Semi-weekly herald., 1912-07-18
FIRE TRUCK
PURCHASED
CITY COUNCIL ACTIVE AND
TRANSACT BUSINESS UNTIL
MIDNIGHT.


south portion of Fifth avenue is to
macadamized, cement sidewalks are
to be constructed in front of city
property and numerous other improve
ments are to be made as the result
of the different actions taken by the
city council at their regular semi
monthly meeting held in the city hall
last night.
The session was opened promptly
at o'clock and continued until mid
night Mayor Hood presided. Alder
man Wertin, who was called east
by the death of his brother, was the
only member of the board that was
absent. The reading of the minutes
of the previous meeting and declaring
them approved was the first routine
business disposed of.
The petitions of Doll & Co., for pool
table; l.. A. Nelson for second hand
and w. T. Wilkins for express Iicen-
ses were presented. Upon motion the
prayers of the petitioners were
granted and the clerk instructed to
issue the necessary licenses.
The matter of purchasing an auto
fire truck, the ways and means for
meeting the payments for the same
was given lengthy consideration.
Two resentatives of fire truck
companies We're present and given an
opportunity to address the council re
garding the merits of the cars they
had to offer. To decide who should
have the honor of making the first
address was determined by flipping
dollars. The representative of the La
France Car company, B, E. Thomas,
won, but he requested his competitor,
who represented the Seagraves COM
pany, to give his talk first and he
gracefully retired while he was doing
so.
Mr.. Pearse was especially anxious
the council purchase an air cooled ma
chine.
"These machines" said Mr.. Pearse,
"are less complicated in mechanism,
they have no pumps pinss or radia--
tors to get out of order. Where ever
we have placed t,.sm they have given
the highest satisfaction. There is
no difference in price between air
cooled and water cooled machines but
the service rendered by the air cooled
machine is superior
Mr.. Pearse read a long description
of the material used in constructing
the Seagraves machine, and also Of the
workmanship and mechanism. He
mentioned Minneapolis, Denver, Grand
Junction and San Diego and Columbus
as towns where the machies had been
used and duplicate orders given. He
said that the car was not only the
best manufactured but one of the
cheapest on the market. The price
being about $500 less than the car the
La France people had to offer.
Mr.. Pearse retired while Mr.. Thorn
the council with the superior qualities
of the La France truck. He is clev-
er and convincinving speaker and he
evidently Impressed his hearers with
the thought that economy of the mo-
ment would not be ultimate economy
The fact that the La France company
is the largest and oldest manufac-
tuers of fire department apparatus
in the world doubtless had its weight
with the aldermen.
The price quoted on the Seagrave
car, equipped with Firestone rubber
tires was $4,000, or with Dayton Air
less tires, $3.50. This car weighs 81
600 pounds.
The La France car was offered for
$4,000 and weighs $500 pounds. 1t
is somewhat lower than the Seagrave
car and SO presents less possibility
of skidding. This with its 1,400
pounds less weight, especially recon-
mended it to the council.
A long consideration followed in
which every member of the body ex-
pressed themselves, sometimes alone
and quite frequently aloud and togeth-
er, even if the opinion expressed did
not always coincide.
The first step toward settling the
perplexing problem was to consider
motion as to whether car should
be purchased. This received the ia
vorable vote Of all members of the
board. Following this the members
answered TO roll call by giving their
individual preference for the cars.
The ballot resulted as follows:
Jarvis, Wingate, and Meuser, Sea
grave; Logan. Hanno, Owen, and
O'Driscoll, La France. The second
ballot resulted in Alderman Jarvis
voting for the La France and Meuser
declaring his willingness to vote like
wise, but Alderman Wingate refused
to change his vote. The decision to
purchase the La France car was an
nounced to Messrs Thomas and Pearse
by the city cerk. The machine is tc
be delivered and demonstrated about