The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-05-07
He Tells Why lie opposes The Pro-
posed Reduction.
Present Expenses and
Bills In Past Years.
Some Statements Which Are
Misleading Corrected.

The measure which Alderman Thomas
Is to tring mp at the meeting Of the oily
council Monday evening, having for its
objsct tbs rsduoli IN of the number o.
men In the IRE department from IA Tor
each company to 10. has stirred up no end
of opposition, not only among the nrmen
whom, 1t will directly effect, but among
the insurance underwriters and business
men an we'll. The insurance agents say
that this Of all years Is the worst one
that could 10 selected for reduction OF
ire nrs lighting force Of this city. Thsy
paint to the fact that this has been year
Of unusually large Losses ~ fire insur'
ancs companies because Of the big confia-
svatiens which have visited the large
citiss Within the past few weeks the In
surance companies Of America have bssn
hard hit and the lessons learned from
experiences Of the past few months would
argue for an increase In the ire depart
meat rather than reduction 10 1t.
A TINES man saw Chief Eldridge
Saturday afternoon and asked him for
his Views in regard to Alderman Thorn
ass plan. Chief Eldridgs said: 81 do not
wish to enter into any controversy re-
garding this matter and should hesitate
to express my view regarding 1t through
the newspaper were 1t not for the fAot
that co much publicity has already been
given to Alderman Thomas's views. In
q recent interview Alderman Thomas
a. reported a. giving some statements
concsrning the department which are mot
in accordance with the facts - shown
BY the records of this office. These state-
msnts az reported coming from Alderman
Thomas are mislsading to the citizens
and taxpayers Of Portland. and ara In
some measure reflection uponjthe OH
srs and men Of this department Of which
have the honor to be the chief. there
fore do not regard 1t as unseemly for mt
to give you some facts regarding the de-
partment and my idsAs 40 to what
would be the elect of Alderman Thorn
ass proposed reduction In the fighting
force Of the IRE department.
"In this Interview, to which have re-
ferred, Alderman Thomas Is quoted as
saying that the salaries of the fire depart
nent amount to 81 per capita for every
nan. woman and child 10 the city.
This Is not correct. The salaries OF the
tire department amount to about Sol. OCO
a year, one dollar head for every man,
woman and child In the city, or half OF
what Alderman Thomas Is quoted IS say
ing 1t IL. This amount 10, In oompari-
son with other citiss of the same size az
Portland, livery small. In fact this city
has the smallest department for It's size
Of any CITY / know Of, and its men are
not paid nearly as much rs they are In
other oities of this GLASS which depend
upon ell men for the lighting force.
alderman Thomas IL further quoted
as saying that In one company alone dur
ing the Iast quarter, from January to
April, ten out Of the company OF fourteen
firemep, were fined either for failure &c
attend fires OF to attend meetings. lie
says that the rule IL that fremen shall
not be abs.nt from over ons-third the
number Of fires during period OF hx
months.
dNow this statement Ii misleading
and deem 1t q reflection upon the man
aRement of the depart ment by the board
OF lire engineers In whose hands this
matter OF removing tiremsn for atssntins
themselves Tor over one-third of the ires
is plaSed. -s,.. .,a.,u.r
Thomas undoubtedly refers 10 Engine
Company No. .. and have before m {
the pay roll for the last quarter as well
a. the report of the roll calls for every
alarm and every meeting. When you
come to understand the true taots regard
ing this company you will see that ths
record IL net - very bad after all, and
shat, in TACT. 1t shows the creditabl'
promptness and attention to duty shown
by these call men Of Engine 2's company.
''In the quarter FOR which this pay roi
IL made out, Engine was called to an
swer to 20 fires and responded to i've Of
these slarms. Besides this the company
had many meetinga At II Of these tira'
ali OF the IA call men Of Engine wer'
present. At the alarm from box bS. thre'
men were abssnt, but two Of them has
substitutes present. they being absen
from the city or sick and unable to at
tend. There was one man absent from
roll call ct the alarms from boxes 3i2