The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-31 00:00:00

THE LON.

One of the greatest improvements which the
Metropolitan Board of Works have ever effected,
not even excepting their Main Drainage and Thames
Embankment schemes, has been the consolidation
and reorganisation, under Captain Shaw, of the
whole system of the Fire Brigade into one homo-
geneous municipal institution. Something has still
to be done in increasing the strength of the force,
and more in providing it with such facilities for
work as consist in the erection of properly built and
commodious fire-stations. These, however, are only
questions of comparatively minor importance, as to
which, especially in the matter of the fire-stations,
improvements are being effected every month. In
all that relates to system and perfect organisation
the present Fire Brigade is complete. It is the model
of all other Fire Brigades throughout the kingdom,
and in comparison with the former Fire Brigade it
bears about the same relation as locomotives do
to stage coaches, or express trains to omnibuses.
Everything has been altered, everything remodellel,
everything improved, and now, for the first time
in the history of L'ndon, its Fire Brigade system
and its mechanical appliances, in the way of steam

and hand engines, are equal to coping with any
conflagration that may arise. It is not meant, of
course, by this that any fire which breaks out can
be extinguished. That, unfortunately, in many
cases would be physically impossible. But they
can be held in check, and almost to a certainty con-
fined to the buildings in which they originate. The
old Fire Brigade was never in a condition to effect

this result. It had neither the men nor the means,
The engines were old-fashioned—the staff was small.
It was by no means compulsory on them to attend
any fire in which the particular insurance offices
which owned the engines were not concerned, and
in some cases, if their efforts had not-been supple-
mented by the exertions of many private engines,
they could have effected nothing at all. In short,
the old Fire Brigade, as a protection against one
of the most terrible calamities which can befall a
neighbourhood, was almost worthless ; and it was
only by the untiring energy and vigilance of Mr.
Braidwood that it was enabled to effect what it did.
Of course, an occasion at last came which disclosed
the insufficiency of the Brigade and its means to
cope with a vast fire. It was the great fire at
Tooley-street, where Mr. Braidwood lost his life,
where the engines were seen to be all but power-
less, and where, fortunately, the fire in a great
measure burnt out of itself. The tremendous loss
sustained on this occasion by the insurance compa-
nies, the inadequacy of the means of saving us from
the recurrence of such disasters, and the death of
Mr. Braidwood, with the necessity for appointing a
new chief, all led to a thorough reorganisation of
the Fire Brigade system. It was placed under the
control of the Board of Works. The insurance com-
panies now give £lO,OOO a year towards its main-
tenance, the Treasury £lO,OOO more, and a metro-
politan rate of a half-penny in the pound raises an
additional sum of £30,000, making £50,090 in all.
There can be no question that this sum will have to
be increased to complete the efficiency of the force,
and perhaps the best guarantee for the usefulness of
such an additional outlay is to be found in the
great results which have already been effected with
the sum now at the disposal of the Board, and in-
trusted by them to Captain Shaw. The difference
between the old Fire Brigade system and that of
Captain Shaw may be summed up thus : —Under
the old system there were 17 fire stations, guard-
ing an area of about 10 square miles, out of the 700
which comprise the Metropolitan District. There
arc now 43 stations in an area of about 110 square
miles, but so distributed as to guard an area of
more than 400 square miles. There were for-
merly only 36 fire-engines, either worked by
steam or hand—there are now 95, and the addi-
tions have all been of the most powerful engines
which can be made. There were only two floating
steam fire-engines, with not a very high rate of
steaming; there are now virtually four, and the two
new ones, which will be completed in a fewonwielellaiteohgksaesi,
will be able to steam their 14 knots an hour and
each throw nearly 24 tons of water a minute. These
to Nn theyoa gigantictcr aenm e
eithernd o
cuosi
throwumengines
column, enough
their
o r d
a rweastote atrhrroraownunggehd as a
village,
or they can supply with an enormous wager pres-
sure no less than 32 fire hose of the common size.
These engines may in fact be looked on as being in
themselves complete fire brigades,
Thus,
h3u2s
under
c hand-workedCaptain
ta
i n erminessShaw's
wof thes systeeianc,hthise equal
to capacity.
for
num-
ber of engines has been trebled, the number of fire-
stations trebled, and the area they guard increased
fiorfold.
It
be regretted, however, that the increase
in the
to
y number of men has by no means kept pace
with the immense increase of their duties. Thus,
under the old regime there were 219 men; now there
are only 314—an increase of only 95—an increase
which becomes very small when it is recollected that
87 men are every night occupied by the new duties
of attendance on fire-escapes ; that 43 men, that is
one man each, must always be left in charge of the
stations ; and that at least 5 per cent. of the force
is liable to be unfit for duty from injuries or cold, or
absent on leave ; so that, making these deductions,
little more than 160 men are left for day and night
duty over an area of nearly 110 square miles. It
frequently happens that nearly 25 per cent. of the
whole number of men employed are on duty 24
hours at a stretch—that is to say, that a man who
escape through the night, from
Bhaps.mch.atrogeBoafanare-.fi,
comes back and takes his turn of
duty on watch at a fire station from 8 a.m. to
8 p.m. again. If a railway accident were to occur
with loss of life and property, and it was proved at
the inquest that the pointsman or signalman was
subject to 24 hours' duty, the railway would most
assuredly be heavily find in the way of damages.
In the case of the Fire Brigade, where loss of life
and destruction ofproperty occur, the public fine
themselves heavily, either through
or
n pap
for what is in fact their
own
sor individuals,
more
mu
remissness and false economy. There is no
ce
the status to which Captain Shaw has raised the
profession—for such, in truth, may be said to be
Fire Brigade—the exercise of which requires more
unceasing vigilance, personal daring, coolness, and
bodily vigour. Yet it is not possible that a man
who at the end of 24 hours' duty may be sum-
moned to a fire can bring with him these essential
qualities, and the result is, and always must be,
greater loss than the saving effected by keeping the
establishment short-banded, At least a hundred
additional firemen are required to do fairly the
duties the present force is now expected to dis-
charge. The men could not be more efficient
than they arc now, but their present efficiency is
purchased at a high price—that of the lives of
those who break down in the service from sheer
over-work. In Paris, which is not much more than
half the size of London, and where the houses are
all of stone, and therefore more or less fireproof,
there is an established Fire Brigade of 1,600 men.
In London, with twice the area to guard, and with
ten times the amount of commercial property to
watch over in docks and warehouses, there are about,
as we have said, 160 firemen available for great
emergencies—that is to say, men who have not been
on duty 12 hours before coming on the scene of
fire. Is it, then, to be wondered at that the disas-
trous fires which annually afflict London are almost
unknown in Continental cities ? At the same time
it must be distinctly understood that London, with
its present means, is better provided against fire
than any other city, and it only requires a small
extension of force to make it, so to speak, almost

fireproof.
For the purposes of the Metropolitan Fire Bri-
gade all London and its chief suburbs are divided
into four districts, known by the letters A, B, (1,
and 1), whieli make four distinct groups, each
governed by one chief officer, or foreman of the
district. The A group includes all the west end of
the town, and has 14 stations in operation, two in
course of construction, and ono not yet begun,
making 17 in all. The B district takes in all the
west central parts of London, from Islington and
Charing-cross to Watling-street, the head-quarters.
Here there are eight large stations in operation, and
four to be built-12 in all. In the Cor East dis-
trict there are 13 stations in operation and one to