The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1909-07-16
BACK 10 MAKERS FOR
the AUTO FIRE ENGINE
COMM SSlONERS ANC MAYOR
BELIEVE NEW MACHINE NOT
TO 5E RELIED UPON.

The city commission at meet
ing yesterday decided to send the
new fire wagon back to the makers,
ii having. in their opinion. failed to
make good as piece OF fire fight
mE machinery
The accident Of Thursday, when
the machine in striking the street
car tracks. broke piece of the
steering gear. is largely responsible
f,r thc decision Of the board
In speaking of the matter this
morning. Mayor Cotucr said that
me- was in favor of the latest de-
vices for fighting fire that could
be- had. hut that the auto that had
been ON trial here for the past six
weeks had proved a failure. In the
first place he said that the wagon
was not built by makers Of fi,c
autos. but that the parts were assem-
BLEED by fire supply house and that
the wagon was built after the style
of dray trucks, made expressly Tor
carrying heavy loads, and for which
30 was particularly adapted. lie
said he steering gear was nv what
should be- had on a fire wagon, as
that am of the heavy part DC ;hc
machinery boiler. etc, was directly
over the front wheels and when II
struck something like steel rail
something had to give way He
said he believed the city sho II
have fire auto. but that the one
now here was not the kind thW
would stand the test
The mayor said that the speed
was not what 1t should be and that
tho wagon was entirely too heavy
for such purposes as 1t was in
tended for, having only to carry
about 500 pounds of hose. lie said
that hc believed that on muddy
streets DO would not do the work.
TIL old chemical wagon will be
put back into commission and the
new auto set aside and placed at
the disposition of the makers. The
boys were busy this morning taking
out the hose and other things with
which it had been supplied here
The repairs TO the steering gear
a. r
about $3.50, and was in shape, ac-
cording to Chief Slaughter to have
used for the run this morning. The
chief is much disappointed that
the commissioners have decided to
do without the machine, as he says
that such accidents are liable to
happen at any time, and to any
of the other apparatus as we'll He
says that for speed. It is far ahead
OF the horses, and that the trouble
has been that II has been speeded
too snuch when going TO fires. He
said that at the Anderson fire
few mornings ago. The run was mdae
over unpaved streets reaching the
scene six blocks ahead of the horse
team and was cmptied of the hose
and made another trip to the sta
tion for more before the horse wa
gon was hardly in commission.
lie says that there is some small
defect in the steering gear, but that
the makers have said that they
would remedy it and make good all
losses from breaks or repairs. He
stated this morning that he be-
licyed a large part of the Elliott
residence might have been saved had
the commissioners allowed him to
use the auto.
Mayor Cotner says that If an auto
is bought it will be one that has
already been thoroughly tested and
that until such time horses will
be used. He said the greatest need
/ OF the city, he believed, was other
fire stations and fire alarm sys.