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Show A FIREMAN? f 4 4 A If your boy's temperament de- A 5 mands an occupation full of ac- A JJ tion and adventure he will find Kt J what he oraves In the fire de- K partment of a large city. It Is K Ta a calling Involving hard work K K and more or less danger, but it K K offers chances for advancement K F that are attractive despite the K y unusual risk. With nerve and K Y ambition, there are prizes to be (Sj p obtained by the young man who & f makes this his life work. By C. W. JENNINGS. jJS &StfCaiWlJ& f W AS ever ccurrei' to yu' JTv-'M father of a strong, active fcSvlvrtsi and fairly Intelligent boy H'JliriSl wuo nns arrived at the age lllFiM when It is necessary for 1 him to make a choice of his life work, that the occupation of fireman presents certain attractive features? This is especially the case when your boy is of a temperament which demands a certain amount of excitement in order to bring out his best effort Despite its dangers aud life of rigid discipline, there is sufficient suffi-cient adventure attached to it to make It satisfactory to one who prefers to live in a condition of almost constant expectancy. So, if your boy is of a venturesome turn he can find in this work plenty of opportunity for the exercise of his bent more even than would be likely to come to him if he should enlist in the army or navy. If he is lacking in nerve and stamina he should take up a quieter calling, but if he has courage he might look farther and fare not so well. Since fire departments in all large American cities are conducted under practically the same rules and regulations, regula-tions, and because New York's fire control system is regarded as a model for all others, I shall make use of it to illustrate what I am about to offer in regard to the mode of procedure for a young man who wishes to become a professional fireman. To get into the fire department of New York your boy must be twenty-ne twenty-ne to thirty years of age, between 5 feet 7 and 6 feet 5 inches In height and weigh between 140 and 185 pounds. His education need be only ;he most ordinary, in arithmetic, Including In-cluding long and short division, which Is practically all there Is to the test, except some questions showing that the applicant knows his city, fairly well and has a general knowledge of its government. There is also a phys- englneer, he must learn to manage the steamer, and he is allowed a period pe-riod iu a sort of school to help out in this. A similar rule governs appointment ap-pointment to pilot on a fireboat. Engineers En-gineers are paid $1 ,600 a year, and pilots $1,500. The promotion to the grade of assistant foreman, or lieutenant, lieuten-ant, is the ono generally sought, as it is in more direct line of advancement to still higher positions, and now carries car-ries a salary of $2,100 annually. After working six months as lieutenant lieu-tenant your boy is eligible to take the examination for promotion to captain, or foreman, a position which carries a salary of $2,500; hut this does not mean that he will be made a captain four years after he has started In the department. Vacancies do not occur so conveniently, and promotion comes only when there is a place to be filled. Tlie higher the promotion the fewer there are of them and the harder they are to reach. However, positions often become vacant, and they are always al-ways filled by promotion. The chief of the entire New York department grew up from the ranks. The total of over 4,200 men in the service includes one chief, 15 deputy chiefs, 51 chiefs of battalion, 259 captains and 301 lieutenants. lieu-tenants. Every one of these posts is possible of achievement by your boy. The captain has charge of a company, com-pany, consisting usually of ten firemen ami two officers, although there are double companies of twice the number. num-ber. S'ix companies make a battalion, presided over by a battalion chief, who is paid $3,300 a year. Over the bat-tn'irm bat-tn'irm chief Is one of the deputy chiefs, paid $4,200 annually, while the i-rest-nt chief of the department, the boss of the entire service, gets $10,01.0. U is technically required that there be a service of at least six months In any lower grade before being eligible to promotion to a higher. Quite an elaborate pension system is in vogue in the New York .fire department. de-partment. If a member of the department depart-ment should incur total disability when on duty, after ten years' service, he is retired on half pay for life; if the disability occurs before ten years, on one-third salary. If partly disabled after ten years' work, he Is given employment em-ployment that he can do at the same salary as before; If partially disabled when not on duty, he Is given other work at one-third his former salary. If he Is killed when on duty, his widow and children get half his salary sal-ary (a minimum of $G00 and a maximum maxi-mum of $1,000 Is fixed, however), till the widow is married again and the children are eighteen years of age; if 'ie dies when not on duty they get $300 a year. If killed in discharge of his duties, and he has only one child or dependent parents, the latter are naid $500 a year. Also it is provided that all members of the force pay $1 to S2 a month into an insurance fund, so that at death the widow or dependents depend-ents get $1,000 In addition to the pension. pen-sion. There are few places in either public pub-lic or private service, with the exception excep-tion of the army and navy, In which this paternal interest exists. In addition addi-tion to all this, any member of the force is permitted to retire after 20 years' service on a pension of half the pay he was drawing at the time of retirement. Thus your boy, who started In at twenty-one and rose only to the grade of captain, can quit at the age of forty-nne forty-nne on a pension of $1,250 for life, and if he should become a battalion chief he will draw $1,050, no matter where he goes or what he does. Discipline In the department Is quite rigid, similar in many respects to that in the army.' The disciplinary rules were prepared by a United States military officer. (Copyright, 1910. by the Associated Literary Lit-erary Press.) .cal examination, which is reasonably but not excessively strict. Having passed this test, your boy Is put on the eligible list, and as soon as there Is a vacancy he is made a probationer for 30 days. He spends this mODth learning to tie knots, climb ladders, use scaling ladders, rescue people from burning buildings, etc. Then, If his progress has been satisfactory satis-factory he is sent from headquarters, where he has been in training, to one of the company fire houses to don his uniform and go to work as a full-fledged full-fledged fireman of the fourth grade. If from 5 feet 7 to 5 feet 9 Inches in height, he goes to an engine compauy; if over 5 feet 9, to a truck company. His pay for the first year, including the probation month, will be $800. All firemen, from the highest officials offi-cials down, sleep in the fire houses. They are on duty constantly day and night, except during time allowed for meals. If they go out to eat three times a day, they are allowed an hour and a quarter for each meal; if two meals, two hours each; if only one meal, three hours. Other time off duty for firemen is four periods a month of 3G hours each and two of 24 hours, and they are also allowed two weeks a year under full pay. Lieutenants Lieuten-ants and captains are allowed three weeks' annual vacation and battalion chiefs and deputy chiefs a month. Their duties, besides handling the hose, ladders, standpipes and other apparatus ap-paratus and doing all that is to be done at a fire, are to take care of the fire house, horses and equipment; in short, to do everything about the place except washing the clothes and talc-Ins talc-Ins care of the beds. All firemen pay for their own uniforms. The pay is advanced to $1,000 the second year, to $1,200 the third, and to $1,4U0 the fourth. They are known as first-grade firemen after having served three years, and after working six months in this grade they are permitted to take an examination for promotion to engineer or assistant foreman (known as lieutenant). This covers, to quote the civil service rules, "the writing of a report to a superior officer on some designated subject; knowledge of the administration, organization or-ganization and discipline of the fire department; knowledge of the administrative admin-istrative relations of such department with other branches of the city government; gov-ernment; knowledge of laws or ord.i-nances ord.i-nances relating to fire duty; knowledge knowl-edge and construction of departmental ruies and regulations; and such other pertinent subjects as the commission may prescribe." If your boy should aspire to be an |