Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1888-01-07
AN UR e CASE.

sumers and creating coal famines.
AN OR GENT CASE.
The City Council of Butte has hitherto
acted the part of a stepmother-and a yer,
stingy stepmother at that-to the Fir.
Department of the City. Time and again
have the pressing needs OF the Department
been urged upon the dull and apathetic at
tention of the City Council. to 60 in at ON
ear and come out at the other apparently
so far as paying attention to their wants ie
concerned. 1t is an old story in Butte.
There has been q constant kick coming
from the Department and complaint oil
lack of attention to the needs experienced
for material. etc., and, strange to say, it
| seems as though matters will never i'm.
prove as long as the volunteer system
prevails. Well, the volunteers are pretty
nearly ready to quit now. It was with
difficulty that a resolution declaring fol-
that az an alternative if the Council did
not supply them with 1900 feet Of new
hose was suppressed at Wednesday nights
meeting.
To judge by the treatment accorded to
the Fire Department Of Butte, there must
be some enormously profitable right attach
ing to membership that quite outweighs
the apparently useful voluntary service
rendered by the members. To the casual
observer, the life OF a fireman is not a happy
one. At first glance, it is not the height of
bliss to be liable at all hours OF the
day or night to have to turn
out for a fire. Work at a fire is
not the p~leasantest work to engage in that
can be found. It is not fun in any sense of
the word to encounter risks of life and
limb, get drenched with water and choked
with smoke, have clothes spoiled, and to
stand roasting in front of . fierce blaze.
But the volunteer Fire Department On
counter this discomfort and danger without
any objection. The members stand to
their duty unfiinchingly. And when they
ask for material they need to make their
service effective, the powers that be allow
their appeals to 60 UNDECIDED. There must
Der of the Fire Department in the opinion
OF the Council to account for this apathy,
but no one outside of that body can con-
lecture what it is.
Seriously speaking, the City is on the
verge OF being left without the City Fire
Department if the hitherto existing indif-
terence to their needs continues. The hose
at present in use is in a condition that
destroys the usefulness of the Department
and interferes seriously with their effective
ness. At every one of the recent fires
lengths Of hose have burst. o~ccasioning de-
lay in replacing the defective pieces. At
their meeting on Wednesday night an i'm
perative demand was made for 1900 feet of
new hose. This must be got at once. The
one-mill tax levy has been collected and is
now available. There is a sum OF So 500
in the City Treasury to the credit of the
Fire Department.. The new hose wanted
will cost 5000. The funds are there to
procure it and there is no excuse for delay
in procuring it at once.
But this ia not all. The services that
the members OF the Fire Department rem
der to the city should be limited to their
efforts in extinguishing the fires. To re-
quire them to attend to the arduous
labor of bringing the hose carts to fires,
toiling up steep grades, and then to reel up
the hose after use, is too much. The men
think-and justly-that the city ought to
spare them this labor. There should be
men hired to attend specially to the work
OF keeping the hose in order and Keeling it
up in condition for use Immediately after
the fire is out. 1t is also suggested that
the city erect a stable back Of the City
Hall for a couple OF horses to be used in
hauling the apparatus to and from fires.
The Department is manned by citizens
whose line is valuable to them. In giving
their service at fires, it should not be ex-
pected OF them to stand guard for hours
after a fire over exposed property taken
out OF burned buildings. It is enough to
call them out OF their beds at all hours Of
the night to put a fire out, and when this
is accomplished they should be free to
return home and obtain what rest is left to
them, not to remain away into the day,
as has happened, watching goods that
don't belong to them. The city should
employ watchmen whose duty it would be
to give this protection and who would be
paid for their services. The police cannot
be employed at this work; they have duties
OF their own.
It would not be unreasonable to make
the members OF the Fire Department an
allowance for their services at a fire. If a
man gives half an hour OF his time as a
witness in same trumpery police court or
justice of the peace case, he is allowed pay
for his time. Are the services rendered by
the firemen less useful to the community?
Another thing has been urged by The
MINER before now, that is worthy of con-
sideration. 1t is the provision of at least
two places in the city, Of o
venient access supplied with heat
and accommodations for keeping
the mems outfits. Where paid depart
ments exist these "engine houses" where
the steamers are kept, and where the me
OF the several companies live, are furnished
as a matter OF course. They are an abso-
lutte necessity there. They are none the
iCSS oO WACA a SOIuuGCcI ucPdI CLlcuU CA
lists. They would save the members of our
department sickness and discomfort, and
promote celebrity in reaching fires immedi-
ately. The city has funds o with which
to get these conveniencss. They are more
than ~convenienees; they are absolute
necessities, rightly considered. The time
has gone by when the city can afford to
treat its volunteer fire corps so shs billy as
has been the case hitherto. Should the
members. stung by the neglect and indiffer-
ence their modest demands have been met
with, resign, where would the city be for
protection? The Brigade is on hand, en-
tirely voluntary, and their action would
not be governed by the Department.
But can the city seriously contemplate
shouldering the responsibility for this ardu.
ous work entirely on the brave men of the
Brigade? The thought is unworthy of q
moments consideration. Should the men,
bers of the city Fire Department resign,
the city would have to go to work at once
onI orcopixo . mold 1oporknopk Thou