The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-05
Fire Department Could
 Not Fight ConHagration

almost every city costs $1 foot. the last order costing the city 70 cents a foot, and 1t was thought the city had done good business. until the twenty lengths of hose were taken out to be tested. then it was found that three of the lengths would not stand the pres sure of the water.
 Even with this fact settled, the mak- CTS of the hose refused to take the consignment back, saying that 1t was their custom to pass Judgment on the goods and the city would have to take their word for 1t. President Gunter of the City Council says this matter will be thoroughly looked into.
 Wednesday afternoon at the fire in Highland Park. a fire plug close to the blaze went out of commission, when the f1remen tried to turn on the water. The brass nut controlling the valve action was wrung off and the plug was useless. In getting line of hose to another plug, much valuable time was lost and the fire chief says the size of the fire was due in no small measure to this delay.
 Plugs Condemned.
 This brand of fire plug, of which there are more than 300 in the city. is most heartily condemned by the fire chief and the superintendent of the waterworks. One of the main objec- tions is that the valve, when 1t can be opened, is forced back against a cushion of water of more than 100 pounds pres sure to thei square inch, iI order to let the water get out.
 It is the custom at the pump house, when a fire alarm comes in. to put on additional pressure, to get more water and'a stronger stream. This addition al pressure banks the water in the bot tom of the fire plugs and makes 1t diff ! fcult to open the valve. The valve Is controlled by brass nut at the top of the plug, which Is connected with a long Iron rod. running through the | plug to the valve at the bottom. In the plugs of the kind that have given trouble, this rod often bends before the valve gives and so renders the plug useless. At the Highland Park fire, the | pressure was such that one man could | not turn the nut with a wrench and | two men got hold of 1t. but by that time the water was so tightly packed at the foot of the plug. that the valve would not be forced down into it and the prass connecting shoulder" be- | tween the nut and the rod. was wrung in two. Then 1t was that the hose had to be taken up the sections weighing sixty-flve pounds each, and carried to another plug some distance away.
 At the fire Thursday morning, prac- 1 tically the same condition obtained, one man was trying to open the plug | but could not budge it; another lent l his weight to the lever and the soft, | defective brass nut gave at the cor ners, becoming round and the wrench could get no grip on 1t to open it. Again the defective plu g had to be abandoned, and the line of hose taken up and carried to another plug, caus- ing a delay that allowed the fire to l spread to other houses. In the two de- | lays at the fires. eleven houses were destroyed, and through no fault of the | fremen Their record generates them from blame, for the innumerable root fires that have broken out in the last l few months that have been confined to small patches on roofs, Is mute testi | mony to the efficiency of the men of | the department.
 | Another case, where the plugs went l bad. was the fire on North Court Street some weks ago, a plug of the kind mentioned would not work and the de- | lay was responsible for the destruction of much property.
 The plugs carry an unnecessary first l jacket They are faulty in that they cannot be heightened or reduced In
 size. being one solid piece, from the attachment to the main, to the nut on
 ton by which they are supposed to be | controlled. In city like Montgomery 1t is imperative that these plugs be | made so they can be heightened or | shortened where new streets are grad | ed. but to cut off hill in a street
 where one of them is placed means to leave an unsightly monument stand ing to testify to someone's lack of l judgment in selection. Just what other cities have thought of this plug Is shown by the fact that the company