The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-03-28
Fire Marshal Giues
Address Oh, Safety
Places Confidence in Men of Experience, Not
Theorists-Favors Campaign to "Plough Under"
Crop of Safety Experts.


some others of the institution fol-
lowing the completion of the in
spection.
Firemen HOnOred
'You have requested a talk from
the Marshal of the Waterbury
Fire Department on the subject OF
Safety" he said in his opening
words. "You honor not only the
Marshal, but every member of the
Fire Department. There are so
many Safety Experts these days
attached to other bureaus that
we hesitate to respond, fearful of
encroachment or the violation of
some particular law.
Yet, we presume, we have the
right to take chance inasmuch
as we are on your property, and
within your premises. After all,
you, my listeners, are just as ex-
pert in the discussion of this sub
ject as the Marshal or any other
person of Waterbury; you are
skilled in the work that you are
called upon to do in this plant;
you are human, intelligent, and
know right from wrong; you know
when 1t is as safe to travel as do
we; why should we stand before
you and say, Don't do this and
Don't do that; you understand
the workings of life probably bet
ter than we do; we like to go
along with the feeling that you
know as much and probably more
than We do, not alone on the sub
ject Of safety, but everything
pertaining to life. It Is presum-
tious on the part of a speaker to
picture himself as being more
advanced on such a common idea;
true, he may be book worm,
and therefore able to express
himself a little bit better than
the person who has had the real
experience; in the end, however,
it Is the fellow who knows by
actual contact what is best for the
public.
. Free Of Danger
1--WE all want to be safe; gener-
ally, the most careless person in
the world Is the one who is daily
telling us to be careful; none OF
us want to die yet awhile; if we
are not careful we cannot live; and
yet many careful people are the
ones who figure In accidents, not
through any fault of their own but
by the negligent acts Of others.
Safety means free of danger;
how free are any of us in our
daily pursuits; the law OF the state
and city provides that the mar
shall shall keep the city of Water
bury free from the dangers Of fire;
the law also requires him to be
the custodian of people wher-
ever assembled, theater, church,
hotel, or assembly hall; he and
his staff must be certain that no
danger follows the assembling of
people in any of these places or
anywhere else; the marshal there
fore must try and discipher in
his own mind what safety really
means to the public assembled.
I'VE are in this world for the
life that goes with it; to continue
ON, we must be careful, and we
must be sure we are safe; the peo-
pie understand this better than
we do; they are intelligent; they
understand; they are not numb
skulls; their brain and mind func-
ton probably better than our
own; we don't like to give orders;
we prefer suggestions; it sets bet
ter with the average American;
an order and the way in which it
Is given sometimes upsets and
gets us all into, serious trouble.
SMan of Experience
Some years ago we were secre-
tary to a traffic expert brought
here from New York; he spoke
to the police and he addressed
the Chamber of Commerce. He
was a man of long experience in
the city Of New York.
"In the course of our contact
for several weeks, he admitted the
subject was really beyond him.
And then he added: 7 have, had
college training, but traffic has
reached the stage where a scien-
tific mind must act to get any
where with 1t; it is an engineering
problem that will never be settled
in my day
"And 1t is still open; a cops
club can't settle it. And Just like
the inspector referred to, the
marshal leaves to your mind, the
settlement Of the subject Of
Safety Il
Europe cares nothing about the
word, safety today.
I'VE probably would be more
safe In the state were we to
eliminate some Of the so-called
experts we read so much about
these days.
I'm closing, may we congratulate
the institution and its great corps
Of workers on the apparent good
fellowship that exists between
employer and employs. We Ike
such friendship; we like coopera-
ton: we do not like to be often
Eve In our endeav0rs to faithfully