Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1888-11-28
A BAD MESS.
CONDITION OF THE CITY,S FIRE.
FIGHTING FORCE.

d The Fire Brigade's U~ltimatum-The City
Must Buy Their Apparatus or They
al VIII Store 1t Away-Immediate Neces-
. sity for Organizing a Paid Department.
On Sunday afternoon, Aldermen McDer.
mott and Olson OF the Fire Committee of
. the City Council met at the City Hall and
u held a conference with Messrs. McMurphey
and Themes, representing the Butte City
Fire Brigade, and Fire Marshal O'Brien,
: representing the Fire Department.. E, V,
Booth OF the City Attorneys Office was
!, also present with a form OF an ordinance
to meet the new condition intended to be
tadopted. This ordinance was discussed
and some changes suggested. 1t, OF course,
only covers the Fire Department and has
no bearing on the Brigade.
Messrs. Thomes and McMurphey gave
formal notice to the city OF the
OF THE BRIGADE,
The Brigade is IA separate aud distinct
corporation, owning all the fire apparatus
it possesses absolutely entirely free from
any control by the city. The proposition
OF these gentlemen was that if the city
would agree to buy the apparatus they |
would have it inventoried and then sell it
to the city at a reduction of Is per cent. |
from cost price, taking the city's promise |
TO pay Tor the same. They gave the city
two weeks from Sunday to meet this offer
and close the bargain, otherwise the ap-
paratus would be stored and withdrawn
from service. With this understanding the
conference adjourned.
Mr.. Themes, chief OF the Fire Brigade,
was seen afterwards and asked what they
proposed to do.
1T has just come to this: The men of
the Fire Brigade are tired of turning ont To
fires in this city, saving other %people's
property and risking their own lives and
health, and
RECEIVING NO THANKS, |
even being called BANKED fools for their
pains. They don't get any enumeration
IN return, not even exemption from iurv
service which used to be one of their privi.
eyes,"
What proportion OF the apparatus in
use belongs to the Brigade?"
They own the Spider two hose reels ]
the bell on the City Hall and the majority I
OF the fremen's coats and hats. besides 4
fifteen hundred feet of the newest hose in .
use." o Ill I
Is this their property exclusively? ?" I
JUST as much theirs as is the property !
OF any other corporation. It is a close j
corporation acting under a legislative :
charter TO run twenty years from 1879, :
just the same as the Butte Hardware Com. L
pany."
Some people think because y good deal
OF the property was purchased with the
proceeds OF balls and public entertainments v
That The citizens centrally v
HAVE AS MUCH INTEREST "
in it as the Brigade" p
ut makes no difference how the pronart q
came into the possession OF the Brigade b
answered Mr.. Themes. "Suppcse tho A
Masons or Odd Fellows or anv iucorno. b
rated society erect IL building by sncb
means, would anyone maintain tn t the
pubiic IN general had any ownership in the =
pudding erected by these means? The l.
oisters nave recently held a fair in aid of Of
Che schools they are building, at which %
everyone in town contributed to some sx. . .,
tent: viii that give the citizens any inter. ~
est IN those schools? No, sir. Tie Bri- sa
saoe owns It's own property Just as abso- ~,
utely as the Butte Hardware Companv ao
Instance, owns it's stock ia trade.'' Q,
linen the proposition that was made Dc
20 the city through the Fire COMMITTEES is h;
Unless chat offer is accepted the Brigade al
will s""o CO
STORE IT'S PROPERTY
ma deny the use of it any further to the Il,
ley. The latter will then be deprived OF y.
'early ALI the fre-ighting outft now 49,
The city owns nearly TWENTY II,
iwo hundred feet of hose, but that wouId g.
be nearly enough. 1t is not sufficient Rc
o nave barely enough for one fire, and
nat OF small dimensions. There ought
ways to be plenty OF stock in reserve to '
axe to another fire right away, if neces- II,
airy, ten minutes after the first fire is ont ~
10 one can tell how Oon after one fire il d |
Su
ANOTHER MAY BREAK OUT. r
hat there has been no conspicuous in eff,
OF this lately is no assurance that if Civ
lay not happen at n moment. The ~
bave been too Indifferent eN
bout this matter, but it is their funera, -
ct them wake up to the exgiencies of the r
tuatlon. They are concerned in having !
their nronarty A. P,ocecGloh CIR
'ncerned they have lost all ambition to lu, y,
'ntlnue a thankless task entirely for the VIII
BOD OF Others"
HENRY M'MURPHEY
as seen and asked as to the Intentions of L
lie Brigade. The ultimatum given to the Une
ty amounts to this: The slipshod ARRANGE. III
ents under which it has been runnino i, nal
to tho fro Il" loo
} longer. The citv must sco tbo s; 1917 der
It's new and enlarged conditions. What wor
ouid 90 ten or fveI years ago wont do one
wv, There must be a responsible and lea,
head to the Fire Department of ord
e city just as there is to the police, There goo
ould be a chief with a salary enough to sha
a good man to give his time exclusively int
tne service and that man must have VIII
e,sy: aolll1y anu the power of control the.
er his men. There must be an efficient
d responsible head whose RI
ORDERS ARE oRrvrn the
. tina
quickly as uttered. Now you can't ont
We that with volunteers who are not re.
lnerated. Every fire that occurs shows
need Of this more and more. The chief B
y give his orders to a man, but there is TAKE
thing to compel obedience. There must hro,
q CHIEF, then, giving his whole attention r.
the duties OF his position; an assistant tbo !
Ell and about ten or twelve men under d;sa,
y regularly by the city. Then if volun. nnti
10 l. neeueu Uney should get abOut a Loo,
lar an hour for the time they put in at Ho1l,
fire." sou'
wiz. d effec
requisite at present lacking here?" nia
IAN ELECTRIC SIGNAL SYSTEM jas.
fire alarm. When l went East over g.
II ago on business for the Brigade I got
stimat from a company in Chicago as 20
he probable cost of putting in such a Ins p
tenn here and found it would cost about Bu
W to put in ten alarm boxes in different Arth
is OF the city. That would be all that ;iff, {
I'D be needed for ten years to come. NJ.
1t Is absolutely essential. These alarm 49,
IS connect with a central station 0nua
reby the location Of the fire isinstantlv NJ"
oyered. IT, can he dororrod -u nOiy cause
the sooner the c;t;1one ~ longer Move
make arranoaments eoosut.e luis Mo
l a system the hatter ,, IVA pu''ins up Henri
!raw
FIR MARSHAL O'BRIEN los
seen relative to the pending difficulty. same
al