Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-09-02
SURVEY BEING MADE
BY THE UNDERWRITERS
Five Striking Companies Show No
Indication of Yielding to
the City.
FALSE ALARMS SUSPICIOUS
Civic Fire Committee Endeavor-
ing to Help Council Straighten
Out Matters.
FAILS ALARMS SUSPICIOUS

While the members of Councils ire
committee were busy today endeavorlng
20 obtain data relative TO the loan or
purchase of fire apparatus and the placing
of it at locations about where II would
be of most service, and engineers from the
National Board of Fire Underwriters
were quietly circulating among manu-
facturers who carry large insurance,
and learning their opinion of the present
fire protection situation, other interests
were seeking 10 intercede with the Under
writers, to get them to withhold re-
commendation for increased rates or
cancellation of policies until Council and
citizens could get started on plan TO
rchabilitate a fire department here. Still
another group of citizens were focusing
their influence in trying to get the five
companies that quit the service to recon-
sider their decision and sign up for an
other year.
some time today or early this evening,
Councils fire committee will meet prior
20 the regular meeting of Council, to
discuss information that Chairman Ahra-
hams does not expect to receive until
this afternoon. Councils committee is
going on the assumption that the FIVE COM
panics that quit. despite their alleged
implied promises TO stick by the city and
not soc the citizens suffer for lack of fire
protection. considered the question SER
iously enough before quitting and are out
OF the FIRE service for good. For that rea-
son the committee is seeking to learn where
Il can acquire fire apparatus Immediately.
Philadelphia and New York fire de-
partmcnts both have surplus apparatus,
and efforts were being put forward to-
day 90 learn if these departments would,
- Il L.. - l. a..
huv engines at once, loan machines until
the wants here could be supplied. Some of
the leading manufacturers of Wilmington
are interesting themselves in this move
neni. and. through this influence 1t is
hoped that the situation here can be
temporarily met successfully.
civic COMMITTEE HELPING COUNCIL
Definite steps along this line were taken
~ a meeting of Councils fire committee
and members of the city Fire Prevention
and Conservation Committee last night,
following a meeting of City Council, held
AZ the Hotel du pont The members Of
both committees threshed out the problem
thoroughly and from many angles Toward
the close OF the conference, near midnight,
an alarm was sounded and it was. learned
that IL was another false alarm.
Councilman Abrahams said he will to-
dav take up with Chief of Police Black
tho matter OF these false alarms. Looking
n IL in a charitable way, the city officials
say that they do not want To believe that
members of the quitting companies are
To blamc for these false alarms but they
do have suspicious that friends of some
oi the members may know something
about them.
r~prRNRfTVRS MEN At WORK
As announced in the Every Evening
yesterday, representatives of the Under
writers arrived here yesterday. The first
man 10 come was ". W. Hartman of the
Middle district. He called upon Chief
William j. Lutz and discussed local con-
ditions with him. He was much con-
cerned when he learned that the center
of the city was in more danger from fire
hazard than the outlying sections. During
the conversation Engineer Hartman spoke
oi the result of such lack OF protection, and
that II might mean pink slip to insurance
agents, increasing the rates or possibly
cancellation of policies, If the insurance
companies thought that the only course
10 pursue.
Chief Lutz told Mr.. Hartman what
measures he was taking to insure as
adequate protection as possible, but while
this seemed TO assure the Underwriters
expert that IL was all that could be done
under the circumstances, he was neverthe-
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