was all runnin' prim'ries
an' thryin' to be cinthral comitymen. So ye wud. Ye niver hear iv thim
on'y whin they die; an' thin, murther, what funerals they have!

"Well, this Clancy wint on th' fire departmint, an' they give him a
place in thruck twinty-three. All th' r-road was proud iv him, an' faith
he was proud iv himsilf. He r-rode free on th' sthreet ca-ars, an' was
th' champeen hand-ball player f'r miles around. Ye shud see him goin'
down th' sthreet, with his blue shirt an' his blue coat with th' buttons
on it, an' his cap on his ear. But ne'er a cap or coat'd he wear whin
they was a fire. He might be shiv'rin' be th' stove in th' ingine house
with a buffalo robe over his head; but, whin th' gong sthruck, 'twas off
with coat an' cap an' buffalo robe, an' out come me brave Clancy,
bare-headed an' bare hand, dhrivin' with wan line an' spillin' th' hose
cart on wan wheel at ivry jump iv th' horse. Did anny wan iver see a
fireman with his coat on or a polisman with his off? Why, wanst, whin
Clancy was standin' up f'r Grogan's eighth, his son come runnin' in to
tell him they was a fire in Vogel's packin' house. He dhropped th' kid
at Father Kelly's feet, an' whipped off his long coat an' wint tearin'
f'r th' dure, kickin' over th' poorbox an' buttin' ol' Mis' O'Neill
that'd come in to say th' stations. 'Twas lucky 'twas wan iv th'
Grogans. They're a fine family f'r falls. Jawn Grogan was wurrukin' on
th' top iv Metzri an' O'Connell's brewery wanst, with a man be th' name
iv Dorsey. He slipped an' fell wan hundherd feet. Whin they come to see
if he was dead, he got up, an' says he: 'Lave me at him.' 'At who?'
says they. 'He's deliryous,' they says. 'At Dorsey,' says Grogan. 'He
thripped me.' So it didn't hurt Grogan's eighth to fall four 'r five
feet.

"Well, Clancy wint to fires an' fires. Whin th' big organ facthry burnt,
he carrid th' hose up to th' fourth story an' was squirtin' whin th'
walls fell. They dug him out with pick an' shovel, an' he come up fr'm
th' brick an' boards an' saluted th' chief. 'Clancy,' says th' chief,
'ye betther go over an' get a dhrink.' He did so, Jawn. I heerd it. An'
Clancy was that proud!

"Whin th' Hogan flats on Halsted Sthreet took fire, they got all th'
people out but wan; an' she was a woman asleep on th' fourth flure.
'Who'll go up?' says Bill Musham. 'Sure, sir,' says Clancy, 'I'll go';
an' up he wint. His captain was a man be th' name iv O'Connell, fr'm th'
County Kerry; a