The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-03-26

sure was deficient. During the after
noon. Chief Flannery of the fire de-
partment. was o. the stand. and testi-
fed that he a no complaint to make
regarding the pressure. Mr.. Hagger-
tvs contention hinged chiefly upon the
action of the water when Night Watch
man Mahoney attempted to put the fire
out in its incipiency and upon the claim
that the pressure was not sufficient to
break the Office windows. He drew a
confession Of the latter from the water
company's witnesses and put Chief
Cook Otello or the stand to swear that
ordinarily he a been able to throw
water to the second story windows
with the hose in the basement, which
was used by Mahoney. whereas when
Mahoney attempted to play a stream
on the fire the water would barely run
out Of the nozzle. The inquest was not
concluded m another session wiz be
held to-day.
At the resumption of the inquest,
Superintendent Carroll too the witness
stand to explain to the Jury the ond
ton of the water pressure at the time
of the fire. He explained in detail the
system of water supply. and getting
down to h question of pressure said
that the pressure u at the Galena
street pump station showed that there
must have been water in the reservoir
on Main street which furnished the
water. As "a matter of fact he said
there was 10 feet of water in the tank
when the fire broke put. which was the
customary head. Soon after the fire
department commenced using the water
the. head ran down a foot and the speed
of the pumps was increased. which
raised the head six inches Unde these
conditions, Mr.. Carroll claimed. the
pressure at the Hale house could not
have been less than 100 pounds.
Mr.. Carroll was followed on the stand
by Robert erik, who testified that he
went to the fire as a spectator. He was
in front of the Butte hotel when the
fire broke out. and followed the appar-
atus to the scene. From a point OF van
tage on the Washington school
grounds he watched the fire until s
o'clock in the morning. He stated that
a stream was turned on the fire. 10 min
utes after the alarm was sounded.
Proprietor Haggerty cross-examined.
and in response to his questions the
witness said he did not see but one
stream played on the west side and
one on the east or north sides until
the flames broke out in front. The wit
ness did not see anything that indi-
Gated a lack of water pressure. but he
did see the stream on the west side
played in through the of the
top story. In response to the question
Of a juror the witness said he saw two
teams make the run to the fire from
the central station.
George p. Laidlaw of 734 Oregon ave-
nue., engineer for the water company at
the Galena street station. testified that
when the first alarm came in he 10 Ike 1
AT the card and saw ii was in East
Broadway. He turned OF the oil and
set the pump to going a little harder.
Then he heard another alarm and then
t~elephoned the Main street station that
alarms were being turned in all over
town. and was told to cut loose. He
increased the speed of the pump and
then heard another alarm and gut a
telephone that his tank was falling.
Then he got three bells and t~elephoned
to headquarters, as he had not been on
duty during a fire before, to ascertain IL
three bells was to indicate that the fire
was out or that more pressure was
wanted. He asked to have Superintend-
ent Carroll come down, which he did.
The water In the tank was then all
right, and ii did not decrease at any
time. Superintendent Carroll asked the
witness what his gauge indicated at
the time of the first alarm. and witness
replied a little less than ITO pounds.
Thereafter the u indicated 116
pounds. The difference in altitude be-
tween the pump station n the Hale
house would make the pressure at the
latter place 107 pounds. The witness
said he put in a fresh fire when the
first alarm came in, as was his orders.
in order to be prepared for any emer-
gency.
", f. Huffman, engineer for the
water company, was on duty at the
Main street station. At about 3 o'clock
in the morning, or a little later. he re-
ceived a telephone from Mr.. Laidlaw
saying there had been three alarms, and
he told Mr.. Laidlaw to call up Mr..
Carroll. The Main street tank is sup
posed to be kept full, and it was at the
time of the fire. Shortly after the fire
broke out witness looked at his tank and
telephoned MIR. Laidlaw to speed up, as
the water la fallen a foot. A few
minutes later the tank was full again.
1t did not fall after that. 1t was i'm
possible to put water in the Main
street tank with less than los pou s.
pressure at the Galena street station.
and If there were lis pounds pressure
at the Galena street station there must
have been 100 pounds or more of pres
sure at the Hale house. Asked by Mr..
Haggerty whether a stream ruInrd
against a plate glass window with the
ordinary pressure would break the
glass, the witness replied that II woul
have to be a very strong pressure.
When closely pressed as to whether the
stream from the hose of the fire depart
ment turned against the windows OF
the Hale house at a distance of 10 feet
would break the glass. the witness de-
clined to commit himself, saying he had
never seen a test.
Superintendent Carroll was recalled
and asked by Mr.. Haggerty how much
pressure would be required TO break a
window with the stream turned
straight on at a distance OF ten feet.
He was unable to say, but would have
supposed the pressure that night would
have broken the window. Asked by a
Juror If there is any ordinance stipu-
lating the pressure the water company
is required to maintain, he SAID there
was, and that the company complied
with the regulations. He explained
that the more streams used from one
hydrant reduced the pressure on each
stream. From time to time the fire
chief tests the pressure at various
points of the city.
Adolph Probst. foreman for the wa
ter company, testified that he inspected