The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-04
MOTOR APPARATUS SAVES CITY MONEY Report of Fire Captains
 Shows the Result BENNETT IS PLEASED The Months Maintenance Cost Was $63.72, Average of $5 Depart
 ment-Horses' Food for a Month $450

partment Is chuekling over the StrlklnS contrast between the cost of mainten- ance for month of motor driven appa- ratus and horse drawn apparatus as shown by an expense report from the captains of the different stations where motors are in service. The expense on motors is more than four times less than that of horse apparatus.
 The report by companies follows:
 Hose wagon No. answered 45 alarms, traversed 57S blocks, used 55 gallons gasoline, gallon of lubricating oil, A pound pressure grease. Total cost of maintenance, S5.S1H.
 Hose wagon No. answered 50 alarms, traversed 93O blocks. practiced hours, used 35 gallons gasoline, used 2s gallons lubricating oil and A pound pressure grease, changed presto tank. Total cost of maintenance, s6.71.
 Hose wagon No. answered 32 alarms, traversed 500 blocks, used 35 E gallons gasoline, used 13-16 gallons of lubricating oil, pound pressure grease, replaced dry batteries and one gas burner. Total cost of maintenance, s5.11as.
 Motorized steam fire engine No. an- swered 21 alarms. traversed 325 blocks, used 46 gallons gasoline, 2A gallons lubricating oil, pound pressure grease, replaced packing in cylinder heads. Total cost of maintenance, $6S2.
 Hose wamon No. answered S2 alarms. traversed ASA blocks, practiced hours, used 30 gallons gasoline, 2a gallons lubricating oil, i pound pressure grease, replaced dry cell and l spark plug. Total cost of maintenance, $5.17.
 Hose wagon No answered 13 alarms, traversed 219 blocks, used 15 gallons placed dry battery cells. Total cost of maintenance, $2.S2.
 Hose wagon No. 6 answered 29 alarms. traversed 360 blocks, practiced 12 hours. Used 35 gallons gasoline, 1at gallons lubricating oil, s4 pound pressure grease, replaced dry battery cells. Total cost of maintenance, S5.0SA,
 Hose Wagon, No. answered six alarms, traversed 1O5 blocks, practiced five hours, used 35 gallons gasoline, 1A gallons lub- Heating oil, 1iI pound pressure grease Total cost of maintenance. $S.SS%.
 Hose wagon No. 10, answered P alarms, traversed 1S2 blocks, practced 12 hours, used 54 gallons gasoline, SIS gallons lub- ricating cil. % pound pressure grease. To- tai cost of maintenance S6.35. Webb Combination Fire Engine No. Il answered 27 alarms, traversed 76O blocks used 1 gallons gasoline. 2ls gallons lub- ri oil al s6.S5.
 Hose Wagon No. 12, answered alarms, traversed 52 blocks, practiced hours, used 30 gallons gasoline, E gallon lubri- eating, 3 pounds pressure grease. Total cost of maintenance $3.30.
 Webb Combination Fire Engine No IS, answered alarms. traversed 76 blocks, used 8 gallons gasoline, F gallons lubri- eating oil. Total cost of maintenance 95c.
 Hose Wagon No. 16, answered alarms, traversed TIC blocks used 101a gallons gas oline, 1 quart lubricating oil, 1s pound pressure grease. Total cost of mainte- nance $1.13ls.
 Hose Wagon No. 19, answered alarms, traversed 66 blocks, practiced 2 hours, used 10 gallons gasoline, & gallons lubri- eating oil, changed presto tank. Total cost of maintenance $372la.
 The If pieces of motor driven apparatus, comprising 13 fire stations answered IA alarms, practiced 8 hours, traversed 4765 blocks, used 460 gallons gasoline, used 20 5-16 gallons lubricating oil pounds pressure grease, changed two presto tanks, replaced 24 dry battery cells, re, placed 1 spark plug and gas burner, at a grand total cost of s6372, an average of about $4.50 for the upkeep of each ma chine, and an average of less than $5 for the cost of maintenance of each station.
 This expense pales into insignificance as compared with the cost of operating horse drawn apparatus, because the horse feed alone for the number of horses required to operate IA horse drawn machines is S45a, barring all accidents and horses becom- ing disabled from various causes. The probabilities are that more accidents will occur with horse drawn apparatus than with motor driven owing to the fact that in the winter when the department is called upon to answer greater number of alarms than at any other season of the year, the streets are sometimes frozen without falling. but the motor apparatus does not fall down. and will perform faithful service if operated with the prop CT degree of skill
 Incidentally. last month, while making run with a horse drawn apparatus, while passing an ice wagon, the mules which were hitched to the ice wagon became frightened and turned into the fire engine just as it was passing, with the result that the tongue of the ice wagon struck one of the horses ruptured him, threw two of them down, which suddenly stopped the engine and threw Fireman Cowan off and disabled him for a week. The horse was incapacitated for service for an indefinite length of time.
 Another important advantage of the motor driven apparatus over the horse drawn is the fact that the motor wagon does not get out of breath. When horses make a run of ten or twelve blocks to fire and another alarm is turned in just after returning they are completely play ed out and necessarily make very slow time answering the second alarm. But not so with motor wagon. After making long run and returning to quarters, If another alarm is turned in it will travel just as fast, and would continue to do so for any length of time, and will reach the scene of every fire in a much shorter time than the horses. But the most de- cided advantage of all is that the motor