The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-12-14
465 Investigated,
 Ayers Marshal, In
 City During 1885
One Death Results and Two Others Attributed to BIazes Reveals Annual Report = Many Menaces
 Corrected in Thousands of Inspections Made

ended November 30th, according to the annual report of the fire marshal, Den Lahey, submitted to- day to Mayor Frank Hayes. One man, . North Main street roorner died of inhalation of smoke; an- other North Main streeet residen: and Brooklyn man died of heart attacks induced by the excitement of fires.
 During the year, the fire mar shal and his staff made thousands of inspections, in many cases dis covering and correcting fire mem aces. There were 465 fires in- vestigated during the year. In places of public assembly, no less than l24 changes and corrections were ordered during the year.
 Tn his report the marshal takes ccgnizaice of the firebug whose acc tivity nenaced the city late last fall and early last winter. He credits 23 blazes to the pyromaniac, who is as yet uncaptured.
 The rnarshal's report follows:
 To the Honorable Frank Hayes,
 The Mayor of Waterbury, Conn. Sir
 ''FIe, (the fire marshall shall ail- iaually file 8 report with the mayor of the services performed by him"
 That's what the good book, under which certain departments of the city function, says, and thus ex- plains our reason for presenting to you something of our personal and staff activities for the past year.
 We are not quite sure of the value of annual reports, in our own mind. Sometimes, no doubt, they are most valuable to people, other than members of the department, for the data compiled, but in varl- ous instances they appear of little interest to the reading public, ex- cept to those compelled by law to read them. Withal, we hope we may be able to show something of an attractive nature, in what we send to you in this writing.
 no render the city reasonably ! safe from fire, and to provide for the reasonable safety of all persons wherever congregated," constitute the very language of charter and ordinance, in explanation of the irT1- l por5ant duties of the office of the { fire marshal. What do these words mean; what should the attachees of this office do daily in order to carry out the proper definition of these words, and the intent and purposes of the original framers of the act itself, adopted under legal and con- stituted authority, as we under stand.
 We are only common, ordinary, every day laymen; we have no legal right to interpret charter pro- vision, enaced and framed by mas ters of jurisprudence, as all just laws must be. But even at that the language as quoted seems plain enough for men of our limited minds to define. And so, to sum 1t tip briefly, it means exactly what it says, and tells us to go forth daily, preserve the city against fire, and provide for the safety of our peo- pie"
 This part of our obligation, Mir. Mayor, we think we have fulfilled, and we think further the fire rec ord of the year will support this contention. The right of the office of the fire marshal to provide against fire hazards has never been questioned by persons familiar with the language of the office In some cities the order of the fire marshal is final, except by court action, but here in Waterbury there is always, and justly so, we think, the right Of appeal to the chief executive of the city. Places of public assembly have been attended and inspected during all times of the day and night. You will note, Mir. Mayor. that in g instances we stopped the sale of tickets; that we had doors unlocked 20 times, and that bulbs in exit lamps were placed by us 25 times. Please bear in mind, too, MT. Mayor, that we have patrolled the interior of theater 806 times, that we have been in attendance at public dance halls 435 times, and in other public halls, where peo- pie have gathered, we have been there upon 365 occasions. Ana most of these inspections and visits were made during the night season. And also at night we have inspected the hotels of the city, 112 times; We have called at lodging houses Ain the dead of the night" to note conditions, upon numerous oc- casions, and we have also inspect cd our own Brookside Home during the sleeping hours of the institu- ton. -
 And so, Mir. Mayor, with this outline we feel we have carried out in part at least, the obligations o1 the office as above enumerated And may we hope that after you have studied the complete report and the figures presented. you will find we have not been derelict to the full responsibilities imposed up- on us by charter, the state statutes and city bylaws.
 We append, herewith:--
 Suspicious Fires of November and
 December, 1884
 Most people will recall the num- erous fire calls received by the de- partment during the two last months of 1884, one month, Decem- Der, of which is part of the re- port of this bureau for the year just closed. They were all of a sus- picious nature, and with one ex- ception, the damage done was of minor nature. This bureau worked in conjunction with the police de- partment, and Captain Russell, our assistant, was on continuous duty, Mt our request, during the entire period. The rest Of us remained On duty until late ip the evening Ieav- ing the captain at Headquarters to answer and investigate aH calls re- eeived during the night season There was no question but what a fire bug was at work, inasmuch As xiost Of the fires were started in