City Offers Students from Midwest Free Journey Home in Fire Engine

Anyone Interested in the ride can make arrangements today by calling Kllfoyle at ELIot 4-0106 or McCarthy at UNiversity 4-4406.

The last of Cambridge's armor-plated fire engines will head for the Mississippi and beyond at 4 a.m. tomorrow morning, and will give up to eight Harvard and Radcliffe students a free ride home.

City Fire Chief Henry E. Kilfoyle last night offered free rides to "any student that wants one" in the engine which fire mechanic Justin C. McCarthy is driving to Kenosha, Wisconsin for repairs. During the three-day trek, the apparatus will pass through New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Chicago.

City Councillor John D. Lynch said yesterday that the pumping engine will be glad to assist in fighting fires "in any city, town, or forest along the way that can come up with one." Councillor Edward A. Crane '35 added that rubber boots and helmets will be carried. "They'll keep their sirens and bells in shape too, just in case," he said.

Lynch isn't quite sure that the engine will make it all the way to Kenosha on the first try, but he vowed that "we'll send the rescue squad after the old pumper if she breaks down, and another engine to get the kids to Kenosha. It's Wisconsin or bust on this trip."

The engine was damaged earlier this year as it skidded around a corner on the way to a fire. The driver and another fireman were seriously injured in the crash, but the engine suffered only body damage. The City Council voted on Monday to send the machine to its manufacturer--the Pirsch Company in Kenosha--for repairs.

Crane expects the fire departments of cities en route to "give the pumper the old visiting fireman treatment, brass bands and all. During night stopovers, the engine will be parked in local firehouses, ready for anything."

Equipped with Rocky Mountain-climbing Hall-Scott motors, the engine can travel up to 85 miles per hour, "and you can bet that she'll really steam down that road with all cylinders popping," Lynch forecast. The engine is the third of only three of its kind ever made. Cambridge owns two of the machines, while Memphis has the only other one.

No Sex Discrimination

The pumper's cab, made of heavy armor plate, can seat nine people. Kilfoyle said that "we're willing to fill her up with college kids, if we can help them by getting them home for Christmas." He emphasized that there would be no discrimination on account of sex in choosing the riders.

Overnight accommodations en route can be had either in firehouses or hotels, whichever the student prefers. The engine is leaving under cloak of darkness to avoid any undue fanfare by appreciative local citizens, Kilfoyle emphasized.