That of the policemen discharging loaded pistols all over the city every time an alarm of fire is raised at night. The object is to arouse those who are not awakened either by the bell or the hallooing. It is accompanied with much danger, and we have heard several men say that they have been deterred from turning out when an alarm was raised lest they might catch a stray ball. Though it is pecullarly a Dallas custom, we think it is one that would by much “more honored in the breach than in the observance.”
The Dallas Daily Herald, Dallas, TX, August 23, 1874