A. Through the whole department I cannot say, but of our company I saw a couple of them. Of course, they had their favorite companies. And then there were plenty of volunteers of the old members of the volunteer department. Q. Who appoints the fire commissioners? A. They are elected by city councils. Q. They have control of the fire department? A. Yes. Q. State whether the fire commissioners are subject to the control of any higher body? A. I don't think they are. I think they are given full power. Q. Do you know what the law is in regard to that? A. I don't. I have never examined it. By Senator Yutzy: Q. What appeared to be the disposition of the crowd surrounding that fire--did they appear to be in sympathy with the rioters? A. That I cannot say. Q. Some of the crowd were gathered there out of curiosity? A. I would have them all around the engine. It was a regular hum, just like bees--everybody seemed to be talking. Q. Was there any general expression against the soldiery? A. I believe there was, after they fired on the mob. I believe some classes of men had a feeling against the soldiers, but I believe the better class of citizens had not. Q. You say the soldiers could have cleared the tracks and dispersed the mob, when they came out of the round-house? A. They could--if they had opened with the Gatling guns, there would not have been a soul in sight for fifteen squares. Q. Do you know whether the officers of the soldiery in the round-house had any communication with anybody outside, during the night? A. I don't think they had, to my knowledge. Q. None of them were passing back and forth, between the round-house and outside? A. That I cannot say. I was not close enough to it. By Senator Reyburn: Q. The soldiers had no means of knowing that the crowd had become dispersed, or weakened, or drunken? A. I don't think they had. I think the soldiers thought the whole community was against them. If they had known that they could have come out, and drove the mob down, I think they would have done it. By Senator Yutzy: Q. Officer Coulston has testified, that the round-house was not on fire where the troops came out--that he went through the building. Could he have gone through those buildings soon after the troops evacuated them? A. He couldn't. He might have gone into the carpenter shop, or the paint shop, but the flames were coming out of all the windows of the round-house. Nobody could have lived there. By Senator Reyburn: Q. Could a man have got on to the engines as they stood in the stalls? A. He might, in one part by the carpenter shop, but I don't think he could have lived in any part of it, on account of the heat. * * * * * Daniel J. Eckels, _sworn with the uplifted hand_: By Mr. Lindsey: Q. Where do you reside? A. 135 Second avenue. Q. Were you connected with the fire department in July last? A. Yes. Q. What position did you hold?