The Washington herald., 1909-07-18
BvE. c.R HUMPHREYS.


ity Of the fire alarm system. Inventive
genius. both mechanical and Electrical
has after years Of patient experiment
perfected a fire alarm system that, gen.
orally speaking, never fails to do its
work promptly and accurately. The fire
alarm telegraph. as it is called. is one OF
the simplest and yet al the same time
so complex and complicated TO the aver
age layman that It seems almost incom-
prehensible.
To the trained superintendent OF the
fire alarm system and his argus-eyed
corps OF assistants II IS the simplest thing
in the world The various switchboards.
annunciators, telegraph and telephone in
struments. batteries. gengs. "jokers.' and
instruments for receiving and sending out
alarms are as familiar and commonplace
TO the men in the fire alarm Office as the
ordinary telephone Of commerce is TO the
average citizen. Each instrument has a
service to perform. and as long as the
electric current is kept on the wires anG
the instruments are IN order they prompt
ly perform their work.
Every moment OF the day or night, 9s5
days and as many nights the year round,
two watchful sleepless men are on duty
az FIRE alarm headquarters in the Munich
pal Building. The quarters are spacious,
we'll lighted, and SO located away from
the general hustle and noise Of the build
ing and street that few who have busi-
ness in the Municipal Building know that
this important department Of the public
safety Of the city is there.
The value OF the IRE alarm in promptly
receiving the alarm from the box and in
stantly transmitting it to every fire en-
gine-house all over the District cannot
be estimated. The efficiency Of the de-
partment 10 a great degree depends upon
the dispatch with which the engines
reach the scene OF the fire. as a minute
or more delay may mean the loss Of life
and the gaining Of headway OF the FIRE
that may mean the destruction of thou
sands Of dellars OF valuable property and
stock which could have been prevented
had the fire engines reached the fire IN
time TO extinguish the flames at the start
The effect OF the fire department reach
Ing FIRE in the shortest possible time
was demonstrated two weeks ago when
the Armour packing-house on B street, /
near Center Market, was discovered TO be J
burning after midnight. The alarm was
sent in by the police officer on the beat /
II was received at FIRE alarm head0uar-
ters, transmitted 10 every engine-house /
in the city, end in one minute and a half /
the companies in the district where the /
fire was located were on the ground. the /
engines al work, and I'VE streams pour
ing into the big storeroom on the third /
floor front
The building IS surrounded by feed. 4
fora NJ ufnrnhorrcnc rroro1o.rgnc !
filed with inhammable and combustible /
material Had the department been slow /
in reaching the fire it would have been 1
only the question OF a minute or two /
when the Armour pacidng-hOuse would |
have been a seething furnace. endanger-
ing all surrounding property. and there /
would probably have been a connagra-
tion that would have required the com /
bined efforts Of the entire department 10 |
have subdued after hundreds Of thou
sands Of dollars worth Of stock and
property had gone up in smoke. As it
was, the fire department had the blaze ex-
tinguished in less than five minutes after
the alarm had been sent in. notwithstand-
ing the fact that when the engines pulled Il
up in 'front.' Of the building G great sheet
of flame was shooting out OF the third
floor front windows. Il
The great Chicago. Jacksonville. and
Baltimore CONGREGATIONS would never
have been written into history had the
fires been reached and extingushed (
promptly by the FIRE departments
Promptness. therefore. it will be seen. is
the essential feature Of the fire alarm
system and the department In reaching
the fire. Minutes lost cost millions
losses as an old IRE chief once put Il.
TF~aobfrUfows- -, Z
best that money and brains can supply,
and Notwithstanding its up-to-dateness.
Superintendent Simpson and his electri- {
cal and mechanical assistants are always
making some manner Of Improvement in
bringing the system up TO higher state
Of perfectedness. In a general way il is ,
similar to that In use by all the large !
cities. The ordinary fire alarm box is so ]
common sight in the cities that resi- 3
dents Of large communities where the fire
alarm telegraph system is in use pay lit
tie or no attention 10 them and never :
give them thought They know that /,
the red iron boxes are for the purpose OF !
sending in electrically fire alarms. but IN
further than that there is scarcely one =
out Of hundred who knows how the
thing. is done or who could give YOU an
intelligent explanation Of the working OF
the system.
A brief explanation Of the fire alarm
telegraph may prove interesting and IN
structive- Located in the Municipal Build
ing is the fire alarm telegraph headquar-
ters. into which run all the circuits OF
wires connecting the fire alarm boxes all
over the city. From the fire alarm head
quarters other circuits run to the various
IRE engine stations The fire alarm boxes
= U0nnhn
principle of the striking part Of an ordi-
nary clock. each box having a different
Jreak-wheel. with a certain number OF
IN the wheel which deter
mines the number It will strike To this
IS attached a closed circuit electric cur
'ent generated by a dynamo at headquar-
ers. Now suppose the box an alarm is to
be pulled from is No z25; then the break
Wheel IN the alarm box would A. st have
our depressions, then two, and then five
When you open the box and pun down
he lever once. that starts the mechanism
5oing and the contact point. through
which the electric current is transmitted
~ the opening and closing Of the circuit
o headquarters, falls once In each OF the
eur depressions In the break-wheeI
triking one, two. three, four. Then there
S pause in the striking at headquarters
IS the wheel moves quickly 10 the two
,ther depressio7s. Then ne striking OF
he gong IN headquarters is resumed with
ne. two. then another pause as the wheel
moves 10 the last set Of depressions in
he break-wheel. when one. two, three
our, five are struck This is repeated
our times.
In the meantime, as soon as the alarm
tarts 20 come in the operators in the fire
larm headquarters get busy. One oper-
tor goes 20 the automatic recording ma
Line Mhara aach strnI-a ns tha L..