The morning journal-courier., 1908-04-02
TIMING THUNDER.

The fire department is being ellcard from apenty. First comes Superin- tendent Grant of the telegraph sys- tenn, pointing out the dire necessity of a tlre-proof headquarters where the delicate instruments of the alarm ap- paratus could be stored without possl- blity of damage. Then comes Com missioner Kegelmeyer, president of the board, also expressing his apprGc- ation of tho need of such a head quarters and his confidence that an of $S5,o0O will be ask made out. The commissioner also hopes for a system of fire alarm tcle- raph, entirely new, such as will not be so obsolete and antiquated as the present one, And. finally the chief Is quoted as wanting new truck com pany. and an increase in the number of men in each ot the companies to twelve and as recommending that number of our older engines he re- plaeed with more modern apparatus"
 A stranger reading these state mcnts which have been made in short sequence to each other might think New Ravens fire department Is a rather antiquated affair. New Haven CTS know such is far from being inc case. New lIavencrs are proud of their fire department and of it's chief An onviable record nccesslta,es It.
 But it must bc remembered that these gentlemen are enthusiasts, as ambit- ious for the most perfect system of fire protection in the city of New Haven as even the fire insurance companies would have them bo. The Journal Courier has seconded the motion" made hy Superintendent Grant for a fire proof headquarters with all the enthusiasm that it could command. The great need, leo, of some import ant changes in the fire alarm appar- atus itself has been pointed out and i urged We do not take issue with rho 1 chief in the matter of new or addition al fro fighting apparatus, or of an in. crease to twelve men in some of tho companies But former experiences
 with the board of finance would sug.
 gcst the we'll lworn adagc of Y,
 bird in the hand especially now
 when there aro stories and rnmors o'
 the city being in the tag
 throes of poverty Both the chief anC
 the commissioner tell of efforts tha
 havc been made unsuccessfully in for
 mer years to get an appropriation fo
 q fire headquarters They say tn,
 situation now is very acute in tha
 regard Should not then, all cmpha
 sis possible be laid upon it? Forum
 ately the departments fire fighting
 apparatus (includine new engnes am
 new truckD and crews are not fl
 such a deplorahlo state that they can
 not he depended upon to do valian
 and effective work any time an alarn
 is sent in to them in satisfactor manner But what If the alarm doc
 not work? The slightest kind of connagration and few buckets O
 water thrown upon it in tho bascmcn of the city hall where the dclieat : alarm apparatus is now found wou throw the system out of commissio for months and leave the city withou adequate means of spreading n alarm of fire
 A fire proof headquarters, tho l should by all means, be the war-rr! If the department has any smplu [ energy 1t should aim 1t toward tha 5 end The chief says the hcadquartol , would cost about $iO,OOO and con 2 missioner Kegelmcycr's estimate . s55,OOO Add to that the neat littl
 sum that new system of alarm would cost and the fire department estimate for next ycnr will have q I ready reached goodly proportion ! without touching upon its other lc' insistent wants which can wait f, . another year and which, if they al urged, will cndangcr the more nc,
 ossary Time the thunder Don
 bite off moro than can be chcwod su, o ccssfully. "One thing at n time an 2 that done wcll' is q very good rule, z many can tell?
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