The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1866-09-28
CITY AFFAIRS.
HEARING ON THE CHARGES PBEFERREI
AGAINST CAPT. SAAfUEE r.. LEAVITT. s.1


: AGAINST CAPT. sAnfITEI n. ,nAvIrT
st..vf
special meeting OF the City Council was
held last evening for the purpose of having a
hearing on the charges preferred by the Board
OF Engineers OF the Fire Department against
Samuel r. LeaAitt, Captain of MAchigonne
steam Fire and Hose Company, No. 1.
The charges were made by the Board of En-
gineers on the 10th ofAugust, and they recon-
ihehueo ehe disonarse OF Capt. Leayitt for the
following reasons: .Af
1st.-He bavinr nj y or;t;o,, ro,.; a, .e...,.y
fire on Iu1y Sth iocee as,aISn Pgliou oi tne ne
force the orders Of ~ 81 Assi ~ o9ey ana .t, en-
field, VI - -A''' lug iiiecr httie-
81 r.. ,..;,, ,;u., 80 .s n
Chief Ena;nenr Ne HIsrIspeou1i P - langnage e to the
- s'oo'0i io0i t'A.' noscisj ac saiu hre.
IN oIty Conhcu August 18th, the memorial
OF the Board of Engineers having been nre
sented, it was voted that tbe nart;as ba1a
near hieailns oeiore Ohe Oity Councli, at such time
as the Mayor may designate. The Mayor ac-
cordingly apDointed Thursdav evan;na Cat
o7+, 80 a. ~, g., a. Dep' p"'
'-'.r' 90 '"' 'i,no io' .re hearihg.
Members of the Fire Department and
large number of citizens assembled last eve-
n;no Of tho +;,no onno;,,+a5 - ~ =,
80 Pp"' W h'OSh " the
case. hS oF
Both Boards went into convention shortly
before 8 O'clock tbe Mavor in tho- oba;, rrbo
-. -. s',e e,,t',i nc
=, so' '''' 'ne lioceeuiiiss oi che Olty Coun-
Gil connected Herewith We're read by the
Mayor. t. ~ =
Mr.. Leavitt was accomnon;od h., t;s oJ,,84.,
"''' ''''ofaihc" ny MS counsel,
Nathan Webb, Esq.
On suggestion of respondents counsel the
convention voted to racaiva OH ,ost;,,,o,,-'
dor oatI 'e'''n'ohS uii-
uor o".''
Engineer Nahum Littlefield testified that
soon after the origin of the fire, he waited ON
Capt Leavitt and requested him to take his
pipe to the rear of Deguio's boat sbop. ,'he
hose was then being uncoupled. Respondent
paid no attention to the order, but turned and
%atked WI IKE OIL on Witness followed him and repeat
know my business"
Immediately reported the offence to the Chief
Engineer; also that there had been no previ-
GUS trouble between the Engineers and Capt
Leavitt
Chief Engineer Rogers testified that when
the report OF disObedience was made to him.
he, accompanied by Capt. Littlefielh,7 waited
on Capt. Leavitt, and directed him to obey the
order of the Engineer. Twice the accused
paid no heed; on the third repetition of the
order, he replied: "Iam not deaf" ! In cross
examination, in reply to; a question whv fine
matter was not brought to the notice Sf the.
City Government at an earlier period, witness
replied that il was under discussion "'He'' VIZ 90
The principal object of the crosse summation
appeared to be to prove that there lad been
some differences between the accnsej and The
Board of Engineers. 1t had reference nart;c,,
larly to the proceedings of the Board Of Engi-
Mr.. Charles Tittlefield and Mr. James w.
Plaisted were present when the order was eiy-
Ell to Capt. Leavitt by Engineer Littlefield, and
they corroborated his statement of facts
Mr. Rogers, re-called-He stated that the
clharges preferred Were made by the Board on
tne strength OF Mr. Littlefeld' 8 representations
tnat the accused had had no hearing before the
Engineers. + s.tH go ~ 1,qe 81
The cross-examinatiOn took wide scope.
put as III shed no light upon the testified facts,
nor a1fected the main question, we do not re-
produce much Of it. s,n irr nW
The defence of Mr.. Leavitt was general de-
MAI OF the charges. EtA
MT. Leavitt on his own behalf testified that
ne was at ms house, on ST. Lawrence street,
W Wnen zen .ile alarm IVA, was given. When he arrived
at tne scene OF the fire his engine (the Machi-
gonne) was stationed and had stream on
- dne q, pipelneh were playing on the south side
L AZ. 'tSo S iIse snop. Inc empty hogsheads near
the on;i faouse were tnen on hre; went to
T;t+,ofSiI aini Duck 10 she pipe; passed Mr.,
Ina 70 - ue pipe qua not near any order ad-
ninemen 70 u,nrly .n9 tmsiieeL, I,refseu .ne
thp onrnor ava 4ha hot net"een e4e pulluiiS % on
had s,llan. r,orLad n,,a snI .I pusss nhot
the building in from the street; this passage
would lead to the rear Of the buildings,
lst1 Lea i.eavis. s ~. mere exnoited carefully pre-
sssnre,,,ents batwaa,, hnd; M .ne ;t; aieura.e s
hose SO, Ase sTIf sf'
When arrived at the point last mentioned,
was directed oy Mr' kogers TO take my pipe
tr out and form o am not ar aeafs The order
was Given in a loud to ne of voice. The order
was obeyed, and the hose taken up Maple
Street, and resulted in the 'oss 4a '1,e At,
ats T;ttiatields order The first order recollect
of receiving from Mr.. Littlefieh was on Dan
forth Street, when he requested me 70 enanse
my PIP dd ~ '''e This was the resnt Of confer
ence between u.s. Am aware that there has
been a feeling of unkindness towards me by
menipeIs oi .ie put h'ii -, ~
tasI;nc "f some years, stana,n@ On the mart of
Mr.. Rogers. Have been a member Of the Fire
department for thirty-eisht years Inc at
pS;cta7s ~ h,' ,,s ~ .J.,, aud n was