Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-02-19
A FORCIBLE EXAMPLE.
Yesterday Mornings Spectacle OF the
In-fIiciency OF the Pr sent Fire Sys.
tenn. Costly LOsn of Time.

Yesterday Mornings Spectacle OF the
In-fficiency OF the Pr sent Fire Sys.
tenn Costly Loss Of Time.
Yesterday mornings FIRE in the old-t time
jail building on Fifteenth street near
Third avenue, and which has been used
for some years as tenement house, fur
nished another proof of the inef1ciency
OF the present Rock Island system of fire
protection. 1t was one of those fire.
quent occurrences where delay is costly.
An ARGUS representative happened to be
converting through the telephone when
he heard some one call the watcrworks
and give the alarm. The ARGUS man in
qualification of a spirit Of curiosity pulled
out his watch. Four minutes elapsed be.
fore the alarm sounded Five minutes
more and then came a trem endous clap>
ping OF bells. Men ran franticallY through
the streets and in course of time little
two wheeled cart was pulled out of the
Wide.a>W Wake hose house and started in
the direction of the fire. Eight minutes
more and then harnessed horse galloped
down Second avenue. followed a minute
later by his companion. They were
from livery stable and were used to pull
the hook and ladder truck to a fire that
had been burning eighteen minutes.
Three minutes more were consumed In
getting the horses attached and the truck
out of the house. and when the appar.
atus which should be the first at all fires
arrived on the scene, twenty five
minutes had passed since the discovery
of the fire. The W ideawake boys put in
good ticks after getting there and the
Ffanklins, Of course, were ready to do
30, but the institution most needed was
ladder and pick to brea hole in the
roof and locate the fire All water
thrown before this was useless and un>
necessarily destructive to parts of the
building not yet reached by the fire
Marshal Brennan was among the first on
the scene, and TO an ARGUS reporter be
said: IL never SAW 40 much time lost
In getting at the fire. Nearly half an
hour was lost before the hook and ladder
wagon arrived. Had had ladder, l
believe / could have guenched the fire in
its incipiency with few buckets of
water without doing much damage. Even
after the truck arrived. fireman yelled
out from one Of the windows: Send
your hose home and give me bucket of
water end I'll do more good here than the
whole pack of you" Alderman Winter
was one of the first to know OF the fire,
and hurrying down to the Wideawake
hose house gave the the alarm, pulled the
cart to the fire and then worked like d
TreJan to subdue the destroying element.
He became completely soaked and chilled
and thereby subjected himself to danger
that city the size Of Rock Island ought
to pay men to do.
With properly equipped hook and
ladder truck and some system OF alarm,
the city could yesterday have saved two
families from being driven from their
home-for the chief damage was done by
water and in one of those familie. was
an invalid whose death may be the result
of the exposure in being driven from the
flooded house. The fire has served to il>
lustrate to q number of aldermen the folly
OF longer maintenance of the present
system, and II the city does not feel able
to put in thorough paid system the
ARGUS would suggest that some such
scheme as the Franklin's have for receivS
ing an electric alarm be put in. That a
number of the companies be disbsnded
and the four best provided with four
wheeled carts and horses kept on the
premises, and that the hook and ladder
truck be similarly provided and that the
city appoint and pay the chief and pro-
vide one man to be at each of the various
hose houses at all times. the chief to be
one of these men. Then with proper
recognition of the volunteer fremen the
city would be in measure protected.
The same failing that has characterized
most fires recently. was again apparent
-hydraEts out of order. The one at the
corner OF Third avenue and Fifteenth
street was in such condition that it was
with great difficulty that the water was
turned of after the fire. This disad>
vantage would be- overcome with a paid
department when the chief would fin 1t
one of his duties to see that the MIGRANTS
are in good repair.