Fires and Firemen: from the Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science and Art, Vol XXXV No. 1, May 1855Anonymous
History
Fires and Firemen: from the Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science and Art, Vol XXXV No. 1, May 1855
Anonymous
Fire departments; Fire prevention
Thirdly, we have, in contrast to the immense rabble of Bumble engines
and the Bashi-Bazouks of private establishments, the small complement
of men and material of the Fire Brigade. It consists of twenty-seven
large horse-engines, capable of throwing 88 gallons a minute to a
height of from 50 to 70 feet, and nine smaller ones drawn by hand. To
work them there are twelve engineers, seven sub-engineers, thirty-two
senior firemen, thirty-nine junior firemen, and fourteen drivers, or
104 men and 31 horses. In addition to these persons, who form the
main establishment, and live at the different stations, there is an
extra staff of four firemen, four drivers, and eight horses. The
members of this supplementary force are also lodged at the stations,
as well as clothed but are only paid when their services are required,
and pursue in the daytime their ordinary occupations. This not very
formidable army of 104 men and 31 horses, with its reserve of eight
men and eight horses, is distributed throughout the Metropolis, which
is divided into four districts as follows:--On the north side of the
river--1st. From the eastward to Paul's Chain, St. Paul's Churchyard,
Aldersgate-street, and Goswell-street-road; 2d. From St. Paul's, &c.,
to Tottenham court-road, Crown street, and St. Martin's-lane; 3d. From
Tottenham-court-road, &c., westward, 4th. The entire south side of the
river. At the head of each district is a foreman, who never leaves it
unless acting under the superior orders of Mr. Braidwood, the
superintendent or general-in-chief, whose head-quarters are in
Watling-street.
In comparison with the great Continental cities such a force seems
truly insignificant. Paris, which does not cover a fifth part of the
ground of London, and is not much more than a third as populous,
boasts 800 _sapeurs-pompiers_: we make up, however, for want of
numbers by activity. Again, our lookout is admirable: the 6,000
police of the metropolis, patrolling every alley and lane throughout
its length and breadth, watch for a fire as terriers watch at
rat-holes, and every man is stimulated by the knowledge, that if he is
the first to give notice of it at any of the stations, it is half a
sovereign in his pocket. In addition to the police, there are the
thousand eager eyes of the night cabmen and the houseless poor. It is
not at all uncommon for a cabman to earn four or five shillings of a
night by driving fast to the different stations and giving the alarm,
receiving a shilling from each for the "call."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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