The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1909-06-29
TUESDAY. JULY 20, 1909.
An IMPORTANT DUTY.


At the meeting of the city council
aIonday, the attention of that body
was called by one of the members
10 the fact that Brownsville has 70
ire limits, no district within which
there are restrictions Imposed as to
ttls class of buildings thar may be
erected. It seems strange irsIced
that town 50 large as BrcFns-
Vile should be 80 long without any
regulation whatever to control the
class of buildings tnat may e e4e,
ed within the business distri :. ard
-alsc without other necessary provi-
-s;ons for the pr9je @t:al of the town
.fIom danger Of destruction by Gre.
The Herald long aso-when tie
new fire department was first or
sganized, in fact-urged the city
council to enact such legislation as
is customary in towns and cities for
protection of the city from fire. 1t
is a fact that since this suggestion
was made by The Heralu. number
of frame buildings have been erect
ed in or near the central part of town
which add greatly to the insecurity Of
she town in case of fire. 1t is to be
hoped, now that the subject has
been brought before the city coun-
ell by a member of that body, that
prompt steps may be taken to enact
such ordinances as may be necessary
70 create a proper fire code for
Brownsville and define the limits
within which buildings shall be
built of brick or other non-combusti-
bile materials only, as well as COM
polling builders of houses TO obtain
permit from the city before build
ing within the said limits.
And, while on the subject of fire
protection, The Herald would urge
the city fathers to adopt a fire alarm
system which viii be adequate to
Khe needs of the city. The present /
method OF transmitting a fire alarm
through the telephone exchange is
absurdly inadequate. Only recently
the difficulty in rousing the fire de
partment by this means, when an
alarm was turned in after midnight, !
cost the owners Of the baseball park /
the loss of the fine grandstand at
the park. It took over half an hour
80 awaken Central and get thel
alarm turned in. What would have
been the cost of that half hours de-
lay, had the fire been nearer the city
ana IN q neighborhood where the
houses stand close together?
An electric fire alarm system,
such as is in use in most up-to-date
towns, could be installed at COM
paratively small cost. and the city
should be provided with such with
out loss Of time.
And while still on the subject Of
Ere protection, The Herald would re
specially submit that in the matter
of equipment for fighting fire,
Brownsville is still behind the times.
We have fine body of men in our
volunteer fire department, who are
more than willing to turn out at h
any hour, day or night, and in any
kind of weather, to fight fire. but
they are not equipped as they should
be. The city did buy an expensive
hose for the hose company. bat it
IS reported that this hose is not
now in the best Of condition. The
hook and ladder company IS not any
better equipped In fact, Browns
vile is deficient in the matter Of
ere protection. All of US realize it
There is much that needs to be done
along tins lire. This is a matter Of
the graYest Importance, and the city +
fathers should no longer neglect
their duty to themselves as well as
TO the town in general. in this re
speet