64 EAST PRUSSIA TO THE GOLDEN GATE 



tower, all eyes were riveted upon the well-known balcony 

 from which the faithful guard (Thurmhiiter) had sound- 

 ed the tocsin, or, at nine o 'clock, played nightly the mel- 

 ody of some well-known hymn for many a year. Word 

 had been sent up that his life was in danger, but to no 

 avail. He watched the progress of the destructive ele- 

 ment and when the heat of the flames and the smoke 

 became too intense, in other words, when the falling of 

 the tower and his certain death were but a question of 

 minutes, he once more raised his trumpet to his mouth 

 and sounded the famous old hymn: "Em' feste Burg ist 

 unser Gott!" (A solid tower is our God!) Hardly had 

 he finished when the earthly tower, which had given him 

 shelter for so many years, fell with a crash, burying its 

 last and noblest guard under its ruins, a martyr to duty. 

 No Hamburg native speaks of that conflagration without 

 honoring the memory of the greatest hero of that disas- 

 ter, by relating these facts. To return to our thread: 

 Tolling the district fire-bell in daytime is supplemented 

 at night by the patrolman's horn and his very measured 

 shouts of: Fire! fire! fire!— "Kehrwedder," or announc- 

 ing whatever neighborhood of the district may be endan- 

 gered. As mostly natives apply for the positions of 

 patrolmen, these notices are generally given in low Ger- 

 man, a typical "Hamburger Plattdutsch." The more 

 unruly the element, the oftener one hears the tolling and 

 the announcements. During the Kehrwieder fire, for in- 

 stance, I counted fifteen of those much dreaded alarms. 

 There is as little commotion noticeable among the inhab- 

 itants during a storm flood, as in time of fire, three can- 

 non shots, in rapid succession, announce the impending- 

 danger. As long as the flood does not rise too high the 

 numerous water gates (being closed at the sound of 

 alarm) protect the city from invasion, which threatens 

 especially the inhabitants of the cellars, who are mostly 

 small dealers in vegetables, liquors or small goods, with 

 here and there a cheap restaurant. The real danger 

 arises when the water rushes over the tops of the water- 

 gates, which is said to be a rare occurrence; when it does 



