Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-11-12
WEAK DEFENSE MADE
Morning Paper, as Expected, Up
holds Anticipated Ideas of
Fire Alarm.
TRYING TO HOLD THE CITY BACK
Chief Piening, of Davenport, Says
Telephones Are a Flat
Failure.

Telephones Are Flat
Failure.
The Union, as was to be expected,
has come to the rescue of antiquated
methods in the fire alarm system. It
does not consider that Rock Island
has as yet advanced to the point
where the best is essential TO the
protection of the property interests
of the city. The telephone is still
good enough, the Union thinks, as
does Mayor Knox. The public viii
readily recall with what determina-
! ton the Union fought the establish
mcnt of paid fire department on all
grounds. The teams in hot haste
| from n livery stable" il was argued
would serve every purpose as we'll as
the paid department, and ii was held
on the part of the morning paper
that it was preposterous to think
! that a small number of men, however
well drilled, could answer the pur-
pose of hundred or more volunteers
in fighting Il fire. But the paid de-
partment came, nevertheless. 1t was
a revelation to the Union and an eve
proved all that was promised for it,
The Union and other croaIlers groan-
ed over the cost, bat it has saved the
people in dollars ard cents many
times the expense of operation each
year.
\ Duty to Protest
Now that the city having expert
mented with the telephone and found
it wanting in connection with the
ire alarm system, and instead of
proiiting by the lesson of experience,
is about to embark Still further liz
what has been demonstrated to be
failure from the practical standpoint,
and is to permit a private corpora
ton to become associated with the
city i'm the equipment of this most
important branch of the public serv-
ice, The Argus has felt that it is its
duty to protest, and it viii continue
SO TO do. regardless of how far or
how little il may he effective with the
present prize administration of NUM-
cipal affairs.
In the consideration of so impor-
tant an auxiliary as the alarm sys-
TEN to the fire department the talk
g.
stake is as idle and shortsighted as
was the morning cackle in oPpOsi-
ton to the establishment of the paid
department originally. No one de-
sires to see the city assume one cent
of additional obligation in its pres
ent condition. bat there are certain
institutions in connection with the
conduct of public affairs that must
he maintained for the peoples pro-
lection and safety. regardless of all
circumstances. Foremost among
these is the fire department.. The
money expended not only in its main
tendnce, but in keeping it up to the
highest degree of perfection possible.
is more than apt to come back Il hun
dred fold in a year.
The direct alarm system is as es
sential to its proper operation as are
the other advantages that are pos
sesseI for prompt service at all times
day and night. The paid fire depart
ment was installed despite the Union
and the other old fogies for which it
invariably speaks. and il will be adj
vanced eventually. if not by the pres
ent council, b. a future one, to the
proper standard of perfection in
spite of the wall Of the obstructing
newspaper, and public officials who !
depend upon it for their stock Of
knowledge on public affairs.
The Davenport System.
AS an argument on the part of the |
Union in favor Of the telephone and |
against the Gamewell alarm the re-
cent Mueller fire in Davenport is |
i,ncf
wherein the alarm did not work as it |
should is conspicuous and so general |
" commented upon because of the |
fact that imperfections in this kind !
of system are so rare as 10 be novel
This was the only time in the history
of Davenport's paid fire department,
and the Gamewell system has been in
operation there for years, where it
has failed to operate satisfactorily.
Chief Piening. OF the Davenport de-
partment, in talking with an Argus
reporter said:
1T is true that in the case of the
Mueller fire the alarm did not sound,
causing considerable delay, but this
was not because the system is not
right. The trouble was due To the
of the positive plates. 1t
was the only instance where the sys-
tenn gave Us any trouble. 1t has
been an unqualified success in Daven-
port, as it has in every other city
where it has been installed. Tele-
phones are poor excuse. They
have been found so by every town
that has depended upon them as
means of giving an alarm of fire.
There is just one time where the
system failed to perform
rs duty. whereas in Rock Island
there have been numerous fire losses
N the past year due TO the unreliable
ty OF the telephone alarm system.
Yet the Union imagines it is econ