The morning journal-courier., 1908-06-01
FAT FACTORY FIRE
Small Blaze at New Haven Ren- dering Company Plant
 Draws Big Crowd.
WEST HAVEN MEN BUSY
Mysterious Alarms from Weidemann Brewery's Private Box Puzzling
 Borough-Systcm Faulty.

Combustion among a pile of bones being died after the fat on them had been rendered at the plant of the New Haven Fat Rendering company on the West river meadows caused the West Haven fire department to be called to the factory about 9.30 last night. The alarm made such a noise that crowd from here and West Haven numbering at least a thousand plodded out on the meadow land in expectation of witnessing another such blaze as occurred at the plant last spring It was disappointed, how ever, as the automatic sprinklers broke before the alarm was through sounding and the blaze, what little there was, was confined 10 about a square yard and practically no dam age resulted.
 owing to the condition of the fire alarm service the department was slow in responding About half the bells on the system rang and until the whistles in the power house and the rendering plant itself got a-going many of the flremen themselves did not know there was a fire Fortu- nately they weren't needed as the sprinklers aided by a line of factory hose put the fire out The fire of a year ago furnished much excitement. the grease soaked condition of the building and the large amount of fat stored in the section burned making blaze that could be seen for miles It at one time got so great that a call was sent to this city for aid, but when the steamer and hose arrived the West Haven department had the fire under control When the private box of the plant was pulled again last night everyone who heard 1t hustled to the scene.
 The run last night was the second unnecessary one the West Haven de- partment had yesterday to private boxes. The first run Is surrounded | by mystery, one in fact which has been bothering the department off, cials for some time and was to box 311 the private alarm of the Weide- mann Brewing company. This box is the last within the borough limits and every month or so comes in with regularity but when the department arrives the box is never even open, and no trace as to how the alarm was turned in to be found In every In- stance there has been no fire. They maintain that the box is hoodooed.
 About Ii o'clock yesterday morn ing the box came in again About half the alarm system of the borough was in working order, but the com. panles got out and made the run As usual the box was apparently un. touched and no fire to be seen O, heard of anywhere. The alarm brought out members of the borough board and the roasting they got iron the firemen resulted in the start O.
 an investigation that 1t is promised will get to the bottom of the trouble
 For some time the alarm system
 has been the bane of the borough
 The system in use Is an up-to-datt
 one, and was installed only a fev
 years ago but through neglect whicl
 was let go on unnoticed despite thu
 complaints of the fremen 1t is nov
 practically worthless. At present tn
 bells in at least two of the fire house
 fail to respond at the nightly test a o'clock, and if the entire companie happened to be assembled in thei rooms they would not know of a fir , until the general alarms on tn whistles blew in, The borough boar , meets tomorrow night and the mat ; ter will then be sifted and may be new electrician appointed. The pres 7 ent one, Frederick Russell, is out 0 } town, but when he was about tn } borough the flremen say he couldn be induced to attend to the system.