Chapter XI: Fire

One might suppose that in a small town of the size of Coalville, viz., fourteen hundred inhabitants, there would not be much of interest to print in the paper. But such is not the case. There is always news of interest to the residents of the town and vicinity. In a small place they all know one another, their goings and comings, and the doings of one another are of interest to the rest; hence when the newspaper appears it is seized and opened up with eager haste and its contents read with avidity. This is why Harry Weston’s paper, “The Coalville News,” had made such a success during the six weeks of its existence as to secure three hundred and ten subscribers and bring into his money-till three hundred and ten dollars.

There is always some news to print, in fact quite enough to make a newspaper in a town of the size of Coalville--and indeed in towns somewhat smaller--a welcome enterprise among the other business enterprises of the place. For instance, there are as the staple news items, the activities of the resident citizens; and there is never a day that some of them are not going somewhere, or someone coming to see and visit them, either relatives or friends, or both. Then there are items regarding new buildings and improvements, items regarding street and sidewalk repairs, the church and Sunday school, the social societies items, with their intermittent elections of officials. There are items about the sick and accidentally-injured people. There are the mass meetings and conventions items, and the secret societies items, and then there are the elections of the mayor and other city officials, and the election of three new school trustees each year. Also there are the death and funeral items, and on the other hand there are the birth items. The doings of the city officials, who meet usually once per week, furnish news items of interest, as their deliberations are related to city improvements, etc., such as the voting of bonds for the purpose of making the improvements. In fact, there is practically no end to the items of interest to the people of any town, that can either be gathered by a diligent editor doing his own reportorial work, or handed to him by friendly citizens, to be printed in his paper. To print and publish a country newspaper, as those published in small towns are called, is a business creditable and indeed worthwhile.

Harry Weston believed this, and was glad he had decided to become a country newspaper publisher.

It happened that in addition to the general run of news that he had been printing during the past four weeks, another item of news out of the ordinary had been preparing during the past month. Coalville was at the foot of the Raton spur of the Rocky Mountains. All around to the south, west and north, in a half-circle, was quite a goodly growth of timber, extending up the mountain halfway to the summit. Day by day under the hot, burning rays of the summer sun the leaves had been falling from the trees, and lying two or three inches thick in their crisp, dry condition. The grass, too, was changed from the green hue of the month of June to the brown hue of July, during which period the burning heat from the full-fledged summer sun had dried out all the native juices in the grass and left it parched.

About the middle of the afternoon of Monday, July the 29th, just as Harry and Tommy were congratulating themselves on their easy prospects for getting out the next issue of the paper, a boy came running into Coalville, with the information that there was a fire raging in the timber about a mile north of the big mine, which itself was half a mile to the northward. The remoteness of the fire explained why it had not been discovered, without doubt. The smoke from the fire, rising even above the treetops at the point where it was burning, was not as yet discernible, as the dark background of the timber farther up the mountain made it almost invisible; but after the boy’s explanation that a fire was raging up on the mountain-side, it was seen on looking closely that there was smoke to be seen.

“Fire!” the people exclaimed. “The timber is on fire! That will be serious to the people residing up there, unless the fire is extinguished before it gets down to the homes of the miners over on the north side of the mine!”

This was true. All around, in the edge of the timber north of the big mine, were the homes of quite a good many of the men who worked in that mine. A few even of the men working in the Annex Mine resided up in the edge of the timber beyond the mine, but most of these resided in Coalville proper, as the Annex Mine was nearer town than the big mine.

Harry was down on the street soon after the boy had reached the town with the news of the fire, and he hastened to interview him.

“How serious a fire is it, my boy?” Harry asked of the almost breathless urchin. “Is it likely to get down to the miners’ homes and burn their houses? Surely it isn’t that dangerous.”

“Yes it is!” was the reply. “It’s burning mighty fast and is coming right down toward the houses! The old dead leaves and grass burn like everything, and even old dead limbs and old dead trees are burning!”

“Any of the trees will burn after the fire gets under good headway,” said one of the men who had gathered to hear what the boy said. “I’ve seen more than one forest fire, and know how they work. They increase in volume and intensity rapidly and if not stopped in time they will get beyond control and carry everything before them. This one had better be looked after right away. Any delay might result in the homes of the miners up in the edge of the timber being burned to the ground.”

“That being true, everybody that can do so ought to hasten up there and help put the fire out,” said Harry. “I’m going. I’ll want the news of the fire for the paper, anyway, and I can secure the news and help extinguish the fire at the same time. How do you fight a timber fire?”

“With wet cloths. We’ll have to take pails along. Any old clothing, or pieces of old carpet will do for cloths.”

“I see,” said Harry. “And couldn’t the fire department brigade do something, even though it’s a timber fire a mile or more away?”

“If they could get water, they could, as they could play the water up into the trees with the hose, as well as on the dead leaves and grass on the ground.”

“Yes, we’re going up there with the hose-reel,” said a man who was hurrying along, though he stopped long enough to make this statement and to add: “I’m a fireman. We can get the water. We’ll haul it up in a wagon, in barrels.”

“That’s a good idea,” said the other man. “I’ll go and get one of my old coats and a two-gallon pail, and will be up where the fire is in a jiffy.”

The fireman nodded and hurried on toward the building in which they kept the hose-reel, and the other man hastened away in the direction of his home. Leaving the boy who had brought the news of the fire talking to two or three other boys who had appeared, Harry made his way quickly up into the printing office.

“There’s a big fire raging up in the timber a mile or so north of the big mine, Tommy,” he said. “Let’s go up and see what we can do to help stop it.”

“All right,” was the reply. “I hear the people calling out to each other.” As was logical, even though he knew of the fire and had heard the people spreading the news about it, Tommy had remained in the office and stuck to his work until Harry came.

Harry locked the printing office and he and Tommy hastened away, though Harry stopped a few moments at the Tompkins home, and got a piece of old carpet from Mrs. Tompkins, with which to fight the fire.

When Harry reached the scene of the fire he found perhaps a hundred or more of Coalville’s citizens there, including the firemen with their hose-reel. They were panting as a result of pulling the reel up the mountain, but as soon as the wagon came in which there were four barrels filled with water, they began work.

And work there was in plenty! The fire was blazing fiercely; and it could be seen that it was going to be a difficult matter to put it out. It had to be done however, if the miners’ homes were to be saved, and all who were there, including Harry and Tommy, went to work fighting the flames.

Quite a good deal of good was done by the people using cloths that had been dipped in water which was brought in pails from a spring that was near at hand. But the most effective work of extinguishing the fire was done by the firemen, who, as soon as the water wagon arrived, energetically set to work.

The barrels were taken out of the wagon and placed on the ground, after which a force-pump that had been brought along in the wagon was brought into requisition, and by its use sufficient pressure was developed so that quite a strong stream of water could be thrown by the hose. This was most effective, and by hauling water in several wagons, and moving the wagon with the force-pump in it along in the timber, from place to place, the hundred or so people with the damp cloths also working energetically, the flames were subdued and the fire extinguished before dark. The fire-fighters, all grimy with smoke and perspiration, returned to their homes in Coalville, where, after they had washed off the grime, sat down to supper with the added relish that their hard work gave them.

The miners’ homes were saved, and if the fire had not been extinguished before it grew to ungovernable proportions, it would certainly have burned their houses down.

Harry wrote up the fire, then he and Tommy set the article up in type-form. On Friday when “The Coalville News” reached the homes of the people of the town, they read with interest the description of the fire and the explanation of how it was overcome and extinguished. There was the usual amount of ordinary news also, and the subscribers were very well pleased with the paper.

In addition to Harry’s write-up of the fire, there was a “Card of Thanks” that had been brought in by a committee of three of the miners who resided in the edge of the timber, and whose homes, and those of all the other miners residing there, had been saved from burning. The miners and their families all joined in thanking the people of Coalville for having put out the fire and thus saved their homes. Especial mention was made of the firemen whose able work with the hose and force-pump was mainly responsible for the extinguishing of the fire. The people with the damp cloths did very good work, however, and received their proper share of the miners’ gratitude.