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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



"OUR JIM." 



THE MA>'CnESTER FIRE-DOG. 



WHERE he came from we never knew, except 

 that some of his relations evidently were 

 black-and-tau English terriers. All we ever ascer- 

 tained was he came hungrj' and apparently homeless. 

 Two pounds of tripe cuttings very quickly seemed 

 to satisfy, first his appetite, and secondly his opinion 

 that the location he had selected might have been 

 worse. In a few days he became a great favourite, 

 by his affectionate, funny ways amongst the firemen, 

 who christened him "Our Jim." 



Soon after his appointment to the chief station as 

 "Eire Dog," a noisy fellow ran into the yard giving 

 notice of a fire at a chemical works : the man seemed 

 to think that by making a great noise it would 

 expedite matters. The dog seeing the man in a 

 state of great excitement began to bustle about with 

 the firemen, and add to the confusion by barking. 

 He attended this his first fire— it was an oil-store. 

 Wherever the firemen went the dog followed. 

 Where he could not run he swam in the oil, and 

 we often say this was his first baptism at a fire. 

 He was exceedingly anxious to do his best to make 

 a favourable impression upon those he had elected 

 to serve. He seldom left the station, and had at all 

 times an utter contempt for any strange dog that 

 took the liberty to wag his tail at a fireman. 

 Shortly after his first turn-out to a fire, a policeman 

 ran into the yard one night, springing his rick, and 

 shouting " Fire ! Eire ! " The dog was, at the time, 

 sleeping iu the superintendent's bedroom. He 

 immediately jumped through the window and 

 alighted on the window-sill outside, where he com- 

 menced barking at the pitch of his voice. At this 

 time the firemen were warned on the occasion of a 

 fire by the ringing of a two-hundredweight bell, and 

 many scores of times has " Our Jim " given the alarm 

 to the firemen living in the neighbourhood, by run- 

 ning round their houses barking, what the men used 

 to call his " Fire Bark," long before the man on duty 

 had received orders to ring the bell. Our Jim's 

 fire-barking is quite a distinct sound from his ordi- 

 nary barking. So satisfied are the men that the 

 dog is giving notice of a fire, that they now turn out 

 of their beds and attend the station, with as much 

 confidence of there being a fire as if their bell were 

 rung to give them notice of one. The horses, too, 

 soon began to understand the dog's barking, and 

 they, like tiie firemen, when lying down, will get 

 up, shake themselves, and look round ready for the 

 firemen to harness them. 



After t«-o or three years attending fires and false 

 alarms. Our Jim gained considerable experience 

 in his duties, and became with the public generally 

 a great favourite, the latter acknowledging him as 

 the Manchester Fire- Dog. On the road to a fire he 

 is found most useful in warning gaping or sluggish 



drivers from the path of the fire-engine. At fires he 

 is even more useful, for he frequently diverts the 

 bystanders' attention, and keeps those who are too 

 often meddling busybodies quiet by his antics, first 

 running anxiously after one fireman, then another, 

 stopping to assist the police to keep back the crowd 

 of admiring boys, or to snap at a leak in the hose, 

 or any one standing on the pipe, which always much 

 annoys him. ■ - 



In the year 1856 the fire brigade of Manchester 

 removed to their new quarters in Jackson's-row. 

 At the entrance is the inquiry office, adjoining is the 

 firemen's waiting-room, iu which are kept the tele- 

 graph instruments and bell-pulls, which communi- 

 cate to the bells in the houses of the firemen living 

 within the yard. Between these two rooms, divided 

 by doors only, is the private office of the superin- 

 tendent. It is in this office Our Jim is generally 

 to be found reclining, by day, on his couch, resting 

 hi.mself after some hard fight at a night fire, or 

 gaining strength to combat one. His experience 

 has prepared him for any moment. Occasionally 

 he, like the firemen, gets wounded ; iu such cases 

 he remains bandaged, poulticed, or plastered, until 

 he considers himself fit for duty, or is declared so 

 by his medical man, the veterinary surgeon. When 

 he considers himself in working order, he takes 

 notice of his self-imposed duty by being always on 

 the alert for telegrams or verbal messages. When 

 the superintendent's office-door is shut, no human 

 ear is sharp enough to hear the tinkling of the 

 telegraph bell. But Oar Jim hears it, and, what 

 is more, decides whether or not it is to give notice 

 of a fire. Immediately he hears the bell ring, he 

 informs the superintendent by looking up iu his face. 

 Our Jim then listens for a moment or two, so does 

 the superintendent, but not a sound can he hear. 

 Not so with the dog; he quickly decides by either 

 lying down again, and thereby giving those in the 

 room to understand that he believes it to be only an 

 ordinary message, and invariably he is right. On 

 the other hand. Our Jim has made up his mind that 

 it is a fire ; he then commences to bark his fire-bark, 

 scratches at the door, and waits for the fireman on 

 duty to inform the superintendent of its where- 

 abouts. 



The instant the door is opened by the fireman, out 

 springs Our Jim. The alarm is given by him to the 

 men ; the firemen and horses wait for no other inti- 

 mation ; the men begin to dress themselves and 

 harness their horses ready for the fight, and in less 

 than two minutes after Our Jim is leading the way, 

 followed by the horses, who are as well aware as 

 himself of their errand, drawing a clean bright 

 engine, on which are mounted a company of fire- 

 men, to the scene of some fire. Tiiere is just one 

 objection to Our Jim's actions: on notice of a fire 

 being received, the neighbours have learned to know 

 the fire-bark. The result is they leave their houses, 



