The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-01-07
NEW FIRE TRUCK HERE
WAGON PROVES VALUABLE Ac-
 QUESTION TO DEPARTMENT.
With the Addition of Chemical En- zine and Few More Men Mont gomery Would Rank with
 the Best in the South.

At the beginning of this new year of 1902 Chief Browder Is getting the Mont gomery Fire Department up to date in every particular.
 Around in one of the rooms of the truck company on Madison Avenue is the handsomest. most up-to-date piece of fire fighting machinery ever brought to Montgomery. It is a hose wagon which will take the place of the ill-fated wagon that was wrecked in the street car col lision some time ago--the wagon of Steamer Company No. 2, on which Cap tain Sykes was killed.
 The new wagon reached the city yes- terday morning. and at the meeting of the City Council last night the Fire Com mittee accepted and ordered 1t paid for with the proviso that the chief of the fire department approved of its During the day. yesterday several mechanics looked it over. pronouncing 1t one of the most complete things of the kind ever shown here The running gear Is made entirely of steel, the body of the wagon being of hard wood. The wheels have in the axels archable roller bearings, which 1t is claimed makes it pull one- third lighter, than any other wagon of it's weight. The drivers seat Is wide enough to hold comfortably three men. while running boards on each side and at the rear admit of six or seven more men, about ten in all on the wagon. The feature of it is the equipment which makes 1t almost a truck. Hanging on the sides are four lanterns. two bab- books .one latest improved door opener, two plaster hooks, one crowbar. two axes. Suspended on iron supports over the body of the wagon are a couple of ladders-a thirty foot extension ladder and a 15-foot roof ladder. Being sup ported above and directly in the center of the wagon the weight of these ladders do not interfere in the least with the steadiness of the wagon while turning even a sharp corner at full speed. On the dashboard of the drivers seat is a large double action, rotary gong. and when Driver Bob Nickson of the hose wagon of Steamer Company No. makes his appearance on the streets he will have something of which the city can justly be proud. The wagon weighs, stripped that is without hose or men-3,090 and cost exactly $500 laid down in Montgom- cry. It was made by the Fire Extin- guisher Manufacturing Company of Chicago and was brought to Montgom- cry by Mir. Thomas R. Polglase, the representative of that company in this section. Mir. Polglase has been coming to Montgomery for a number of years, but this is his first sale to the local fire department-and Chief Browder and the department are delighted with 1t.
 The Council last night also bought 1000 feet of hose for the department, P. o. Hebert of the Fabric Hose Company, of New York. making the sale. The new wagon carries 1,200 feet of horse, and until the new hose is received Chief Browder will not put the wagon in ser- vice.
 In the matter of stock the department is also complete. and look at the diff ferent horses shows to what a state of perfection these noble animals may be brought. There are now seventeen horses in service, Jack Cook, Superin- tendent of Stock. having few days ago bought the seventeenth horse in Tennes- see. He is beautiful animal. a very heavy. dapple grey, and tests made of his bottom and strength show that he is all that was expected of him.
 The only thing that remains now to make the local fire department perfect in every detail is the addition of a chemical engine and a few more men. It has been demonstrated that more than one-half of the damage at fires is caused by water, and with a chemical engine at an ordinary fire water is not necessary. The babcocks of the department have done noble service, but they are i'm adequate. and the indications are that within the next few months a chemical engine will be added to the local depart ment.