The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-07-16


J exceeded that OF eny other year in
half a century. One FIRE. the Spot
less Co. Virginia aEking CO hres &C
4 counts practically the entire excess,
J and caused IS per cent OF the entire
j, T. W. Wood & Sons. Virginia Baking
Co and the Spotlcss Co., and the
| News Leader caused losses am2unt-
ing to $221.6Ts, which Is so per- cent
Of the loss for the entire year II
should be remembered. however, that
the great increasa in the values OF
both buildings ard contents IN the
!! last year or two makes~our money
/ loss appear large in comparison With
! previous years. Tie same fires few
years ago would have shown nothing
like such large losses
During the year the department
responded to s95~a Iarms Of fire. a de-
crease of l6 COMPARED with the pre-
vious year. and 244 with tNo years
ago. During the year @3.So4 inspec-
tons were made in the interest of
fire prevention. This department was
badly crippled during the whole year
J by loss OF it's members, which totaied
more than so per cent. One hundred
and three men went off the roll dur
ing the year. Tho board, though it
/ considerably lowered its standards
! LOT 3uHllSsioH was uHdplt 10 HI qJtte
one half of the vacancies, and at the
end of the year this department was
still ffty-three men short.
The making Of fireman requires
some time and effort. Intelligent fire.
fighting requires a training that can
not be given in a few months. When
the city loses experienced fremen il
does not recoup its loss by merely
puttin~ other men in the vacant
! q thu r,f fhn hna rd
well says: "A badge and a uniform
do not make fireman, and the years
of training lost with the men that
left US during the year, will not re-
turn with like number Of new men
." What were called wartime
conditions" we're responsible for these
losses, which were. the work con-
NAL conditions. to which we seem to
he headed, will gradually cause this
situation to improve.
Two OF the icnG standing recon-
mendations fof the board--the. re-
newal of the fre-alarm equipment
and the complete Eiotorization of the
depart ben made to you
in specific form in the tentative bud
get I presented earlier in the year
( but which, at this writing, has not
been passed upon. As these two pro-
posals will greatly increase the eff
cheney of this DEPARTMENT. and. at The
same time effect large economies Ii
4 the cost of service / hope your hon
orahle body will make provision fol
both of them in the present year.
Death claimed two members of the
department during the year. Messrs
Robert l. Gilman. OF Engine Co. No
10, and Charles H. Parrish, OF Engine
Co No. ., both of whom had giver
the greater portion of their lives &c
the service. were frstc,ass firemen ir
every respect, always faithful. eff
cient and ready when duty called.
The report under consideration i:
the thirts-first annual report OF the
board of commissioners, which went
out of existence on January list. laie
when the new charter took effect The
department has been greatly enlarged
and improved under its management
When they took charge in 1888. the
department had twcnty-e eight stationed
men. ard io1 call men. II now ha:
eos men, all stationed. They found
the department with SIX engine com.
panies, two hook and ladder com
panies, all horse drawn, and two hose
companies. one horse drawn and one
drawn by hand They leave it with
sixteen engine companies, one horse
company and five hook and ladder
companies. about one-half of which Is
modern motor APPARATUS. and the
balance horse drawn. The property
of the department has increased ir
value from s14.s77 to $44l.sso. anc
the number Of nre-alarm boxes were
increased from sixty-eight TO S21.
The members Of the last boart
were MeSrs. l.. C. Jenkins. Rober
Lecky. Jr.. W. A. Cheatwood and
Charles F. Taylor. Their associates
in former years. End predecessors il
\ IN TnAn TrigAA
kcrn. Norman V. Randolph.4 JOSEPH
L. Levy, John J. King. W. A. Bcs
well. C. Watt Taylor, F. r. Burke, J
r. Sheppard, Charles keppler. T. NJ
Perkins. stanley F. Tyler. W. D
Franklin and John Mann. Jr.
+ by reason of change in ou'
charter the board Of Are commission
LIST, and the department became 3
bureau of the department of public
safety,
The members OF the board whose
report is under review. and also their
former colleagues and predecessors In
office 4 have served the city ably
faithfully. conscientiously and freel,
for many years. Their efforts have
hrough, about a well trained. we'll
equipped. professional department Of
which the city has every right to be
proud, and II their successors in man
agement succeed in eaualling their
record. they will d as much as should
be REASONABLE expected Of them.
Their names will be gratefully re
memhered by those who appreciate
faithful. efficient and gratuitous
service. and ] express to them tbs
thanks of their city for the service
they have rendered
Police Department.
The report OF the chief OF police
shows II $50 arrests made. of which
11.eSs were for misdemeanors ans
CTS for felonies. The total arrests
showed an increase of 1,7co over the
previous year. or those arrested
1886 were white males and $40 white
females: and 4.9a2 we're colored male:
and LIS were coiored females. There
were 1851 reports Of ordinance VIC
lations, and 5932 miscellaneous re
ports. Reports for ordinance viola
tons showed a decrease OF 41o. and
miscellaneous reports decrease oil
as compared with the previous year
There il far too much deliberate
violation Of the traffic ordinance. con-
corning which we receive q great deal
Of just complaint from those who are
annoyed thereby. Enforcement OF
this ordinance has to be done by 4
special detail which Il as large a. i.
can, at present. be made, but II would
have to be several times larger to