Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 771

This 1898 Beadle and Adams ten-cent weekly features "Prince John, Detective Special: Unmasking the Frisco Fire-Fiends" by Joseph E. Badger, Jr. The story opens with fire bells summoning Fire Chief Orson McAleney and detective John Prince to a three-story brick building in San Francisco's seventh district. A hysterical mother has forgotten her infant child inside. Prince, armed with a special pass from the fire chief, enters the burning structure with a wet silk handkerchief protecting his face from smoke. Fighting through dense flames and smoke, he locates the baby in a corner of an upper-floor bedroom, wraps it in a blanket, and begins desperate escape. Finding the main staircase impassable, Prince reaches a front window high above the street, now surrounded by fire. Below, crowds gather as Chief McAleney orders fire department personnel to prepare catching equipment while Prince prepares to lower the child by clothesline.