The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-03-01
u p-to-Date Steamers of the Latest Pattern,
Water Tower That Literally Furnishes Deluge,
Smoke Marks and Anti-Bouncing Life Saving
Nets Now IN Use-Firemen Well Paid and
Under Perfect Discipline.

''Howd'y'' TO his chief on the fire ground
as the latter pulled up.
Besides the big ladder the truck Is
fitted with bO-foot ladder worked By
hand. a s5-foot ladder aud a 25-foot
ladder. These are built Of light wood
and so braced as to hotdssix men with
out bending or sagging oct of position
The new truck cost 1890. ana tina
new engines $500 each
Items are included In the forthcomz
ing appropriation bin providing for the
purchase Of three new combination hose
and chemical wagons This piecs fos
apparatus is great Improvements over.
the hose carriages now In use. They!
carry from 1000 to 1 200 feet OF hose ia
two compartments. and It Is possible to
lay out two lines at once. instead OF
one. and with much less danger Of accs.
dent than by the hose carriage. In adj
dition these wagons carry two s5-zzE-
Ion chemical tanks to be used in emer-1
gency before the engines arrive. 1-2oa
feet Of chemical engine hose is also a,
part OF the equipment It Is the futen-
ton OF the Chief Engineer TO exchanges.
the present hose carts for the caunbin-
alton wagons as fast as money n pro-
vided for the purpose. :,
Reforms in Personnel.
Chief Dutton has made as many re-
forms in the personnel OF the department
as In it's apparatus. He recommended.
and Congress authorized the granting OF,
twenty days annual leave 20 the men in
the department. Up TO last year no
man ever had a furlough. except on sick
leave Every man in the department Is
rewarded also with extra days OF leave
for brave and meritorious service. For
example. IL foreman on his ,da9 off sees
fire and puts it out or sends in a local
alarm to the nearest engine house. he
is rewarded in this way On the other
hand. no man for neglect OF duty or
for other misdemeanor is now fined. Hs
Is deprived Of certain days on and This
has been found an effective mode OF
punishment. Chief Dutton argued that
when a fireman was deprived of his
money by fine. his family as well as
himself would be the sufferers He
stopped the paying of money and took
away the days OF leave, so tlaS the fire.
man only would feel the. deprivation.
BY judicious use of this mode OF pun
ishment and by positive dismissal on
the second offense drunkenness has
been practically banished from the de-
partment-
It may be said that the men are now
better paid and under better and more
effective discipline than ever before in
the history OF the department.
chief Dutton, soon after being in
stalled in of.ce. began systematic in
sPection Of all public buildings. semi
public buildings. and others where large
assemblaSes were held In many cases
Railways and exits were changed the
better to enable persons to get out OF
the buildings in case OF fire The regu-
lations In regard TO fire-escapes have
been rigidly enforced The storage and
handling OF oils and infiammable mate
rails have been carefully looked after.
Electric wiring his been improved De-
tails OF iremen to theatrical perfor--
mances for duty behind the scenes have
been ordered Attention has been given
to protection from fire upon public
occasions like the G. A. R. encampment
and the Masonic fair. In short, "a
much attention has been given to pre-
venting fire as to lighting It. The re-
suit has been that in the past calendar
year there was less fire damage than
for several years previously.