Show CHIEF BYWATER TALKS ON FIRE Many Inny Valuable Inventions for Saving Property P from Flames GOOD WORK OF FIRE BOATS SOME FIGURES OF INTEREST ON SALT LAKE Fire lre William Villiam Bywater returned late I Saturday night from the eighth annual convention of the International Fire Chiefs held MId at Duluth Minn and I the tbt annual convention of the association held hel at City At the conventions tM year yr demonstrations demon with nOW new ne methods of fighting fire were made mad The most efficient fire fighting ma machines mAckin chines trucks ladders and other equip equipment mont ment were exhibited and the merits of ot theae these tested The invention of or the tire fire boat beat and the latest Improvements In fire tire engines were considered by b the delegates of the conventions convention as liS the greatest devices to the protection of I property Chief Bywater was enthusiastic over the result of made mada at Duluth and maintained I that the convention was the most sue suc aver v ve r held Could the fire fighters of ot a few years ago IO he said Mid see iee today tola the mechanism lam ism placed in the fire re departments all allover allover allover over the country their eyes would be opened wide Many lany of the difficulties have been done dune away with and devices are being turned out yearly earl that insure I more protection to buildings and prop property property erty The pressure that can be had from flom the best beat constructed water systems ten In the nation today are made inada inadequate quate to cope with fires that originate at great heights or inside large arge build buildings logs ings With the aid of the present fire machines and equipment a building no matter how large or tall can be b reached in hi the matter of or a few min minutes minutes utes The Tho demonstrations demon which were made for the benefit of the fire chiefs I were intensely Interesting and show that inventors have turned their minds toward devising machines for the pro protection protection I of property and lives Fire Boat at Duluth I At Duluth I visited the fire boat I which was waa 11 constructed at ata a cost of o O The Th boat is harbored Just to I Ithe the east of the city and is equipped with ith one of the finest fire alarm systems systems teme In ease case of a fire the location Is given iven and the boat steams down tnt tue lake to the in that district which runs down don to the lake front The engines on the th boat are connected with the t e and amid the pumps are arc started The pressure pre sure that can be ob obtained tamed by this thili method metho d ie much higher than any allY water system affords in the country countr In JI connection with the water they the also al o have ha a telephone service servIce service ice Just as soon a s the engines are connected the th men meri at itt the fire are In Indirect indirect indirect direct communication with the firemen on the boat They Thy can call for any nn amount amou of water or have it jumped to toan any an distributing di section along the Of Ot course this is only practicable where here cities s are situated near some sonic body of water Duluth also has an alt excellent water system but rhe rho fire boat has proved a success and greater pressure can cai be obtained from it In I the course of a year or two Iwo it I is 19 evident that nearly every city that can put ut iut a K fire boat into practical use will install one on in connection with its fire department When Powder Is Harmless Seventy thousand rounds of ammu were elft exploded by fire in a small enclosed shed Ined which shows that fire men inca can with wItt safety enter a building in which ammunition is stored Thou Thousands Thousands Thousands sands stood around the time building and firemen extinguished bed the flames at a distance of twenty feet from the build lug ing during the t e rapid discharge of ot the cartridges For years fights have been made against the storage of tion In buildings but the test made be fore the members of the convention showed that there was little mUe danger I observed that one cartridge plight ex In tn a box but that it does not go off oft with sufficient force to Ignite oth ers era and for this reason a simultaneous explosion lon of ammunition is impossible The test was made in iu a 1 l vacant lot Jot where whee a stash small pine shanty was erected ten feet teet square and eight feet high with roof and chimneys s Inside the I shed sIed were placed two bales of ot excelsior I and two cords of ot dry d pine slabs Thousands of cartridges were dumped on top of the slabs and excelsior Boxes of cartridges of all ll sizes were leaned vJ up n against ginet t the time walls wails of the building When hen they the ham had peeked enough ammu i Into the shanty shant to kill every ev ry per son in Salt Lake Lace they poured Doured kero J sene over the fuel and cartridges and ignited Itin a dozen places Instantly the flames leaped high in the air and the whole building was ablaze both in side and out outs A moment later lat r the clatter of the cartridges commenced It sounded like a carload of fire crackers going off oft all at once Despite the rapid lire fire of the unconfined shells firemen turned water onto the time shed and worked within a few feet of the time burn ing lug siam mass When the fire was raging Jaging at Its best clouds of yellow smoke fol lowed the explosion of the shells Oc vu one could hoan a nat a nat a spat s pa t on the firemen rubber coats or see a g tail tall of smoke as the shell popped up a few feet in the air After Atter the flames were extinguished I gathered gather up handfuls of shells and cartridges which I brought back with me no I observed that the shells hursted near their thelt butts and in some cases ca e the slug was still in the cart ridge For a long time the time fire Insurance underwriters have tried to raise the rates on buildings storing ammunition and at the present pt ent time there is still sUII a movement on foot toot I believe how ever eer that this demonstration may in time do away with the Idea that the explosion of cartridges is deadly in fires In reviewing the tire fire records of last year ear I found that the loss 1088 per Del capita canita for Salt Lake City was as only Th This is I very low for the area of Salt Lake City Cit and ansi there are few cities citi in the United States with a population upwards of that has so low a percentage The total valuation of ot the th property on which claim for tor loss IOBa was w made amount ed to and was as covered by insurance The total loss Joss on the Ue buildings was given at and the total insurance loss was gIven Sven at The Time statistics also show that Salt Lake had an area Kroa of square squar miles and that there were only about cities clUes that had a larger Jarger area These statistics were cre made out by the Insurance under I writers and were accepted by the Fire Chiefs convention as correct data At I present Salt Lake Is In i need n ed of another fire station but I believe that It will come com in due time and aDd that the number of men will be increased in re sed While attending the National Fire mows mans convention In Kansas City Chief Bywater read a paper on The Effects of ot Polities on the Discipline and Ef of ot Departments |