Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 1921)
f The Omaha Sunday Bee MAGAZINE FEATURES VOL. 51 NO. 14. MAGAZINE OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 18, 1921. 1-M TEN CENTS I" Disastrous Blazes in Omaha History Firemen's Life and Death Battles . Narrow Escapes Amid Smoke and Flames 0) r Br EDWARD BLACK. Fire! An old scrapbook contain a clipping from the Warsaw Qip." "per, Riving; an account of a 6rt by a cub reporter, who tegin hit illuminating chronicle in this manner: , "At the midnight hour o( Jan uary 12, when the inhabitant! of Brink llacn were wrapped in na ture'a fond embrace of deep, the wild, weird cry of Tire! Fire! Fire!' -ring out ift thundering tonei upon the midnight frosty air, calling ia uo unmistakable voice to the unconscious sleepers to flee for their lives." The tame book aUo contains another cub reporter claic, pub lished some ears agoi by Tid '.its. It began: Paralysing Suddenness. "The angeli of night had spread their ebony wings over the vast city and a stillness as deep and profound as' that which en velops the starlit, trackless r prairie was brooding over the red-tiled cottagea of Kimbcrly, Crescent, wherein the weary workers, worn out by their Her culean labors, were snatching an all too brief interval of repose on the lotus-scented breast 61 Mor pheus, when from out the eerie void of silence there rang forth with paralyzing suddenness a ' stentorian ahout of 'Fire!'" It is said thai Nero jazzed up i his fiddle when Rome was being . consumed by the element of, in cineration, but whether the old ruler was motivated by a desire ' to keep cool, or whether he mere ly wanted to accelerate the ef forts of the fire department, is a detail of history that has not been cleared up. The old records, do not disclose that he was a mem ber of a volunteer or "paid fire de partment. Compelling Appeal. These w hov guard property and life against " the. ravage of the ' fiery element are the minute men , of the community. - There always' .has. been a, keen " interest in the spectacular features of a fire and the dramatic life of. the fireman. The sound of the fire bell has a compelling appeal to old and. young. The boy in his day ' dream plays the role of fireman, cherishing a hope that some day he might be a real fire-fighter. Much of the picturesqueness of the fireman's lite ' has been re placed.by modern mechanics and , methods,' all in the interest of efficiency. The red shirt worn by firemen years ago has been dis- s carded, and horses which rushed from their .stalls to suspended har ness have been replaced by mo torized apparatus. No horses . are-nop used in the Omaha 'de-. , partment. . The complement of machines consists of 40 pieces of motor apparatus pumpers, aerial trucks, " water towers,' combina ' ticn tracks, .chiefs cars and work ' cars. ' ' 1 : ' ..' Organized In 1860. Chief Charles Salter's experi-. ence in the fire, department covers a' span of 45 years.-beginning on r June 1, 1876, when he first entered the ranks as a member of the old volunteer -."department.'.'" Omaha was something of a country town when the present chief began to "run .with the machine." The first organization was known as the "Pioneer. Hook and; Ladder company. No. 1," started in 1860 by prominent citizens. '"-'.''; When the chief joined during. -the centennial exposition year there were only a , few pieces of apparatus. The volunteer fire lad dies worked at their respective em ployments and responded when -the bell of the Methodist church was rung. At first they pulled the apparatus by means of a rope, and it was rather an honored po sition, that of city fireman, in . those days. A fireman at that time held police authority to the extent that he could command the assistance of any bj'Stander." Used Hand Pumps. Hand pumps were the first ma- . chines used, being displaced by steamers and horse-drawn appar atus. Water was drawn from a series of cisterns which were kept filled with river water, each hav ing a capacity of 1,000 gallons. On May 5, 1883, the J volunteer ; - company met for the last time in its official capacity, making way for a metropolitan department. Chief Salter has been identified . with the department from the days . oi volunteers to its present strength of 325 men, working on the double-shift plan, with 23 fire stations and 40 pieces Of modern ' motor apparatus. I s :v SjHiiUMII II 111 . - ii in Minril i i TTry ,iL J f'.:-; 4K0aSTiM " Above When the ,chief. entered the -de-' partment therewere only' 13 paid men on ? the staff. ; The chief be came stoker to fire engine No.',3, ' and, later was. in charge of this machine, then located in a fire staV tion on the west side of Sixteenth street, at Jhe alley between Far-v nam and Harney streets. , . " Grand .Central Hotel Fire.-- " The' chief's -first-large fire was the memorable conflagration which destro'ed the Grand Central ho tel, September 24," 1878, on the present site of the Paxton hotel. ."I. had charge of steam engine Nebraska No. 3, which I attended outside' of the fire' house on Six teenth street. We. had a line, of hose down the alley, to the Grand Central and pumped -w'ater out of a large cistern at the fire station," ' said the chief. "It was a long and -hard shift and as I recall it now I was at that post 24 hours with out a stop.1- While we were pump ing the water, down to the fire -a fireman I believe his name was , Jacobson came running and asked me. to shut off the engine which I did at once. The purpose, of . that was to' get firemen who were in the ' burning building to -come to a window and then rescue them, , Four Men Killed. ' .,' " "While Jacobson -was on his cr-' rand ' the walls ' of the hotel fell : .with a. crash "and sent four . fire men to their deaths.' Another fire man who had, been inside got as far as the. entrance, v but was caught, by falling walls and was killed. ; Five lost their lives in that terrible fire. .Jack Galligan. was' chief at that time." The . most thrilling experience . of Assistant '. Chief "George;. C . Crager occurred - during a fire at the transportation ' " building on , the Transmississippi -' -exposition grounds more than 20 years ago. ; Crager was captain of Hose Com pany No. 11 at that time and ; A. J. Clark was pipeman. The' : wind was from the north and they wxre south of the building when x 'back draft" caused the fire to burst forth with terrific fury be fore the wind. , . ". . : " Tear Off Biasing Clothes. "Clark," . said the assistant chief, "was on fire and my. clothes were scorching. We ran as fast as we could. I kept- urging- Clark-'- 5ivs5fH (J J 111 r-f Hose, wagon used in 1890.? Below to speed-up. George . W'indheimi then second .assistant chief, was standing ' on,' Twentieth, street, yelling to us, 'Come Ion!' ; -"Citizens . tore ' the blazing cloifhes from Clark. That was the , fastest sprint I ever made in my ln'e. I have' been ' in foot races In 1893 Assistant Fire Chief Mar tin Dineen tarried a moment at a big fire and the delay saved his life, . - - - since, but have been unable to match' that record for speed. ' The building which was destroyed was two blocks long, one and a half -blocks -wide and was packed with lumber ' from wrecked buildings ' of' the, explosion. The heat was so intense , that another building a block away burst into flames as if it had been set all over at the Same time." Mr. Crager carries scars on his neck and hands as reminders of that memorable race w ith death. zJ One -of, Omaha's modern ladder trucks. . Efelays are not --always - danger- ' , ous, , according to' the' log book of Martin . Dineen, assistant chief. He , has' in mind-the Shiverick-fire in. ," 1893, when he reverses the popu lar notionabout delays. . ' '...-' 1 ,. "It was in June, on a .Saturday ,' night, as I recall it," said the as sistant chief, "when the Snivcrick. fire alarm.,- was sent in. -1 : was ' with Hose- company. No. 7 at the ' time and While ascending an out side stairway I met -Tom Gray, , who was carrying a hose line and who complained that' his wrist had been sprained. So I helped Gray . ; and then got onto the Maurcr roof 11 whieff was next to and lower than the Shiverick buildings . "I was just -in time to see the "west wall of the Shiverick build- -ing totter and I called to the men on the roof 'jb get away. I made one jump across the skylight over . the Maurer building and landed at . the Pundt building wall just as the; Shiyerick'.wall came down with a -crash and going -through the' sky light over w hich I had jumped a . few seconds ahead of the crash... Captain Cox and Rob Oury of my company were killed beneath that' wall and . I Would have been with thein if Gray had not delayed me "' on account of his sprained wrist." . .Old Boyd Theater Burned. ' - Many : Omahans . remember the , fire - which -destroyed the old Boyd theater ''.at the .' southeast corner, of Fifteenth and Farnam streets on; October; 2, 1893. Zina Smith-, does. He " is ' serving as driver at fire station No. 2. Elev enth and Dodge streets. . He has been in ! the fire department 29 years, which length of service usu ally earns the sobriquet of veter an, but Mr. 'Smith avers' that he . docs not' feel like a , veteran. From stage driver in the Black Hills to driver of modern motor fire apparatus-is a far cry; but' not ' too far for Driver Smith, whose nerve seems to be as steady to- ' day in guiding his heavy machine at a rapid pace, as it was when he negotiated the hills and turns in the Black Hills with a six-in-hand years ago. Retrace Steps to Safety. '"I entered the service of the fire" department during September, 1892, and the first large fire I at tended was at the old Boyd theater in 1893," he said, ' mm H : At the time of the theater fire Mr. Smith was driver for Hook" and .Ladder company "No. 1 : and C. C Trobee .was driver for En? gine company No. 4. The . twain entered the; burning building by . way of the stage door in the alley ahdr it was. Trobee who-suggested that they should retrace their steps . to safety. . . ', ''...; v V "I told Trobee that I Was will ing to go on with the work or, to leave- as- he, suggested," continued Mr.- Smith. "We returned to the alley and within a minute the w-all fell but.I admit that I experi enced a queer feeling, because I had not been in the , department very long." " ."The Waifs of New. York" had just', finished a rehearsal , at the Boyd theater when a gas. jet in the flies ignited .the ' scenery and -started a fire 'which destroyed the building. ' V- -; "' , ' f. -..'?" Horses to Gasoline. -. . Zina Smith , was a familiar fig ure on the streets when he drove four .horses , attached to a large ' aeriat truck. His experience as a stage driver, served him well as a driver of , , horse-drawn .. fire ap paratus. .When horses were re placed by- motor apparatus and the men were 'expected to becomefa- -miliar with 'motorized equipment, . some of the .. fire laddies marveled at the ease .with'-which .Mr.; Smith "made the grade" from horses to gasoline. ; '.' 's ''"' .'. ',' "He drives the motor truck just like . he did the ' old . four-horse team," remarked ; Capt '' R.; -W. Oliver, - "and ycu know' -what a chariot rider he-was with the four-horses."- .- - V . : ', : At first" Driver Smith was loath .' to part from his horses,.' but- his mind soon became motorized and he avers that he. would not return .by his own choice to the old horse system of locomotion;' f . .... , A Narrow, Escape. , . Jerry Sullivan,- now serving as ' . . .....!. battalion chief in the South' Side, joined the department on March 17, 1891, and he has served at nearly every, large fire in Omaha during the last 30 years. The Kingman fire is underlined in his memory's book on account of a narrow escape he had from death. He was a member of Hose Com pany No. S. Eighth and Pierce streets, at the time. He and aev- ) : , era! aiHites placed a line of hoie along Ninth street, carrit-d the line into tke building at the elevator shaft and thry were about to proceed with the line up stair when something happened. "As I now recall it," Mid Hat- ' talion Chief Sullivan, "lite men with me on that occasion were Martin Mulvihill, since retired: Chief Salter, then assistant chief; I'd La Page and Herman Gcinekc. We were about to turn the water n the tire when the hoe went flat. Then ' we returned to the street to investigate the cause," learning that Ktigine Company No. I had disconnected ottr hose at the hydrant. We were jut . ahout out of the huihlini when it collapocd. all of the floors going down. Of course, it i evident what would have happened ii' the water at the hydrant had not been turned off at that particular time. ' We had iiot suspected the veak ness of the buiidmg. We would all have gone - down with v the . floors, as other, firemen have done at other fires, it thit fortunate in cident had not occurred." Suffocated by Fumes. Mr Sullivan , added that the . Kingman fire was the nearest call, to' death he has had during his long experience as a . fire-fighter. ' At the Haydcns' store lire he was suffocated by fumes and was car ried, with others, to a hospital. f "The Shiverick furniture store fire at 1206-8-10 l-'aniam. street, June , 3, 1893,- was another bad one," , Mr. Sullivan - continued. : "Martin ' Dincen, now assistant chief, was driver of No. 7- Hose company and I was driver for Home Com pany No. 2, then at -Tenth find Douglas streets. . I happened to be in the allcy-when the building . went down. .'Pipcman John P. Oury was found -ucad the next . morning ; in the cellar. Several others ' were injured, - including George Coulter, superintendent' of iLJI a 1,1 H 0?-'-;;i if Citizens once tore burning clo.hety from the body of Assistant Fire Chief George C. Crager. the police and fire alarm system, . and , aUo a - spectator. Capt. , Charles D. Cox of Hose Company No. 7 also was killed. I always remember the. Shiverick fire be cause Chief Gulligan , was on the . sidewalk, yelling to beat the baud, as we drove in. The chief was in " Maurer's when the alarm was sent . in and was the firt to reach the , fire. Chief Galligan had a forci ble way of giving his commands, but he did not mean anything per sonal in , his remarks. He would . ., have given the shirt from his back , to have helped a man in need." . Caught in Burning building. . Ernest C. -Ncwiiouse, whose of ficial. designation is battalion chief, : North -Side, entered- the service oil : - . ' xmmmmm jju -aes-Hl il Below Manning the wagons after an alarm April Jit, 1SV5. lie i working at present m i-pcdal duty out of tha clii(' ollice, not Ji.iviiij rccoered from the eifect ( injuries suffered liiiring the SrlnuolKr & Mueller lire UNt October. At that lire he iiml four aso.-iatr fell from third . to second floor. Fireman Fred ni.i.'ck being killed. That a the second tinif Mr. N'ehoue had 1i.mi car.ght in a burning building. O.i the la-t ocfaioll he was c trikuted by being pulled out of his hoots, with the fle-.li of both leg :-rioii.-.ly burned. I'iieinon turned a lioi-c on h'm to extluKui-h the I'-re which was binning his limb. t lie rcmaiiii'd four Month- in a ho-pital mill now N taking treat ment. At t!ie Kirkendatl firo, January, r.'tl. he suffered a frac ture di a hip when the roof fell in and covered him. Three months in a hospital and a year on crutches were h:s lot aficr that lire. Pulled Out of Boots. "At the Schinoller & Mueller fire I called to the men to turn the hose on my legs which were being burned," said Mr. Ncwhouse in re calling that grim event. "Of course, I never will forget the feeling I experienced when Cap tain Quintan and his men of Hook and Ladder company N'o. 1 came to my ' rescue. I could see them through the smoke and lire. They had to pull' me out o,f my boots to get me out." : Patrick ' Cogari, battalion chief on the North Side, rounded out 30 years' service with the depart- ' ment on September 3 of this year. He has been in many tight places ' and has missed death by a jump on several occasions. The near est .he came -to be counted out was the occasion of a serious fire at . the Iartman Furniture ycom paiiy's establishment. "I was in the street when a wall fell out," he said. '"I was-covered with debris and was pulled out by ' (Turn to Puce Mix M, Colamn live.) Above Landing in the life net i- ' '