The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1860-08-01

o. that day vS greater thAa along the bay o.
Ne~ York. and II may be very 0attering 10 the
vanit, Of John Bull 10 know hat In both places
II was . British celebrity that evoked H. II d
. curious coincidence. however, that the two
finest harbo. y In America should have been the
scene Of grA nd sensation on the sane day.
SrsAx vEHsus Hssp Fnx ExoNxs-Ths ere
In Nassau street on kondAy evening las, has
demonstrated the sups viodty Of steam over
mere manual labor, when applied TO theI extin-
gushing OF great oonnagra lions II has also
proved that The nremen Of the city Of New Yorh
are the foremos, In the world. whether ~ judg.
them BY their personal bravery. their self-nexa-
ton. or The admirable esprit da cops by which
their excellent organization Ia sustained. Such
q band Of heroic and elfdenying men II would
be hard 10 6nd anywhere. The alacrty they
invariably evince whenever the cry OF danger
Ia heard; the Promptitude and discipiine they
observe In conforming 10 the stringent rules Of
their association, and the innexible courage
and determination which ere their leading cha
racteristics when life and property. public or
private, are In jeopardy. are confessed facts
which give tone and q character 10 the Tso-
fession Of fireman.
But In the face Of all these facts. and OF many
Others which might be added. Il has been TOO
clearly shown that q revolution Ia sbou, to oc-
cur In the administration Of the Fire Depart
ment. Steam fire engines must inevitably be
brough, into universal use. The ordinary hand
engines, though worked by the mos, courageous,
athletic and devoted men. can never hold
out or compete with the tremendous force and
uncessing action Of the steam Gre king. Az
steam has already demonstrated It's utility and
power in every branch OF art and human labor
it ust also come TO be exclusively applied 10
the extinction Of fires. When this grand i'm
prov ement has been fully achieved. we shall
hear OF but few extensive conhagratons. To
the presence Of one OF the-e powerful engines
we ust, in great measure. attribute the ex.
emption Of our own and other establishments
from very severe scorchine on Monday night
Three or four large steam fire engines, bring
ing their full power OF ejecting water TO bear
on a burning building, must very soon sub
due the flames be they ever 30 fierce; and the
consequence will be that, when these engines
are in universal use, only one building can
burn at time and life and property will be
more securely guarded.
Many of our fremen might look on the on.
walton in their profession, and as calculated TO
detract from the importance Of their exemplary
organization. But they greatly err II they be-
lieve DO. The steam fire engines have to be at
tended to as carefully, IL not more so, than the
hand engines. They require as many men to
take them to the post Of danger, and. In cases
Of great fires, the men Of the Department would
always ind more than enough 10 do without
wearing out their strength by the fatiguing Ia
bors which the hand engines demand, and with
out which they are entirely useless.
The Improvement is, therefore, an advan-
tage to all parties-to the public o.
well as to the members of the Fire Depart
ment themselves. As human muscle cannot
compete with steam in working against fires,
let steam be altogether brought into use And
we are glad to know that this desideratum is
being slowly but certainly accomplished.
There are now in this city four Of these new
and powerful regular district steam engines,
besides two large exempt engines, which are
only brought into requistion on the occasion
of very large CONGREGATIONS. Measures are
now, we learn, being taken by the Corporation
for constructing others of the same class and
If our city fathers really desire to protect the
property Of the public, they will relax no ef-
Tort IN A tho 81 NTH f,,u
Of these superior engines.
The SITE FOR THE Posr OffIcE-TmE DurcH
CHURCH THROWN OvERBoARD.-We understand
that the general government has decided not to
take the old Dutch church In Nassau street
as a site for the new Post Office, and for the
reason that no clear title to the property can
be had. II appears that there are several
bodies lying in the vaults there and the heirs
to the different tombs cannot now be found;
and, therefore, without their signatures no
title would be secure, unless by some special
act of the Legislature. Many of the hers to
these tombs are probably dead, but many may
be living. and scattered over the face of the
globe. 1t would be highly impolitic in the
government to run the risk of future litigation
under these circumstances, as they have no
more right to take possession Of these mems
tombs than of their houses
We said before, when II was rumored that the
purchase Of the Dutch church by government
was completed, that it was not SO; and IL now APP
pears that we were correct in our statement, as
We usually are. We consider it very fortu-
nate for the public that this location cannot
be had for a Post Office. II Is not the proper
place for it, because business Is moving up
town. and il would be great hardship to COM
pei people to come down to such an out of the
way place as the present Post Once will be
ten years hence. The ft place for the
Post Office. the Custom House. the Mint aud the