The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-01-30
AN OPEN LETTER TO TEE CITIZENS OF
PORTLAND.
Our Great Danger-Running on Luck
Will It Pay?

Our Great Danger-Running on Luck
Will It Pay2
Mr. EDIToR:-T propose to lay before the
citizens of Portland a few facts for their con-
sideration that have come under the obserVa-
ton of many whose business or inclination,
leads them e. examine the workings of our
Fire Department as at present conducted
trusting that the matter may be fairly met
and discussed by our citizens themselves and if
the evils pointed out are just and true. the
thing cannot be too speedily remedied Let
rs first take up the matter of fire alarms.
At present at the first alarm only
three engines respond. The fire may
start in some thickly settled locality,
or on some wharf whose warehouses may be
filled with valuable merchandise, and where
the delay of an extra stream is fatal to prevent
a large conflagration In the meantime the
grand opportunity to prevent the spread of
the flames may be lost, will be at no distant
future and the property of our citizens again
disappear with the same bitter expert
ence which the past has brought to us.
can ounce Of prevention is better than a
pound Of cure" in the matter of fire alarms,
as we'll as in other things. In proof OF this,
witness the delay in giving the general alarm
at the late destructive fire in Boston, where it
is admitted by all, in the fire department and
out, that the delay in giving the general
alarm occasoned the loss of hundreds OF thous-
ands Of dollars. No matter what the excuse
was the simple fact of the delayno one denies.
In this city every engine should respond to
every alarm. Even if once in while the
services of all are not needed, the practice is
useful and of great benefit 10 all concerned
and the very slight expense is not to be thought
of in comparison with the good which may
often be attained.
Another very serious matter, and a vital one
too one that will make itself apparent toall and.
we fear too soon is the penny wise and pound
foolish" system that now pervades our fire de-
partment in the matter OF hose Let us see
what the Chief Engineer had to say in his last
annual report for 1879:
There is now in service in the department about
5 500 feet of hose of all kinds There has been no
new hose purchased the past year. Some of the hose
now on hand is getting old, and isnot reliable for
steamer use, and Is liable to burst achen most meedsd
| would recommend the purchase of at least 5000
feet of hose the coming year.
Since that report was made there has been no
new hose purchased and we now have but about
10000 to 1900 feet of reliable hose. Compe-
tent judges say that at least 49, 600 to 10000 feet
is the smallest amount that city of this size
should have, to feel that we are able to fight
our battles successfully. Could anything be
| more wllfu or wicked than for the fire
| department to keep hose in use long after they
| know that it is unfit for service and then ease
| their conscience on the score of public econ
| omy? Is not somebody or some body Of men as
fully responsible for the spread OF the flames as
| if they had carried the blazing embers into
| the untouched buildings with their own
| hands?
| A thousand dollars or SO. may be saved for
| year or two, but in the end, we are sure to pay
| for this stupid and blind policy, by hundreds
| of thousands of dollars, and perhaps more
| What has been, may be again. It is the same
| old story that is repeated at every large fire.
| "Bursted hose and the time lost in replacing
the same. was the worst feature to contend
with" This was the great ground OF com
| plant at the late destructive fire III Phladel-
| phia.
Again, in the haste to arrive at the fire, only
some 600 to $50 feet of hose are now run in con-
nection with each engine, and often an engine
| will arrive at fire, attach to a. hydrant, run
| off all their hose for stream, only to lind that
| they lack certain amount to reach the tire.
| Consequently, they must wait until some other
| engine arrives, or they send back to the engine
| house for more. In the meantime, the fire
spreads, and if by luck, more than anything
| else we escape a serious fire, all are ready to
| shout hosannas to our wonderfully equipped
| fire department. In spite OF the lesson that
| has been taught US, in spite Of the sad expert
ence of other cities, even at this late day, we
are still exceedingly backward i'll using ordl-
nary precautions against such mishaps, and
| must we again have a few grains of wisdom
burnt into us?
Tho leather hose with coupling complete
weighs about rs pounds to the fifty feet. 1t is
| heavy to handle, dirty, greasy, leaks and weeps,
| so that wherever it is taken it is quite sure to
leave its mark, and liable to burst at any and
| all times While the linen rubber lined hose
| weighs only 80 pounds with couplings to the
fifty feet; consequently 1900 feet can be easily
carried on each hose carriage, is handled with
| much greater case, is clean, and can be car
ried through stocks of merchandise, or over
carpets, and among furniture, with almost per
| feet safety, as it will bear almost any strain
| that is likely to come to It.
| No less than six important advantages hav-
| ing been claimed in behalf of the linen rubber
lined hose, strength, lightness, pliability, re-
sistance of wear. imperviousness to water. and
| cheapness, it is obvious that the cumbrous
heavy and expensive hose, deliberately formed
| of leather with sewn and riveted seams, which
| at their newest and best are seldom water
tight. must and should be soon superseded
'To be forewarned is to be forearmed,' and
with these facts ar figures before us, is 1t moi
the duty of every citizen who has the welfare
of the city at heart to ponder over the present
state of affairs, and come to the conclusion
that it is his personal duty to help bring about
an entire change in the situation in which we
find ourselves surrounded? Finally, we would
advise let every engine respond to every
alarm, sell off our leathern hose as fast as
practicable. purchase at once, at least 5000 OF
1000 feet of the best linen rubber lined hose II
the country, and follow out this plan every
year as fast as possible, until we do not have s
foot of leather hose left in our fire de
partment
The foregoing remarks have been written il
"Charity towards ALL and with malice towards
none' trusting that when the matter shall
have been fully discussed by our citizens a
large they will see to it, that this very serious
question is no longer delayed. w A., Jr.
Father Bradley's Arrival.