 unknown ’ heads the list with 863, while 276 fires were caused by lights being thrown down. Stray sparks caused 179 outbreaks, while lighted candles were responsible for 134. Curiously enough, false alarms are sometimes received which are not the work of malicious persons, but of the wires themselves, which somehow come into contact with each other, owing to wind or other causes : for, as everyone knows, Londonis simply enveloped in a perfect network of telephonic and telegraphic wires. 4 Among the peculiar causes,’ continued Captain Simonds, 4 was one case of fiaction, one bomb explosion, one case of leakage of chemicals, four spontaneous ignitions, and two cases of incendiarism.’ 4 I suppose you have no idea of the quantity of water used ?’ ‘ Oh, yes, I have,’ was the smiling reply. 4 We used in that year over 48,000,000 gallons, or nearly 215,000 tons. And yet there were only three cases of shorty water supply.’ 4 Any accidents ?’ 4 Y”es, 115 of my men sustained injuries lacerations, contusions, sprains, burns and scalds.’ According to information specially supplied for this interview by the by the engine-makers, it takes a couple of mouths to" build one of the splendid engines used by our Fire Brigade. Such an engine costs between £4OO and £6OO. The biggest fire-engine in the Brigade throws 500 gallons of water a minute, and the sream-floats 1800 gallons a minute. The floating fireengines, by the way, may be seen on certain occasions practising up and down the Thames. This practice consists for the most part in giving the walls and windows of sundry grimy warehouses an urgenty-needed washing. Another interesting fact about floating fire-engines is that when the water is too shallow to allow of their being taken to the seat of the fire by the tug-, they provide motive power of their own by the extraordinary means of thiowing out water with tremendous force against the air ; this, it seems, forces the whole barge on which the engines are fixed slowdy but steadily through the sluggish Thames water, the principle being precisely that of pushing a pole against a wall. As illustrating the tremendous strain occasionally put upon the resources of Captain Simonds, I may refer here to July 18th, 1893. On that eventful day occurred the great St. Mary Axe fire, which broke out at twenty minutes past two in the turning, and necessitated the pressence of 173 men, with 34 powerful engines, 2 hose car ts, 4 vans, 3 escapes, one long ladder, and the water tower. After a tremendous fight of ten hours, this great conflagration was but the Brigade subdued worked for many days in cooling the ruins. Barely ten minutes after the outbreak of this tremendous tire, however, another alarm was given from the Brampton Road, and here were engaged 32 firemen, with three hydrants and 5 steamers. Shortly after six o’clock on ihe same memorable morning, while the St Mary Axe fire was still burning fiercely, 12, engines and many men had to be withdrawn from it to assist in extinguishing yet another serious fire, in Whitechapel High Street—a great tea warehoue of five stories, measuring 80tt. by 45ft.

Of course, this sort of thing does not often happen; still, the Brigade must be prepared fori such emergencies, The water tower, by the, way, which plays a prominent part in the big fires, is simply a swivelling jetpipe made ot gun-metal, fitted with connections for hose, and attachable to the top of any fire-escape, to which it can be clamped in less than a minute. It is worked by means of lines, so that the jet can be directed to any angle by a man standing near the foot of the ladder This arrangement costs from £25 to £32. As regards the hose, I learn that it costs £7 per length ot 100 ft., and each length should last about ten years. Lengths of hose are frequently sent in to head-quarters frßm outlying stations to be repaired ; but the station thus depleted at once receives a substitute length from the workshops at Southwark, where a reserve stock of 50 lengths is always kept. Similarly, spare engines are kept at headquarters to be lent to stations whose own engines are undergoing repairs. During my tour of this interesting establishment, Capt, Sirnonds showed me the place where hose is dried—a great shaft like a lift well, 70ft high, and with a huge stove at the bottom. Here may be hung 85 lengths of hose. I was also shown the men’s tastefully decorated theatre and ball-room, billiard-room, and other places of recreation. There is a museum here, too, containing significant relics in the shape of battered helmets and pieces of half-burnt tunic probably all that remained of some gallant fireman. In the stables may be witnessed a singularly interesting spectacle. Here I saw the splendid horses of the Brigade already harnessed, yet with heavy collar and other trappings ingeniously held suspended in such a way that in a second, on the pulling of a kind of lever, the collar drops on to the animal’s neck, the cloth is withdrawn f rom his glossy back, and the horse himself prances proudly out. For the most part, however, the Fire Brigade horses are supplied by contract, the value of each being about 70 guineas. I asked Captain Simonds several questions about the firemen themselves. ‘ I suppose everyone knows,’ be replied, ‘ that applicants for service in the Brigade must have been sailors. Their chest measurement is fixed at 37in., and their minimum height at sft. 6in. Our tallest man P Well, I think his height is 6ft. 2in. Of course the men undergo a searching examination as to physique and character, the strength drill being an ingenious arrrngement of rope-haulinsr, whereby an escape is raised from the ground to a vertical position. ‘ Having passed this examination, the men are drafted into the drillclass ; and at the end of three months the probationer is promoted to fourthclass fireman, in which capacity he is paid 24s a week, Is being deducted for lodging. The pay of a first-class fireman is S7s 6d a week, and that of an engineer or officer in charge of a station, 45s a week, with gas and coal free.’