Evening star., 1901-11-05

| to man, retired May l, 1901, upon Weil
| earned pension, the Board of Commits
sioners decided that thereafter the head Of
the department should be an executive one.
| leaving to the senior assistant chief en-
! gineer Mr.. VIM. Z. Belt, the immediate
| command and direction Of the fre-fghting
| force This is the course pursued In Bos-
| ton and other large cities, and when 1t is
| understood that the District fire department
| has become a great business concern, the
| value of whose plant is not less than s6Oo,-
| GOO, employing nearly 300 men, and expend-
| ing nearly half million dollars year, II
appears eminentiy proper that its head
| should be purely executive one.
| There should be, however, it is respect
| fully submitted, further reorganization OF
| the department-such reorganization as
| would place it's members on the same foot
| ing, as far as tenure Of office is concerned,
| as have been placed the members OF ne
I, police department by the act of Congress of
February %, 1901, which provides, among
other things, That no removal from the
police force shall be made except on written
! charges, and after an opportunity for de-
| fense the part Of the pers )n against
| whom such charges may be made; but 10
person SO removed shall be reappo,nted to
| any Office in said police force.
Trials for Misconduct.
In speaking of the trials of members of
the department. Mr.. Dutton says:
| lit has been clearly shown that the de-
prving of members of the department cf
their days off is q most effective method
of punishment for misconduct Heretofore
members guilty of misconduct were in most
| cases fined, and as they received small pay
| the imposition of fines punished them not
| so much as it did those dependent upon
them. But where a man is deprived of his
days Off or of his annual leave, the pun
| ishrnent falls alone upon him."
| Mr. Dutton compliments the department
for the fine showing made on the occasion
of the annual parade last year. He says
~ No. Co. a,,a aa o.,
eral excellence was presented to Engine
Company No. 5, and will be competed for
| every year. He speaks Of the reorganiZa-
tion Of the Firemen's Relief Association,
! which is now upon permanent, business
| like foundation. The organization, upon
the death of one of its members, assesses
each survivor $3.50, and the amount col
| lected, less a sum sufficient to erect a suit
ceased member, Is paid over to his widow,
or. If he was unmarried, to his heirs-at-
| law.
Matter of Uniforms.
'"The providing Of the members Of the
department with uniforms is not now and
probably never has been a matter OF entire
satisfaction, either to the department or to
the men," says Mr.. Dutton. Neither the
| District nor the department is authorized
| to make contracts for the purchase Of
these uniforms, and it is believed that
goods not only of better quality, but also
| at lower prices, could be obtained should
| the District be empowered by Congress to
provide the men with uniforms, after due
| advertising for proposals, and, after fur
nishing them to the members of the de-
partment to deduct by authority of law.
the cost from the pay of the men.
| Salvage Corps.
"The District Of Columbia is without
salvage corps. an organization to be found
in most Of the large cities of the country.
| In he "a
to be a most important and valuable ad-
junct to the fire department, and much VAL
| liable property has been saved through 1t.
Generally, If not without exception, sal
wage corps are maintained by private en-
| terprise, and 1t being believed that Con-
gress would not establish one here the de-
| partment hopes to see one established by
private enterprise.
Fire Escapes.
| "Your attention is respectfully invited to
the law relating to fire escapes AS the
| law now stands 1T is understood the au-
| thorities cannot compel the equipment of
any building with fire escapes where the
structure is less than fifty feet in height.
1t is said that In a number of instances
| an inch or less than fifty feet solely for
| the purpose of avoiding their equipment
| with fire escapes,
| ut Is respectfully submitted that the
character of a building rather than its
height should determine the question of
| whether not it should be equipped with
| fire escapes-that is, If the building be SO
| constructed as to place 1t in the class
| known as fast-burning structures the
| owner should be required to equip 1t with
| fire escapes. Then, too. the purpose for
which a building is to be used should no
| less fully determine the same question.
| For instance, IL 1t Is to be occupied as a
| hotel, apartment house, school, hospital or
| for any like purpose its occupancy should
not be permitted until it is amp.y supplied
with fire escapes, though it does not reach
a height Of fifty feet.
Value of Fire-Proof Construction.
While there are slow-burning buildings,
it is claimed by the great majority Of fire.
fighters that there is no such thing as
an absolutely fire-proof structure. There
fore. it is contended, the law should not
permit the absence Of fire escapes from any
building wherein human beings are housed
| or wherein they congregate. In this con-
| nectton 1t can be said that fire escapes
are not only valuable as a means OF es-
cape from a burning building, but they
also often afford, when run to the roof,
/ convenient means for the IRE department
to reach otherwise in accessible parts OF q