precious time's being wasted, that there'd be a
fuss made in the papers, and 'somebody
whopped,' as the saying is. I'm talking freer
than he'd like to do" — with a jerk of the head
at the last speaker — " for I ain't in the service,
and can speak my mind, and it'd worry a saint to
see things hang back as they do, and all for want
of head-work instead of jaw. Why, I've known
long speeches made about engines, or the best
way of putting fires out, or on something
Captain Shaw's written, by men who've known
no more of the subject than my old grandmother,
who haven't taken the trouble even to think of
it, and who go on prate, prate, prate as if they'd
made the Fire Brigade practice the study of
their lives. And, you see, the worst of it is
that London's in danger all the time. There's
nothing been done to speak of by the Board for
the fifty thousand pounds which has been paid
'em, and if a change of system was necessary
twelve months ago, it's just as necessary now.
Too many masters, sir, and too much talk, that's
where it all is; and as we sometimes say
when we're discussing these things over our
pipes and among ourselves, if these Board of
Works gentlemen would only keep their speeches
for matters they understand, and give a practical
man or two authority to act for the best, we'd
be supplied with stations, and the whole metropolis
be safe, in less time than it takes to pass
a single report now. I repeat, sir, they're
three stations short in the A district, four in B,
two in C, and eleven in D, or twenty in all. No, I
can't tell you exactly whose fault it is that there's
so much delay, but, you see, there's a good many
more masters now than when the brigade was
under the insurance companies; and motions have
to be put, and reports adopted, and officers sent
to examine, and all this means delay. Before the
Board of Works' time, the captain had but
to say a thing was necessary, and the insurance
people knew it was right and authorised him to
get it at once." The fireman returned here,
and my volunteer informant stopped as suddenly
as if he were a piece of clockwork in which the
machinery had run down. I asked for confirmation
of his statements, but discipline or prudence
closed the official lips, and it was some days later,
and from an independent but indisputably
veracious source, that I learnt that the charges of
dangerous procrastination and verbiage on the
part of the new governors of the brigade were
profoundly true.

Engines glistening in red paint and brightly
burnished brasswork, and with fuel ready for
lighting and steam which can be in full force at
three minutes' warning; the warlike metal
helmets, which have replaced the old black and
shining head-covering; axes, sheathed and slung
ready for use; bedding neatly stacked for the
night; firemen book-keeping and letter-writing,
firemen at mess, firemen polishing and cleaning
gear and building — were next seen in our hasty
inspection of the place. At night, one section
of the brigade takes up its station on the bedding
we see stacked, and slumbers quietly until
an alarm comes. Directly a fire is telegraphed,
the news is communicated up a speaking-tube to
Captain Shaw's room, and another section of the
brigade is summoned. The men composing
this are comfortably in bed, and turn out fresh
to duty, while those roused from their slumbers
on the floor prepare the engine, yoke the
horses, and make all ready for the start. This
occupies exactly three minutes, by which time
the engine is manned and off with full steam on,
and the house-duty men resume their watchful
rest. Thus the men whose turn it is for serious
work are served by their comrades, and the
whole of their energies are reserved for the fire.
The horses are kept in a subterranean stable
beneath the station-house, which is admirably
ventilated by shafts, and are harnessed and trotted
up a sloping passage to the street in far less
time than it takes to read these words. For
small fires, hand-engines are frequently used,
and several of the parochial ones have been
bought up. Some of these had been condemned
as useless even by their late owners, but are
found to work admirably now. Choked with
dirt and rusty from disuse, these machines were-
regularly dragged out to fires by the beadle or
other parish functionary, and the reward for an
early appearance claimed. Many were too
crazy to be purchased, and nearly all had to be
cleaned or altered before they were properly
available for this purpose. But, like everything
else connected with the brigade, the stock of
engines is classified and applied as they may
be most effective, and, when all arrangements
are completed, will be subdivided under five
heads, thus :

1. Floating steam, delivering about four
thousand gallons of water per minute.

2. Large land steam, delivering about five
hundred gallons of water per minute.

3. Small land steam, delivering about two
hundred gallons of water per minute.

4. Manual engines, to be drawn by horses,
some six and some seven-inch cylinders. To be
kept in the contract stations.

5. Manual engines, drawn and worked by
men, under six-inch cylinders, and delivering
about twenty gallons of water per minute.

It is probable, too, that when the fifty
thousand pounds a year now in hand is properly
disbursed, the brigade will consist of three
hundred and fifty officers and firemen; four
large land-steamers; four steam floating fire-
engines; twenty-seven small land-steamers;
thirty-seven large manual engines; and fifty-
seven small manual engines with horses, drivers,
&c., distributed among thirty-three large and
fifty-six small fire-engine stations. Let it be
remembered that the above organisation will
protect an area of one hundred and seventeen
square miles and property valued at nine
hundred millions of pounds, and the importance of
perfecting it will be fully realised. " Our
men are quiet, devoted, orderly, and thoroughly
up to their work. If an officer tells a man
to remain at a particular spot till further
orders, you wouldn't get that man to move do
what you would. I've known a case in which