The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-07-09

ALMOST USELESS FIRE ALARM ~
TEN or BROOhLYN
The Safety Of Hundreds OF Thonsnnt. Of
Lives and Many Millions of Property De-
pendent on One Watchman's vigihincr,

The safety Of Hundreds. OF Tbo,s,p,. nj
Lives. and MANY ,f,iIian. cf r,,.....,., ~
n.n,,,, a,, a.. yv,a,.., -, - IVY "o-
~ " "' ""''"'"" 'tsiMhce'
Tho inefficient svstem Of traus,ni,Iiro
40 oior,,,. T., u..,.,,,, II, -, -, A., =
n'e "i''"'s III pIo""iy" ~ one oi inc stunning
complaints against tho city government which
proniseg to remain unconsidcrrd ,ntn so,,r ,laL
,a,,' eo,, "''''' SUM "e.
s.'"o'No o"n""e'"',oh nnaNes more apparent
the necessity OF n change Brooklyn has Oyef
sixty Thousand house. and sevo, ,uiI.s Of riv,,
80, II, .,., -. -, ''''' w We
'front.' hheu WIN vast storehouses' containing
millions OF dollars worth Of property. II coyers
twenty and nInc-tenth sou.rc ,nilos .na
H. IA 10 ii. - -, v
'''s O'oic '''os vi hree's' ieV rhost
primitive system of transmitting nro alarma
ls In v,,no Tbero a,o sc.tterod ah,ns
a. -. No., ,'o,, , -
the city hfty Geographic Instruments which
are nearly all inside Of factories or
.,...s WI. n. -. -. ~
warehouses; "hen nre occurs there
no way OF communicating the TACT but to run ia
,,o ,,.a,,,,,, .,,,,t.,,, =, ,ho ,.,rJ
'le "atchmah ATTENTION at the Iuctory "hcrs
the alarm instrument is, or to wait until thu
flames are hiuh cnouyh for tho wat Gilman IN tho
look ont in Inc tit fJall towcr IN nrk the nrS
up" The teiegraphic signals can only be operi
wAtchinen who are nrt nv"r' eIlipnnt have tho
care II them. they frequently at nisht strike lid
instrument more times than Tho number of thu
district, thus causing great confusion i'm send
ing out tho engines The signal consists of a
thumb piece of telegraph instrument. which
is pressed az many times a. there are numbers
In the district This plan was long AGO aLan-
doned by nearly every other fire dernrt ment in
the country becai..f e was liable to error and
proved worse through the frequency Of mia
takes. than no system at ALL The Instrumental
too. are continually getting out OF order. eyerv
| change OF weather affecting them, and, when "A
break occurs In the wires, II Is sometimes ncccs-
before Il can be repaired.
In this city there are alarm boxes affixed "a
TELEGRAPH poles at almost every corner which
can be easily operated by any person. il heinz
necessary only To pull on a ring inside the box
The alarm sent II accurate and swift. In nronk-
lyn 10 Is frequently twenty minutes before tho
Fire Depaitment knows OF "A fire In one case
where there was no way Of conveying tho alarm.
twenty houses were entirely DESTROYED before
tho engines arrived In November aud Decsm-
her Of 1871 and January. 1875 the average dis
tauce from each fire that occurred 10 the nearest
alarm station was ee-eiRhths uf "A mile ThiS
distance had to be traycfsed by some one before
the alarm was sent out The consequence was
that the average loss per FIRE in these mouths
was s25OO The average los. per fire in 1si2 wns
e7(2i: i'm 1874 s3tin: i'm 1stI e3TG The in-
stances in which the loss has been preatlv
Increased, by the DELAY Of the engines are TOD
numerous 10 record Tho cnae of tho Are in Tho
Home OF the V'ttle Sisters of the Poor where