Perth Amboy evening news., 1910-10-11
FOR PAID FIRE
DEPARTMENT
New Brunswick Council Last
Night Took Steps to Es-
tablish One There.
ALSO NEW CITY HALL
Special to the EVENING NEWS.

Special TO the EVENING NEWS.
New Brunswick, Oct. little
first step toward having a paid fire
department in this city was taken by
common council last night, when
they adopted a report of the COM
mittee of nine appointed to investi-
gate the fire department, making
but a few changes in their recon-
mendat1ons. The city is to have a
paid fire chief, who shall give his
entire time to the department and
receive a salary of $3.50, and a
paid assistant with a salary of $500.
The fire companies now having fifty
members are to be reduced to TWEEN
ty-five members each, sufficient
drivers are to be employed to prop
erly handle the apparatus and sup
ply %reliefs, and the city will own and
support all the fire horses. The
board has not yet elected the chiefs
or passed any resolutions In connec-
ton with the report yet, the action
taken last night being simply the
adoption of the report of the COM
mittee of nine.
This committee was appointed
soon after a report had been made
by the Board of Fire Underwriters,
in which a number of very drastic
changes were recommended, the I'M
derwriters declaring that the depart
ment as at present constituted was
too bulky and more of a social or
ganization than fire department. a
fact which they held interfered with
the proper control of the depart
ment. They also recommended that
several of the companies be reor-
ganized and the location of the
houses changed.
The committee on taking up this
report called a number of witnesses
and went into the matter to con-
siderable extent, recommending as a
result of their investigation that the
city have a paid chief and assistant;
that the membership of the commit
tee should not exceed t%hirty-five
members; that the city own-the fire
horses and maintain them, and that
the horses be used solely for fire
work and not for hauling sprinkline
wagons and trucking as at present
the companies doing this to helI
support the horses.
They also recommended that the
site at Schureman and George
streets be used exclusively for the
Liberty Hose and Truck Companies
the property in addition now being
used by the police headquarters al.
SO; that a new house be given Hi
hernia Engine Company and Nep-
tune engine house be changed from
New street to the westerly side OF
the Pennsylvania railroad elevation
near Suydam and French streets
this house also being used as a com
mon council chamber and that the
city ordinances be amended to make
these changes.
Common council last night adopt
ed this report with these changes
ship to twenty-five each, excluded
the common council chamber fea
ture In Neptune engine house ant
new house for Hibernia Engine
Company action toward this end al
ready having been taken, added the
police headquarters to the SEIZURE
man and George street property rec
ommendation and increased tn,
number of drivers from ten as Sc
forth in the committee Of mines re
port. The latter committee fixed thu
chiefs salary at $1,000 and assist
ant at $500. Reductions as stated
above were made in these figures.
For New City Hall.
Common council last night -alst
considered the matter of buying
property for a city hall. The com
mittee on this matter reported tina
they had tried to get the Suydan
property on George street adjoining
the property now used by Libert,
Hose and Truck Company, and thu
police headquarters so as to erect
big building there to include all cit!
offices and these two fire companies
as we'll, but the price, $4,000, wal
held to be too high. This property
it was stated, had been in the mar
het at $4,000 prior to the city max
ing an effort to get it. Condemna
tion proceedings may be instituted
to get it if the city decides to pur
chase it. The block bounded b,
Schureman and George streets ant
Carroll place Is also under consider
alton for the city hall site.