New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-04
Commissioner Calls for
Motor Engines for
the Entire City
POINTS TO SAVING
OF $150,000 A YEAR
Department Head Urges
Prompt Adoption of
Plan for Economy

A cleaning Steamer" volleying
smoke from its wide-mouthed stack.
the shrek Of the whistle. changing bell
and voleying hoofbeats, a driver
braced on the seat, cinging to the
reins. and three great horses pounding
along at top speed whirling the great
machine along like toy behind them
that is the picture which the word
Fire" has painted in the mind OF the
New Yorker for half century.
The cough OF a gasolene engine,
trail Of blue vapor. the wall Of SIREN
a blue-clad chauffeur. sitting easily at
the steering wheel of a truck-hke au-
tomobile-that Is what Fire" VII!
mean to the youth Of tomorrow, II the
recommendation Of the Fire Commls-
sioner TO the Board Of Estimate are ap-
proved next year.
The fire horse Of a thousand news
raper stories and scores Of fiction tales
Is nassing. and il Mr.. Adamson has his
wav nv the end of 1917 the sound OF
his boofs will have vanished from New
WORT streets forever. The stalls where
wise old Pete and Smoke and Ben have
etood will be torn down, and Pete ana
Smoke and Ben will disappear, win
tbem. while A gasolene tank will take
their places.
Can Save s15O,ooO a Year
Pot. at al were wise and loyal and
would leap from their stalls at tne
tan of the gong and stand tremoilnR
with excitement while the harness WIS
slammed down on their backs, but tnelr
forage cost s7l9.64 year. fou oS car D..
drive a motor engine TO hres lot Foo'o'
a year. NJ, c.-,r,;e-
sioner that the city can save sloo'VVU
annually in its Fire Department oy
abolishing the horse and Motoring
Pote and his colleagues have grown
III IN Tho service. No horses have
been bought by the department since
Ief3. and the 100 that now remain IN
active service average fifteen years IN
age. Stiffening joints cannot compete
with the driving power OF gasolene,
nor can the old Steamer" with It's
cost of 1854 a year for steam alone
hold its own against the gasoIene
punp. which requires only Sll.54 LOT
the same length OF time.
One-third OF the engines, now as
obsolete as the aging horses that stu
draw them, will be discarded under the
Fire Commissioners plan, and single
unit gasolenc pumping engines VIII
replace them. One OF these engines
does the work Of an old-fashioned en-
cine and hose cart and at only one
sfth the cost. The steamers when
will be retained will be fitted with
motor tractors.
Must Be Done at Once
The outlay will cost the city sl,066'-
f1275. Interest on bonds issued TO
meet this amount will be only $4,000
and this will be covered three times
over BY the saving in running expenses.
at must be borne in mind Mr..
Adamson said yesterday, that this re-
placement Of horses and old apparatus
cannot be deferred longer than year
at most. believe that the whole
thing should be done at once, because
Of the great economy and increased
efficiency that would result"
The horses will go on the auction
block. TO be bought up by pedlers and
farmers and the like. Then IN the
bonds Of slavery, with all the glory Of
their lives behind them, Pete and
Smoke and Ben will dream OF when
their strong young bodies rushed the
engine down the avenue, and the youth
Of Manhattan, not yet Injured to auto
mobile speed, screamed in their wake,
Gee! Look at 'em co.