Fire! fire! [column]

Title

Creator

Del Pilar, Aurelia F.

Identifier

Health and Safety Section

Language

English

Source

The Young Citizen : the magazine for young people 6 (5) May 1940

Year

1940

Subject

Fire prevention

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Abstract

Mrs. Arceo conducted a lecture on Fire Prevention, she knew that her pupils were not that attentive, especially Alfredo, whose mind was to go home and get his present from his father because it was his birthday. His father bought him a steamboat. Alfredo's father took the tank-like receptable from inside the boat, filled it with petroleum, and then lighted the wick. Soon, the steamboat was sailing smoothly on the tub, much to Alfredo's excitement and the interest of the visitors. Alfredo got on fire when he lighted the tank-like with petroleum and it exploded. He does not know what to do. And then above the searing pain, or perhaps because of it-he couldn't tell which-he seemed to hear Mrs. Arceo's voice, vague and uncertain, telling him not to run about, but to lie down and roll over and over, until the flames died down. Instinctively, he followed his teacher's instructions which seemed only half-understood and so far away. In a short time the fire was put out. He heard someone say how brave he was and how lucky it was for Alfredo to know exactly what to do on such a situation. But Alfredo did not give the credit to himself. Deep in his heart he knew that it was Mrs. Arceo who had saved him, and that if he had listened attentively to her lecture on Fire Prevention, he would have been saved the pain of a burn and a possible general conflagration.

Fulltext

188 THE YOUNG CITIZEN May, 1940 HEALTH AND SAFETY SECTION FIRE! FlilE! By MRS. AURELIA F. DEL PILAR THE afternoon was very warm. The class was simply hard to handJ.e, and it took all of Mrs. Arceo's self-control to keep her from losing her temper. She knew that Section Three pupils, as a rule, were not very bright, but the whole class was unusua1ly slow in their response throughout her lengthy talk on Fire Prevention. ' Even Alfredo, who was the brightest pupil in the class, showed a certain restlessness Mrs. Arceo could not under-. stand. She noticed that he had an air of absenHnindedness, and that although hIS face was turned to her, he did not have a full concentration on the subject that she was talking about. The truth was, Alfredo's mind was on what his father would give him when he came home, for this was the boy's birthday. He failed to grasp the meaning of many of Mrs. Arceo's words. He heard snatches of sentences and new words like "fire prevention", "hydrant", "siren", "fire extinguisher", and oth·ers which, although he did try to understand, seemed to be meaningless to him. That recitation period was the longest that Alfredo had yet spent in. At last the bell rang. School was over, and Alfr·edo fairly ran home. His happiness was unbounded when he saw the steamboat his father had bought for hjm. But then he could not yet play with it because he had to attend to his little guests. He had to be polite and courteous to them, but inside him he wanted t.hat he could be alone to himself • Zurbaran, Sta. Cruz, Manila. so that he could try his ste~boat on the water. And because he was becoming "impatient, he asked his . father to demonstrate how to sail it on the big washtub, before the guests. Alfredo's father took the tank-like receptable from inside the bo~t, filled it with petroleum, and then lighted the wick. Soon, the steamboat was sailing smoothly on the tub, much to Alfredo's excitement and the int.erest of the visitors. Early the next day Alfredo's first thought was about his steamboat. After breakfast he finished the assigned chores quickly, and when his mother went to do the marketting, Alfredo with his boat hurried to the pond which was a third of a kilometer from his house: He watched the boat cross and recross the pond for about two hours or so. And then his curiousity was aroused. May, 1940 rHE YOUNG CITIZEN 189 It was fun to watch the boat sail, he thought, but would it not be more fun to know why it sailed? The more he thought of it, the more he wondered. Why not separate its parts and then assemble them afterwards? He remembered, then, what had happened when he took his father's watch and unscrewed the parts. His father had given him a scolding (his father never used the rod, but he had a way of gaining the respect and love of his children) because the watch had to be sent to the watch-repairer. But the temptation to examine the mechanism which made the boat run was too great. Besides, it was his boat anyway, And so he went home and locked himself in his room. After loosening screws, what had been a boat was now a little pile of useless-looking gadgets. What interested him most was the small petroleum tank. He tipped it from one side to the other, its wick lighted, doing the motion of a ship in a rough sea. Suddenly, there was a blinding flash, followed by a loud explosion. He felt something hot creeping all over his body. His clothes wer·e on fire. The sudden~ ness ()f it all made him lose his mind, and he didn't know what to do. He ran about, but the flames grew more and more and the pain became unbearable. He shouted for help. And then above the searing pain, or perhaps because of it-he couldn't tell which-he seemed to hear Mrs. Arceo's voice, vague and uncertain, telling him not to run about, but to lie down and roll over and over, ·until · the flames died down. Instinctively, he followed his teacher's instructions which seemed only half-understood and so far away. In a short time the fire was put out. In the meanwhile, neighbors had come DAILY HEALTH ACTIVITIES FOR BOYS AND GIRLS By FLORA PONCE Check each of the following activities that you perform every day: · I. I drink a glass of milk every morning. 2. I brush my teeth after . every meal. 3. I take a bath once a day. 4. I eat a balance di·et. 5. I play out of doors. 6. I wash my hands before eating. 7. I drink about eight glasses of pure water every day. 8. I sleep at"least ten hours a day. 9. I sleep with my windows open. running in answer to his cries. His burns were quicklY administered to. He heard snatches of conversation going about. He heard someone say how brave he was and how lucky it was for Alfredo to know exactly what to do on such a situation. But Alfredo did not give the credit to himself. Deep in his heart he knew that it was Mrs. Arceo who had saved him, and that if he had listened attentively to her lecture on Fire Prevention, he would · have been saved the pain of a burn and a possible general conflagration. MOZART .... (Continued from page 185) gang and his sister N annerl were like two children in a fairy tale, bowing before the queen to be rewarded for their marvelous music. They were happy children, for music was a pleasure to them. This boy prodigy could play another instrument besides the violin and the (Please turn to page 190.)

pages

188-189

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