New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-08-08
sr1pT. BROPHY TEsTTFIEs.
AN UNWILLING WITNESS IN THE TRIAL
OF SUPERINTENDENT SMITH.

- rrurxn OTHER CITIES IN THE Eff
r1crENcY OF ALARM BoNhS-ro
ABOUT THEM HE COULD
NOT APPROVE.
,,. trial OF J. Elliott Smith. super,l'' ''u..ar,
ara alarm and telegraph OF the f"e -, oon
~ the charge Of fraud and incompe,s".' a,,,os
..ot,or with the discharge OF MS o'n0'a' No.
MA. resumed at II o'clock YESTERDAY n,o ,,,ress
o.. the Fire Commissioners Inc ni'' .r,n
ioie '"o 49,. .,ara was William Brophy, superh-
.s.n, a, Ere alarm and police wires l" Do ,
~ ..,d that in addition to his extensive A.
\, hts occupation in Boston, ne hao nav 49,
ten electrical appliances In worcester W
places 10000, ere.alerm boxes
ne w 80 Tho CITY OF New-York. and give MS
.s,or., oninion as to their aueseo oeie''s'
some OF the boxes were on the taoie III VI" y,,,.s
.oom He pointed out defects In these 49,,
added that since his arrival IN Ne" =, ao,maI
- ha had seen a number OF boxes Ill "''
~ s,raets He was he said, very sorry 10
- ooronalled to testify that there were poih'S ~
which he could not approve. "ooo wa"
where metal should have been piaceu' IL, -.
.acure the proper working OF the eieo'i0 49,.
Tn the opinion Of the witness 'he-'dii ore 1870
o. Insulation should be more perfect thah was
40. -, .or,. Of the apparatus that he exam
go Had he been called upon to pass upo" 0O'
tain features he would not have aceep'eu 49,
perfect He always made II runs III mo 80
t,ce to have cables. wires and other pal's y.
-, sys,eus constructed with view 10 elicien''
actuai and permanent use. He SAID 'ha. III
g. .h. srecinca lions for underground caoie' ho
woud take special care to have the 'ei iiii' i ~
,i,ance. perfect. Careful constructor Vi .e
VAS in the opinion Of the witness. extremely p
tant Witness did not approve OF the h'hu "a
'u"' ',.aa IN the terminals In NewYork. The
.,r.w. he examined were imperfect, as the sore"
h.sds were liable to come IN coh'ac' win Wv
metal Of the boxes. thus destroying 'he u'' "
,h. alarm system II the opinion OF "i'hesS
that with wires placed underground. the'e w"'
less danger OF failures in an electrical System IMAM
where overhead wires were used
In the ,pecifcations for apparatus used IN New
York including terminal ends Of cables. the witness
thought that there was lack OF suiicie' e~P
ness Had he drawn them he wouiu ha'e pau
rreater attention 10 details. Some OF inc "ou"ie
IN New-York he thought, was owing 10 imper-
foot notifications There were also delec's anu
In the apparatus which must De con-
sldered outside Of the specifications submarine
cable and an underground cable couIu not oe .o''-
sidered in the same category Inc 'eihpei"'ui'
at the bottom Of the ocean did not nia'eli'"' '''
and the cable there could be better and longer pro-
,.c,ed and the insulation better maintained than
with underground cables. Moreover, ocean cables
were more extensively constructed than those gen
orally put underground. The witness believed tha'
the two systems could not be appropriately con-
sdered together as having a bearing III "e "
OF Superintendent Smith.
AS the terminal heads useo IN the NEW ~.
telegraphic system the witness said that they did
not cost nearly much as the kind OF heads tha'
he would recommend. Since the Underground caoies
were first laid In New-York. improvements nave
been made In such cables in other cities In other
words New-York did not get fully perfected cable
system az the start The greatest trouble was
caused by interferences with circuits by imperlec-
tions OF heads and similar breaks
The witness asked about the fre-alarm system
compared with the one in use in Boston he re-
piled that under the circumstances. he did not Wish
10 reply Witness said, however, that he had In
some small places seen more imperfect apparatus
than he had seen in NewYork, but IN large cities
there were systems better than the New-iork sys-
TEN. In of the boxes. he said, there was
danger OF confusion In the sending out OF alarms.
II the hook pulled for a second alarm too quick
ly after the first alarm, the locality Of the fire
might be incorrectly indicated. All persons who
have occasion 10 pull the hook liable not to
have sufficient knowledge of the apparatus to know
that they should wait proper time between
alarms
The witness having said that he came here very
unwiningy to testify in the trial of Superintendent
Smith, the president OF the Board of Fire Commits
sioners made explanation, as follows
l wish 1t understood that the witness came on
for ns tn y Several before
could get him here. He wrote tina, his immediate s
ne (the wtness) could not well leave as the duties
OF OF B Boz Finally wrote TO the Mayor Of Boston
and made use of my influence with other citizens
we W. needed such expert testimony from an expert
who was qualified from his experience TO give us
useful information.
The witness was requested to read several para
graphs from a large volume of reports Of the
United States Patent Office. comprising descrp-
ton of patents on fre-alarm apparatus granted TO
members of the Chester family. One of the para
graphs told of defect In an old style OF Chester
apparatus which was remeded by later improve
uent The second patent was granted on the I'M
provement The Improvement in question was to
do away with the danger Of mistakes when more
than one alarm sent out.
The old style Of hre-alarm boxes in many
instances retained in after the new ones were
nut upon the market. The witness said that the
paragraphs in the Patent Office book described
boxes that he had in his experience. Among
the large cities in which the witness had examined
fre-alarm apparatus were Buffalo. Chicago. De-
trot and Cincinnati He felt. he said fully justi-
fed In declaring that in many respects New-York
was behind her sister cities in the efficiency or her
Hre-alarm apparatus. On cross-examination the
and that he could go into detail II he had at
hand certain memoranda which he had on HE IN
The president OF the Board said that counsel for
Superintendent Smith had expressed disapproval
because the Corporation Counsel had not been
called upon assist or to sanction the prosecu-
ton. He Ohe PRESIDENT thought It remarkable
that the defence should desire an addltlohal law,
yer for the prosecution. The president intimated
further that the defence could not hinder the trial
opinion Of the president. the Fire Department law
yers fully able TO conduct their side OF the
The trial will be resumed again at 1870 o'clock
on Monday morning The president e@pr d Ie
cerned would be on hand promptly at the appointed
time.
THE health OFFICER TO VISIT CUBA.