Fighting a Fire

This volume was originally published in 1894 and tells the
story of what it was like to fight fires in New York in the
19th century.

From the book's Foreword:

This little volume, revised and brought thor-
oughly up-to-date, in text and pictures, is offered
as a modest appreciation of the work of the New
York firemen. The task of these men, though
modified somewhat by improved appliances, re-
mains just as heroic and picturesque as it did
when the first edition of this book was issued in
1897. In fact, this original edition, in text, if not
in pictures, could have stood as a fairly correct
description of the physical workings of the New
York Fire Department to-day, for though equip-
ment and apparatus have changed considerably
in the past few years, there has been no material
change in the actual work of extinguishing fires.
No better substitute than water as a medium
for stopping fire has yet been discovered. New
systems for supplying it in greater volume and
devices for directing it more accurately at the
heart of a fire have done much to aid the fire-
fighter in his work; but his calling remains just
as perilous and as full of dangerous uncertainties
as it was twenty-five years ago. And it was to
tell of these dangers and hardships, as well as to
describe the exact way in which a modern fire
department was managed, that the first edition of
"Fighting a Fire' was issued nearly twenty
years ago. The favor with which this little book
was received by the general public, and by the
American boy in particular, proved beyond ques-
tion that just such an appreciation of the firemen
and their work was wanted. And if the present
volume should meet with an equally cordial re-
ception the time devoted to gathering the new ma-
terial has been well spent indeed.

In conclusion the author wishes to offer to Mr.
Walter Harris, Mr. Charles G. Kiehl, Mr. Samuel
Newman, the Outlook company, and several other
friendly helpers, his grateful acknowledgment
for the use of drawings and photographs, which
have aided largely in furnishing the pictorial
effect that, better than any words, conveys to
the reader a realistic comprehension of a fire-
man's life and his unfailing heroism.