CAPTAIN SHAW AT HOME.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1356, 19 June 1878, Page 3

CAPTAIN SHAW AT HOME.

[From the “World.”] In the centre of a vast web, skilfully and patiently woven during the last fifteen years, sits the architect thereof the beneficent spider whose fly is a fire-(ly. North, south, east ard west of him extends —to the uttermost limits of the region ruled by the Metropolitan Board of Works—a network, well planned, carefully executed, and protected against the possibility of breakage by extraordinary precautions. This telegraphic safety net, by means of which each station of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade is brought into connection with every other station, and the whole brigade could if deemed necessary and prudent, be concentrated on any one spot in an incredibly short space of time, is the work of Captain Eyre Massey Shaw. Chief Officer of the Brigade since Mr Braidwdbd losf'his life on the memorable'occasion when the Thames was literally set on fire. Since then London has been divided into four great districts, three of which are north of the Thames, , London south of the v;ver forming the D, district. In the centre of each district is a superintendent in telegraphic connection with every station within its limit, and also with the central office in Walling street, where Captain Shaw sits in his quiet study, far from the din of fire-bells, but perfectly cognisant of the condition of every fireman’s post in London—how many men, engines, and horses can be brought together within a few minutes at any given spot. The organiser of this machinery, which goes rather better than clockwork, is a tall, square-shouldered Irishman of come forty! eight years,'but with -figure so well’ oet’up that when clad in'his short, jaunty tunic, firem.an’fj helmet, and huge jackboots, he jopks up more than thirty-five—a fitho, active, muscujar man, and a skilful wielder of the tomahawk which hangs in his girdle. His vcyy becoming uniform is the outcome of much cave and thought and long practical experience, A fireman’s helmet, for instance, must fulfil several conditions. It must bo strong enough, especially in the “comb,” to resist falling bricks and rafters, and must hare a. very thick and well fitting lining, rpfiei have sufficient- peak'ini front to protest the face without impeding the vision, and behind to shield the neck completely from molten lead. The ears also must bo protected without interfering with the hearing ; and there are many minor details which combine to render the construction or a fireman’s helrtiet a momentous' affair. Captain Shaw has at last reached something near perfection, anti feels as safe in his helmet when under fire, as he can reasonably expect. Tight in the waist and fiipa, and loose in the shoulders and sleeves, the tunic is an admirable workingdress for men who are perpetually getting in and out of windows, and through the panels of doors swiftly ripped out with the keen tomahawk. When a Louse is already fml of smoke, and the fire is gnawing hungrily at the staircases, there is no time for picking locks or removing doors. Smash gees the tomahawk into a panel, tears it out, and then, head or feet foremost, the fireman plunges into the unknown beyond. So he is trimly yet strongly 1 c}gfi from fiead to heel j for thp csfibuce of

his work is time—he must be both swift and strong. Eire is not the only element against which he must be protected, for he is apt, and indeed certain, to bo drenched with water when at work. As tons of water are hurled at a (laming building, cascades pour down upon the brave fellows working on the lower floors, drenching them to the skin. Captain Shaw, who on 41 busy nights” is all over London from (ire to fire, has, in a private and particular bedroom of his own —a sort of blue chamber, from which even Mrs Shaw is excluded —a regiment of uniforms to change about with after each particular soaking. All is orderly and methodical. On (ho door is a row of jackboots standing erect, shoulder to shoulder, like a well-drilled regiment, and over them hangs raiment without end, all ready to hand at a moment’s notice.

But, like all good soldiers aud genuine workers of every kind, Captain Shaw is not very fond of wearing uniform. During the day ho ia to bo found in a blue pea-jacket, well thrown back from the broad white collar, under which peeps a black kerchief knotted in sailor fashion. The affection of Captain Shaw for nautical costume is not to bo wondered at, when we recollect that he was bred and born within sight of the Cove of Cork. While he was studying for the Church at Trinity College, Dublin, he often slipped away for a cruise in his father’s yacht; and long before ho reached legal manhood had, like the O’Donoghue, a boat of his own. The Cork yachtmcn of his day wore no dandy dilettante sailors. Every man of them could “ bear a hand” anywhere in the ship, and many were the perilous cruises they weathered out, to the great increase of their manliness and handiness. By degrees Eyre Massey Shaw cams to think that his vocation was not the Church ; that, in short he was born for the sea; but the mercantile marine of (hat day holding out comparatively few attractions as a career, he obtained a commission in the North Cork Ritles ; and it then by degrees dawned upon him that his true faculty was that of organisation. The municipality of Belfast wanted a military officer fo reorganise their police and fire brigade, and Captain Shaw took to that work as a duck takes to water. His remarkable success in bringing the Belfast fire brigade to a high state of efficiency led to his appointment as chief officer of the Metropolitan Eire Brigade at the death of Mr Braid wood. At that time the brigade was a complicated body, supported mainly by the fire insurance offices, very weak in numbers aud appliances, and without telegraphic communication. Here, then, was work enough for Captain Shaw, who. like other reformers, was not allowed to carry out his views all at once. Bit by bit he “ captured” concessions from the authorities —no longer the fire insurance companies and the county, but the Metropolitan Board of Works—till the Brigade has been brought, numbers excepted, to the condition required by the mind, we had almost said, of a martinet. Captain Shaw does not object to that epithet. He maintains vigorously that a state of discipline, under which every man knows his work exactly and performs it punctually, is “ perfect freedom,” Each man is held absolutely responsible tor his work, and by a carefully arranged system of returns aud reports, the position and work of any given man at any given time can be ascertained in an instant. It may bo asked, out of what material are made these wonderful men who possess every good quality—dauntless courage, perfect steadiness, unrivalled promptitude and dash, method and precision ? They have almost all been sailors, have tmdergone a similar training to their chief. Captain Shaw thinks he can train any young, active, courageous man into a fireman in time; but it takes a long time to drill the landsman, while a sailor will learn his work in a couple of months. The mariner has the trick of handiness ; he is quick and clever at climbing, and stands with comfort on narrow ledges and corners awful to the unaccustomed eye. He is also quick at learning the tricks and turns of the various mechanism employed in the Fire Brigade ; from the management of “ manual ” or hand-engines he advances swiftly to that of “steamers.” It is curious to note how quickly the men pick up the working of the simple form of electric telegraph in use at the stations. They are especially fond of their engines, and keep them in a high state of efficiency and polish. Many of them are good workers in metal, and all are taught in Watling street in the workshops there. There was a reason for adopting this plan. “ The ordinary engineer belongs to a trades-union and, oven if he wished, would not bo allowed to work any hours aud all hours, nights and Sundays. He would bo of no use at all with his right as to overtime, and his appeals to the central body. The organisation of a fire brigade must be strictly military, or rather naval, in system. My men know perfectly well that if they are remiss in answering a call or a ‘ stop ’ ” (a message that an engine is not required), “or slow in getting out an engine, the offor.ee will bo visited by fine or reprimand, and will bo written against their names in the book you see. This is the service-book, a strongly-bound volume, containing almost a biography of each man since he joined the brigade, many of long yoirs’ service not having a single charge recorded against them, Each engine has also an account opened against it, showing at once its age, prime cost, and cost of maintenance. All is conducted on this principle of accurate attention to and registration of detail, to the end that generalisations may be easily arrived at; for Captain Shaw, with all the activity and gallant bearing which might have well become one of Rupert’s cavaliers, ia, like a very different man, the late Mr Euegic, an ardent follower of the illustrious s Q.uetclet. Ho is a statist to the backbone, “ You can arrive at not hing without facts carefully collected and properly arranged,” continues the chief officer of the M.F.8.; “and facts are easily collected with proper method. Down below, as I pointed out to you, there are just as many hatpegs as there are men, so that I can see at a glance how re,any men are out and how many at homo, in more serious mailers, the same rule applies. The want of seeing things at a ghmec, the absence of rapid calculation, and the consequent firm grip of the , busihosslin hand, hashed to the, greatest fires i of modern times.' A fireman must sec at once, not only the building on fire, bi; ( t the surrounding houses and factories. Ho must, r.g we put it technically, ‘ know his time,’ and should not, hr trying to save one house, sacrifice the next dozen or the next five hundred, as the case may bo. It requires a practised eye and some decision of character to conclude on aban loning a range of buildings, hut it is the sounded, policy in great conll igrations. If yo do not ‘ know your time,’ the fire will be everywhere too quick for you, and clave you from house to house, always 1 maintaining its advantage.” 1 • " Few men live more in their profession than Captain Shaw, for his ofijeo is his home, and , Mts Sha;w and, his children —the elder of v/hcra js a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy look upon Watling street aa their natural abode, pending tfio construction of a more spacious central office on the other side of London bridge. In the drawing room is an admirable statuette of Captain Shaw by Count GHchon, the centre of a group of agreeable testimonials of regard from distinguished personages. Even this sacred roL.ge vontaiiia photographs a:;.ci vkawruga of' conflagrations. The ciining-room is lurid with pictures of i similar character : ships, lilio the Bombay, burnt to (lie water’s edge in an incredibly short space of time, and other records of colossal disasters. The study, occupied by Captain Shaw alone, is a storehouse of maps and plans, recording tin introduction of big syate,u v >,o fop/lga cities, notably Cairo and Alexandria, both organised by himself in person. Overhead, too, is a library of the literature of (ires —figures, plans, and reports from the groat cities of Europe and America, for Captain Shaw is rn rapport with the firemen of the whole world, who have profited vastly by his assistance. It is natural for a general to ihink the men trained under his own eye (he best; hut the London chief is not prejudiced against the foreign imitations of his own brigade. Many of them aie excellently drilled, and go about their work quickly and methodically. Their only defect is a “ want of resource.” So long ns all goes according to rule and precedent, they ai'e equal to the occasion ; but they want the sailor’s flexibility of mind in the presence of sudden aud unexpected complications, such as

the giving way of floors, the falling of walls, and the rapid spread of conflagration under certain conditions.

Want of regular sleep is one of the difficulties which try the constitution of the fireman most severely. Men otherwise vigorous and equal to great fatigue succumb in time to the utter weariness induced by broken rest; but fifteen years of perpetual work have not found out the soft spot in Eyre Massey Shaw, who, unshaken by a couple of terrible accidents, still exhibits unimpaired vitality. Provided he can get four or five hours’ sleep out of the twenty-four, ho is content to take his rest by instalments. His work appears interminable. The morning brings drill, the reception of many reports, and the composition of others, correspondence home and foreign. In the afternoon comes the round of inspection —a long drive of forty miles in a mail-phaeton to various stations, behind relays of splendid horses. At nightfall he dons his uniform, and is ready to head his brigade wherever his presence may be required, leaving always a trusty deputy at Watling street. He maintains the doctrine that ho is always theoretically present with his men, and so far as time and space will admit, is actually with them. Thoroughly drenched, and perhaps slightly singed as well, at the first fire of the night, he returns to jfling off his saturated clothes and don a fresh suit, and then (lies off again to take his share ’in the dangerous work. Not that the danger is apparent to the men themselves, who seem absolutely devoid of fear, although now aud then terribly reminded of the perilous nature of their calling. Among the 395 men, including the chief officer, who compose the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, occur in the course of a year, from sixty to ninety cases of injury, some of which are very serious, aud a year rarely passes without cases of death. Yet there is no provision for the widows of men killed in the performance of a noble and perilous duty—a piece of economy the more extraordinary as the cost of the whole brigade is but little over £70,000 a year, no very great sura for the protection of the largo area ruled by the Metropolitan Board of Works.

Besides his active work in keeping his Brigade up to the highest pitch of efficiency, Captain Shaw has recently written, literally “ between the lights,” a “ Complete Manual of Fire Protection.” His pamphlet on “ Fires in Theatre,” published a few months since, will doubtless bo read with renewed interest just now, as will his admirable tables of fires classified according to their causes and the uses of the buildings in which they have taken place, Rigid as a disciplinarian, the Chief Officer has yet won the hearts of his men by the confidence he reposes in them when thoroughly drilled. “ I look to each man to do his own work of his own accord, and to do it properly.” continues Captain Shaw. But here our colloquy is cut short by a slight 1 ‘ ting ” of the bell —no noisy alarum, but an ordinary office-bell—and a message through the speak-ing-tube. A few words are exchanged without hurry or excitement, and then the tunic is buttoned severely to the throat, the tomahawk girt on, and the helmet donned. The Chief Officer is on active service.