The Anaconda standard., 1896-01-13
THERE'S NO HARMONY
Things Are Not as They Were Year
Ago in the Fire Department.
A MEETING FOR TONIGHT
1t Is Proposed to Place a Tenn
porary Head In Charge Until
Chief Werner Is Able to
Report for Duty.
A MEETING FOR TONIGHT

Considerable importance attaches to
the meeting of the fire committee this
evening, as 1t will at that time select
am acting chief to take charge of the
department until Chief Werner is able
to report for duty, which. from present
indications, will be several months.
Realizing for some time that this step
would have to be taken IL IL was hoped
to save the department from utter de-
moralization, the members of the fire
committee have been discussing per-
spective candidates for the position.
but they have so far been unable to
agree even informally on any man
who, in their estimation, would exact
ly fill the bill and be satisfactory to
all parties. They are agreed, however.
that as a preventive to further 1eal-
ousy, the selection will have to be made
from outside of the department. The
leading candidates for the position are
George L. Lapp, who was chief OF the
department for a few months after the
old one was wiped out, Frank Thomas,
who was chief of the old fire brigade,
and Harry earns. Mr.. earns is not an
active candidate, but the mention or
his name has been very favorably re-
ceiyed 1t is also likely that the COM
mittee will adopt some stringent meas
ures looking towards an immediate
reformation in the department
The loss of a head has had most
| demoralizing effect on the department
| and things are running along in very
haphazard manner. The present de-
| partment as 1t now stands is in marked
| contrast with the one which was
| blown to pieces in responding to the
| call of duty a year ago next Wednes-
| day night. Jealousy was an entirely
unknown quantity with the heroic
| Chief Cameron and his brave boys.
| They were like a happy family and
| lived together in perfect harmony.
They never slept on watch or ran away
| from a nozzle when the fire got hot
| and they never lounged around the
| station in their shirt sleeves smoking
| cigarettes. When they went to a fire
| each man knew just what he had to
do and he did it, There was no yelling
or loud talking at an ordinary fire and
the men were so well trained that no
| orders were required. They simply did
what they were paid to do, but they
| did 1t faithfully and well and they
| built up a model department. They
took a pride and interest in their work
and 1T Will be long time before Butte
will see their like again.
The only two members of the old fire
department who survived the explo-
sion of a year ago were in a short time
frozen out. One thing after another
happened to make things unpleasant
for them, the dominant push" did no.
seem to like the idea that they had
survived the explosion and so JACK
Flannery and Dave Magee gave up the
struggle and sought other employment
They We're not satisfactory to the
push" and the pressure on the powers
that rule was kept up until things were
made so unsatisfactory to Flannery
and Magee that they resigned. But
even this did not bring harmony tc
the department. There is something
lacking and the fire committee is try.
ing hard to find out what IL is.