The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-12-23
IN DEADLY PERIL.
The Mission Unprotected
From Fire.
RUSTED ALAR1-WIRES SNAP
A Circuit of Twenty-Five Boxes Cut
Off From the Central Station
for Two Hours.

Few of the residents of the Mission know
what peril they were in Wednesday MORN
ing while they were peacefully slumbering
In their warm beds.
They do not know that II fire had
broken out it would have developed into a
raging conflagration before the Fire De-
partment could have known that anything
out OF the ordinary was Transporting.
On account of the swapping of a rotten
and rnsted wire OF the fre-alarm system
nearly the whole of the Mission and a large
section Of the Western Addition were cut
off from communication with the central
alarm station.
From midnight until o'clock yesterday
morning no alarm could have been sounded
In ease Of fire from twenty-five of the regu-
lar boxes Of the fire-alarm service or from
the auxiliary boxes on the same circuit
For two hours nearly quarter Of the
residence portion of the city was practi-
caly without protection from fire, and all
because there is no new wire TO replace the
old rusted lines Of the present system.
Upon the disabled circuit were three
boxes in that part of the city where the
danger OF serious confiaeraton is the
greatest. They were the boxes at Sutter
and kearny streets, at Stockton and Ellis
and at Howard and Fifth.
Ii any of the large frame business-heuses
in any Of these localities had taken fire
much valuable time would have been lost
before an alarm could have been sounded.
According to the Jules OF the department
an alarm would have been turned in from
the nearest box. and after several minutes
delay before tue person sounding 1t could
know that it had not reached the central
station be would have been compelled to
hunt up another box.
In the Mission, however. box after box
- lad nd oil N1llh
have reached the department In fact, the
whole Mission could have burned before a
single box could have been found that was
in working order.
Every few moments the operator on watch
at the central station tries the circuits TO
see that they are IN working order This,
they have found by experience. TO be pre-
caution rendered absolutely necessary by
the network Of Tusted wires which are al
ways swapping aud leaving some portion of
the community without protection against
hre.
Ii was exactly at u ;C1 yesterday morning
that the operator on watch found that the
circuit commencing with n box at Suffer
and hearny streets and running out through
tie Mission TO Twenty-fOurth street had
snapped. Linemen were Immediately sent
out 10 locate the break. Box after box was
tried, and not one OF the twenty-five on the
circuit wOnld work.
Following are the numbers of the disa bled
IA
ter and Kearny; "a. Howard and Eighth;
9S. Stockton and Ellis; 81. Valencia and
Market; 1i6, Folsom and Sixteenth; 147,
Howard and Twelfth; 1873, Mission and
Eighth; 1S4, Folsom. near Eighth; 1885, Har-
rison and Tenth; 231, Howard and Twenty
fourth; 237, Dolores and Twenty-secOnd; ;
273, Hartford ana Eighteenth; pa, Guerrero
and Twenty-fourth; 27S, Castro and Twen-
ty-fourth; go. Mission and Nineteenth 2S5.
Florida ana Iwenty-iifth; 362, Noe and Fiji
teenth; 364, Howard and Fourteenth; ISL.
Haight and Buchanan; 3S2 Fillmore aud
Waller; $50, Haght and Scott, and $50, Oak
and DevisaderO.
After struggling about in the wind and
rain Tor couple of hours tie break was
found on Valencia street, near Market, be-
tween boxes 273 and "a, but the circuit had
been open over two hours, when 1t was
finally repaired. The linemen found moth
ing that could have caused the break. The
wire had simply rusted almost III two. and
parted under its own weight.
es, the Mission would have been in q
bad tx said Superintendent Thomas yes
terday, IL fire had broken out there this
morning. In the hurricane that was blow
Ing that part Of the city would have been
wiped on. Of existence before the Fire De-
partment could have been called out Be-
lore the engines could have responded a
terrible cOnhagration would have been in
progress. The wind would have carried the
flames right into the business portion of
tue city, and nothing could have saved it,
Not house wopld have been lett standing
between the Potrero and the Presidio. and
loss or millions upon millions OF dollars
would nave been eutaled.
As often as we fad break we repair
it-that Is we splice it with new piece of
wire, but we have no assurance that il will
lot break few feet from the splice before
we can get back 10 the Office