THE LONDON FIRE TOURNAMENT.

THE LONDON FIRE TOURNAMENT.

好像是为了强调精神存在的结合s between the fire-fighters of the old and the new worlds, an international tournament and exhibition of fire apparatus and goods more or less appertaining to fire service is to be begun in London next week, at which representatives from colonial fire departments and those of Europe and America will be present. The object for which the gathering takes place is a noble one —the increase of the fund for the widows and orphans of British firemen—those who are left behind after the husband and father, the main stay and support of the family, has fallen at the post of duty, or died after a long and worthy career in a service which demands of him not only all his time, but also the devotion of his life itself, if called upon,in defence of the lives and goodsof others, who too often look upon firemen as mere machines, paid wages by the taxpayers to do a certain work—only that and nothing more. Such persons, however, never seem to consider—probably they do not realize—that fire-fighting is one of the most dangerous businesses in which any man can engage. Statistics prove that in large cities, where commerce and manufactories demand the erection of huge buildings full of inflammable goods, or in which are conducted operations more or less likely to cause fires, the proportion of firemen injured slightly,dangerously,or fatally is about one out of every five. If a man worked in a powder factory,he could run no greater risk than that. In that case, however, the benefit he he would confer on society would not compare if,indeed,it could compare at all with the services rendered by the fireman in saving life and property from destruction, which in reality is one of the most valuable that can be rendered to the community by any body of men, whose pay during life is altogether inadequate it bears no proportion to the good they do and the harm they prevent. Wherefore, every proper provision that can be made not only for the care of the veterans in the department, for rewarding them for any conspicuous acts of bravery or maintaining them when injured or physically disabled, but also for the support of their widows and orphans, should cheerfully and ungrudgingly be made by the public. That a considerable forward step in this direction will be made by the receipts from this international tournament is certain. And for this reason it is that we trust the affair may lie in every sense of the word, a highest success. All we regret is that the United States will not be represented in any competition — though the American continent will be by the team from Montreal, We cannot but think that if the Inter national Fire Brigade,Union of England had been represented by one who could have been looked up to as a fireman in every sense of the word,one who had made fire-fighting his profession, the present fiasco would not have taken place, and Londoners and others would not have been deprived of what, on the last occasion of such a tournament being held,was the distinguishing and conspicuous feature of the whole exhibition, the work of a crack American fire team. As it is, an international tournament in which America is not represented, savors somewhat of the enacting of the play of Hamlet, with the part of Hamlet left out.

好像是为了强调精神存在的结合s between the fire-fighters of the old and the new worlds, an international tournament and exhibition of fire apparatus and goods more or less appertaining to fire service is to be begun in London next week, at which representatives from colonial fire departments and those of Europe and America will be present. The object for which the gathering takes place is a noble one —the increase of the fund for the widows and orphans of British firemen—those who are left behind after the husband and father, the main stay and support of the family, has fallen at the post of duty, or died after a long and worthy career in a service which demands of him not only all his time, but also the devotion of his life itself, if called upon,in defence of the lives and goodsof others, who too often look upon firemen as mere machines, paid wages by the taxpayers to do a certain work—only that and nothing more. Such persons, however, never seem to consider—probably they do not realize—that fire-fighting is one of the most dangerous businesses in which any man can engage. Statistics prove that in large cities, where commerce and manufactories demand the erection of huge buildings full of inflammable goods, or in which are conducted operations more or less likely to cause fires, the proportion of firemen injured slightly,dangerously,or fatally is about one out of every five. If a man worked in a powder factory,he could run no greater risk than that. In that case, however, the benefit he he would confer on society would not compare if,indeed,it could compare at all with the services rendered by the fireman in saving life and property from destruction, which in reality is one of the most valuable that can be rendered to the community by any body of men, whose pay during life is altogether inadequate it bears no proportion to the good they do and the harm they prevent. Wherefore, every proper provision that can be made not only for the care of the veterans in the department, for rewarding them for any conspicuous acts of bravery or maintaining them when injured or physically disabled, but also for the support of their widows and orphans, should cheerfully and ungrudgingly be made by the public. That a considerable forward step in this direction will be made by the receipts from this international tournament is certain. And for this reason it is that we trust the affair may lie in every sense of the word, a highest success. All we regret is that the United States will not be represented in any competition — though the American continent will be by the team from Montreal, We cannot but think that if the Inter national Fire Brigade,Union of England had been represented by one who could have been looked up to as a fireman in every sense of the word,one who had made fire-fighting his profession, the present fiasco would not have taken place, and Londoners and others would not have been deprived of what, on the last occasion of such a tournament being held,was the distinguishing and conspicuous feature of the whole exhibition, the work of a crack American fire team. As it is, an international tournament in which America is not represented, savors somewhat of the enacting of the play of Hamlet, with the part of Hamlet left out.