The Alaska sourdough. [volume] (Douglas, Alaska) 1911-1911, 1911-11-21

gestions which appear to me to be in
order at this time
At the dock fire, and at the hotel
fire, there existed a state Of affairs
which to my mind greatly retarded the
efforts of the fire fighters and reduced
their efficiency, namely, the promiscu
GUS intermingling with the fremen in
the immediate vicinity of the blaze Of
the spectators and others who should
have been kept well away from the
scene of operations in order to allow
the fremen who were fighting tie fires
a chance to work unimpeded.
| do not for a minute doubt the good
intentions of some of these people, nor
wish to belittle whatever good they
rendered in some instances, still / be-
lieve the amount of hinderance which
they offered in acting thus more than
offset whatever good was done in in
dividual cases. / believe in leaving
the fire to the fremen to fight, because
they are there for that purpose, have
had the experience and most likely
would call on the spectators for aid
when the case demanded it, Further,
a small body of men under intelligent
leadership can do more effective work
in ten minutes than the whole populace
can do in ten hours working on their
own accord and giving orders promis-
cuously.
To obviate continuance of this state
Of affairs at future fires it would seem
advisable that the mayor or the coun-
Gil should take steps Immediately to
vest the city marshal with authority
to deputize about dozen persons
whose duty it will be to respond to
fires and at the direction Of the mar
shall establish fire lines, within which
no one will be allowed except those
having business there. In cases re
curing the hauling of hose, removal Of
furniture, etc, the marshal could allow
this to be done in an orderly manner
by responsible people, thus doing away
with great deal Of confusion that
now exists at every fire.
| have nothing but praise for the
present fire chief, and | believe he has
his men with him at all times and that
they respond to his commands with
OH I'M iply
his labors at times are of too physical
nature. l would suggest that he dis
continue taking active part in extin-
gushing the fires and think it would
be far better for him to simply take
stand where he could watch the pro-
gress of the blaze and direct the efforts
Of his men. Further the fremen should
be directed to take no orders from any
one except himself and whatever other
ieutenants he may designate-the few
er the better, as with the least num-
Der of persons issuing orders the small
er the chance of cross orders being
given. One thing noticeable at the
dock fire was the number of people
giving orders, with the resulting con
fusion.
With regard to the personnel Of the
present department, I believe that it
would be just as effective, if not better,
if about one-quarter of the men were
weeded out and others substituted in
their places. If there is any qualifca-
ton that a fireman needs, it is cool
ness. This should be coupled with good
Judgment and a disposition to do what
he is told. At the recent big fires, it
would take a Marathon runner to keep
up with some of them; they changed
their minds and their positions so many
times. They would receive an order
to do something and would go to do it
for about five minutes, after which
things seemed to grow monotonous for
them and they would change their posi-
ition to some other point. This con
dition is up to the members of the de-