Character Sketch of Chief W. T. Belt.

Character Sketch of Chief W. T. Belt.

的星期天明星,华盛顿特区,在一个汽车列车le on that city’s firemen refers to Chief William T. Belt as the “grand old man" of the department who “ran away from school to become a fireman” and, when he was a boy of nine years of age, used to stay away from school in order to run to fires with the volunteer firemen. Although fairly well on in years, he is as hale and hearty and vigorous as most of the men who have the handicap on him in point of years, and at a fire, when all is confusion and turmoil, he is calm, cool and collected.” Today, after forty years of firefighting, Chief Belt scales ladders with the same agility as does a private in a hook and ladder company. He can take a flying leap from building to building when occasion demands it, and ho is not afraid to soil his hands or clothes hv laying hold of the hose or nozzle at a critical moment. “He is nothing if not a man of action—quick and decisive— and by long practice he detects in an instant the danger in a wall or roof before it begins to show visible signs of weakness. In brief, he is a graduate in the practical details of modern and scientific firefighting.” In his manv rescues at fires, as well as those of his officers and men, his ‘‘quick judgment and foresightedness have been potent factors” and have served him well during the last twenty-two years, in which he has served as senior assistant chief and chief engineer. One of the sensational instances of life-saving in his long career as a fireman is the following. There was a call to a smouldering fire in a 3-story frame building, where were three young children, whose parents were absent at the time. The little ones were, asleep when a gas explosion took place on the first floor of the structure. The entire building was immediately one mass of flames, and when Chief Belt, his aide, P. W. Nicholson and the truck company reached the scene they were told that the children were being cremated in the upper stories. ‘‘Chief Belt took the lead and ran up a ladder to the room in which the little girls were imprisoned. With wet sponges in his mouth and his coat buckled round him he entered what seemed to be a death trap. Nicholson stood by him in the search. They groped their way about the rooms with the cinders falling from the burning roof and almost suffocated by smoke. Chief Belt crawled about on the floors and soon found the lifeless body of a girl under a bed, where she had fled through fright. The other girls, aged six and seven, respectively, were lying unconscious in another corner of the bedroom. The chief carried them in his arms to the windows and with the aid of Nicholson got them away. The chief at this time was terribly burned about the hands and face.” Chief Belt, however, claims that in this, as in all other cases of its kind, he only did his duty and what any other fireman should do under the circumstances. “In his long and faithful career in every capacity from private to chief he has made many similar daring rescues, but the big-hearted and fearless firefighter only explains that it was a matter of duty.” Chief Belt was born on October 13, 1846, in Washington. In January, 1863, when sixteen years old, he joined the volunteer fire department. “Every promotion since then has resulted from faithful service.”

的星期天明星,华盛顿特区,在一个汽车列车le on that city’s firemen refers to Chief William T. Belt as the “grand old man" of the department who “ran away from school to become a fireman” and, when he was a boy of nine years of age, used to stay away from school in order to run to fires with the volunteer firemen. Although fairly well on in years, he is as hale and hearty and vigorous as most of the men who have the handicap on him in point of years, and at a fire, when all is confusion and turmoil, he is calm, cool and collected.” Today, after forty years of firefighting, Chief Belt scales ladders with the same agility as does a private in a hook and ladder company. He can take a flying leap from building to building when occasion demands it, and ho is not afraid to soil his hands or clothes hv laying hold of the hose or nozzle at a critical moment. “He is nothing if not a man of action—quick and decisive— and by long practice he detects in an instant the danger in a wall or roof before it begins to show visible signs of weakness. In brief, he is a graduate in the practical details of modern and scientific firefighting.” In his manv rescues at fires, as well as those of his officers and men, his ‘‘quick judgment and foresightedness have been potent factors” and have served him well during the last twenty-two years, in which he has served as senior assistant chief and chief engineer. One of the sensational instances of life-saving in his long career as a fireman is the following. There was a call to a smouldering fire in a 3-story frame building, where were three young children, whose parents were absent at the time. The little ones were, asleep when a gas explosion took place on the first floor of the structure. The entire building was immediately one mass of flames, and when Chief Belt, his aide, P. W. Nicholson and the truck company reached the scene they were told that the children were being cremated in the upper stories. ‘‘Chief Belt took the lead and ran up a ladder to the room in which the little girls were imprisoned. With wet sponges in his mouth and his coat buckled round him he entered what seemed to be a death trap. Nicholson stood by him in the search. They groped their way about the rooms with the cinders falling from the burning roof and almost suffocated by smoke. Chief Belt crawled about on the floors and soon found the lifeless body of a girl under a bed, where she had fled through fright. The other girls, aged six and seven, respectively, were lying unconscious in another corner of the bedroom. The chief carried them in his arms to the windows and with the aid of Nicholson got them away. The chief at this time was terribly burned about the hands and face.” Chief Belt, however, claims that in this, as in all other cases of its kind, he only did his duty and what any other fireman should do under the circumstances. “In his long and faithful career in every capacity from private to chief he has made many similar daring rescues, but the big-hearted and fearless firefighter only explains that it was a matter of duty.” Chief Belt was born on October 13, 1846, in Washington. In January, 1863, when sixteen years old, he joined the volunteer fire department. “Every promotion since then has resulted from faithful service.”