Morning journal and courier., 1880-01-13

for the wear and tear necessarily attached to
 the long use of the machines, and trust that
 your honorable body will permit them when | occasion requires.
 Our city has been extremely fortunate dur ing the past year in the absence of any exten- sive conhagration. The total number of fires
 and alarms was 113. The loss was but $49,-
 2O5, which was covered by insurance with the
 exception of $5,0o0.
 New water mains have been located on Pros pect Hill, thus afording ample means for the protection of a hitherto unprotected portion
 of the city.
 FIRE MARSHAL.
 A noticeable index of our increasing pros 1 perity is the granting of 255 building permits
 by the Fire Marshal, an increase of fifty over the preceding equal period. The total esti- mated value of these buildings is $604, ,025.
 shal has satisfactorily performed the duties of
 the Chief Engineer during the sickness Of that | official 8 portion of the year.
 FIRE ALARM PARAGRAPH.
 The working of the telegraph in the service | of the department has been more gratifying
 than ever. In but one instance did it fail to
 work satisfactorily, which is degree of sue | cess seldom attained, owing to storms, contact
 with other wires and various causes. The efnmissicners have held twelve regu-
 lar and nine special meetings, besides inspect | ing the department at various times. The sx- penses of the entire department for the year
 were $49, 7S5.61.
 1 THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. The report of tho Chief of Police is the | best possible evidence which can be offered you of the absence of serious crime to large extent in our community. The total number of arrests was 3, 3,947, or 4S7 less than for the preceding year. The number of lodgers fell | Q iv,7 k<,7 S,1 l ference Of 2, ,33O, owing mainly to the tramp 1 act of the last Legislature.
 The recent act of the Commissioners in in- creasing the force to the maximum allowed, l has materially frightened the labors of the in dividual members and has extended much needed protection to those dwelling in the out skirts of the city. There are at present chief, one captain, one lieutenant, two detec- tives two roundsmen, and seventy-seven pa- trolmen who are daily engaged in the protec- ton of life and property. Their faithfulness l in the performance of the duties incumbent on them is 50 well known and appreciated by the citizens at large, that could add nothing to the good reputation they dessrvedly enjoy. HEALTH DEPARTMENT. Our citizens are gradually approaching an appreciation of the valuable services conferred by this department of our government, as is evidenced in the fact that two hundred and sixty nine (7G9) different parties sought relief at their hands from matters detrimental to the 1 public health. Under the present improved system of sanitary inspection and garbage re- moval, our death rate has been lessened until | we at present enjoy, according to the testimony of Dr. Harris, of the National Board of Health, | the lowest death rate of any seaport town in the world.
 For it's scientific tabulation of the causes of 1 mortality in our midst, compiled with such m neurological data as to enable @ correct in huence to be drawn of all the causes of death har kor "a fIaN Naxv H or6 ! of Health has been highly appreciated by those I competent to judge. There is no doubt that 1 it's field of usefulness can be greatly widened, consummation which trust will be pro- | noted by you.
 THE PUBLIC PARK.
 There is every reason to believe that we are to have park for the benefit of the general public. That large tracts of open land, orns- mented by the best landscape ability, in the immediate vicinity of growing cities, accessi- ble at all times to those feeling the need of open air exercise, are desirable and health promoting institutions but few will Painsay. We have in years gone by failed to appreciate
 the efforts of those who wished to adorn our
 city with suitable grounds for park purposes,
 but the outgoing Court of Common Council have remedied this as far as possible by ac- cepting gift of seventy five acres of land in the vicinity of East Rock and $6, 900 contrib uted by citizens for purchasing other lands and the adornment of the same. They also voted
 like out of the city treasury for the same purpose. A restriction, however, was
 made which l regard as wise attempt to
 check any future inclination to extravaganza
 by limiting the amount to be expended on 1t
 in any one year by the city at $6, 900. Al
 though a firm believer in the utility of parks,
 I should oppose the present and all other
 similar projects did believe that any large
 outlay would be made on it for the next twen-
 ty years. Parks ought not to be pushed to
 fi1r7li itroo nr tenn, because the necessity for them is less
 imperative, and in our own city no increass in
 the public indebtedness can as present be an-
 ticipatsd with favor.
 THE CHARTER COMMISSION. A committee of the last Court of Common
 Council has of late been making an effort to
 codify and straighten out the present charter
 and ordinances, and also to suggest few
 minor amendments and alterations thereto.
 The principal portion of the present charter
 has been in existence for ten years, and nu-
 merous changes which have from time to time been made considerably alter its con-
 struction as originally adopted. As the sup ply of printed copies of our charter Is sx- hausted, and as new ones will have to be pub
 lished, the present time was deemed oppor- tune to simplify tho whole of 1t. The com mittee of course died with the body which created it; but that we may not lose the bene- fits aocruing from their labors, advise that you re- create the committee to carry it's work to completion. One of the alterations con- 1 templatsd by the committee meets my heart fest commendation, the one in reference to hesupernumerary branch of the police service. Under the present plan of making appoint ments for life the commissioners are often obliged to appoint men who have had no ex- perience in police work, and whose physical capacity for endurance may be insufficient to | stand the hardships of the service. The con- sequence is that in . few years there would be | in the department large number Of practi- cally useless individuals. This could partially be obviated by the adoption of the commit \ tees plan, viz, to take all the permanent members of the force from the supernumerary branch. By making the tenure of office for | the supernumeraries conditional on good be- | havior and ability to perform acceptably the duties of the service for a period of six
 months or year training school would be provided from which the most deserving
 could always be selected.
 THE COMMITTEE ON LAMPS. A very important item of the public expen- l allure is incurred for lighting the streets and | highways. The sum of $52, ,O0O was appro- priated for this purpose in the past year, and l $47, ,786 27 of this amount was expended Thirty-two petitions, asking for fifty five
 lamps, were presented last year, of which
 number but eighteen were granted. The | number of lamps now in use is gas, 906; naphtha, 412. Under the new contract for
 the present year with the New Haven Gas Light Company each gas lamp is lighted at
 an expense of $31, being S4 less per lamp ! than last year. On the 10th of last month the contract with the New York and New Jer- l sey Globe Gas Light Company, with year to ! run, was cancelled and new one entered into
 with the same company for three years at $27 per lamp a saving of $1, 2s6 psr annum l on the price Hitherto paid for naphtha gas. | The police force is of valuable assistance to
 the Committee on Lamps in reporting lamps
 out of order, not lighted, etc. Under the | present time table for lighting and extinguish- ing the lamps the police report that they are | greatly aided by reason of the longer duration I of lighted streets.
 | COMMITTEE ON CLAIMS The Committee on Claims is one of the
 most important of any appointed by this body, and it is continually obliged to exercise | wise caution in respect to tho business be-, | fore it. The following is brief summary of
 it's doings for the past year: