Norwich bulletin., 1915-02-06

During the month of January there
 was not a fire alarm sounded in he city of New London. which led a. griZ- zled old volunteer fireman to remark that this clean record was never be- fore attained during any January since the organization of the present fire department some sixty five. years ago. He says he has seen the apparatus rise from the oid-time hand engine and
 hose reel, drawn by hand through all
 the stages of progress to the modern driven fire fighting machinery, has run Wid de machines through the mud ankle deep and ridden on the mo- tor apparatus, but never before knew a month of January without a. fire alarm in the city. This old fellow who | has grown old and gray serving the l city without pay as volunteer fireman i for the glory there is ia it. also stated ! that there has been an unusually scarcity of fires among the class of 1 people whose properties are usually visited by frequent fires ever since a. 1 store keeper was arrested on the 1 charge of setting fire to his own prop l crty for the insurance gain. This ar rest he said, was made about two years ago. and since then there has l been but one fire in 9 store owned by 1 the class to which the old fireman re 1 feTred, and that fire, perhaps, was not ; of inceudiary origin. He said he did i not mean to intimate that many of the 1 fires of the past were of incendiary origin, but referred to the fact as be- ing merely Coincidental.
 New London was never better equipped to cope with fires than never before. It has more modern appara- tus and more fremen, according to population, than any city in the state. New London has more firemen than even Hartford and Bridgeport, and is conducted on a more economical basis than any paid department, all though there is none more efficient. There are fire companies in New Lon- don that have mem hership many times larger than the entire fire department of the city of Bridgeport and more real working freuen at that. Still there are some in this city who arc 1 continuously advocating the abolition or the present volunteer system and the substitution of 8 paid department. There have been fires in New London, notably the Pequot house fire, when fires were started on the roofs of a dozen or more cottages at the same time, when a small paid department could not possibly have been as eff1- ctent and effective as the large body of volunteer f1remen who responded for duty at the Pequot fire, and the loss would have been increased at least ten fold. It is claSsed as a tT71ism that there is a place for everything and everything should be in its place, but under the existing conditions there is no plsce for a paid fire department in the city of New London
 is Is suggested that before B ls too late the New London County His tCrical society management get busy and get 8 piece of the remains Of the old schooner Charles Colgate. the last ] of the New London whaling fleet for preservation among the collection of
 relics, before the old bulk is buried be- yond resurrection in Wiuthrops cove Just at the present time there is a I! temporary trestle across the cove In
 connection with the construction of the new railroad bridge, and the pro- cess of filling in the cove is well under l way, and soon what remains of the 1 ancient wInaler will be completely cov- cred. This vessel was dismaSted and i diSn1antled over quarter of a century Francis ". and Sebastian D. Law renee, and then lowed into a. final berth fin the cove. Gradually the old 1 hull began to show signs of decay, sunk and became embedded in the muddy bottom, but never entirely sub merged As time went on the remains of the Colgate became a public eyesore, but it was permitted to remain, just l the game. But for the filling in of the cove for railroad purposes portion of l that old schooner would probably haxe been visible for the next fifty years.
 l But now tFe last of New London 1 WaaIers is being buried and it's old friends are taking last view of the
 remains. hence the suggestion that a piece of the planking or tiulbers be preserved and properly labelled and added to the curios of the New Lon don County Historical society. In tke days to come that bit of wood is liable 1 to be of as much interest as many l of the other articles in the valuable collection of the cociety. The Law 1 reuces had the Colgate rebuilt re- l coppered and put in a staunch condi- ton for trip to Hurds Island, in search of the crew of the missing bark Trinity but the trip was never made as the crew were rescued by the United States ship Marion, before the Colgate was ready to sail from New London
 Then the Colgate waz nloored along side the old Lawrence wharf and there she was fsF ysAare, her naets blackenad