STORY OF DEPUTY COMMISIONER BONNER.
Many stories are told of Deputy Fire Commissioner Bonner when he was chief of the New York city fire department. It is said of him that his general knowledge of the construction of buildings, old and new, in New York was greater than that of any real estate man or architect, This knowledge stood him in good stead on many occasions, but on none better than on Election night, 1805, in the conflagration that destroyed the Manhattan bank building at Broadway and Bleecker street. Thirty firemen were at work on the fourth and fifth floors when the Bleecker street wall fell outwards. In the great sweep of the flame that followed it seemed inev itable that the firemen were doomed. As the bank of fire swept away for an instant, the men were seen preparing to jump. At first they disregarded his command, but at the second shout their habit of discipline prevailed and they obeyed. From below he again yelled to them to stay where they were, and at his command they sought the interior of the building. The chief knew the iron work of the building and that it would stand. His judgment proved correct, for in a little while the men were taken out, none having anything more than the usual scorching that comes to firemen in a fight on a fierce blaze.
