Daily Republican., 1881-06-08
REDISTRICTING TMECITY,
What the Firemen Did at the Meet.
ing Held Last Evening,

I evening. w. III. Hanna presided, an
: John f. Duffy acted as secretary
The minutes Of the last meeting wcr,
read and approved.
On motion Of Mr. Duffy the foIlOwin!
preamble and resolutions, which wcr,
adopted at the last meeting Of the con
vention, were ordered to be given to the
reporters for publication, and als) to b'
presented to the City Council:
TO THE HONORABLE, THE MAYOl
AND COUNCIL OF THE CITY or Will
MINGTON, Gentlemeu:-NUur petition
erS, representing the fire companies o
the city, have, at Il meeting held ol
Wednesday evening June lSr, aloptcC
the following preamble ant resolution,
concerning matters Of great importance
to our department, and they respectful
ly crave the favorable attention ot youl
honorable body to the same;
WHEREAS, The volunteer re lie
partment of the city Of w rllgtOn
Delaware, is recognized | auli rite,
on lire matters Us one OF tLy mus)
prompt, efficient and ru,idble in tn,
country; and as it is conducted OH prin,
cipIe5 OF economy to the citizens and
insures safety to their property, 30 lal
Is it can be insured by any fire SGslem
and as il is Il recognized SOUrCG u pride
to the city and Of rivalry to the depart
mentS Of the leading cities Of the land,
therefore
Resolved first, by this convention,
that, while all Improvements CucIud-
ing the introduction Of the new fire
alarm telegraph System) conducive to
the advancement of the present system
now maintained by the department
are hi Jhly desirable, it is not desirable
that any Innovations looking to Il rcyo-
luton in the present system should be
made.
! .. That we, as volunteer drcmen,
are earnestly opposed to rediStricting
the city as proposed by Mr.. Wm II.
Blake, chairman Of the Fire Committee
Of your honorable body, for The follow
| ing reasons:
That, in the first place, the proposed
change is totally unnecessary, as, under
! the present rules of the departments ANY
unnecessary attendance of steamers at a
fire can be promptly checked by the
order of the Chief Engineer. In this
connection we respectfully call atten-
| ton to rule of the rules for the gov.
ernment Of the fire department, viz -
Z" In case Of fire outside Of the city
! limits, but in the vicinity, the following
companies may attend until further no.
tice-north side of Fifth street, Friend
ship, Delaware, PhWniX and Water
Witch south side Of Fifth street; Re
lance, Fame, Washington and Wee
cacoc" This rule, we would respect
fully suggest, is not only deemed sutti-
cicut by the depar rSment, but is satistac-
tory to the citizens generally.
3. We consider (and in this opinion
we are largely supported by the tax
payers OF the city, that the division Of
the city into districts would, by de-
strOying the enthusiasm and friendly
rivalry OF the different companies, even
tuate in the destruction OF the volunteer
department and the substitution
of paid one which would be much
less efficient and, at the same time,
much more expensive.
We would respectfully suggest to
your honorable body that, in view of
the establishment of the fire alarm sys-
ten, signal boxes should be so establish
ed that an alarm will be Immediately
communicated to the chief engineer and
! his assistants.
While speaking Of the chief of the de-
partmeut we would respectfully further
suggest that, through motives both OF
courtesy and economy, he should be Off
cially consulted in reference to any con-
templated changes i'll the workings OF
the department.
Another suggestion which, as praCti-
cal tiremen, we think we can make to
your honorable body with the assurance
that it will be given due consideration
is in regard to the annual inspection of
the department by City Council. AS
this is at present conducted the compa-
MES are notified Of the exact time when
the inspection will take place and have
every opportunity to make extra prepar-
ations. Would it not be better that
these inspections should he made with
out any warning whatever, either by
the officers of the department, the fire
committee of Council, or any duly au-
thorized representatives Of the city gov
ernment?
In conclusion we would respectfully
relterate our OPINION tnat tle ulVlSlOn
of the city into districts would surely
result in the disruption of the volunteer
department with no compensating
change in its place.
Hoping that our communication will
receive due consideration we remain
your humble petitioners.
[Signedl
WM MCEADDEN
Washington.
JOHN +. DUFFY,
Reliance
WIN. S. WALKER,
Phoenix.
JOSEPH PERKINS,
Friendship.
ANDREW j. DOUGHERTY,
Water Witch.
We fully endorse the above.
SAMUEL &. TAZEwELL,
Chief Engineer of the Fire Dept.
JOHN II. HUBER,
Second Assistant.
On motion of Mr.. McCullin the con-
vention took recess of Is minutes so
as to allow the Resolution Committee
to prepare remonstrance against redis-
tricting the city.
The committee made its report and in
o short time thereafter the convention