The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-11-23
BACK PAY FOR
 SICK FIREMEN
 CAUSES RUCCUS
Fire Commissioners Noon an and Finnegan Clash Over Question At Meet ing.
Ing.


 they claim they contracted while in | the performance of their duties was 1 the inference to be drawn from the sharp remarks passed at last nights l meeting of the Board.
 1 When the matter does finally come to a head and the question is put to a vote, it is very probable that the fight Dr. Ffnnegan, the only member of the board who has fay ored recompensing the firemen for | their time off will have been Waged in vain. At the present time the | vote for non-payment of the major i ity of the claims would probably be l 3 to l against it with Commissioner FFtnnegan opposing Commissioners 1 Three more claims were presented l at last nights meeting as follows. Lieutenant George Bennett, who ask i ed remuneration for a deduction of | one days pay, claiming that on the 1 day in question he was forced to stay | at home because Of q severe cold he contracted while on a tour of in- spection Hosenan Philip J. Thomp- | son asked that he be paid for one ] day off as the result of a cold he contracted while answering a still alarm Charles J. Fitzroy seeks com pens&tion from october 31 until No yember 15, during which time he suf- 1 1ered from sore throat the direct result, his claim states, of a wetting he received at Q fire at the City Ice and Coal Co. Although Commission CT Finnegan, when asked his Opin- ion, stated that he thought the bills should be paid, the other co1nmis- was carried that the claim be tabled for further invests igatiOn.
 Old Rule Quoted.
 Commissioner NoOnan further com pIicated the situation by calling the attention of the board to a revised rule adopted by the commissioners in 1915. This rule was adpoted by a board which at that time consisted I.nn 1~d T ceased), Brennan, Cassidy and Finne- gan, and reads as follows:
 Rule 4S- All cases of illness or in iuries shall at once be reported to the Department Surgeon. No allow ance of pay shall be made for ordi- nary sickness
 Commissioner Finnegan inquired what that rule had to do with the present situation. Commissioner Noonan had requested Clerk John Hines to read the rule and at Com missioner Finnegan's question turn ed and stated that he was talking to the clerk.
 Alright, I will put the question to you through the Pres:dent'', contin- ued Commissioner Finnegan.
 Well, you helped to make the rule and I think it should be lived up to- answered Commissioner Noonan.
 No, I did not help to make the rule" answered Commissioner Finne- gan. Continuing, he said: "At the time the revised rules were present. ed to us for our approval and I ap- proved them. However at that time firemen were allowed to sub for each other and when one man was sick he might secure another to work for him and thereby incur no loss of pay That was why I approved of the rules That plan, however, has been abol- ished now and I do not think worthy firemen should suffer by it''
 Wants Rule Rescinded.
 Commissioner Ffnnegan then quot was in the hospital for over two weeks, his wife was sick at the time and during his stay in the hospital his mother died.
 Here is the sad side of this ru1e'' continued the Commissioner. This man also had two children and he was left pra ctfcally destitute after the bills have been cleared up. There tion." continued the Commissioner. "and therefore make a motion that rule forty-eight be rescined.'
 Commissioner NoOnan then declar- ed that he did not care for politics. W as not a politician, was looking for nothing and did not care who he in jured as long as he acted fairly. This remark was answered by Commis- siOner Finnegan who stated that this was nothing new for Commissioner Noonan as he had only been a mem Der Of the board for two days when he had "injured' six members of the department.
 Commissioner Noonan stated at the time he was not educated. but soon ie-rned.'
 Commissioner Noonan moved that the matter be tabled for this meet ing" There is aIready a motion of mine before the house." stated pr. Finnegan, and I would ask that you S. vote on that" He referred to re
 ''No one has seconded the motion," stated President Coleman. For what reason do you wish it rescind- ed, Commissioner %
 50 the firemen can get their pay for sick leave,' retorted Commis- sioner Ffnnegan. This caused Com missioner Coleman to remark he be- Leved there would have to be some he would rescind it or at least be in favor of it. Commissioner Dave l then remarked that he thought the best thing to do was to get together l on the matter and see if there was not some way of straightentES it out. 1 A motion was introduced to table l the matter and it was so voted. Com 1 missioner F'innegan then introduced | physician, be ordered to report to !. the fire board each time he treats a l fire department member and this was | also so voted.
 Gets Half Pay.
 The request of Hoseman Elmer | Wheeler, who asked that the depart 1 ment pay his sickness bills of S162.5O | incurred through an operation made | r recessary by injuries received in the | Republic fire, was then acted upon 1 and a report from Chief Johnson and 1 President Coleman, who were ap- pointed some time ago to investigate the case, was read. The gist of the | report was that it could not be proved the man had sustained his sickness as the direct result of the fire and compromise was offered by Com mis- .TOnPr Coleman suggested 1h9f the bill be paid in half Commis- siOner Dave then stated that if the till was to be paid in half. it would | appear he had secured the injuries in the fire, and should be paid in full. A rote was taken on the original mo- -ion.a however. and it was voted to pay half the bill.