Auxiliary Course Given by Firemen Of Cambridge Attracts 70 Students

Seventy men have already expressed their intentions to take the Auxiliary Fire Course which opens on February 10 at the Cambridge Fire Station opposite Memorial Hall, University Hall officials announced yesterday.

Under the signature of Dean Henry Chauncey, 90 letters were sent to all the members of the University who stated that they would be interested in the course on the recent questionaire, announcing the preliminary meeting and enclosing return cards for registration. The course is limited, so enrollment with Mrs. Wise in University Hall 12 is compulsory.

The instruction will be under the Direction of Chief Gutheim of the Cambridge Fire Department, and the trained fire fighters drawn from the Faculty and students of the University will be used on Harvard property exclusively. Unlike the city-wide Auxiliary Fire Service, which is limited in most cases to men who are not draftable but who are over 21, the Harvard unit will be open to all students, Faculty members, and employees. Neither Red Cross nor Air Raid Warden training is required, though both are helpful.

The trainees will be shown the apparatus and the methods of operating it, and then will practice on the equipment themselves. According to Cambridge Fire officials, no special equipment has been purchased to deal with an emergency. Although there are several of the English-type, portable pump-and-hose carts, which can be fastened to the rear of an ordinary touring car, they all belong to private firms, and none are owned by the Fire Department.

Most of the course for residents of the city, according to officials are being given at posts where there is both an engine and a ladder company. In most of the courses, the instruction is under the direction of one of the Captains of the Department.

The need for Auxiliary Firemen is great. Officials estimate that it will be necessary to have at least five volunteers to every regular firemen. In case of an emergency, the auxiliaries will go out with the professional men, as assistants. Decision has not yet been made concerning the equipment, such as rubber boots, coats, and helmets, to be used by the volunteers.

The meeting to be held February 10 will decide such questions as whether there will be two classes or one, when they will be, and so on.