The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-06-05

a fire breaks out In your Office. You grab your
key, run out To the box, send in an alarm.
which will 20 through this new-fangled ma
chine, and after minute or two you will hear
the fire bells ring. instead Of sending the
alarm a. you do now. The hremen will not
be notified Of the fire until il has got good
start, and any one knows that minutes
work AT fire before II gets any Roadway is
what is wanted, and that is just what has
made the department Of Providencc what 1t il.
When we get this new system, If we do, you
wilt have fire stories" for your papers as
they do in Boston, New York and other large
cities and when this happens we will see
insurance rates much higher than they are
now.
Then, again, the commissioners say that the
system is not up-to-date. Well, let Us suppose
that the department is trine old-fashioned,
but let any one who is interested in the sub
ject, and every house owner should be,
read the annual reports Of the fire depart
ment of Providence and then compare il
with any other city Of Its size in the country.
That will tell the story. and if we get these
up.to-date idons we will b. in the same box
as other cities Let a citizen of Providence
go where he will. he will hear the fire depart
lntnN nDbk'i VI III SUM Aoillo a. W III ihhht
him proud 10 hail from the city.
Let me say one more word about the cost of
the now idea. When this new system il in
stalled all OF the present alarm apparatus will
have TO be taken out of the fire stations. and
new, or what is known as the striking sys
TEN will take its place. This will cost lots OF
money. Then, again, the superintendent Of
fire alarms will want, and will probably re-
ceive, larger salary; he will want much
larger force, more teams. and just what more
will be needed cannot bo mentioned at this
time, but they will all be called for, ard, in
fact. will be necessary TO have.
This city may be outgrowing the present
system, but IL is good enough until we get
1000 bell alarms year. and this little bit of
knowledge Is from some of the leading fire
officials Of New York, and. i'm my opinion
they are as well versed in fighting fires as our
present board of commissioners, and guess
that there are others that think As do.
Now. let Us see what some of the orders that
our up-to-date commissioners have issued and
see what they amounted to.
No. |. as near as | can remember, was TO the
effect that none but the chief deputy chief or
district chiefs could send in "A second alarm of
fire. Now, let us consider this or ier. For in
stance, there is a fire in one Of the large mills
at Olneyvile. The companies nearby re-
spond. The chief, the deputy chief and we
will Just presume that the district chief Is at
the city hall reporting his doings OF the past
q hours to the commissioners-all Of the
officials two or more miles from the fire. The
captain OF the first company sees that the fire
is Of such magnitude that "a secon and per-
haps third or general alarm is necessary,
but he il obliged 10 wait am see the flame
eating it's way beyond the control Of the com
panies on hand, for some high official who
perhaps has not seen the causes that the
captain hns to send i'm the much needed alarm.
Whether the commissioners saw the defect on
had it brought TO their attention is not
known, but property owners can be thankful
for the fact that now the captains have the
ri yht 20 send in second alarm. The city
has been exceedingly fortunate that there
have been no fires that needed n second alarm
until the proper person was on hand IN send
II IN. But IL might have happened SO much
for order No. /.
There was another order that created
quite a stir, not only among the fremen, but
their friends. and that was the order forcing
them to wear their uniforms at all times
That order OF knocked in the head and now
when fireman has day "off" he can appear
in citizens clothing.
And still another. and that to the effect thai