The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-06
Special Meeting k
 Called. FIRE n0es $ MOST
 SERIOUS QUESTION Taulty Hose Matter of But Little Moment.
ne Mesting Called by President Gun
 tse | asr the Psrpese of Coins Iste the Msater.

By order of President Gaston Gunter.
 tho City Council will meet tonight
 to see what Is the matter with the
 eity.s facilities for fighting nre, and if anything is wrong. hnd out who Is to blame. That something Is. or seems to De, wrong, is frankly admitted by
 ali parties concerned and the matter
 will be sifted out, the Council confin-
 ing the session exclusively to this mat
 tsr.
 : The matter of the twenty sections
 of Ire hose lately ordered Is of little moment and is merely an incident in
 the proceedings. the new hose sections
 were being tested and were found de- 1ective and. therefore. will not be used. AS far as the facilities for fighting
 nre 10 concerned, this incident Is closed. But in its discussion a mat tAr of some interest arose. It was said yesterday by one in a position to know. that bid mad been received by the Council from a firm that made one of the best brands of hose in use. hut as there was something queer about the kind of the hose makers, they were not taken into consideration. The company was said to- have made side line propositions and although believ- lng that the hose offered was the best on the market. none of the Aldermen wished to advocate. and thereby be - under suspicion. For this reason. the company making the roc foot propo- Sitfon had . much clearer field for the contract than the company offering a known to be more reliable brand of goods. s,
 But the matter of the hose was just an incident. the main question the of the brand of fire plugs. some of which have been proven defective. The three plugs cited in the Friday issue of The Advertiser are not the only ones, the plug at the intersection of Tallapoosa and Jefferson Streets. when the representatives of the Fire Underwriters Association were in Montgomery. some time ago, behaved in, most reprehensible manner and leaked all over the place when 1t was opened. A plug in Highland Park. some time ago. refused to be opened for such a length of time that a house burned while the flremen were trying to get it open. and then 1t only yielded when an axe was applied. Two years ago. when the plugs were compara- lively new. one of them near the coun- ,ty. 1aii went bad, and there are other instances.
 r Some of the Aldermen expressed the opinion yesterday that the plugs might not have been inspected often enough, but when this was investigated. 1t was found that the city water department has all the. plugs inspected every three months. Persons who come in ,con- tact with the water plugs. which are used by the fire, sanitary, and street, departments. are of the opinion that the plugs are of so poor a make that they are practically unreliable and should be; replaced by more usable brand.
 Yesterday several. oflcials interested called around at the different depart naents to get information on the sub ject; they were given a plug wrench and sent to the nearest plug to open 1t; it took the united strength of the three men to get the cock open. and when 1t finally did yield. the men on the wrench were very red in the face, very perspiry and enthusiastic ex- ponents of the plan to get another brand of plug.
 The information published concern ing the prevalent condition of the fa- ctlifies for fightinE fire has caused no small interest among merchants who carry. insurance on business institu- tions. These citizens want to know whats up. for the fire insurance folk sec higher rates in their business if things continue as they are, and the rates are already said to be high.
 Superintendent McD. Cain of the water works was spoken to yesterday on the subject. and said the present battery. Of boilers at the water plant is | doing the necessary work; that the | pressure furnished at present is suffi- | clent, the only danger being in the | of a breakdown in lime of | a big ire, when there Is no reserve | power to be brought into force. He is | anxious that the strength of the bat. | tery of boilers at the pump house be | increased. in order that better inspec-