The Portland daily press., 1866-08-16

lust this; That the "old Falmouth, ana the
@Portland" did all the work at that point; and
that the other engines were useless. The
writer does not tell us that the Machigonne is
mucb older than cold Falmouth" No indeedi
That would not answer his purpose-for, de-
mend upon it he has a purpose.
Now, what are the facts in the case. Sub
stantially these. The Machigonne was the
first engine on the ground at the fire named;
and took her position on Berlin wharf; she got
to work readily, and succeeded in getting the
first stream upon the fire, and continued to play
upon it until her leading hose was burnt OH,
when she was ordered to another position Dy
the Chief Engineer OF the Cumberland, 90
not pretend to speak positively, as my whoie
time was occupied with my own engine. L am
informed that she also played upon the IRE at
this point, and did good service As''in 'n0
writer says:
Tho Cumberland. which was stationed about
| twelve or fifteen feet from the Falm0utn, couia
not find any water in the dock. Inc Macm-
| come met with the same success, and IN con-
| sseouence both the Cumberland and Machi-
come were ordered to where the draft was less,
in order that they might be made available as
fire engines. 1t must be gratifying to our oltl,
where she was able to save so much property
Is it not strange that the Machigonne should
be able to play upon the fire, when she could
not find any water in the dock; and had she any
less distance to draft third of the way down
the wharf, than the "old Falmouth" had at
the head of the wharf?
In the third place Fl. H. G. perhaps more
correctly G. ii. H. says
There are those in our city who profess to
know about these matters, and who say that
| playing from a long draught is not one of the
accomplishments of the Manchester engines;
and this fact seems to be perfectly understood
by our efficient Chief Engineers, both present
and past for whenever any engine has toplay
| from the docks at long draught, they wisely
lit cannot be accidentally send a Portland
built machine to do it, while those engines
built out of this city are sent to a scuttle
where the water is within their reach.
In reply to this paragraph, I refer to the
card of the past Chief Engineers, published
in your issue of Monday last, and if anything
more upon this point Is needed, will Just say
that at the fire on Sunday evening last, the
only engines used were the Cumberland and
Machigonne, both Manchester engines, and
both drafting from the wharf or bridge, (which
is the same thing) through their whole length
of suction, and playing through a line of about
thousand feet in length, for nearly three
hours; at least this is true of the Machigonne,
and presume also of the Cumberland.
The fling about "engines that cannot work
| at long draught," and the statement that the
Manchester engines completely and utterly
! failed at the commencement of the fire" is,
after the above statement of facts, unworthy OF
notice, and I pass it by. -.q-
In my remarks upon q particular class of
engines, in this article, do not by any means
wish to be understood as undertaking any 9TH
ers; for they one and all, undoubtedly, did ev-
erything that could reasonably be expected of
them under the circumstances; and I only re-
fer to particular ones in order to reply to the
unjust charges and statements of G. HI. HI.
In conclusion, 1 wish only to add, that the
whole scope of this ungenerous article is to
abuse the public mind, especially abroad, and
thus to have a mischievous effect. What mo-
tive could aetuate the writer to this injustice
in traducing the Fire Department so grossly,
the public will not be able to conjecture,
though to few it is not quite impossible. Its
tendency is unmistakable, whatever its mo-
tive. How contemplate, in the eyes of other
cities and communities such writings present
our citizens, our City Government, and our
fire organization with not skill or generosity
sufficient to provide the means of protection
even for the beautiful city they had builded
with so much caro- and taste. How insignif-
cant in the eyes of the foreign insurance Off
ces, that so cheerfully paid to the sufferers
millions, and to whom they have turned again
with brazen face if these things be true) and
asked for thousands of dollars reinsurance! But
how much more contemplate than all appears
citizen who, in this hour of our trial, will
cooly indite such libels upon the right arm
of our protection in the times of fire; and for
purpose, too, however concealed from the
general eye, yet transparent enough to some,
to mark him as one, I trust, of the few, who, to
effect mercenary purpose, will descend to
most dishonorabe ends to accomplish it.
s. r. LEAvITT
Director of Steamer MOL