El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-01-17
THE SCHEME WON'T WORK.
There Will be no Paid Fire Department
Until After AnriI

The scheme OF certain cliuues and
classes to foist paid fire department
on the city of Ell Paso against the
wishes OF the Taxpayers will not likely
be contaminated until after the CITY
election next April. Even those who
favor the scheme, because they believe
it would be better for the city, have
come to the conclusion tn at the attempt
to hurry up the mater is brought
ab"ut for political purposes and is
simply scheme to give certain ward
heelers employment before the city
election SO that they can be held in
line to do the bidding of the bosses in
both the city and county elections
Many people will not believe this, but
the email Taxpayers and the volu1-
teer hremen all see through the eff
fort.
There is no doubt in the minds of the
taxpayers but that it would cost the
city more to have paid fire depart
ment than it does to have q volunteer
fire department who do the work for
nothing. Mr.. Jalonick's letter is also
subject to two interpretations. Mr.. n
r. Woods, who is nearer to Mr.,
Jalonick than anyone else, says that
the latter gentleman will require the
present volunteer fire department. as
we'll as the extra paid fremen sug-
L. a
no objections to the city of Ell Paso go
ing to An extra expense in maintaining
its fire department., but he does no.
want nythipg cut off that it now has.
Mr.. Woods goes farther and says that
Mr.. Jalonick is under the impression
that the Ell Paso fire plugs each have
seventy-ive pour ds pressure of water
to the square inch and when he finds
out that such is not the case he will re-
q hny In Al
insurance rates. This the city cannot
remedy unless they make new con-
tract with the Water Works company
As the present contract only calls for
seventy pounds of pressure to the
square inch 1t the fra plug at the cor
ner of the city hall. No other hydrant
10 mentioned in the contract.
Now IS to the rebate in insurance
rates. Take for instance the building
at the corner of Ell Paso and West
Overland streets. The present rate of
insurance on tina: building is 81 80 on
the 800. If the town were put on q
nrst cless rating that building would
be rated at 81 SO 1-16 on the 800 &C.
cording to Mr.. Woods calculations.
The opera house is rated the sam :.
way. They are considered extra
ordinary risks and no insurance com
pany wants them 1t lower rate. The
to maintain q paid fire department.
would be far more than the re jucton
that would be received in insurance
rating and the risks would be greater
as paid fire department would be
composed of ward heelers who would
hold their jobs for the good they could
do in elections, and not because they
were competent and experienced fire.
men. This is the scheme in a nutshell
and shows why there is such a hurry
up process to foist paid Ere depart
ment on the city at the expense of men
who pay their taxes but are getting
tired OF carrying all kinds of burdens,
while the heavy Taxpayers stand by
and never pay their taxes.
"Charley Morehead, Phil Dieter and
A. krakauer are among the very best
business men in Ell Paso," said q
gentleman this morning to HERALD
reporter, ''but neither one of them
owns residence in Ell Paso. Krakauer
had one but moved away and sold it,
and everybody hopes he has come back
to stav and will build him a homo
again; Dieter too, may build again, but
Morehead not only don't have home,
but when he got q son-in-law who had
found Ell Paso good enough for him for
years, be set him up in business in