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Show TliE FIRE HOUSES. Vie vs of a Delegation of Property Owners WHD VISITED THE TIMES OFFICE. They Object to Councilman Kelly's Selection of a Mite for the Proposed Pro-posed House in the Northeastern Portion of the City and Express Surprise at the Delay in Mating the Keport The Fire This Horn-ins Horn-ins an Example. The city council committee having in charge the matter of selecting sites for the proposed engine houses evidently believe in making haste slowly, for up to date, it is said, no definite conclusion has been reached by" them, or if it has they religiously relig-iously keep it to themselves. That the fire houses are needed was demonstrated this luu'u'"5 ! o'ciock wnen an alarm caused the apparatus at headquarters to turn out to x fire in the grocery establishment at the corner of Sixth East and Ninth South streets. After a run of nearly three miles the department arrived in time to see the building topple over, a mass of ruins, entailiug a loss estimated at over $1000 to a taxpayer named McMillan. Just such a nre, or a general conflagration, is likejj-- to occur at any time in other unpro-ttiT4section unpro-ttiT4section t the city. Had a business w-4r the center of the city cauRht i.Ue same time the result would have been most disastrous, for, in the condition of the horses after their wild run of three miles, tho department would have been aluKst powerless to lend a helping hand to the west side apparatus. The fire spoken of forcibly illustrates tha remarks of a delegation of property ownsrs who called at the Times office several days ago aud aired their views as to where tlK-iielieved the house intended for the no.-ineailern section of the city should be located. They understood that Chairman Kelly of the council committe had selected a lit on 1 street, two and one-half by five rods in dimensions, and the object of their visit was to publicly record their objections to it. They claimed that the location waa such as to preclude any satisfactory service in case of a conflagration in the northeastern northeast-ern portion of the city, and were a unit in favor of having the location on any street eastxif M street, for the reason that the territory ter-ritory west of that street could and did receive re-ceive ample protection from the headquarter of the department. On H street the grade is such that good time bing made was out of the question, whereas were the location east of M street, the valuable residences in Darlington Dar-lington addition and vicinity could easily be reached in time of need. The territory to the; southward and westward would also cortie within the jurisdiction of the apparatus, appa-ratus, as the grade was down hill, and better time could be made than from headquarters. Others, who have made the question a study, declare that the location should be at the corner of M and Fourth streets, for it is the most central Bpot for the territory sought to be protected, and the entire absence of street car rails and poles from Fourth street, make it the only thoroughfare on the North Bench whereon . the apparatus could respond with that promptness which the fire chief demands from his men and the peT-ie ha-ra a' right to expect. Even Ex-Councilman Ex-Councilman Richard Young, who resides west of M street, is Quoted as being strong- ly in favor of the location being on the east side, and, as a matter of fact, all who have been approached on the subject give similar vie's. The delegation, which was composed of some of the heaviest property owners in the district, sxprise surprise that such an important import-ant matter should meet with such apparent little consideration from the committee. Anent the new fire houses a prominent city official is quoted as saying that the southwestern portion of the city hss not had a fire in a quarter of a century. "Where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise," is a trite saying, but for the benefit of the ignorant ignor-ant official it will bo well to give the record. Aa examination of the record kept at fire headquarters showed that during the past twenty-two months there have been forty alarms from the southwestern portion of the city, and that property valued at $11,775 was destroyed. '.. m m |