The Lubbock avalanche. (Lubbock, Tex.) 1909-1922, 1922-01-10
FIREMEN HAVE Their ANNUAL
BANQUET LAST THURSDAY EVE.
TIE FULL FORCE WAS ON HAND AND A NUMBER or
INVITED GUESTS WERE ALSO IN ATTENDANCE
THE DEPARTMENT NEEDS WERE DISCUSSED
There Need for An Extension OF the CITY water 'm
and Also Additional Water SuppIy-Fnc Fighting Equip
ment Much Too Light for the cay'' Needs

vnilcd as Roche Newton walked into
the office Of the Oakland Sales Com
many. where The firemen and their
gucStu assembled. and announced that
IL Yns ready" which was not cleAr
lv understood by the Avalanche re-
portcr. but by following The restless
crowd and managing 10 get near th'
smallest fellowF in the crowd, We
found that the first thinR on th'
program was a big supper, whicn nau naau
been prepared by the ladies' OF th'
Baptist church.
Needless 10 say We were surprised
Al what happened, o. there We learn
ed chat TO pick out the "littlcst iei
low as a table mate does not al.
ways climax In getting the best ol
The feaat, az H. -. Phillips, manager
n the local telephone exchange
demonstrated the falsonesa of tna'
idea, before half supper hour wa
spent. -,
acted toas,mas,er, and called on the
visitors TO offer suggestions FOR INC
solution Of the fire-fightlng equip.
ment problem and many interesting
facts relative 20 the work were re-
ycalcd
Geo. W. Briggs, insurance man
smoke in behalf ~ the fircmcn, ana
assured them tha. Trey we're anpre'
lated by every ins rance man ~
town. and offered his services 20 ary
extent in bringing atoui better ron.
difiona for them He stated that y
had been his opportunity 90 watch
The organization and maintenance of
this depart ment, and assured the icl-
Iow vieitors that they we're IN the
prcsen Of the pluckiest department
members anywhere Attorney WI
aon, Curtis A. Keen, james l.. Dow
and others followed Mr. Briggs with
shor, TALKS encouraging the erection
Of n better building, bigger pumping
aparatus and truck. and other i'm
provemcnts FOR the department
which were approved, In a talk from
Mr. Conley, who declared that the
fifteen percent dccrcaae IN Insurance
rnten. which had been brought about
by the Willingness 90 work. and ne
efficiency Of the firemcn, should bc
spent on hettcring their equipment
shich scored an indisputablc point
in their favor. Mr. COnlcy m wcll
known In Lubbock NJ one who backs
his every statement, and We are sure
that the influence he VIII have Tor
the bcttermon. Of these condition.
will be kcenly felt The Chiei OF
the Department. W p. Twitty, whose
ability ~ a fire-fightcr is recognized
hy al who have seer him IN action,
made an instructive talk. pointing
out the cost u the equipment which
n most needed nt this time, together
With information on the small pos.
ibHities Of the present pumpcr and
truck
A splendid report of last year
expenaes we're also given, which VIII
prove that those men have been op-
Grating on the lowest possible cost,
with highest efficiency.
Roche Newton. after each talk
threw q bit Of scarcasm NJ us all that
made us realize that those men are
not going 20 tolerate just anything
that is dished out 10 them without
staging some sort Of comeback. which
was further emphasized by crispy
full-of-pcp speech by Alex. Melon.
aid. one Of the boys, who stated tina,
they might too, soon find themselve'
surrounded by fire fighting prob
lem that would demonstrste their
belplessness, 30 far ~ coping with
spreading fire IL concerned. and
which would cost the town a great
deal more than the needed equip.
ment, but assured his hearers that
through his association with the fel'
low firemen he had found them true
as steel, and willing 10 20 into any
Kind Of fire where their work might
bring good results 70 far as Y was
possible.
A tribute 10 the man who answers
The telephone for fire reports was
paid by II. d. Phillips. who stated
that the tests he had made IN COM
plying with state laws, found him al.
ways on the Job, with an average OF
little more than six seconds made on
answering the calls. The telephone
company has major part In the
fircmen's work, as on its employees
dcpends the location Of the fires. and
Mr.. Newton, in response 70 the talk,
expressed himself a. thoroughly sat
isfied with the service received from
the operators.
The meeting was closed with talk
BY Martin s. Ruby. representing the
city management, in which he dis
eusscd the fire fighting problem from
the managemeHs's viewpoint. and ex'
pr,ssed a desire for the voters 20 vote
an extra bond issue for the purpose
Of extending the water service and
increasing the supply. which would
enable them 70 place more funds 10
the disposal Of the Department Chief.
n = 70 be hoped that This meeting
viii result in some worthy action be-
ing taken on this matter, and the peo-
RE. II Lubbock should scalize that
the firemen are not any more inter-
ested In the matter tnan anyone else
would be II they were familiar with