St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1910-03-16
Our Fire Protection.
]. Hemlock Green Expresses Some Opinions
About q Paid Department.
To the EDITOR of the CALIFORNIAN:

At an adjourned village meeting our
expert committee reported on a central
fire station. The writer was not there,
but has friend who was. | do not
want to critjcise. but will come to the
point at once. IF this corps of experts
had been employed by me, and had
brought in the report they did, l would
not entertain the proposition for these
reasons. First; because it was in
complete from business point of view,
and unsatisfactory in that it guaranteed
no recompense for the large outlay of
capital called for. Second; it will give
no adequate returns for the burden it
will inf1ict on our property.
Let US say, for example, that l own
this village, and that you are the in
surance companies. l pay insurance,
you pay my losses, partly or wholly,
just as | conform to your stipulations.
Now why should not my board of ex-
perts ask your board of underwriters to
draw up contract stating just what l
have to do, and if [ conform with your
stipulations, just what concessions you
will make on rates. And if do not con-
form with your stipulations l cannot
hold you to your concessions. But if l
do conform, want to be in position
to compel you to live up to it for a term
of years. If not, you might, in six
d
wipe out the concessions you had made.
But my experts not having succeeded in
getting either contract, rate or con-
cession would make me inclined to dis
charge them, and look at the different
phases of this subject from another
standpoint.
This municipality, or incorporated
village, has corporate life. and each in
dividual is a stakeholder to greater or
less degree, according to his wealth.
Even the poll tax payer has grand list
for 5000, and it is foreign to the prin-
ciples of honest municipal life to inhict
an injustice upon any OF its stock
holders. For example, how would it
look if a corporation in which l own one
share should discount me 1 percent, on
my dividends because they could out
vote me? And if have large amount
of property in close proximity to this
new fre-station, how much more prop
erty protection do 1 enjoy than my
brother stakeholder who lives mile or
two away. And how about some large
corporate interests who do not need this
protection, and have already gone to
large expense by installing sprinklers
and many other mechanical devices to
lessen their rate? Now, even if they do
not object, knowing. as they do, how
many are ready to misrepresent their
motives, nevertheless, they will feel the
burden of extra taxation, and paying, as
they do, at least one-tenth of our taxes,
it would look to me that, if l were in
their place, I might feel as if I had not
been well used.
think our fire department a good
one, but short of good tools, | draw
and the conditions under which this fire
was fought. You and l have seen as
good buildings as this melted down in
Boston and New York, with all their
modern appliances. We all regret the
loss of life, but do say that the building
was well equipped with fire escapes and
other means of egress, and that all had
timely warning and might have escaped
if they had responded to the call. Some
times a calamity of this kind is but a
blessing in disguise. Witness: the dis
it's rehabiliment means good deal to
our workmen, mechanics and artisans,
nor have l heard any complaint about
hours or price, and the men who control
it grow old as fast as any of US.
To install this new fire station, we
would have to build it substantially, so
that it will withstand the elements by
which we are surrounded This means
brick, stone and cement, with slate and
copper for roofs, living and sleeping
rooms for all the fremen, also rooms for
all their equipments. Six 6remen would
be needed instead of three, two of them
experienced chaffeurs, capable of keeping
their machines in perfect, never failing
condition. This, you will acknowledge,
means mechanical engineers who will
smile at your $50 per month. Firemen
need sleep, and are just as hard to
awaken, as other men, which means
delay unless you mean to put them to
bed with their boots on. Certainly there
should be three men awake and ready at
all times for active. instant duty. One
break or displacement in the complex,
intricate machinery of such a plant
might mean more damage to property
than ever our volunteer fire department
expended. Meanwhile the wear-and-
tear on all the old village apparatus
would continue. and what kind of a
hook and ladder company can you get
for thirty dollars a year per man? Just
think of the sundries to be charged up to
the village to give life to your new
apparatus. Just figure this all over
anew and l predict your first estimate
straw hat in the swirl of Niagara.
We note what you say in defence of the
new fire station. In return we ask you
to prove to us that your wife bore you
nineteen children, and adopted two to
make full house. That she worked
over her own and sisters cast-offs for
the girls, and her husbands and fathers
for the boys, doing it so successfully
that her neighbors did not suspect it.
Consequence: your income forged ahead
of your out-go, and with your acquired
surplus you bought large chunks of
property, thereby paying heavy taxes.
Prove this to us and we will follow YOU
anywhere within reason, for we know
that where your money is invested your
vote will be conservative.
The cost of Railroad ST. hose house is
not 5000 per year. The owner equipped
it with a tWO-WaY hYdrant and two