Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1860-03-15

time have been above Fourth street that the
loss at the 6res above that sesoes has been
I'll ass and the whole loss by 6rss in the city
for the came period has been eoly t2l $50,
leaving tl0.495 the amount Of loss below 4th
street. and Of which last amount IS, 300 va,
from the burning Of the Soap and Candle Fse-
tory and Tannery Of Astthss b Wsinsst, which
being composed of highly eomhnstibls mate
rial and located remotely from the Engine
Houses. 1t vas impossible, with the utmost
prompsness. for the Department TO be at the
eonfagrstion in time to be Of any material
service in arresting the fiameA
At one fire on the bluff (that q the burning
Of Edridgs 4 Williams rssidenees-loss
35oo) the value Of the properly destroyed,
and that which might have bses saved if the
water, Vas alone efficient to have built .
large number Of eistsrna A like catastrophe
may occur again at any moment Yon are
probably aware that with the length Of hose
belonging to the Dsoartment We are unable
having to depend upon the river for supply
Of watsr-te render much service at any point
above Fourth street
Az all fire alarms in our city, the Rock
Island companies have responded promptly
whenever it bas been possible - cross the riv-
er with their FIRE appsrAtua They have fire.
quently been Of invaluable service to this De-
partment
1t is . pleasure to ..ate that mutual good
feeling. and spirit Of accommodation sxiste
between the Fire Department. Of the Twin
Citiss." and the thanks of this Department are
hereby rendered to the officers and members
Of the Fire Department Of Rock leland, for
their promptne.s and energy in rendering a.
sstancs ct fires on this side Of the river, during
the year. It however not unfrequenty hap
pens that it 10 impossible for the Rock Island
Companies to cross over to our assistance, and
in such times. If . FIRE should occur shove the
ret mentioned, or at farthest, above Fifth
street. it would be impossible fer the engines
to work. from the fact that the Hose barely
reaches to that distance, to any considerable
profit, and because it is demonstrated that the
best hose cannot be relied upon. TO withstand
the pressure necessary to force q stream Of
water through line Of hose of this length,
and particularly up the inclination required in
the case mentioned. may - we'll mention
here as elsewhere that there 10 . great need OF
FIVE hundred, or one thousand feet more Of hose
than the Department nov have. The hose OF
this Department hes been in use nearly four
years; and while it 10 true that it has beer
kept. and now is. 10 good order, yet it is liable
to burst At any time.
When under the immense pressure it must
Withstand in order to admit the forcing Of a
stream of water as high up ss even Fourth
street, should the hose burst while Q large fire
was raging the consequences that nigh. follow
can be easier imagined than foretold Ia such
sn event the D. psr,l. ent, so far as the Engines
are concerned, would be useless 10 extingui.h.
ing the flames.
Another serious wan, Of the Department, is
Ill 1
no alarm bell Of its own. the one in use by
Fire King, No. /, being the property of a ci,i-
zen of the county, and is liable TO be called for
at any time With the exception Of thi. bell,
the Department 10 compelled to depend entire
" upon the church bells access to which is al
wsys more or less difficult; frequently long
delays happen before any alarm can be given
by them. Considering the imperative import
ancs Of prompt Attendance at fres, it seems to
me that it would be an ecosemiccl expendit-
ure should your honorable body appropriate 40
amount Of money sufficient to procure q. least
two good FIRE alarm bells.
The working Of the Department On Ter the
ordinance. for the formation and governmen,
Of the Fire Department passed Feb Sd 1858.
is satisfactory to both members and officers.
1t is with pleasure state that the General
Assembly of the State Of Iowa, passed bill at
ltb present session. REDUCING the Sl0S OF service
required of firemen, in order to exempt them
from the performance Of military duty, serving
as jurors, and working on the public highway
from ten years to FIRE.
In concluding this report it lie gratifying to
be able to inform You Of good feeling aud
friendly relations existing during the year be
tween the several organization Of the Depart
NETT as we'll as between the officers and .oem
bers.
] would sso acknowledge the valuable co
operation Of Your committee on Fire and Wa
ter, consisting of Messrs H. II. ANDERSEN, L.
J. Holmes. and }. A. LeClaire.
Permit me to call your attention to the able
manner 10 which the Assistant Engineers,
Messrs. Christian Miller and Christian Kruse
have performed their duties; and also t, re.
turn nv thanks to the officers aud ID EN- bere TOR
their valuable assistance during the year, and
for their promptness, zeal, industry and skill
as firemen.
Ali Of which is respectfully submitted
+ NJ. LTTTLkR
Chief Engineer OF the Fire Department