Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-03-27
QUICK FIRE HITCH.
An Ingenious Device By a Call
Man of Truck 3.
A Defence OF the Fire Marshaps Office
A Fire Caused by Combination of Bath
Tub and Poultice.

vice dI MS IeSlueHce 10 IdcIlldlS Il
quick response to fire alarms. Firemen
who have seen it are enthusiastic over
it, and have urged Mr., Haynes to have
it patented
The mechanism and the owners fire
clothing are encased in a cherry cabi-
net, standing about six feet in heGht,
which at first glance looks like an
ordinary book case. Several small
doors open in front of the case and give
access to the clock work and the in
side mechanism. At one side of the
cabinet, in small closet like a COM
partdnent, are hung hat and coat, while
underneath the whole in another COM
partment are the boots and trowsers,
which go to make up the freman's
quick hitch. At the first stroke OF the
gong, a small lamp at the top of the
cabinet is lighted automatically, the
flexible shutters which form the front
of the compartment in which the
quick hitch is kept roll up, and the
boots and trousers, which rest on a
movable platform are slid out into the
room ready for the fireman to get in
to as he springs from his bed. His hat
and coat hang near at hand and by the
time the alarm has struck round, he
looks up at the indicator, catches the
number of the box and Is off to the
| fire.
The affair comprises all the convent
ences so far as relieving and recording
alarms that are in use in the different
depa! tment houses, in addition to pro-
viding receptacle for the parapherna-
LA Of the fireman, where it is out Of the
| way and still in readiness for use at
moments notice When the doors are
closed, the whole makes a not unor-
| namental piece of furniture
| In regard to the report that is being
| circulated to the effect that the office
| of state fire marshal of Massachusetts
is to be done away with, the Fire and
| Water paper devoted to the interests
| of fire protection, water supply and
municipal engineering says: "Uncon-
| firmed rumor has it that the Office Of
state fire marshal is to be abolished, and
| through that seems hardly probable
| yet the persistency with which the re-
| port crops up every now and then
| shows some influence must be working
in that direction. Such a step would be
| decidedly step backward, inasmuch as
| since the appointment of State Fire
| Marshal Whitcomb, the first state officer
of the kind appointed in the United
! States, the percentage of incendiary
| fires has most markedly decreased
| while the number of convictions for ar
| son has proportionally increased. Be-
fore the office was created, the percen-
| tage of known incendiary fires and of
those classed as unknown" was as
| large as 35 per cent of the total num-
| Der of fires.
"Since Fire Marshal Whitcomb as
sumed the office, the average has been
| reduced to four or five per cent In
1897 it was less than four per cent, a
ratio which no other state in the United
| States can approach. The fire loss from
incendiary fires before there was a
state fire marshal represents anywhere
| between 25 and 40 per cent ON $12, ,000, 600,
the annual fire waste. This has been
so far reduced that for the last three
years the average has been only Is per
cent, with every prospect of further re-
duction in the future. Since the Gre
alton Of the fire marshalps office, in 1895,
there have been 162 convictions for ar
son, about IS per cent of the total num-
Der of arrests, as against II throughout
| the entire state about Is per cent of
all the arrests made for that crime prior
to the appointment of Mr.. Whitcomb.
| ''In the fire marshal's bureau can also
be found complete indexed record OF
every fire that has taken place in the
state during the past three years, show
ing its cause and everything pertaining
to it, the result of careful official exami-
nation. BY means of this, it has been
rendered possible for insurance compa-
MES landlords and every one in general
to obtain useful information as to those
applying for insurance or credit, or as
| would-be tenants of rentable property.
Under these circumstances, and in
view of the immense advantages re-
sulting from the state fire marshals bu-
reau, we cannot see why there should
be any disposition on the part Of the
legislature to abolish the office. On the
contrary, the tendency should be to in
crease its usefulness still further, and
TO strengthen the hands Of the fire mar
shal to a still greater extent"
The Connecticut Fire Insurance Com
pany of Hartford was called upon re
Gently to settle a loss resulting from a
curious cause. A house was set on
fire by bath tub, and the bath tub by
an over-heated poultice. A man was
suffering from a severe cold, and his
wife, at the DOCTORS orders, prepared
a poultice for his chest When the poul-
tice was ready for application, it was
found too hot, and placed in a bath
tub to cool off. The tub was provided
with lining of celluloid which served as
a sort of enamel. The heat from the
poultice set the bath tub going, and the
flames spread to the surrounding wood
work, the fire department was called out
and the house thoroughly wet down. The
company settled the loss but this is the
first case on record where a fire is
known to have resulted from the above
combination.
{ Charles T. Holloway, the well-knowr
manufacturer of fire apparatus, who
died at his nome, in Baltimore. last
{ week, was well known by the heads OF
) the fire department in this city. Truc,
A. which is stationed at New Worcester
was built by him. He was president OF
the Veteran Volunteer Firemen's Asso.
citation and the first chief engineer OF
; the present city fire department in Bal.
timore, his native city. A story Is told
of an incident in Mr.. Holloway's life
when his hair turned white In a single
night. In 1869, when he was acting in
the capacity of inspector, a high brick
wall fell during fire, burying Mr.. Hol-
loWay and fireman named HAYS be.
meath the ruins. 1t was four hours be-
fore the debris was removed and the
men taken from their perilous position
Hays was killed outright, and during
the time the firemen were engaged in
digging the men out his dead body was
pinned so tightly over Mr.. Holloway
that he was unable to move Both mer
were terribly cut and burned, but Mr.
Holloway lived through the ordeal, and
gained fame and fortune as a maker
of fire apparatus
Frank c. Hoyle, hoseman on Hose 4
who has been off duty since Feb %
suffering from severe cold contracted
at the Bijou fire, reported for duty Sat.
urday morning.
J
Mn 4FTvTT A.