OCR Text |
Show OUR FIRE DEPARTMENT. This is an institution of our city that demands more assistance and encouragement than has hitherto been accorded to it. If the business men of this city were wise they would not object to contributing generously towards putting the department on a serviceable footing. As it is, the firemen who are enrolled and who volunteer their services, have been compelled to pay, out of their own pockets, for fixtures and apparatus. This is not as it should be. It is asking a good deal of the boys to require them to attend meetings and drills, in which there is considerable hard work, to say nothing of getting their clothes wet, etc., and to hold themselves in readiness to answer calls. They certainly ought not to be expected nor required to pay for apparatus. Among the most pressing necessities of the department at present is a tower for drying the hose, to prevent its remaining wet so long after being used, which causes it to rot. The fire boys need a little encouragement, and they naturally look for it to the class whom they are most likely to be instrumental in benefitting. On Saturday last a meeting of firemen was held, at which eight new members were enrolled. The re-organization of the department into divisions or companies, as contemplated, was not effected but was deferred till a future meeting. The firemen meet again on the last Wednesday of this month. |