The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-01-21
FIRE ALARM SYSTEM.
Superintendent SDeicher's StatiS-
tics-Recommends the Gen.
tral Office Plan.

rsport showed the fire alarm system con-
sists of 102 street boxes (thirty of which
are private). Forty-eight are of the
latest improved non-interference boxes.
There are sixty seven miles of No. 9
iron wire, seven miles of insulated
wire, eight hundred and forty-five
poles, three iron bell towers, one
wooden bell tower, three hundred and
thirty-five cells of battery complete, and
four circuit repeaters, one repeater and
transmitter (private property, one ten
circuit switch. eight gaIvanometers. nine
teen engine house gongs, seven engineers
gongs four of which are private prop
erty), twenty-five telephones (pri
vate property, one telegraph wagon.
FortY-seven miles Of the old rusted and
worn out wire has been replaced with No,
iron wire at the expense of the New
York and New Jersey Telephone Com
pany, but it is not the kind of wire that
should have been used. If No. 10 insu-
lated copper wire had been used, the sys-
tenn, as far as the wire was concerned.
would have been perfect. All the boxes,
except forty-ntne. are old style
and worn out and should be
replaced by new ones, All should be re-
eaten by rust for want of little paint,
and the roofs are leaking and need repairs.
The wooden tower on Newark avenue
needs a general overhauling. The strik-
ing apparatus are all worn out and should
be abandoned or replaced by new ones.
During the year eighty-seven safety
wires were placed in boxes. All the
gongs in the Department. with the ex-
ception of HeadQ uarters, No. and No.
10 Engine houses and Truck houses Nos.
and 5, are worn out and are compara-
lively useless.
ave have no protection" says Super
intendent Spe1eher, against electric
light currents. which endanger our lives
every time we have occasion to handle
over wires. We should have ground
shunt or cut out placed on every street
box and all gongs in the department.
our wires the current would
flow or be directed to the
ground through the ground wire
and cause no damage. The two-circuit
repeaters have been out of service over
four years. during which time the city
ter on which l hold letters patent. The
city has had the use of them all this time
gratuitously, and think it time for them
to purchase or pay rental for the same"
The Superintendent urgently recon-
mends the adoption of the Central Office
system, Win I'LL IuOueEu
He says:-
II am aware you have done everything
in your power to obtain the money to i'm
prove The service, and that you cannot
obtain it from the Finance Board. You
should now endeavor to seek relief from
the Legislature, and am sure that were
the matter properly brought to tEeir
notice some means of relief would be
found. The city will sooner or later be
visited by a vast confiagration caused by
the defects in our present system. The
city will then, l hope. move in the present
matter"
A recapitulation of Clerk Charles Es-
terbrook shows the financial condition of
the Department as follows:-Approp pria-
ton. salaries, $91. lis. .69; expenditures,
$50, 1924; transferred to claims account,
$91, ,094 "a: balance, $21 A.
Appropriation, claims account, $lS 900 90;
received from Pennsylvania Railroad
Company. $4,000; amount deposited with
City Treasurer, 81, ,404. 9S; transferred from
salary account, $l.675, total ex-
penditure. $25, ,652 10; balance. $127S4.
Appropriation for hose, $1,000; ex-
pended. 1880; balance, $50.
Appropriation for new steamer, $4,000;
Total balances-To credit salary ac-
count, $21 A; claim account, Sl27. S4; ap-
preparation for hose, $40. Total, $l69. %.
Hardly Meets the Emergency.
House hunter:-"But | don't see any
fre-escapes on the house."
Agent:-"That's all right, ma'am. The
fire escapes by the chimney"
How Did Geisenhaus Bite His Wife?
Frederick Geisenhaus of Hoboken was
arraigned in the Court of General Ses-
sious this morning charged with assault
and battery upon his wife. who COM
planned that he had kicked and bitten
her. She puzzled the Court somewhat
by testifying that ''he did not bite her
with mis- teeth" The prisoner was found
guilty and sentenced to five days. impris-
onment in the County Jail.
Police Commissioner Kelly's Accident.
Police Commissioner Kelly met with a
serious accident last night. He slipped
ON the icy street, fell and broke his arm.
He was conveyed to his home, where the
fractured limb was set. He is quite COM
Portable today.
Where is Treasurer Koltze of the Lyra?
Charles Koltze, Treasurer of the Hobo
ken Lyra Singing Society, has been miss
ing from his home. No. 304 Garden street,
Hoboken, since Sunday. He has s., ,20l
of the Soclety's funds with him, but the
members say that he is honest, and they
do not believe that he has run away.