The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-12-12
ANACONDA news.
FIRE SYSTEM COMPLETED
Department Wires Are Now In
dependent Lines.
A NEEDED IMPROVEMENT
Danger OF Alarm Wires Becoming
Crossed With Other Lines Now Re-
duced to a Minimum-The De-
psrtment's New Library.

One Of the greatest improvements,
and one that has long been needed, has
been made in the fire alarm system in
this city. The work was completed on
Saturday and the new system is nov
ready for use.) The improvement con-
sists Of the substitution of bran new
wires for all Of the old lines hat for
merly composed the departments
alarm system.
For a long time. in fact for. some
years, the department has been greatly
annoyed by the almost daily Interrupt
ions which occurred in the service.
The old wires were bare iron wires of a
No. IA gauge, which is very small. The
fact that they were not at all protect
ed by any insulation exposed them to
the danger of becoming crossed with
any OF the hundreds of wires running
on the same poles. Some OF these
wires were electric light wires carrying
extremely heavy currents of electricity.
Sometimes 1t happened during wet
weather or during a storm that the
small wire of the fire department be-
came broken and fell upon the heavily
charged electric light wires. In that
case, of course, the enormously strong
current played havoc with the delicate
apparatus OF the alarm boxes n with
the finely adjusted registering clock at
the station. The fire bell would clang
wildly and every gong in the station
would be set a-going. At times consid-
cradle damage was done. The worst
feature of the old system, however, was
not the danger or damage TO the In
struments, but the disarrangement n
practical decentralization of the entire
fire alarm GVSfQm- Ar times II nAS
happened that an alarm, fortunately a
false one, was rung in from a box, but
the signals were never recorded at he
station. for the reason that the wire
over which the impulses were sent a
become e~ntangled with some other wire
and was either completely cut off or
the signals were so confused as to con-
vey no intelligence whatever.
This condition grew annoying as ad-
ditional wires were put upo the poles.
Chief Mentrum finally decided to put
in an entire new system of wires. The
work was begun early last week and
the linemen finished on Saturday. The
new wire Is a heavy copper wire, thor
oughly insulated with gutta percha.
The insulation precludes the possibility
of the new wires becoming exposed to
outside influences. The system has also
been taken off the ordinary cross arms
which support the other wires. The de-
partment's new wires are supported
by independent cross arms and brack-
cts at the tops of the highest poles. h
line runs about three feet above my
of the other wires, and the possibility
of contact is thus reduced to the min
tmum.
This is an Improvement which the
department has long needed. n now
that Il is finally an accomplished fact,
people will no more be startled out of
their beds at midnight by the wild ring
ing of the fire bell. The new system is
the one thing that was needed by the
department, which is now second TO
none in the state, and one in which
every citizen in Anaconda takes a deep
pride.
The school trustees have about con-
cluded to put in private fire alarm
boxes at the different school houses,
so that the department may respond
with the least delay in case of fire. IL
is probable that the private boxes will
be put in within the next few days.
The fire department library is anoth-
er institution in which the firemen take
n great deal of interest. The library
IS young yet. having received its first
lot of books only a short tim ago. but
IT is growing steadily and in a year the
department will have a library of which
the BOYS can be proud