Charles
Gall

CHARLES GALL was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 24, 1888 to Gustav and Minna Gall. The family came to New Jersey around 1895. The 1897 and 1898 City Directories shows Gustav Gall, pretzel baker, at 268 Spruce Street. The 1899 City Directory shows the family at 1318 South 4th Street. The 1900 Census shows them living at 123 Mechanic Street. Gustav Gall was then working as a baker. The family had moved to 711 Fairview Street in Camden by 1906

When the Census was taken in 1910, Gustav and Minna Gall, and seven of their eight living children were living at 711 Fairview Street. Two other children had passed away. Gustav Gall was in business as a cattle and horse dealer. Charles Gall was the oldest child still at home. He was then working as a riveter, most likely at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard. Younger siblings Bertha and Gustav were working at a woolen mill, most likely the nearby Howland Croft mill. The other children at home were Adolf, Henry, Mathilda, and Elizabeth. 

Charles Gall was working as a pipefitter and living at 711 Fairview Street when the 1914 City Directory was compiled. He was appointed to the Camden Fire Department not long afterwards. When he registered for the draft of June 5, 1917 he was living at 710 Fairview Street with his brother Adolf. Charles Gall served as a member of the Camden Fire Department into the 1930s. He had left the department by 1940, but re-trained in the spring of 1941 to serve as an auxiliary fire fighter. Charles Gall was still living at 710 Fairview Street with his brother Adolph in the spring of 1942. He was not working at the time when he registered for the draft. By 1947 he had passed away. His brother was still living at 710 Fairview Street.

Horace Cairns - William Miller
Harry Selby - Charles Gall
Spencer Smith - Howard C. Walker
Rocco Fanelli - Harry J. Zander
Mortica Clark - James McDermott
James Durkin - Frank Burt
George C. Wade - Samuel E. Patton
William Reynolds - Harry Hallowell
Howard Harrington - Henry Baumgartel
Walter Carter - George Henry Johnson
Louis D. Stevens - Roscoe Tribbett
Benjamin Walters - W. Scott Franklin
George Cattell - Joseph Daley 
Anthony Valentine - David Smith
Carlo Lombardo - George Pursglove
John Hunt - Robert Gick
Nelson Till - Herman Kreher

Camden Post-Telegram * August 9, 1921

Camden Courier-Post * July 1, 1941

The photograph on the left shows Edward Friant, of 124 North Thirtieth Street, descending from a tall building on a rope by using a life belt. The center scene depicts Charles Geitz, of 465 Mechanic Street, left, and Nicholas Iacovelli, or 1303 Decatur street, using asbestos suits in the middle of roaring flames. The suits, according to Fire Captain Ray Smith, instructor at the school, are able to withstand 1,750 degrees of heat. Ernest Wilkinson, of 1304 Park boulevard, is the man behind the mask on the right shown emerging from a building filled with formaldehyde gas.

Camden's first group of war and emergency volunteer firemen received their "diplomas" last night on completion or their training at the fire school in No. 10 firehouse, Ninth street and Morgan boulevard.

They are the initial volunteers to be trained as a reserve for the city fire department in an emergency. The volunteers, 50 of them, will be on 24-hour call. Eventually more than 500 men are expected to receive the training course for a huge reserve similar to the corps of firemen now being used in London. 

The men range in ages from 11 to 59 years with Charles Smith, son of Sgt. Ray Smith, being the youngest, and Harry L. Freidel, the oldest. 

The training course started May 12 and the trainees have attended three sessions a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights, for seven weeks under the direction of Fire Captain Raymond Smith, no relation to the sergeant, who is director of the training school. Smith is a graduate of Class 56, of the Philadelphia Fire Training School.

Each volunteer fireman will be issued an identification card which will hold his fingerprints. 

Class Praised 

Among those congratulating the graduates were Herbert E. Harper, chairman of the Camden Defense Council; William C. Schriver, council member; Fire Chief John Lennox and Captain Smith. Howard Odrain, deputy chief of the Philadelphia Fire Department with 31 years of experience in fighting fires, attended as an observer. 

"In behalf of the Camden City Defense Council, I want to thank you men for the hours and days you have put into taking this course," Harper told the graduates,

"You have been prompt in attendance and have been attentive. We don't anticipate any air raids or any acts of war-invasion, but we have an important problem in enabling national defense Industries in Camden city to make load in their Jobs. 

"The sabotage committee of the defense council has been visiting the local Industries encouraging the plants to set up their own fire fighting squads and many are doing so. You men will be needed in times of an emergency to aid these forces and to assist at industries where there is no fire fighting squads." 

Chief Lennox termed the volunteers "our second line of defense" and thanked them for their cooperation. 

Training Complete 

The course included training In all phases of fire-fighting from operating pumpers to climbing ladders and combating incendiaries, Rescue work also was included. The use of gas masks and asbestos suits in chemical firs, how to approach delayed bombs with snubbers and the proper methods of using extinguishers were taught. 
A demonstration was held outside the firehouse by the volunteers. Their activities included scaling ladders, using gas masks to enter a smoke house, climbing and working on the top of the fire tower, using an aerial truck, tying tools for the lifting to tools, working on the end of water lines, working on pumpers, hooking up to stand pipes, jumping into life nets, tying life ropes and using asbestos suits through flaming gasoline and oil. 

The Class 

The graduates included: George D. Wilkinson, fire marshal of the RCA Manufacturing Company, and his two sons, Ernest and George; Garfield Watson, sergeant of police at New York Shipbuilding Corporation; Lieut. George Hamilton, Jr., of the 157th Field Artillery; Captain William Hare, of the Kaighn Avenue-South Street Ferry. 

Harry B. Thompson, Earl Denby, Lester W. Giberson, Norman P. Maull, Joseph Leone, Samuel Schuele, George P. Smith, Joseph Marchese, Nicholas A. Messaro, Willam S. Martz, William E. Doan, Elwood P. Martz, Jr., Clyde Getzinger, George W. Grove, Stephen Kirby, James W. McCracken, William Watkin, Manuel Weiss, Riccardo DiGiacomo, Louis Cimini, William P. Walter, Sigmund Yakaski, Nicholas Iacovelli, Robert Holmes, Walter D. Lohrman.

Myer J. Mutter, Charles Geitz, Charles A. B. Smith, Howard Doerschner, Harry L. Freidel, Franklin L. Wright, Paul W. Kessler, Warren I. Carter, Creston Polland, Edward E. Friant, Frank F. Shropshire, Charles Gall, Albert E. Pine, Nicholas Cerasoli, George W. Williams, Joseph G. Foster, Joseph Elliott, George Hance and Irving L. Stiefel.