The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-11-15
The Fire Department.

|
for the year 1867 has just been issued. !
shows most healthy and efficient condition o
things in the partGsent-economy in manage
ment, faithful discharges of duty on the par
Of the employees and general activity in the
! suppression of fires. The well disciplined and
sold;srly mind of The President Of the Cammis-
sioners, General Alexander Shaler, has ev..
IDENTIFY impressed itself most efectualy upon
the entire force, and the consequence is that
a thorough system of discipline exists which
renders tho paid department infinitely more
effective than the old volunteer system, excel
lent as that was in many respects. The
department is indebted good deal also to
the sagacity of Colonel I. Bailey Myers,
who, together with General Shaler, visited
the fire departments of all the leading cities
| throughout the country, made careful investi-
CATION of the different systems and embodied
| their experience in valuable report which
| has furnished immense information towards
the better organization of our own department
There has been variety of opinion as to the
comparative efficacy of the new and the old fire
organizations, but we think that experience
leads US to the new as the better system. One
fact alone, as stated in the report before u.s. is
Of Importance. 1t is this, that during the
past year only one case of robbery at a
fire had been taken cognizance Of, the police
protection afforded by the firemen themselves
being sufficient to protect the most valuable
property. We know that this was not the case
under the old system, nor could it be ex-
pected, because the mob, composed mostly of
oilers and rowdies continually hung on the
skirts of the regular members of the Fire De-
partment, took a hand at the machine, !"
created dire confusion, destroyed all discipline
and proved too much for the ordinary police
force allotted to duty at great fire. This
evil has been remedied by the admirable
method of military subordination which Gene
raj Shaler has introduced. AS the present de-
partment increases in time of service the de-
cline in the number Of disastrous confagra-
tons is apparent. For instance, the destruc-
ton by fire during the year ending in Novem-
Der were S73, involving loss of S., III 1000
a reduction from the losses of the
previous year of $7l7,7S6. With On
equivalent progressive Improvement we may
hope to see the losses by fire gradually
reduced until the wholesale destruction which
in former times devastated whole blocks and
millions of property shall exist no more. The
expenses of the paid Fire Department may
appear upon the surface to be greater than
that of the voluntary system; but we must
measure the expense by the value of the SER
vice rendered. The appropriation for 1865 was
$500, 900. OF this amount 800, 900 was used
for the pay of the officers aud men, the rest
was absorbed for repairs of machines and
buildings, the construction of new steamers
and other contingent expenses. The number of
men employed is 50i. There are in active ser
vice "a steamers and Q hand engines, with
steamers held in reserve for emergencies. The
number of buildings used for the department is
60, and they are represented to be now, under
the management of the new Board, in cleanly
and perfect condition. SO also with tho ap
paratus, the harness and horses. The men
are reported, on the testimony of the district
engineers and foremen, to be in complete
state of military discipline, well uniformed and
filed with an honest pride in the service to
which they are devoted.
Some good suggestions are contained in the
report with reference to the storage of such
dangerous combustibles as nitro-glycerine,
gunpowder and petroleum oil IL is earnestly
recommended that more stringent laws should
be enacted in this regard. We have had
some terrible examples Of the danger accruing
from the storage of these articles in the city
and around the docks recently, and it is to be
hoped that the Legislature about to assemble in
January will pay some attention to the warn
ing of the Fire Commissioners. In such
service as our Gremen are engaged accidents
which result in disabling individuals
Of the force are necessarily I'M
avodable, and we are glad to per-
ceive that the Commissioners are not unmind-
iul of the sufferers. IL isa rule wisely and
charilably established that all disabled fire.
men shall be transferred from active duty to
the easier post Of bellrngers as soon as they
are able TO perform that work. There appears
to be some Improvement necessary in the fire
didTHis anu teicBiupus W. Octtaiu uisti'VtS vi
the city--a matter which should be, if il has
not already been, attended to. The system Of
street boxes for Geographic alarms, used in
many of the Western cities, might be employed
in the metropolis with equal II not greater
effect, inasmuch as we have larger area of
danger to cover.
Upon the WHOLE the account which the Fire
Department gives of itself is highly satisfac-
tory, and is calculated to inspire confidence
in the minds Of the property owners aud citi-
zens generally. There are, doubtless, many
improvements which may be made in the de-
partment, but with so clear head aud so well
trained an official in charge Of the department