Alarm call

“ By pulling the hook down inside, the number of the box is telegraphed to the headquarters of the fire department, and the operator there sends another dispatch notifying the different engine houses in the immediate vicinity 18of the fire. This alarm comes in to us in the shape of sharp strokes, indicating the number of the alarm box. This is what we call a first alarm, and you will notice that there is a gong here in the box which rings when the handle is turned. ”

“ If in connexion with some other paying enterprise, as in the case of the messenger services referred to, it would be a different matter, though it should also not be forgotten that too great a number of call points means a probable repetition of signals of the same fire, and a risk of too many sections of the fire brigade being on the road to it.
Besides these forms of “call,” there is also the private alarm. Dangerous buildings are frequently provided with telephones, alarm-posts, or even automatic temperature indicators, by which a call can be given direct from the “risk” involved. ”

“ Article 47
⁠The people's government giving the alarm of an emergency shall, in accordance with the relevant regulations and, in light of the development of the situation, make an appropriate adjustment of the grade of the early warning and publish the same anew.
⁠Where there are facts to prove that the occurrence of an emergency is unlikely or the danger has been eliminated, the people's government that gives the alarm shall immediately announce the lifting of the alarm, terminate the period of early warning and call off the relevant measures taken. ”

“ Some men are reading, others writing reports, mayhap; a few are in their shirt-sleeves working, polishing the reserve engine: a calm reigns. We glance up at the automatic fire-alarm which,when just heated, rings the call, and "it will warm up also with your hand." ”

“ Then, suppose 19that I find the fire making such headway that we are unable to control it. Then I go to the box again and sound the third alarm, and that brings up every available engine and hook and ladder company within a reasonable distance. When that third alarm sounds in an engine house, every fireman knows that there’s a big and dangerous fire to be fought, and every man goes out with a keener sense of his own responsibility than he would on an ordinary call.”
“How often does the third alarm sound?” asked Bruce, who had been listening with intense interest to the chief’s words. ”

“ Enough firemen are found in each London fire station to make up three of our fire-companies, but only one third of these men are in service or on “call-duty" at a time, the rest being held in reserve to answer any other alarms which might come in, or to reinforce the first detachment leaving the house should their “call” prove to be a bad fire. And the men of each squad or detachment on “call-duty” are supposed to be fully dressed when an alarm comes in, and have only
A London “horse ladder-escape.” ”

“ I switched on the alarm every night at bed- time, no longer trusting on Thomas's frail memory; and as soon as the lights were out the burglars walked in at the kitchen door, thus taking the alarm off without waiting for the cook to do it in the morning. You see how aggravatingly we were situated. For months we couldn't have any company. Not a spare bed in the house; all occupied by burglars.__
"Finally, I got up a cure of my own. The expert answered the call, and ran another ground wire to the stable, and established a switch there, so that the coachman could put on and take off the alarm. ”

“ If you cannot sound the alarm alone, call upon the nearest person to help you. Wait there until the firemen arrive and direct them to the fire. When the firemen come do just as they tell you, for they know exactly what to do.
People trying to escape from a burning building often get frightened and then there is a panic. ”

“ It’s only by constant practice that we can be 25kept always on the alert. You know that at sea they often ring a false fire alarm, just for the sake of keeping the ship’s fire brigade in practice. Now Captain Murphy will show you the tender, or hose wagon as they used to call it.”
Accordingly the captain showed Bruce the two great coils of hose, and the different nozzles fitted for different emergencies, and he told him how the hook and ladder truck served at a fire very much in the same capacity as the sapper and miner corps in the army. ”

“ And it was just at this moment that Chief Trask recognized Mr. Dewsnap and came forward, holding out his hand and saying: “I just sent a note up to 42your house, and you’ll probably find it there when you get back. If I’d known we were to get a call from this box, I wouldn’t have sent it, but would have taken my chances of seeing you here. You very seldom miss a fire that’s anywhere within your radius.” ”

“ If my men don’t get the truck out into the street in ten seconds, I want to know the reason why every time.”
“I want you to come up and call on me some afternoon,” said Mr. Dewsnap to Bruce, 43as the boy turned to go back with the men on the truck. “I’ve got a number of books relating to the fire department and some curiosities that ought to interest a boy of your age and inclinations. You’ll find me at home any afternoon between two and four, and I’m sure Chief Trask will give you permission to come.” ”

“ A place, called the alarm-post, is generally appointed at which the troops are to assemble when an alarm is given.—Alarm is also the name given to several contrivances in which electricity is made use of, as a fire-alarm, by which intelligence is at once conveyed to the proper quarter when a fire breaks out; a burglar-alarm, an arrangement of wires and a battery in a house intended to set a bell or bells ringing should a burglar attempt to gain entrance. ”

“ Now go on.”
“Then,” continued the Baron, “I don’t suppose that a man is expected to make a very elaborate toilet even if he is going out into the streets, but he must put on his clothes, wash his hands and face——”
“We’re apt to get all the drenching we want when we get to the fire,” interjected Chief Trask, and the Baron continued without seeming to comprehend his remarks, “Well, suppose we say three minutes for dressing and another minute to get down stairs and hitch the horses—you don’t stop to call the roll of the men, do you?” ”

“ For example, suppose our company were to be called out to-night to a fire, and I were to find on arrival that it was in my own district, I would take command, even if another battalion chief were to be present also. In the same way he would take command, if the fire were in his district. But, suppose I find that the fire is a big one and in danger of spreading. I go to the box and sound the second alarm, which brings up an additional force. ”

“ The alarm was borne loudly and wildly along the streets—the rapid clattering of footsteps, as some individual hastened by to the scene of the disaster, followed by another, and another, was in a few seconds succeeded by the loud, confused, and hurried tramping of many men, as they rushed along shouting with hoarse voices the quick note of alarm. ”

“ In fire-alarm telegraphy, a system so arranged that when one alarm is being transmitted, no other alarm, sent in from another point, will be transmitted until after the first alarm has been disposed of. ”

“ Next morning we sent for the burglar-alarm man, and he came up and explained that the reason the alarm did not 'go off' was that no part of the house but the first floor was attached to the alarm. This was simply idiotic; one might as well have no armor on at all in battle as to have it only on his legs. The expert now put the whole second story on the alarm, charged three hundred dollars for it, and went his way. ”

“ Alarm-Post, in the field, is the ground appointed by the quarter-master general for each regiment to march to, in case of an alarm.
[6]
Alarm-Post, in a garrison, is the place allotted by the governor for the troops to draw up in, on any sudden alarm.
False-Alarms, are stratagems of war, frequently made use of to harrass an enemy, by keeping them perpetually under arms. They are often conveyed by false reports, occasioned by a fearful or negligent sentinel. A vigilant officer will sometimes make a false alarm, to try if his guards are strict upon duty. ”

“ The general scheme of a fire-alarm telegraph system embodies a central office to which notice can be sent from any number of signal boxes of the outbreak of a fire in the district covered by the box, the central office in turn calling out the nearest fire engines, and warning the fire department in general of the occurrence. Such fire alarms can be exchanged automatically, or by operators, and are sometimes associated with a large fire-alarm bell or whistle. Some boxes can be operated by the passing public; others need special keys. ”

“ If your lead is built on the rescue of a woman by firemen, tell the details so they will contribute to the effect of the opening statement; don’t switch your attention to the man who turned in the alarm and forget the rescue. The turning in of the alarm is probably a trivial detail and, if mentioned at all, should not be allowed to clog the movement of the story. “Don’t worry about who called the ambulance or who84 turned in the alarm” is one of the rules in the New York Herald’s pamphlet of instructions to reporters. ”

“ The bells of burglar alarms may be arranged to ring in a bedroom or in the street, and in the United States, where burglar and in fact all electric alarms are in more general use than in England, large houses are sometimes connected to a police station, so that the alarm is given there by bell or otherwise. ”

“ When instant action is needed in the city of New York, a General Alarm can in five minutes be sent by the police wires over its whole vast area of three hundred square miles. When, recently, a gas main broke in Brooklyn, sixty girls were at once called to the centrals in that part of the city to warn the ten thousand families who had been placed in danger. When the ill-fated General Slocum caught fire, a mechanic in a factory on the water-front saw the blaze, and had the presence of mind to telephone the newspapers, the hospitals, and the police. ”

“ B. to build her alarms upon. Sometimes, although we lodge upon the second story, she imagines that the window is being attempted; sometimes, although the register may be down, she is confident that the chimney is being used as the means of ingress.
Once, when we happened to be in London—where she feels, however, a good deal safer than in the country—we had a real alarm, and Mrs. B., since I was suffering from a quinsy, contracted mainly by my being sent about the house o' nights in the usual scanty drapery, had to be sworn in as her own special constable. ”

“ There’s a gong here, too, you see, as well as down stairs, and when the alarm rings, the fireman jumps out of bed and, you might say, right into his turnout, pulls the trousers up and runs for the sliding pole, and there’s a race every time to see who will get down first. The driver and engineer always sleep next to the poles so that they can get down ahead of the others. Down stairs there are two men on duty all the time at night. When the alarm sounds and the horses run to their places, these men must be at their heads to snap their collars and hitch the reins to their bits. ”

“ The telephone rings; a spark traveling down one of those fine wires, loosens a spring that throws the trap open, tissue paper unfolds like a fan, a taper is lighted that fires the trap, and all is prepared for the fire alarm. ”

“ Many communities also are using an Attention or Alert Signal, usually a 3- to 5-minute steady blast to get the attention of their people in a time of threatened or impending peacetime emergency. In most places, the Attention or Alert Signal means that people should turn on their radio or television sets to hear important emergency information being broadcast. ”

“ Now in my country the men all stand up in a row and are inspected by their commanding officer before they leave their quarters, and each one must have his boots blacked and his clothing all properly arranged before he gets up on the engine.”
“If we were to stop here to inspect our men we’d never get to the fire at all,” replied the Chief. “If a man doesn’t take interest enough in his work to turn out the instant the alarm comes, why there’s no room for him in the department. ”

“ Doubtless the unfortunate man was perfectly aware of the imminence of the danger; but we may charitably suppose, that he held such language for the purpose of preventing alarm which might be fatal. The alarm bell was now rung with so much violence that the clapper broke, and some of the passengers continued to strike it for some time with a stone. The bell was heard, it is said, at Beaumaris, but, as there was no light hoisted on the mast of the steamer, (a fatal neglect!) those who heard the signal were, of course, ignorant whence it proceeded. ”

“ Downing had never been able to induce the headmaster to allow the alarm bell to be sounded for fire drill at night. The headmaster, a man who had his views on the amount of sleep necessary for the growing boy, had drawn the line at night operations. "Sufficient unto the day" had been the gist of his reply. If the alarm bell were to ring at night when there was no fire, the school might mistake a genuine alarm of fire for a bogus one, and refuse to hurry themselves. ”