Show THE LADIES BRIGADE Association Pledged to the Extinction of Fires A S little gold bucket upon a coil of silver sil-ver hose made up In the form of a brooch with a Latjn motto beneath lauding laud-ing the olllcacy of water does not Imply that the wearer has joined the noble army of laundresses nor yet < < the ancient and honorable order of char women io another and undoubtedly higher mission is the wearer oft the pin devoted tier dpty is nothtnt more nor less than to render efficient and intelligent assistance denotes of conflagrations That pin In casoC notes hcr membership in the LaMes Country House extinction brigade the labors of which organization are Devoted De-voted to the extinction not of country houses as the name might be Interpreted by many literal masculine brains out to the Quenching fires that will sometimes pain the destructive upper hand In the very best built regulated and protected urban homes The brigade was only organized when Lent becantanil tho well endowed with this worlds goods began to flock out of the cities to the midwinter health resorts re-sorts Xow It happened at one of these imartlbBUlemepts a hotel was burned to the ground and from the ashes of tins accident TUedhix irkd rOdo the ladles brigadeThough no lives were lost and verr tewSaluablcs In the destruction of the hotel one little waman who made her escape In a pink cashmere wrapper and fur lined evening boots received a shuddery realization ot how horrible it would be to have such an event taKe place in her new country house Furthermore Further-more being a most Intelligent little woman she concluded as she watched the big hotel melt Into one Ugly cinder how very easily it might have been saved or the complete ruin averted If only the quests had known how to combat the names It did not take her long to put Into active circulation amonG her feminine friends a happy thought struck out by these sage reflections Not a great deal of eloquence was re auired to persuade them of the great risks every oqe runs of losing a valuable valu-able country home by fire and that danger fsb enhanced yo the tact that the men of a family are obliged by business to bo absent ab-sent from home a good part of the time jut if the women of every household knew just how to handle a fire the risks would be reduced just onehalf Well the Idea grew In feminine circles with the proverbial rapidity of lire Iself and gathering together a dozen fellow enthusiasts this good lady established the first womans fire brigade Everybody chipped In something and the head of the association Interviewed the fire chief of her native city who selected I lected for her a capable man to glvo the I brigade inhtructlon In fighting domestic conflagrations so to speak of every I size or origin whatsoever A courteous old veteran was chosen for this post > I and for the salary offered he guaranteed guaran-teed to give Instruction twice a week to drill his fashionable but docile and enthusiastic en-thusiastic pupils and the pioneer of the worthy movement offered her lawns and country house as a convenient drill ground and base of experimental operations opera-tions The veteran now declares he never had more Rifted agile pupil and the pupil who told about the course Insists that she would rathjr be called upon to putout put-out a fire than to play golf or attend a star < night at the opera I The veteran went right to the root of the matter and explained first to his class and nature of what we call fireproof fire-proof building materials the princlplss on which a fireproof house Is erected how I i r S S 1 ± Lal IIMf fl domestic arhltecture can be improved with a view tQ making country homes less liable to destruction by flames and then he showed with what Implements and ex Inguishers every house ought to be pro rifled I After suchvalUablS preliminary lectures came the actual exciting work of charging a suppositions fire oSlt Fires orIginating in the cellar the kitchen in the drawing room chimney In the smoking room nursery garrst from a curtain blown across a lighted gasbracket and from a careless guest ending in bed were all dauntlessly tackled arid downed eventually Wonderful Wonder-ful scapes and daring adventures thrilling thrill-ing rescues presumable midnight alarms and desperate face tp face battles with imaginary flames kept the interest of the brigade right up to concirt pitch and when the roll Is called on class days not a woman Is over found missing The good work thus begun Is In pro ccss of steady growth lrqm the first brIgade others hnvo sprung and by the time the aason for wholesale migration 1 to the country begins every neighborhood will undoubtedly possess an efficient corps of firewomen These women bind themselves to servo whenever called upon to assist any neighbors neigh-bors whether the individuals whose prop erty Is In danger is a member of ths corps r or not and If no other aid Is necessary I the flrowomen can at least voll1ntcsr to I safely femovc bricabrac clothing etc and drass any wounds Inflicted by tho flames They are also obliged to show any erring friend how to equip her house with the proper engine for raising water with hose ladders axes etc and by all possible msans to defend country houses against yils deadly enemy So far no especial uniform has been evolved even by the first brigade Whet ht drill the flrewom usually wear their bicycle suits and those are woolen ot course on their heads close woolen caps loose l castor gloves protect the hands and nearly all the women wear capacious flannel aprons These are meant for uso i in carrying bricabrac etc from dancer 8aRn J rand Jt Is a wonderful sight I to see half a dozen or these capable creatures bounce into a threatened room empty the draw I I ers and closets of clothing the bureau of its silver articles and dash out in ft trice About her waist every brigade I woman wears a broad belt Into which a sharp little hatchet is slung since axes are too heavy for feminine arms and while the demon of lire lies low and s > curity reigns the little gold pin described above Is the only badge of her heroic trainIng that the volunteer firewoman Shows MILUCEXI ARROWPOINT |