"Searchlight"

Source: LAFD Photo Album Collection
Chief Lips and Searchlight
Circa 1905

    "Searchlight," the fire chief's horse, began his fifteenth year of service in the fire department Wednesday.  He has just returned from a long vacation, having been allowed a large alfalfa field all to himself for the last two months.  He came back to the service as playful as a colt, although he is 23 years old.
    
    Several changes in "good for the service" have occurred in Searchlight's time, but there has been no thought of a successor for the horse.  According to Chief Lips it will be for "the good of the service" to keep him for 10 years longer.
    
    This horse knows the boxes and their location as well, if not better than any of the drivers in the department.
    
    "He knows some of the shortest cuts through the down town district," says the chief, "and he puts his knowledge into use at night when there in no danger of a blockade.  We'll start at top speed for a box in the middle of the night when it is as black as ink.  Suddenly he will swerve into an alley of his own accord, run down it and come out blocks nearer the fire than if we had gone around.  When I first started to drive him we used to differ in our ideas of which was the right way to go, but I have learned that if the old boy is close enough to the gong to hear the number that it is best to let him have his own way.  He seems to have remembered every drive and all the tricks of the trade, and is ready to put all his past experience under the old chief into service at a second's notice."
    
    A couple of days ago Searchlight had a tryout with the fire department dispatch automobile while making a run down Main street.  The auto was a block in the lead at the start, but the old veteran "speeded up" a little and passed it within six blocks.

SEARCHLIGHT

    His name was Searchlight and he was a beast of burden, but like so many fire horses of his day, he served his masters with honor and distinction.
   
    In October of 1905 he started his 15th year with the LAFD.  He had just returned from a vacation, having been allowed a large alfalfa field all to himself for two months.  The 23 year old sorrel was described as being, "as playful as a colt" when he got back to his job at the engine house.
    
  Searchlight's duty was to pull the Chief's buggy.  He served several Chief Engineers in this capacity, earning him the reputation as, "the horse that was never beaten to a fire in his life."
    
    Chief Engineer Walter Lips said of him, "He knows some of the shortest routes through the downtown district and he puts his knowledge into use at night when it is as black as ink.  Suddenly he will swerve into an alley of his own accord, run down it and come out blocks nearer the fire than if we had gone around."
    
    "When I first started to drive him," remarked the Chief, "we use to differ in our ideas of which was the best way to go, but I have learned that if the old boy is close enough to the gong to hear the number that it is best to let him go his own way."
    
    Searchlight lived through the development of the automobile, but to his last days was able to overtake and pass them if challenged. What a horse!  He deserves to be remembered.