Part 5 (2/2)
”Joseph Andrew Ford,” so runs the official record, ”lost his life at a fire which occurred at 98 Gray's Inn Road, at about 2 am on the 7th of October, 1871
”Ford was on duty with the fire escape stationed at Bedford Row, and he was called to the fire a few minutes before 2 am, and proceeded there with the utmost speed
”Before he reached the fire, three persons had been rescued by the police, who took them down from the second-floorby means of a builder's ladder; and, on his arrival, there were seven persons in the third floor, six in the left-hand , and one in the right-hand
”He pitched his escape to the left-hand , and with great difficulty andthe six persons out safely (the wo in the e of fire down himself when he became enveloped in flame and smoke, which burst out of the first-floor ; and, after so, he fell to the pave down the shoot when his axe handle or so; so that, to clear hi to do so, he got so severely burned that his recovery was hopeless
”It was a work of no ordinary skill and difficulty to save so many persons in the few moments available for the purpose; and, when it is mentioned that soeration to say that it would be ihly Ford's conduct on this occasion, which has resulted so disastrously to hie when he met his death, and he left a wife and two children to mourn his loss”
That's all the official record says--sihtforward--like Joseph Ford's conduct on that night
I suppose that next ht little eyes were on the watch for Joseph Ford; and perchance four pattering feet ran to the door when the knock came; and that two little minds dimly realised that father had been called to a far-off country, where some day they would see him And it ht had shi+ned, was stricken with grief and bowed down But all I know for certain is, that Joseph Ford died in the perforht's work Six lives saved frory flames--old and crippled some of the terror-stricken folk were--and he took them down so carefully, so tenderly, and landed them all safely below
His as over He had saved every life he could; and glad of heart, if weary of limb, he turned with a thankfulin the world--viz, to descend the escape he had been down so ; safety was only thirty feet or so below; and the people aiting to welcome and cheer the victor
Only thirty feet between him and safety! Yet the man was ”fairly roasted” in the escape
Men have been burnt at the stake and tortured, and limbs have been stretched on the rack, and people have been ures with nails that tear and pierce All this have they suffered in pursuit of duty, or at the bidding of conscience; and of such and of brave Joseph Ford there coo, to the effect that ”he that loseth his life shall save it”: and we need to re in such cases as that of Fireman Ford
A BLIND HELPER OF THE BLIND
THE STORY OF ELIZABETH GILBERT
”A fine handso black eyes!” Thus was Elizabeth Gilbert described at her birth in 1826; but at the age of three an attack of scarlet fever deprived her of eyesight; and thenceforth, for upwards of fifty years, the beautiful things in the world were seen by her no more
Her parents wereon in the household, in order that she should feel her misfortune as little as possible So she lived in thein their sports, theirtreated just as one of the others; yet with a special care and devotion by her father, Dr Gilbert, whose heart went out in deep love towards his little sightless daughter
Bessie was fond of ro a few knocks and buuided by others when she was at play She was by nature passionate, yet she gradually subdued this failing She was a general favourite; and, when any petition had to be asked of father, it was always Bessie as put forward to do it, as the children kne good were her chances of being successful in her irls, except that her lessons were read to her She ress, and was a very apt pupil in French, German, and other subjects; but arithery of working a long division suures; think of all the difficulty of placing the figures, and the chances of doing the suirl could never enjoy arithh in mental calculation she showed herself later on to be very clever
When she was about ten years old, the duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria visited Oxford, where Bessie then lived with her parents
On her return home Bessie exclaimed: ”Oh, mamma, I have _seen_ the duchess of Kent, and she had on a brown silk dress” Indeed, the child had such a vivid iination that she saw mentally the scenes and people described to her
And, so though no gliht from the sun reached her, the child was not dull or unhappy She listened to the birds with delight, and knew their songs; she loved flowers and liked people to describe the expeditions to the fields and an to feel some of the sadness and loneliness natural to her lot Her sisters could no longer be constantly with her as in the nursery days; and though she made no complaint, nor spoke of it to those around her, yet she felt it none the less keenly
By this time her father had become Bishop of Chichester
When Bessie enty-seven years old an idea was suggested which was theher an opportunity of doing a great work for the blind
It was her sister Mary who first spoke about it, having seen with sorro changed the once happy blind sister had becohten her burden