Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-01-10
FOGYTSH METHODS
HAMPER FIREMEN
Working Conditions in
Vogue Handicap Force
When Fires Occur
DISCARDED ELSEWHERE
Blaze at Meal Hour Often Finds
Companies Unable to
Handle Hose

providence. not the citizens Of Philadel-
.t,i, rrcsprycs the property and the lives
~ lie million and thrce-QuarterS OF IN
babtants from destruction by fire Ihat
a confarration similar to that which ra2ed
pottinorc's business center and river front
has not been duplicated here IN no way
ar,r,,es against the possibility Of suCh an
,rrrorrc so man among the iire-ttEhting
sorr, hears a box strike in from the
s,rgor zone but fears the call may speedily
snread into a "four-baEgcr' or even iNe
or qiv alarm summons. His apprehension
has It's origin In no want ot confluence !"
,,hc nbIpy or bravery Of his comrades in the
service
ne tbc cauipmcnt-thc method Under
s,bicb the G.cmcn are compelled TO lahor~-
the awful inadcQuaCy Of men and apparatus
: the want Of Common-sense precaution ana
,bo CONSEQUENT necessity to give battle to
rcIentIees Zoe undermined and under
manned that appals the fireman.
CITY SLEEPING on VOLCANO
orct mo tell YOU" said a veteran of the
Bureau Of Fire, an official who has risen
from the ranks Of hoseman to command OF
- ro,nnauv. that Philadelphia Is sleeping
ovor n volcano. so far as the matter of
fTe protection is concerned We haven't
the men or apparatus in condition today
to handle a big connaEration Let blaze
along the river front get away from us
at this time OF year. anu II Will '"Nt
dynamite to save city Hall
"rbe reason? Councils won't give us
Che men or the apparatus that city of
pbilndcIphia's size or value should have.
We are asking them today for more money
and more men, that we may have better
conditions wait they tell us. DO they
hid us wait when they want some one
10 inperil his life to save their own, when
they are trapped in n burning building?
bfrb-pnNypr fIptpT bTplkDptk
speed cannot rush us to the scene quickly
enough.
But we suggest that such an emergency
might occur during a meal hour with only
Eve men at II station. We send two of
those men into the smoke and flame with
the hoscliue and two remain to handle
the engine who is to replace those fell
lcwr when they drop. or crawl out, choking
and sitting from the deadly fumes?
FoGYIsM DISCARDED ELSEWHERE
THE fogyish methods in vogue in Phila-
delphia have been discarded long ago else
where It's called extravaganza TO ask a
detail Of sixteen men to a company SO that
eight might he on duty at all hours. Yet
other cities do 1t, and when they run
hose line into smoky cellar they don't
have To DEPEND on the kindness of specta-
tors to relieve the suffoCating hremcn.
"Why. does the public stop to consider
made 50 not because Of their extent, hut
merely to get men enough to handle the
hose lines and to relieve the first details
that has become exhausted or has been
hauled to hospitals? I've known fires to
occur where had to handle the nozzle
myself because we We're short-handed.
when the police force is called upon
for extra duty--a quarantine. or some
thing of that sort--the Director swears in
~ lnt Of brownies and Councils pays the
salaries without question The public APP
proves and all is well. But just let the
Chief Of the Fire Bureau suggest that fire
prevention, training school and other eN-
traneous work might be performed by men
outside of the fire-hghting force, and What
is the reply
"a hoseman NJ fourteen cents an hour is
called upon to do it and to protect the lives
and property of our city as we'll Twenty
one hours out of twenty-four are the fire.
mans working day"