The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-08-01
DECLARES AUTO STEAM ENGINE
 IS A SUCCESS
Manager of Mott Fire En- zine Go. Says New York Machine Does Good
 Work
Metropolitan Commissioner Dislikes It, But Is En-
 titled to His Opinion

E. A. Wilkinson, general manager of the Mott Fire Engine Co.,, writes to The Farmer, taking exception to the story printed in The Farmer on July 26, which asked if the Fire Commissioners have handed them selves and the city a lemon by causing their first size steamer to be mounted on an automobile chassis, instead of purchasing an all-gasoline vehicle.
 MT. Wilkinson particularly disap- proves of the statement that this type of combination steam and gaso- line vehicle has proved a failure in New York. He says on this point:
 'Commissioner Johnson is not fa- vorable to this class of construction, and we deem he has a right to his own opinion the same as he has in religion Or politics but that fact does not necessarily mean that the engine is not success. The records of the engine, compared with any other class of apparatus in the New York de- partment, proves that it is success
 After explaining the details of con- Struction of the New York apparatus and took it to the fire at a speed in it, MT. Wilkinson writes:
 Your city contracted to pay us S6,000, for changing horse drawn en- zine of your department into the mo- tor propelled engine and in the speci- fications with your city and at the price of $6,00O, it includes all of the extra equipment which New York city has bought or contracted for after the delivery of the engine to this city.
 Some unreliable person has circu- lated a report, unsigned, called atten- tion to the fact that the engine is not success. This report is malici- ously written purposely to do our com- pany damage. We are Investigating this report and when our investiga- tion is finished someone will have something to explain.
 s.This engine is in service at the present time responding to every alarm that comes in going many times at a speed as high as 35 miles per hour and is capable of going at 45 and carrying it's own lead. On one occasion that l know of personally the big heavy hose wagon with it's crew of men weighing T should say at least TOO lbs, got disabled and they and took 1t to the fire at peed of 2S miles per hour. Up to last Sat- urday. July 22nd, this engine at 12 o'clock noon had responded to 266 alarms and had travelled a distance of about 400 miles since being in the service, March 20th.
 'I refer you to your article wherein. you state, auto steam engine the same type of vehicle is a failure in New York Fire department. It is not a failure in the New York Fire de- partment You say that it is unsuc- cessful. It is not unsuccessful. You claim that on account of it's enor- nous weight it makes handling very difficult. This is not the truth and I can demonstrate activity in the ham ding of this machine. You say that a new gasoline engine of similar ca- pacity complete would cost $S,000. There never. was built a gasoline en- zine in the history of fire departments that would ever pump within 50 per cent of the capacity of the Bridgeport fire engine against the same pump pressures. The only. use motor gaso- line engines have been is in respond ing to outlying districts and throwing small streams of water on fire but if the fire is of any size it must have a fire engine, to put out the fire, with a larger capacity and a more powerful stream of water.
 ''The record above mentioned vim dicates the engine. With the addition al improvements that will be in the equipment of the Bridgeport engine it cannot help but be a success. You speak of the expensive operation of this engine, you save the maintenance expenses of the horses used to draw this machine. Any engineer who has the ability to operate the steam fire engine would naturally be expectedzto drive the propelled engine to and from fires thereby saving the expense of a driver.
 eve have today over 30 inquiries from different cities as to the method of changing their steam fire engines from horse drawn to motor Paterson, N J, are having two of their Metro politan engines changed from the horse drawn to motor, Bridgeport, Conn, is having one change, Birming- ham, Ala, is having one changed and this morning, I am in receipt of a letter from Birmingham, Ala, stating that they are going to motorize their entire department if the engine we are changing for them Is success"