The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1869-09-16

q
which got into the nozzle. Ii is sta
ted by some eye-witBesses that the
| person at the nozzle, instead of send
ing word to the engineer to stop the
engine, doubled up the hose to stop
the flow of water, then unscrewed the
nozzle to take out the plug; but the en-
CINE, meantime forcing water into the
hose all the while, had bursted il be
fore the nozzle could be readjusted.
1t is the opinion Of your committee
that the breaking of said hose would
not have occurred if the men at the
nozzle had sent word to the engineer
to stop, instead Of stopping the water
by simply doubling up the hose.
The presence of the plug in the
| hose IS accounted for in this way: At
/ the CLARK street fire, after the break
ing of the above named screw, Mr..
| Haney assisted the Engineer IN try
/ ing to make the Engine work, and for
| that purpose inserted plug to keep
the valve open. This plug was wash
ed into the hose at the first stroke Of
the engine, where 1t remained uatil
| at the Tenth street fire it was forced
into the nozzle. Mr. Archer says
that he was aware of the probable
presence of the plug IN the hose, and
that he stated so to Mr.. Niehaus, who
thought the nozzle big enough to al
| low of Its passing out.
ENGINE NO. 2
This engine bursted its hose at the
| Clark Street fire, the eaase Of which
your committee finds in the rotten
ness and defects Of the hose. There
can be no blame attached to the per
sons attending the engine.
ENGINE no. g.
This engine failed at the Clark
Street fire, after it had thrown water
| for a short time, because one Of the
water pipes which serve as boilers, gave
way, and the water rnnning out eX-
tinguished the fire. After thorough
examination Of said engine, and al
| investigation Of the facts, your com
mittee has come to the conclusion
that neither the engineer nor any one
else connected with the engine, can be
made responsible for such an accident
as rendered this engine useless on
that occasion, because first, that such
accidents may and will occur Is fully
demonstrated by the fact that the
manufacturers send with each engine
a dozen extra pipes, which
/ may be used In place of those that
wear out; second, that defects and
leakages i'll said pipes can only be de-
| tected by actual test by steam power,
and as the pipes may stand one test
and give way the next time, there IS
no way of guarding against it. Yo9r
committee exonerate the engineer o.
Engine No. from all blame IN this
matter
RECOMMENDATIONS.
In conclusion, your committee would
recommend that the drivers of the
various engines be advised TO uso care
and discretion in hauling the engines
| to the scores Of FIRE, as 1t IS OF no mo-
ment to the public whether II Is this
| or that engine that has the first water
on the fire, but 1T is of great interest
to the public that the engines are not
endangered BY reckless driving, but
are sure to be taken to fires in good
working condition and servlccable.
Respectfully submitted.
A. g. STEINBACH.
JAS w. WILTSHIRE,
q. w DOUGHTY.
On motion the report was received
and the committee discharged.
The following communication was
received from the Chief Of the Fire
Department:
To the Mayor andCommon Coun ii o the
city OF Evansville:
[ ask leave to call the attention of
your body to the wants offthe Fire
Department In the matter of Hose and
Hose couplings. There is now In use
about 1900 feet of all kinds.
AMOUNT AND QUALITY OF HOSE.
Engine No. 1-Good, none; imperfect.
600 feet; worthless, 100 feet; total
number or teet......... 400
Engine No. 2-Good, 600 feet; imper-
feet, GOO feet; worthless, 100 feeti to-
tai number of feeL.-..-...-.......... SEQ
| Engine No. 3-Good, 400 feet; imper-
feet, 800 feet; worthless none; total
| number OF feet.......... fe0
| Jackson Hand Engine-Leather hose:
! Good, geo feet; imperfect, 200 feet;
worthless, nonei total number OF
! Union Hand Engine-Leather hose:
/ good, 200 feet; imperfect, 30 feet;
! worthless none total number Ct
1eet 4UO
Total number of feet of good hose..I, zoo
Total number feet of imperfect hose..I, 800
| Total humber feet Of worthless hose. 90
Total Of an kinds..........................8.5 500
OF the $500 feet, there is only /, 400
feet Of reliable; and of the 1, 400 feet,
only 1 900 feet for three steam engines
that can be relied upou to stand
pressure Of sixty pounds; aud 400 feet
for the two hand engines.
The two hand engines, to be ef-
fcient, should each have 500 feet,
whereas they now have but about 200
feet each a light tWo-inch gum
6-ply would be preferred to leather,
on account Of being less liable 10
injury, and are more easily kept in
order.
| now come to call your attention
to the necessity of having a sufficient
quantity of good 7-ply two and one
half inch gum hose for the steam
engines. Less than 1000 feet for
each engine would not be sufficient,
and then if engines fail to do their
duty whom needed, the failure can be
easily traced.
In addition to the lack of good
hose, / may state another difficulty,
which has operated against the De
partment. It is this: There are three
different sizes of couplings for con
Meeting our hose, and if a longer line
of water is needed, detention and de
lay occurs in getting reducing butts
or connecting butts for connecting
two different sizes together, when, if
they are all one size, no such delay is
occasioned. Engine No l plays
through 3-inch, No. 2 through .,
and No. 3 has q patent connection.
All this can be remedied by the re-
duces, and reversers alluded to, but
they are always left with the reels,
| a0d often in tho hurry Of c-ettiDo 10