Smyrna times., 1878-10-23

FIGHTING FIRE-The destruction of the
town of Edenburg, Pa, by fire, an account
of which we gave in our miscellaneous
news items last week, brings up again the
old question whether all our smaller towns
must be burned up before common sense
provides some means of protection. On the
average, we hear about once a week that
some town or village has endured being
wiped out or come within sight of destruc-
tion-not because Of any extraordinary
combination of elemental circumstances,
but simply because no proper appliances
for fire extinction are at haud. In the
case of Ederburg, it is possible that fire
once started might have had things all its
own way, ali the same; but the fact re-
mains that the single hose company and a
limited water supply should never have
been relied on for the protection of its
acres of balloon buildings. But the people
found this out just little too late. And
so nearly 200 houses and 100000 worth of
property became an ash heap. That the
fire was of incendary origin and that the
water pipes, such as they were, had been
tampered with, may or may not be true
but it makes little difference, either way,
in view of the paramount fact that the
town was so inadequately provided with
engines and water as to make the coming
of this calamity only question of time.
The Edenburg heap should serve as a
ire-alarm signal to about thousand OF
our small cities and towns, whose facilities
for preventing or extinguishing fires are at
this moment of the most primitive and in.
adequate kind. All around US are towns
and villages just as defenceless against fire
as was Edenburg. And in other parts oi
the country the number of such is so large
as to comprise majority of the whole. A
recent inquiry into the fre-fghting condi
ton of $40 cities and towns in twelve
Western States brought replies from nc
places, and of these no towns no less than
20S were found to be without any fire de
partment whatsoever, and "A others could
only claim to have hook and ladder com
pany each. In other words, these 2S2
towns are simply betting against time, a;
to when the fiery fate shall overtake them
waiting, as it were, to take their place in
the list of wiped-out towns.
The late dry, windy weather was the oc
casion of continuous alarm by our timorou:
citizens; nor is such alarm to be wondered
at when towns throughout the nation nc
better protected than ours are weekly
being destroyed by the "fre fend." The
town above named it seems, had a water
pipe to aid them in supplying the engines
with water. We have not even that; oul
two engines, SO far as we know, are never
examined between fires though the perioC
may extend over months or years. Fo
this reason, on several occasions, they have
been found materially untitled for ust
until the fire had obtained considerabl,
headway. The fire that destroyed blocl
of houses and some 100000 worth o
property in Easton two or three weeks ag,
was thus destructive because in both tn
items of engines and water they were no
prepared to fight it. Every town lilz
Smyrna, Dover, Easton &C., should be KEEP
in supply with engines well seen after
hooks and ladders and all other appliance:
where wells instead of hydrants have to b
depended on. If in the order of events W
should be visited by such calamity, W
ought not have the reproach to add tina
we did not try to prevent it.