es were added to the force, he procured better workmanship. By
his personal influence, also, more than by the mere advantage of
official position, Mr. Braidwood secured the constant co-operation of
the police in giving the earliest alarms of fire, and in facilitating
the labours of the firemen when actually on duty. As has just been
shown, the results of method, applied skill, and of a personal
devotion cultivated under the high impulse of immediate public
observation and approval, were soon manifest. To this vast improvement
the _Edinburgh Mercury_, as representing the opinion of the citizens
of the Scottish capital, bore public testimony in its issue of August
14, 1828, when the Fire Brigade of that city had been tested by nearly
five years of constant trial, and with conspicuous success. Referring
to the excellent organization of the establishment, it was remarked
that there were then but few, if any, serious fires in Edinburgh, for
when a fire broke out--and the alarms were as frequent as ever--it was
speedily checked. Said the writer:--

"Not only is the apparatus constructed on the best possible
principles, but the whole system of operations has been
changed. The public, however, do not see the same bustle, or
hear the same noise as formerly; and hence they seem
erroneously to conclude that there is nothing done. The fact
is, the spectator sees the preparation for action made, but
he sees no more. Where the strength of the men and the
supply of water used to be wasted, by being thrown against
windows, walls, and roofs, the firemen now seek out the spot
where the danger lies, and creeping on hands and feet into a
chamber full of flame, or smoke, often at the hazard of
suffocation, discover the exact seat of danger; and, by
bringing the water in contact with it, obtain immediate
mastery over the powerful element with which they have to
contend. In this daring and dangerous work men have
occasionally fainted from heat, or dropped down from want of
respiration, in which cases the next person at hand is
always ready to assist his companion, and to release him
from his service of danger."

In a fire which happened while Mr. Braidwood was at the head of the
Edinburgh Brigade, he won great admiration by bringing out from the
burning building a quantity of gunpowder which was known to be stored
there. He would not ask any of h