Farm Fire
My friend R. has lost some of the hay and corn he harvested so carefully a few months ago. His Dutch barn caught fire and made a beacon for the countryside around. People went on foot and by car to see the blaze and talk about other fires at farms in the district. The place is on a hill, and it must have been a problem to get enough water to cope with the outbreak. No one knows how it started, but no one ever knows how corn or hay takes fire. I can remember my grandfather wearing a little perforated cap on his pipe—a thing like the top of a pepper-tin—to prevent sparks falling in dangerous places. The greatest care was taken by everyone, but a spark from the boiler- house, where they, were making pig-mash, set fire to the granary one bright morning, and the fire brigade came too late.
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