It seems hardly fair to criticise the English firemen without knowing the difficulties they had to contend with. Some of the streets through which they had to drive are hardly wide enough for two vehicles to pass, and the fire occurring at midday, all these ways were blocked with carts.
The English firemen cannot drive as rapidly and recklessly as our firemen do on our wide avenues, for any attempt at such driving would mean certain destruction to engine and apparatus.
The English alarm system does not appear to be so perfect as ours, but otherwise the same engines are used, and the department is finely organized. The arrangement of the city is all that prevents them from doing the quick and effective work that we can accomplish.
When a fire breaks out here, it is the duty of the person discovering it to run to the nearest fire-alarm box, and, opening the box, pull down the hook he will see inside. This causes a signal-number to appear on the key-board in front of the operator at headquarters.
The number tells him the district in which the fire has occurred, and with one touch of a telegraphic key he sends out an alarm to the thirty-odd engine-houses in the neighborhood of the fire.
The pressure on the key at headquarters releases the horses in the stalls of the various engine-houses. Instantly these clever beasts dash out of their boxes and place themselves at the shafts, the collar clasps around their necks and harnesses them to the engine; the men slide down the poles to their places, the gates swing open, and the engine is out and dashing along the road in less time than it takes to tell about it.
By the use of regularly appointed signals, the first fireman who arrives at the fire can inform headquarters just how serious the fire is, and whether more engines should be sent.
On one occasion a great fire broke out in the busy part of New York city. It was a serious fire; and according to the records at headquarters, in less than four minutes the first batch of engines had arrived and three extra calls had been sent out, which were speeding half the engines in the city to the scene of the fire.
It will interest you to know that the fire department of the city of New York has reached such a degree of excellence that the risk of serious damage and loss by fire has been greatly reduced, and, in consequence, the insurance companies have lowered the rate of insurance; that is to say, they do not charge people as much money to insure their property this year as they did last year and have done for many years past.