The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-10

ton, that he was suspended TO do politi-
cal work, TO 90 10 Mr.. Osbornes office"
Pitts was the only man Of his crew off.
There was an alarm on the night before
the election from Box IS. Foreman TOsh-
ach Of the engine company came in in
citizens clothes. The men from headquar-
ters DO not respond to this box. At the
time of the Misunderstanding election.
Mr.. Mcguire asked him If he had voted.
He replied he had not. He asked him II he
would vote for Mr. Willink and he replied
that he would not. Chief Mcguire said it
would be better for him If he did
MIR. Murphy said there were not 20 good
experienced fTemen on the force. The
others were good strong men, but they
were not experienced.
As to the Christ church fire Murphy said
he entered the building and took in line
of hose. The fire should have been fought
from the Drayton street side he said. He
entered with the chemical hose and dis
charged two tanks There was no engine
stream to back him up and the heat was
too great. He went out, took the hose
line of No chemical and discharged that.
There was still no stream to support him
and he could do nothing. An hour after
the fire he entered the church and dis
charged stil another tank The fire could
have been fought from the inside of the
church and from the gallery windows.
Murphy said. The taking of the line Of
hose into Mrs Ybanez' house was useless
and wrong, ne said. IL was useless 10 try
to fight the fire from the Congress street
side
As to the manner in which discipline was
enforced, until the commission came in,
he said, the men were usually called into
the Office before the chief, and IL the case
was serious the accused was called before
the mayor. After the passage Of the Will
link ordinance the men had no heart to
work.
when the men could hear the ticker
typewriter working all night, writing off
their discharges, they had no heart to
work" he said
As to the Planters rice mill fire, Murphy
said he thought the fire should have been
confined to the mill building. Streams
were kept on the mill building when there
was no hope Of saving 1t.
Murphy spoke of some poor couplings
purchased for the chemical engine which
he condemned. One of these couplings
blew off at the Smith fire and caused
the horses to run away, endangering the
engine and causing the loss of half an
hour in the service of the chemical ~
CINE. He located the fire in the Smith
building In the attic as soon as he ar
rived. It was too great to be controlled
by the chemical. The chemical could have
controlled all the fire in the Dixon build
ing. He told the chief that the couplings
were no good, and after the Smith fire
he tore the old couplings off the old hose
and coupled them on New couplings
were received about month ago.
great deal of water was put in the
Smith building he said. which might have
been avoided could the chemical have
been used.
The witness was questioned as to the
Savannah Grocery Company fire He en-
tered the building from the rear, going up
the elevator. He got a stream up to the
nd Ii IaI Il, In, 4, ~.
tor. He went through the building to the
bay. He had the fire under control then.
He went out to get assistance, leaving two
men in the street. He met Mr.. Willink at
the door who asked him if he had control
Of the fire. and If so. that streams
should be gotten into the rear He could
not find the chief. When he got back the
men were gone. the stream gone and the
fire gone-right to the front. If he could
have gotten another stream the fire would
never have come through The water
poured into the front of the building did
no good The two men should not have
left their post until his return.
Had he gotten the assistance he needed
he could have saved the southern portion
of the building.
Going back to the Christ church fire,
Murphy said that he entered the building
over an hour after the fire started, going
into the gallery. He could see that the ae-
rial stream was doing no good the water
not reaching the fire. Only one stream was
doing any good.
In answer to questions, Murphy said that
he was called to the chiefs office and rep
rimanded a few days ago by the chief for
talking to Mr.. w. b. Puder on the street.
The chief said 1t looked bad as things were
He replied that he thought he had a right
to talk with MIR. Puder or any other res
pectable citizen. He left only two men in
charge of his machine. He was told that
MIR Toshach would cover the engine with
another man, but if so this man did not
report He told Chief Mcguire that there
were spies around the engine house, and
that IL looked very small. Mr.. Mcguire
said he did not send the spies there. The
chief said the men on the chemical were
talking too freely about the investigation
and said that he would attend TO them
after the investigation was over Muir
ply said that he replied Chief
you have attended to too much already
and that is what is the matter with the
fire department now"
Cornelius Flynn, assistant foreman of
the chemical company, was the next wit
ness. Al the time the duBgnon commit
tee ordered a primary he said Mcguire
came TO the engine house and asked him
IL all the men had been to the polls. He
replied that he thought they had, as they
had left the house TO do SO. The chief
replied that there would be some head
choppng after the primary.
Charges were preferred against him by
Fireman Campos The charges were false.
AZ the investigation Mr. Grayson asked
him how he stood on politics. This was
before the charges had been passed upon.
He looked for his discharge the following
day. Mr.. Grayson repeated his question
a second time. He told the commissioner
that If he was discharged he would con-
slider II his duty to let the public know
why he was discharged
II was not discharged, and l have been
guessing ever since why / was not dis
charged" said the witness.
Joseph p. Inner, who was a fireman six
years and was discharged March. 1896.
was sworn. lie gave an account Of the
incident which led. TO his discharge. lie
used an oXunguisher 10 extnguish fire.
which he was ordered 10 shut of by Act
ing Foreman Campos He had some
words with Campos, who told him that he
would put him on the docket
/ He was notified the next day
to come 20 the chiefs office
/ for trial. He thought Il was rather sud
den. He found thar Campos had charged
/ him with characterization and with do
/ ing damage TO pr0uorfV Ifc had 1ona M