The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 5, 1899, Page 20

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALIL, SUNDAY, MARCH 5, 1899. ( W\ \ AE\RNENE Y o \\ \ UMP!” crfed the arill mstructor, “tuck up your legs, hold your breath tight, and jump!” The fireman in a blue sweater, pering out of a second stery win- dow thirty feet from the greund, 41d not seem to relish the idea. He shook his head gravely and drew back a little, nervous about it at rnandez, whe was rst,”” said Engine in charge of the proceedings, “He's & new The engineer knew about. He had not been drilling firemen for years without gauging the stuff out of which his heroic fire-fighters were made, Sure enough, as we watched, the man at the window Rathered up his courage and plunged bol downward, flashing through the air like a meteor. There was really no danger about the feat, it only looked a bit awkward. Be- neath in the graveled vard twelve strong men spread themselves round the circum- ference of a Strong rope net some twelve feet in diameter. uney grasped the thick outer rope with both hands, holding their wris yward so a8 to give tho maximum of resistance. They braced themseives against'the shock, pulling backward with all their might, and at the same time keeping & wary eye on the jumper abovs, It was all over in o second. The body plunged {nto the center of the net, foreing it inward and downward until in the mid- a early touched the ground, But the power of the twelve strong men offered sufficient resistance, the jumper eseaped v He 414 not, as one might .ave expected, rebound violently like a ball from the net; there was no tossing effect, He simply turned a half somersault back. ward, and the twelve men drew the net back to its original position, There is something more than mere muscular strength needed to perform this net-practice gafely. The holders have to be watchful to see that the ju er does riot miss the receptacle, BY c certed action a body of trained men ean e n veral feet In either direc- n the very briet space of time d to fall from a burning building, they can make sure of catching the ng pe: . s iper make y bad shot indeed. At a real fire the greatest watchfulnoss and skill would be necessary eftective use of the net. Hal blinded by smoke and ¥ e roof of some high me skill accura. m,” remarked , “would be sure to miss, es- “but I think we could Even if the height the men to keep tha 1 e grour e be able to break t} . sufferer w get o ses or perhaps a broken bon not ‘expect a man or woman' impris- 1 i h c T We 3 fright, T me fon and told us that utes more he would for driil equipped for the pur- four-squa pose. Thers is a high, wooden tower, buut like a house, and rt ing to'a helght of --five feet. It has T . and 1is supplied e and hose pipa. have been from t st, and In the use of h our firemen are rapidly becoming The net h we have already 1 manufacture, constructed inest hemg xactly on the spider's web. Experts dif- kind of net to be used. ern cities they employ can- n London rubber sheeting. ez is a firm bellaver in Nothing is so ut rope will never go. See meshes there are! It would be sible for enough:of those to get rot- at once to cause danger. Why, I d this net by dropping a bag of 0. it from the top of the tower. imagine the force with which a weight would fall from such a The net showed no signs of giv- o held it felt the all had sore necks ting as a drill, and fm- device, is the It is marvelous these sim- hem rest ‘on the They are mar- iction, made by a in such a man ximum of strength t t ardly right to ts.ladders. They do conventional type at uprights with simply of a short cross- - The steps to afford foothold ough to bear any put upon them. een feet long, and is t steel wire fast- gth. Even if the k or burn through, the and the ladder 1s 00 pounds, ve. the most interest- ce. The ladder ter- eel arm, extending s for about three feet, and slightly curved at the end. The inner edge s serrated to prevent slipping, and is capable of taking a firm hold on wood or store or iron ‘ake up ladders!” commands the en- gineer, and four men, girdled with *huge canvas belts, rush to thelr posts and seize the ladders, raising them perpendicularly against the wall. The belt is an essential feature of the equipment, quite as much so as the ladder, for one would be useless without the other. It is constructed of stost woven material, fastened by leather thongs. 1 to be well made, for s used the fireman trusts In front is a large steel hoak made with a spring snap, so that it can be readi X “Scale the tower! is the next order, and the eager firemen rush at the doomed building, which is supposed just now to be enveloped in flame and smoke. The fire- escape is not avaflable, and the problem the men have to solve is the scaling of this seventy-five-foot buflding with no other aid ir hooks and ladders. k s h for a man weight t them; were the they would at- tack it with cqual — THERE I8; NS TIME T3 HESITATE ¢ AT _ANY MOMENT ,THE ROPE, WHICH (S THEIR ONLY HOPE OF SAFETY, MAY BE BURNED THRSUGH tower—without their ald the trick could not be accomplished. The men work in couples. The leader takes his ladder, and dashes it against the window of the first story. The hook pa through the glass, through the shutters, if there are any, and takes a firm hold on the window sil, swinging freely a short distance from the wall. The bold climber ascends and gnaps his hook on the top of the ladder, swinging backward, his weight sustained by the belt, his arms free for action. His comrade below passes up the second lad- der; and this in its turn is attached to the windew sill of the next story. The leader goes up, the other fireman follows, and tory after stery the process is repeated until the top is reached. In a marvelously ghort time all four men are on the roof, line in hand, ready to haul up hose or to rescue the imprisoned victims of the fire. To come down is simply a reversal of the process, but our agfle firemen know of many a shorter cut. Each climber carries with him, slung round his shoulder, a coil of stout manila rope, and with this and his snap-hook, he has a perfect fire-escape all ready made. At the third story of the building, far below the rescuers on the roof, a woman leans out of the window ghrieking frantically for help. The flames have cut her off from the staircase, soon they will burst into her room. Already great volumes of smoke are pouring from the window. If she i8 to be saved it must be done quickly. The fire laddles are never at a loss. To go down the ladders would be too slow. Taking a couple of staples from a pouch on his belt, the fireman quickly attaches the rope to the cornice. In a second he has taken a couple of turns with the rope around his snap hook. With one hand he grasps the rope underneath and boldly throws himself over the edge. The friction of the rope on the ring checks his descent, he slides rapidly but safely to the third-story window, and dashes bravely into the burning room. Overcome by the smoke and heat the wo- man has fallen prostrate on the floor, but the Intreptd rescuer seizes her in his arms and rushes to the window. There is no time to hesitate, no time to Jower tha victim to the ground. At any moment the flames, now bursting through the upper windows, may burn the Tope which is their only hope of safety. The woman has just strength enough to clasp her arms firmly her reseuer’'s neck, his one free winds tightly around her w He passes the rope sgain around his hook, and with his fair burden precipitates himself from the win- dow. Togethe rey slide safely, amid the cheer: a thousands, to the ground, and callant rescue 18 'ornia boys. placed to This is what this admirable drill of this city. Of {8 teaching tbe firemen or flame, one has there Is no smoke these dramatic accompani- could be too expensive to F time you war is there a ments. It down a fire tower ev a realistic drill. N 000 SqLARIES THAT KINEGS GET | OW much do a king get?” asked one of Mark Twain's odd charac- ters, and the Answer was not very the title execu- tives of great nations, there is no wonder an er was difficult, fc pay of rulers varies gre and is erned by no eparer of propertion, unless it s that the pay increases with the llabllity to assassination. The ex- tremes of salary are {llustrated by the pay of the Czar of Russia and the President of Switzerland. The former gets $24.000 a day, while the latter is happy and satis- fied with ach twenty-four hours. These figures are based on 385 working days In the year, for monarchs are sup- posed to be always working. Now these executives—of Russia and itzerland—are at the extremes of the rulers’ payroll, the first getting $8.766. Mo a year, and the other $2000. Between these extremes the other eleven natfons consid- ereq are scattered in a haphazard man- ner, with no uniform relation between the amount of vearly salary and the number of persons who must pay it. The Emperor of Austria, with his $4,380,00 annually, comes next under the Czar of all the Rus- slas, while President McKinley, with his $50,000, comes next above the, President of little Switzerland. After Austria comes Germany, which pays Emperor William $3,400,000; then the King of Italy, with §2,- 35,000; Shah ia, $2,335.000: Queen Victoria, $1.§ ng of Belglum, $632,- 000; King of & Sweden Queen of the . $292 of Greece, §253,000, and the President of France $239,000, Th latter ceives but little more regular salary than Presi dent McKinley, but he has fixed perquis- ites that bring ais income from the State to the amount given An idea of the relative proportion be- fressed, shrieking female in the case, but & young 11\§htwelght acts the part perfect- 1y well. Not that it is necessary that the person to be rescued should be light. The heaviest man can be saved as well as the smallest woman. By slipping a loop around the man’s legs and then taking a half-hitch under his shoulders he can be lowered with perfect ease to the street. Or if the man Is cool and strong enough to hold on he can take a firm grip round the fireman’s walst, allowing the body to hang down. The two, with the aid of the hook, can slide to the street. The same appliances can be utilized in many other ingenious ways, but it would take too long to detail all the devices which our clever firemen employ for saving life. It is enough to know that our Fire Depart- ment is thoroughly up to date, and that no person will be needlessly sacrificed for the lack of skilled aid. . F. ROSE-SOLEY. — Some Duties of a Librarian. He (the Itbrarian) must know that the confident soclety woman who asks for “The Bajetta Woman'" expects to receive Hardy's novel, “But Yet a Woman"; that the timid lady who asks for “Two Little Angel Bables” is to be given “The Hea enly Twins.” He should have patience, too, for the awkward boy who engages him in a conversation like the following: “I want a universal history.” “Yes, my boy; but would a history of Europe suit you better?” “I think it would.” “What part of Burope would you like?” “] want Great Britain.” “Yes? How about England?” *T'd like a book on England.” After a pause the librarian said: “Per- haps you want something on London?” “Yes, I do,” brightening. «Westminster Abbey or the Tower?’ N OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODOOOOOOOOOO A tween these amounts can be gained if you consider one printed line of the Herald as representing the salary of the Czar, then a period will repr stipend of tr , and one-fot the Emperor ¢ lttle more than a firth of a Great Britain pays to Queen Victoria The amounts of the salari of these honored men and women bear very odd relations to the number of persons for whose benefit they are supposed to ad- m er laws of their own or the people’s making. Now, each subject of the Czar has to annually pay 7 4-5 cents to his rul- er, and stands eighth on the list; while the Persians, each of whom must yearly pay to the Shah 30% cents, head it. Switz- erland, with the smallest population and salary, does not pay the least per capita, for the United States, with .07 of a cent for each inhabitant, is at the bottom of the list, Switzerland being next above, with .08 of a cent. Turkey, with 20 cents for each subject, naturally comes next below Persia, and Greece, with 11 2-5 cents, comes next. Then, in the descend- ing scale, come Austria, with 10 2-5 cents for each subject to pay to the ruler; Bel- glum, 10 1-5 and Sweden, Germany, ‘6 3-5 cent Holland, 6 1-5; France, 6; Great Britain, 4 3-5, and then Switzerland and the United States. Figures alone hardly convey to ordinary mortals an idea of the amounts of some of these salaries. Take, for tance, the $8.766.000 received annually by the Czar. Put that amount in sflver dollars, and perhaps it will carry more of a meaning. Tt would mean 274 tons of silver, and if the dollars were piled in a single column they would reach thirteen miles, or, if placed edge to edge would extend 207 miles—one-half of the distance from St. Petersburg to Moscow. ) i = %, S X Ny ““The teacher told me to write a sition on Westminster Abbe; 0 if vou have a book on that it'll do.’—Youth's Companion. ee———— Self-Sacrificing Physicians. Few persons realize how prominent physician specialists, in great citic Chicago or Boston give poor. Many of the most em cians In the country to large public ho of their time da among the poor. Nichols of New Y« sulting from o his annual dc regular daily amounted t $25,000. Dr. N and German as flu and this harity of N many a s stricken s Weekly. e Wife (who has been out shopping all day)—Oh, dear, how tired and am Husband—Didn't you have an: town? Wife—A plate of soup on that I could afford to have Husband—Did you wanted? Wife—Oh, vyes; it's JurPING INTO = CIRCVIAR |