The daily gazette. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1874-1883, 1881-03-08

AhONAoAON AGAANoT IKE. -
small towns it 10 always difficult I
; provide and keep in order ready mean
for the extinguishment of FIRE. Tn
occasione for the use Of engines are s
} rare that an engine and its apparatu
is sure to be neglected. And neglec
is destructive. Rust, decay and re
soon render some parts of hand an
pararus unfit for service. We well re
member case in point where after
destructive fire in a small town a sue
ton engine and hose was bought;
company formed and the machin,
housed. The company kept it in or
der about year; then gradually ne
elected it. Fortunately it was not
needed for ten or fifteen years, then
the hose was worthless, and the ma
chine so defective that it could not be
used, This is the case in nearly every
instance until town has a population
OF six or seven thousand inhabitants
and water supply from a reservoir
through pipes and plugs. Until a
town has its water thus supplied the
surest dependence against the destruc-
ton by fire is in requiring every house
builder to sink we'll deep enough to
furnish good supply of water; the
next thing is supply of good ladders
in convenient points in the town with
axes and perhaps 90 to 100 sound.
light buckets, also eight or ten lam
terms. Thus provided, a dozen men
with ladders, axes and buckets, and
at night, lanterns, will in nine cases
out of ten extinguish a fire where it
can be extinguished by single en-
CINE. The lights should swing andIbe
on poles 3 to feet SO that the poles
might be stuck in the earth. Their
first duty is to get to the roof or floor
where the fire is concealed. To do
this quickly and properly it may re-
quire the use of several ladders of
different lengths. Axe-men and lad:
der-men should be selected for the
work from carpenters or those use to
using tools. But the volunteer system
would give the instruments to the
nrst man getting to the house and se-
curing them. Every man should be
expected to take bucket. Fifty per-
sons with buckets can put more water
on a fire from two wells in the same |
time than they can from one well with |
a single suction hand engine, since
only one can be used at once. When
a fire gets such Roadway as not to per-
NIT "ne to stand near it, IN nearly all
cases only adjoinging properly can be
saved. And in nine cases out of ten a
lire gets this Roadway where such an
engine is kept and there are no " alter
pipes and plugs. The purchase of en-
sines is really waste of money and
often delusion. 1t may be said that
here are always ladders and axes. 1t
is not so. 1t often takes an hour to
ina ladder in village. Axes may
be had at stores. Very true, but the
store keeper is to be found, wakened
up, the store unlocked and the axes
found-so too with the buckets. The
ladders, axes and buckets should be
kept in public places; without locks,
and penalties imposed for removing
hem except on occasion of fires, with
out permission. The loss of 20 min
ties in getting into service occasions
he loss of many house even in our
great cities although five or six steam
engines may have arrived in that time
and all attempted to save it with the
use of a dozen plugs and as many
streams. The above crude remarks
are only suggestions. But we feel
quite confident that both the hotels
which have been burned in Dover
within a few years could have been
saved had there been ladders, axes
and few buckets of water handy af-
ter the fires were discovered. At one
of these fires we were present and we
believe that two or three men accus-
toned to ascending ladders and
standing upon roof could have saved
The house. The fire was in broadday
light, and the property was really sac
ritieed to Ignorance about fires excite
ment andthe lack of the few instru-
ments we mention.