Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-05-04
SOUTH END TIRE J01:
lss yssn Assshsr 'rsst SftAs
 City Vote IL DcvA.

The petitioners for fire alarm box lin the south end of the city will not be disappointed to learn that the con- mlttee, consisting of George \. Driggs and John A. Moran, appointed to en- quire into the need of box in that part of the town, have stepped into line with the idea of the chief engineer and former committees and turned them down. The only difference be tween this committee and the former ones is that 1t was tride worse inas- much as it suggested that if the people wanted better fire protection they could chip in and have telephone in- stalled in one of the houses. Why,
 asked one of the petitioners of Mir Driggs, when he made the statemenn, '..is 1t that you want the people in the oouth end, property owners in the full taxation district, to furnish their own means of communication with the fire department while you are building all expensive engine house in the north end where the property pays only half the rate of taxation assessed against the south end petitioners z" The only answer the commissioner had to offer to that query was that the house was not needed in the full taxation district and at his suggestion it was decided to locate 1t in the outside territory, candid admission that the north end has been well cared for in the matter of lire protection When petitionera from the south end Of the city ask something 1t is invariably referred to somebody from the other part of the town to report whether 1t is wanted or not, but when other districts come along and represent that public neces- sity and convenience require some thing. the matter Is turned over to a member of the board who lives in that neighborhood. There is method in this and as a result the south end has not kept pace with the other sections of the city because there is a constant dread of lire and this fact has been q great handicap on the district and is the real explanation as to why houses are 90 few and far between in that part Of Waterbury. To add insult to injury the committee thinks if box were located in that part of the town there would be trouble from false alarms. There is no reason to think parts of the town and if Commission CTS Driggs and Moran will jog their memory they will see that the depart ment has had less trouble from this source fin that part of the town than fin any other section of the city. To be sure there is not as much merit in the application now as there was when 1t was first filed. Since that time several nice dwellings which 1t was intended to safeguard have been re- duced to ashes and the cOnsternation caused by their destruction has had its effect. They have not been rebuilt nor has anybody built in the impedi- ate neighborhood of the scenes of the c0nnagration. The fire department disposes of this phase of the question by saying that the houses burned were not in the full taxation district. Grant ed. but what method of reasoning does Chief Snagg and the fire board employ to justify themselves in say ing that property not In the full taxa tion district in the south end is not en- titled to fire protection while they are engaged in constructing engine house in the outlying sections of another district But there has been u great deal said about this matter anyway: more than the thing is worth. and if it be so that no box is to go into that district while Chief Snagg is at the helm. probably it would be a good plan for the property owners to adopt the suggestion of Commissioner Driggs and have the telephone com pany help them out