THE MASSACHUSETTS FIREMEN'S CONVENTION.
We conclude our report of the convention of the Massachusetts State Firemen’s Association. On Wednesday afternoon the annual oration was delivered by Captain Charles S. Paisler of New Bedford, who read a lengthy and interesting address. We extract liberally from his paper :
The life and labors of a true fireman command the admiration of all. You devote yourselves to a grand object—that of guarding and saving the property of your fellow-man. And not only saving property, but also that grander and holier purpose of saving life. Many of you do not own a dollar's worth of real estate, and have no selfish object in your endeavors to save ; yet you hold yourselves ready at all times and all seasons to answer the alarm bell. In summer’s heat or winter’s cold, by day or by night, in sunshine or storm, you drop instantly whatever, at the moment of alarm, your hands might be engaged in, and respond to the call for duty. And when you so respond, you know not to what personal danger your duty will call you. It may be to death; and, like the case of poor Pierce and Quigley at the Beach street fire in Boston last August—a death that is terrible to contemplate. Hurled in an instant into a fiery furnace, beyond all earthly help, your comrades instantly lose sight of you and you are seen no more. Yet, notwithstanding this liability to extreme danger, the true fireman never falters in the discharge of duty. When it is necessary to ascend a ladder and enter a burning upper story, quickly you respond to orders, up the ladder, and with your stream fight for a foothold within the window ; when that is gained, cross over the sill, and foot by foot advance, fighting for victory.
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