The Saint Paul globe., 1902-07-17

The most important question con-
Sldered by the fire board at it's regular
meeting last night was the matter of
securing better fire protection for that
district below the bluff on the West
side, that is, west of South WabaSha
street. After some discussion, the Sec
retary was instructed to communicate
with the water commissioners, calling
their attention to the necessity OF hav-
ing water mains west of Wabasha
street on Fillmore, Chicago and lair
field avenues, and Water street, and
requesting the water board to put in
! the necessary mains.
The above question was brought be-
fore the board by Chief Jackson, who
stated that the only street west of Wa
baSha in the district below he bluff
on which there was water mains was
Indiana avenue Chief Jackson .tated
to the board that there were a num-
Der of manufacturing plants and ware
houses in this district, which made it
all the more necessary to have mains
on the four streets named abo%e, west
of Wabasha street.
Department Is Handicapped.
In case of a fire on any of these
streets now, the department is ham
pered by the fact that it has to string
the hose from Wabasha street, and,
| according to Chief Jackson, in order to
get enough water to fight the fire at
the Villaume box factory, last week, it
was found necessary to lay out one
line of hose that was 500 feet long.
The result was &that the board de-
cided, as stated above, to try and get
the board of water commissioners to
take some action in the matter.
Repeated attempts have been made
by parties interested in this section of
the West side to have water mains put
in on the four streets named before,
but owing to the objections Of a ma
Jority of the property owners, their cf-
forts have come to naught. 1t is
thought now, however, that, the fire
board having taken it up, the matter
will come to an issue which Will result
in the necessary mains being put in.
An opinion was received from AS
sistant Corporation Attorney McDer-
mott as to whether or not the board of
fire commissioners must first apply for
a reQuisition from the common council
for the purchase of any supplies, re-
pairs, etc. The opinion was given at
| the request of the board, and is con-
strued by the board as meaning that
the board of fire commissioners do net
have to get a reQuisition from the
council before buying supplies, as the
board is in absolute control Of the de-
partment. On motion of Commissioner
SchWeiZer, however, no action was
taken on the opinion last night, and
it was laid over.
Need Supply of Oats. T@T=atie+'
The matter of buying oats for the
department also came in for consider
able discussion. Chief Jackson report
ed that the department had about 1900
bushels of oats on hand at the present
time and that this amount would last
until about the first of August. Some
n Of
buying on the open market until about
September, when oats are expected to
be considerably lower than they are
now, and at which time bids will be
advertised for. After some discussion,
however, the secretary was instructed
to advertise for 1900 bushels more or
less of oats, to be delivered as called
for after Aug. 20, and the committee on
horses and wagons, together with Chief
jackson, was authorized to buy oats
in case of any emergency.
The mater of buying new hose to
have in reserve was brought up. Chief
| Jackson stated to the board that there
was about $500 feet of reserve hose in
| the department at the present time,
and that all of the hose in use was
| practically new, and he was Of the
| opinion that the department had
enough reserve hose to carry it
| through the present year. Commits
sioner Schweizer thought different, and
| contended that there ought to be at
| least 5000 feet of hose in reserve in
| he department. The mater was dis
| cuSSeu at length, but was finally laid
| over until some future meeting of the
| board.
June's Fire Losses. 7~Ss
The report of the several officers in
| charge of the various departments
were received and placed on file. Chief
| jackson, in his report, stated that dur
| ing June there were thirty nine alarms
| of fire, of which eight were from un-
| known causes and the rest from var
ious causes of which he gave a detail
| ed account. The loss on buildings was
| $9,8O5; loss on contents, $1S,473.55
| making a total loss on last months
| fires of $28,278.55. The insurance on
| buildings was $70,275 and on contents
| $1,000, making a total insurance of
| $127,475. The insurance over loss was
| $99,196.45.
| Chief Jackson recommended that a
| new gravel roof be put on chemical
engine house, No 8, and the matter
| was referred to the committee on
| buildings and Chief Jackson with pow
| er to act.
The monthly pay roll, amounting to
| $14,917.01, and bills aggregating a total
| of $1,475.57, were passed. The report
| of Secretary O'Gorman showed the fol-
| lowing financial condition of the board
| at the present time: Balance on hand
| at last report, $89,215.S1; disburse-
ments, bills, allowed last night, ST.
| 1857; ay roll for July, $14,917.01;
balance on hand, $72,823.23.