The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-08-19
rhe Afternoon Session.


 tion was called to order at 230 yester- day by President Devine. The paper on What Constitutes a Well Equipped and Efficient Fireman in the Volunteer Service?" read by ex-Chlef Crawford of Benton Harbor, Mich, was further discussed, Chief Doane of Plainfield, N. J., Captain Brophy of Boston, Chief Higgins of Albany, N. Y, Chief Web Der of Boston and Chief McAfee of Bal timore taking part.
 l Captain Brophy thought volunteer de- partments in small cities and villages should not buy heavy apparatus, but | out rather to buy smaller lighter ap- 1 pliances. He thought there was too much of tendency of small towns to patterns after large cities and buy ap- paratus which they could not use to such advantage as they might use lighter apparatus. Chief McAfee spoke in the same line.
 | A resolution was introduced provid- | ing that a committee of five members be appointed, two of whom should be chiefs of paid departments and three of volunteer departments to recommend to the association what in their opinion would compose the proper equipment | for fire departments in towns of popu- lations ranging from 800 to 20000
 Chief Higgins spoke against adopting this resolution and thought no com mittee could consistently recommend apparatus for towns about which they knew nothing. He thought that each town could decide best what fire equip ment was best suited to it's use.
 This opinion was held by the ma jority of the gentlemen present, and the resolution was tabled.
 Colonel Geer of the department of public works called the attention of the convention to a fire hydrant which he has invented and one of which has been placed in the ground and connect ed with main at the corner of Elm and Temple streets.
 The report of the secretary of the as- sociation, Henry A. Hills of Cincinnati, was one of the most interesting papers of the session. It was as follows;
 Gentlemen: We are now assembled in convention for the twenty fifth time; :; this is only the twenty fourth year; we organized in 1873, and had two sessions that year.
 Only few of those who attended our first meeting, October 20, 1873, are with us now. Some have answered their last call, others who were often active in fire matters, are now out of service. Of those then present with us only four men hold the office as chief, namely, James R. Hopkins of Somerville, Mass. l E VIni,, nf C11 n . | Westley Dimbleby of Utica, N. Y., and Henry A. Hills of Wyoming, o. Others connected with us are Captain John s. Damrell of Boston, Mass, our first president, who holds the office of in- spector of buildings in that city. Will | liam H. Johnson of Philadelphia, Pa, fourth president, is general inspector for the National Board of Fire Under writers, and George w. Taylor ninth president is a fire commissioner in the city of Richmond, Va.
 The following statistics will show the increase of members since our first meeting: Membership, Oct, 1873 3.....,. SC Membership August, 1897. 444 ] A total increase of..... ........... 384 In the early history of our associa ton the insurance companies took great | interest in our meetings, many of the officers being present and entering earnestly into the various discussions. It is to be regretted that they have not of late been so active and that so few | have attended our conventions. What progress has been made since our organiza ton? Resolutions for the prevention as we'll as for the extin- guishment of fires. Departments have ,been improved through suggestions made in essays and debates. Inventions valuable to the fire service have been brought into favorable notice, and are troW extensively used in many fire de- | partments: the most important of which is the harnessing of the power ful element, electricity, for the protec- ton of both life and property. Build | ing laws have been passed by state Legislatures and a careful review of valuable suggestions which have been of great service to the departments.
 The collections of the past year have | fallen below those of previous years, presumably attributed to the hard times" The total amount collected for 1896 is as follows:
 | For advertisement. .......... 3l0 0C For membership dues .......... S1095 0C | Total ..... .......s... Sl4b5 Ut
 Owing to the enforcement of the by laws S6 have been dropped from the roll the past year.
 The example of ex-Chief Edwin w. Fiske of Mount Vernon, N. Y, now the honored mayor of that city, is worthy of our attention. Through his efforts ten new members have been added to our list within the past three years. This should encourage others of us to a more efficient service in this di- | rectiOn.
 The obituary notices of the past year | show a loss of nine of our members: | A Brickner. chief of the fire depart ment Rome, N. Y; Austin E. Ford, fire commissioner of New York city; John Brierly eX-chief, Pawtucket, R. I. John Fitchr, ex-chief, Niagara Falls, | N. Y: William A. Porter, superinten- dent survey department Fire Under writers, Philadelphia, Pa; c. c. Hine, editor Insurance Monitor, New York | T