Putnam patriot., 1920-02-20
COMMON COUNCIL
SUPPORTS FIRE CHIEF
CONTINUED from Page Cne)

suDordlnation, may be expelei from
Putnam Fire Department, and may be
arrested and prosecuted.
4. Persons not members Of Put
nam Fire Department disobeying this
order are liable to arrest and impris-
onment.
C. d. ARNOLD,
Chief Engineer, Putnam Fire Dept.
/ BeIligerent Talk
"The above action was TAKEN" said
Alderman Byrne, in view Of the
talk that one crowd was going to
throw the other off the truck and that
certain men would not be allowed to
drive, and so forth "
''The situation has become deplora-
be-" said the Aide man. "and it Is
charged that / have pc -sonal reasons
for desiring these changes. II that is
SO, then ! am not fit man 70 be
lchairman Of the fire committee This
is for you gentlemen = saY. We have
rot to make a decision If these men
feel their rights have hee7 tie
away from them this is the place they
should have come AMI state t1eir
J grievances. They a<e now disobeyilg
/ the chiefs order # | am wrong and
the chief Is wrong it saou j be eel e
and the matter c'earef IN We use
to have a ire de3artaH enf which was
credit to the city and the present
aim IS to give the city such depart
ment now"
Matter Should Be Threshei Out
Alderman Byrne said that the mat
ter should be threshel out and that
this is the place to do it. 1t should
be settled" he said, cor the trouble
will go on indefinitely" He said he
had not been in close touch with the
department for a year or more, as he
had been away, but recently he had
happened to be in the city when there
were three different alarms and he
didn't think that five men responded
to either alarm. He said that he
| spoke to Foreman Cloutier and the
! foreman said that the men gave as an
excuse for not attending that "some-
/ one would go" He then illustrated
| why it was necessary that the men
should answer every alarm by point
| ing to the Tatem fire when an officer
was called up and the response was
immediate. He said one could not al
ways tell when an alarm rings what
may happen. He thought that the
council could do no less than back up
the officers in trying to put the de-
| partment on an efficient basis.
Alderman Dugas asked if any rea-
son had been given to the men rs to
why the transfer was made.
Reasons For Transfer
Mayor Marcy said the chiefs letter
explained that. 1t was stated that the
transfer was made to allow taking in
men who had had years Of experience;
who would make quicker response
and put new life into the departing 1t.
| The mayor said that he felt the same
az Alderman Byrne. He said it had
resolved itself Into a question as to
whether the city council and officers
were going to run the department or
whether some of these fellows are GO
ing to. what we want is efficiency"
concluued the mayor.
Former Chief Couldn't Control Men
1t was stated that Chief Boursier
had said that he couldn't do anything
with members of the department
Good Firemen and Good Fellows In
Former Company
Alderman Byrne said that "all of
J Al l. Il. l. Al.
the same stick" He said, "some of
the men are good firemen and good
chaps and perhaps didn't respond be-
cause they couldn't. but that he did
know that some of the men right on
the square did not go, while he knew
went" He repeated that he deplored
the "row" and that it had to be stop
ped and that it was time to make a
beginning
Alderman Dean made a motion that
the order of the chief be ratified.
Council Should Back Chief
The mayor said that he did not
think that the council would be out
of place in supporting the chief.
The fire committee recommended
that the action of the chief in making
transfers and in making new appoint
ments be ratified and this action was
unanimously voted by roll call vote,
those voting being: Alderman-at-
large Byrne, Aldermen Johnson,
Dean. Dugas, Wheelock, Duffey and
Padgett.
Mayor Marcy then asked the chief
if he thought that in view of what had
happened in the past three or four
days any of the men who have been
transferred should be discharged.
Asks Foreman Dumas to Explain
The chief said he understood that
several had been in fire headquarters
since the order was posted and that
some were men who had been trans
ferred He didn't know why the men
went there When asked if there was
anything further for the council to do,
the chief replied he did not know what
action should be taken regarding the
men who went down to fire headquar-
tiers Sunday afternoon, and he asked
Foreman Dumas if he could explain