The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1896-12-28
We " ant No Faid Department.


We want No Paid Department.
The Sunday Star, after sleeping six
days comes out on Sunday with an arti-
Gle recommending that the city of Will
mjngton should have paid fire depart
ment. The plea it makes why our city
should do away with the most efficient fire
Departmental the country, not excepting
either paid or volunteer, is one of those
things past finding out, We will give
our readers a chance to read what the
editor says:
(" 1.-THE sad accident which occurred. Christ
mas eve, and as result of which one man
was killed and three others badly hurt,
calls attention to two very important
facts and conditions, each OF which has
been made the subject Of comment by the
Star The first, the necessity of paid
fire department in this city; the second,
the placing Of overhead crossings at every
point where railroad and highway come
together, and the enforced abolition OF all
g. AIDE crossings.
w
unteer fire department is conceded on all
sides, but that as city she lacks proper
fi,e protection, is equally fact. There
are few if any, Of the large business men
and manufacturers, who believe that. WI.
mington has proper facilities for fighting
fire, and it is a fact that business and
capital from abroad have been kept away
from this city simply because of the al
sance of paid fire department here.
The defenders Of the present volunteer
d partment, point to the fact that ther" are
bu Few fires of any importancehere,a and ar
que from that that the department is to 10
credited with the immunity from loss.
Wilmington is dislinctlve!y different
from other cities. Ii has few large build.
ings in its most crowded pArt- and there
is plenty Of room to fight the lanes
When, however, there is u big fire, like
that of the morocco factories, the loss Is
heavy 1t is reasonable To believe that On
that occasion, had there been Il paid fire
department, McNeal would not have lost
his life.
Under the present system there exists II
reckless rivalry among the llreheh VI the
different companies which is certainly lar
from advantageous TO the city, and To
which, in measure, can he attributed
Dougherty's death. The first aim OF the
tiremen is to beat rival cnupany To tho
scene Of the fire and instances can DO
cited where the safety Of the -appaIatus
and the lives Of those IN charge of 1t have
been risked for the petty Satisfaction Of
beating the other fellows to the fire
The INSTRUMENTATION Of one OF the com
panies at the fire Oh Monroe street near
Second one Sunday morning recently, tho
row a few years ago, rs II result Of which
the Delaware Company was retired from
service tor a time all grew out u This
rivalry which is natural and IHlYilab.e 10
any volunteer department"
The imam who penned the above surely
had trolleys in his head and did not know
much about the subject he was writing
about, Fremeu i'll The paid department
il other cities meet with fatal accidents
daily. There is hardly Il day passes but
some OF the firemen Of New York, ChluI-
go and Boston arc not killed or crippled.
AS 70 the fire assurances they are as
low in our city as In other cites.
Our fire department stands well with the
Insurance Companies. No paid tic tie
parlmcnt could have put uut the tIc at
the morocco factories un Walnut street,
any more expcaltousiy thnn our yolun.
tcCr department, who soon had 1t under
control If they had not brcu As efficient
~ they were, every binding uccupy ing
the four squares where the frs took place
would have been destroyed. There dlu
some features about the present voluntary
system that might be remedlcd, which
would auu to the efficiency Of the fire dr
purtmcnt, but TO condemn it because Of
the three fatal accidents that have taken
place amongst the member Of the depart
consistently advocate getting our. drink
ing water FROM same other source than
the Brandy wine, because IA cUlUrcd man
had the misfortune to fall into the race
md yet drowned Leave well enough
alone, for as long as the present volunteer
department does such good service lUr UuI
citizens there is no use Of agitating the
adoption of II paid fire department. The
present one Is good enough for everybody
but chronic kicker