Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-12-03
Total saving I'm ten months Of
1895 as compared with same
nnrinl Of 1Sa. % Z
GAs-WORKs IMPROVEMENTS.

Aof' as tNil-ifIfFl WIN same
period Of 1&5...... ............ 20725 G5
GAS-WORKS IMPROVEMENTS
Mr.. Knowles. speaking Of the improve
ments made at the works this year, gave
them rs follows.
AT the Lower Works-Twelve
benches. Gs 40 retorts. complete: new
tar tank; repaired all slate roofs: relin-
ing generators and superheaters: remodel
ling engine; new sash in condensing-
room; painting gas-holders and all the
buildings i'm the works: new buckets for
new purifying house; j. new mouth
pieces and lids.
At the Upper Gas-W Works-New stems
and new boxes TO L and 1i-inch valves:
three new chains; all the buildings Put
in borough retair
Street Mains Laid-Three thousand four
hundred and eight feet of 9o-inch main
on west Broad street. from Beyllere to
Lombardy. and two l0-inch lateral mains.
of 5.32S feet, from Broad, south, down
Shafcr thence TO Cherry, thence south
down Cherry to Cary street.
Fire and Alarm Departments.
Chief Puller and Superintendent Thomp-
son, of the Fire and Fre-Alarm depart
ments respectively. gave the Dispatch
the following interesting facts regarding
these branches q the city government:
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
In 1S75-Engines. 8; trucks .; hose com
pany. /; horses. II; permanent men, IA:
payroll. $500; expenses. $1,000.
In lSS5-Engines, 3; trucks, =; hose com
panies, .; horses, %; permanent men. 10.
call men, IL, payroll $42,522.2J; expense.
SlS330 So.
In 1Ss5-Engines, o. trucks, 3; chemical
engines, !; horses. 42; permanent men. t5
call men. ca; payroll, $511664S; expense,
Sl71So.
Fire-Alarm Department:
In 1S75-BoXes. a miles Of wire. 25 cir
cults /; men, /; +. NJ. gongs. /; ID. \.
gongs, 8; bells, 4; payroll, $780, expense,
S2096.
IN lSS5-Boxes. q; miles Of wire, e5: cir
cults o; men. .; r. VI. gongs. II; ID. \.
gongs, 2G; repeaters. j; batteries. 425; bells,
6; payroll, I7S2; expense, $500.
In 1S35-BoXes, 1856; miles of wire. 1SJ'
circuits. %; men. 4; r. NJ. gongs. p; d. \.
gonss. 125 repeaters. 3; batteries $50; tele-
phones, q; bells ~ payroll, $3.50; eX
pense, $3.2o0
The statement. as far as the Fire De
partment is concerned, is misleading
giving a very natural increase Of appro-
priations for a progressive department
without showing various Improvements
ard state Of efficiency as a comparative
offset The above statement shows this so
plainly that but little is necessary by
way Of explanation. II Will be seen that
in 1885 Gust before the commits
sioners took charge, there were six en-
gnes two trucks and two hose com
panies nineteen permanent men, and
twenty-siX horses. and an expense OF
Si2,322.35 for payroll, and $lS.33o9 for eX-
penses In 1896 there were eight engine
I'm active service and one In reserve
three h0ok-and-ladder trucks. and one
I'm reserve. one chemical engine, forty
two horses, siXty-hye permanent men,
payroll of SG11G6.4s, and expenses Of
S171Se.
Here we see that two engine compa-
nies and one truck company and one
chemical engine company have been or
ganiZed and put in service. and sixteen
horses added and the expense account
reduced nearly $1St0. while forty-fve
additional permanent men have been
added by the Council 10 man the new
companies, which, Of course, naturally
increased the payroll but vastly i'm
proved the efficiency Of the service which
the statement Of Mr.. Carter failed to
mention.
FIRE-ALARM.
When we look at the hre-alarm r.
cord for the past twenty years, we fnd
an fAilblAlbn iiihl ~ A4NFN lNtiie~A NAM
and praiseWOrthy. The statement shows
that I'm 1855 the system consisted OF
twenty-seven boxes, placed on one cir
cult twenty-five miles long, with one
man who was paid 81 200 and given $3.50
for expense. In 1885 we find this depart
ment one of the finest in this country
consisting of twenty sets OF telephone
instruments zone I'M each ensine-hous.
and officers hOusc). 1856 of the latest
improved non interfering fire alarm
boxes: fourteen still-alarm boxes; nearly
POO miles of aerial wires, eighty miles o
which IS best H., d., B. and ;. copper
thirty electro-mechanical gongs; l35 di-
rect acting gOngs; two siX-circuit Game
well ". l. repeaters; nine automatic
trims for releasing horses; nine three
number Gamcwell indicators; 800 cells
storage and Z75 cells Samson battery
twelve large bells weighing from so 10
1900 pounds. also one electro-mechamca
1.5OO-pound bell and striker In ADDITION
10 this the police patrol system, whlch no"
COMPRISES twenty-five street-stations
four RELAYS. one eight-inch electro o-mecha-
'nical gong, two direct-acting gongs
four galvonometers. one operating desk
one four-pen. anC one One-pen registers
twenty sets telephone instruments
thirty-three cells gravity, and torty-h ~
cells IaClancehe battery and about III
teen miles of copper wire Whlch' OF IL
self is now more Of a system than tne
fre-alarm was in 1879, is under the con1Io-
Of this department.
The forty-odd City Han clocks' ana
all other electric appliances In thai
building are under the control OF this
deuartment. And all Of this vast amount
of inprovemcnt 70 the system ana
Increase Of value TO the city has peen
ACCOMPLISHED with but a slight increase
i'm the payroll. and an office win men
ON dutv day and night and with an eN-
penso account which practically has peeh
the same fOr twenty years.
As to the city himshouse'
Mr. George b Davis, Superintendent oil
the city Almshouse. says:
.r and the records Of this department
nrevious to 1885 very incomplete. FROM
glance over what books l h2Ve Deeh aoIe
to find. / think that the average huiiiDeI
~ Inmates have decreased about 10 per
cent. in the past twenty years. the clusS
OF which / cannot assign. ne costs VI
maintenance for the different perods have
already been published In the Dispd'ch'
There have been no permanent llnpioFV
,oents made I'm the buildings IN the pds'
t,yontv wears. and only such amounts nave
been spent as were actually necessary ~
keep the buildings in repair. Inc eHpenso .Si
Of maintenance for the year lSo VIII Pr
tabiv he 80 800 less than In 1885, while the
average number Of inmates is about the
same as in 1885
Figures from the Watcr-Worhs'
s,nerintendent Charles r. Boiling OF
the Citv Water-Works. presents the foi-
lowing figures from the annual reports
OF the city: .- 100 COO A..
Receipts-ls75. s66OS9.s7; 1885, SOS eS2. 10;
1895. $l39. i06C6. .,o %, o..
EXPENSE OF Maintenance-l65, @SoZizo'
1sS, .SlS S73.77 1886 $fl.3is3 -
'r' tO-- coo geo 4 rSS, n fDJ. 81.