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Show fire earners EFFICIENCY GROWS Modern Machines Added to Equipment Are a Source of Satisfaction. LOSSES ARE REDUCED Chief and Force of Men Demonstrate Their Competence Com-petence for Duties. If the efficiency of the Ogden City fire department were to bs summed up in a single paragraph that paragraph need contain only tho information that the property owners of this city enjoy insurance rates not in excess of $1.U0 per capita. This is not only the lowest insurance rate permitted in any city of the west, but. is a remarkable rating when it is known that the average throughout the United Statos is $'2.o2 per capita, and in some cities runs as high as $7.19. There are two conditions that may be regarded as almost entirely responsible for this great saving on insurance. The first and by far the most important Is the fact that the development of the fire department has kept pace with the growth of tho city. The motorizing of the department has been the greatest step in this direction, while the most important development in 19115 was the recent opening of the new Xo. 3 station at Washington avenue and Ninth street. As a result of adding this now station with its motor equipment to the other two stations of the city Ogden will shortly get another credit from the Insurance In-surance board. When the new rating goes into effect property owners will be directly benefited by another substantial substan-tial reduction in fire insurance premiums. pre-miums. Next to the efficiency of the fire department, the ample water supply sup-ply afforded by the recent development of the artesian wells in Ogden valley has had its effect on the insurance rating. rat-ing. Equipment Bought. It is due almost entirely to tho efforts ef-forts arfd leadership of Firo Chief A. B. Caufield that the fire department has been brought up to its present ,-fficiency. Three years ago, after more than a year of arg'ument aud persuasion, the city commissioners were induced to purchase the first piece of motor equipment, a combination hose truck and chemical that has already saved the city thousands thou-sands of dollars "of fire loss. Next came the combination hose truck end pumper, purchased in 1913. Both of these motors are part of the central station equipment. equip-ment. The most recent purchase in tho line of motor equipment is the lighj combination com-bination hose truck and chemical for the No. 3 station. This car, which cost $.1050, carries 1200 feet of two and one-half one-half inch hose, together with a thirty-gallon thirty-gallon chemical tank and 200 feet of chemical hose. The new station is a building of the bungalow typo, com-pletelv com-pletelv furnished for tho maintenance of a fire crew of four men. It was opened for service early in December. Fire Loss Small. With a total of 245 alarms up to December De-cember 13, 1915. fifty-nine in excess of the previous total for any entire year, the aggregate fire loss for the year in Ogden was loss than $1.00 per capita, based on a population of 32,000. The expense of the department, including both improvement and maintenance, was not in excess of $30,500. This not only includes both the cost of the new station sta-tion building and its equipment, but also 2000 feet of new fire hose, purchased pur-chased last April. One of the greatest factors in the reduction of maintenance cost has been the motorizing of the fire department. From records carefully compiled by Fire Chief Canfield it is shown that upkeep of the combination motor pumper pump-er and hose truck whs $85.90 for n. period of one year. This includes all repairs, gasoline, oil and every necessary neces-sary accessory. The maintenance cost for a team of horses used at the eontral station for exactly the same period was $318. These figures are taking into consideration the far more efficient service ser-vice obtained from the use of the motor mo-tor equipment. Average Mileage. Chief Canfield 's records also show that the mileage is no small factor in the economy of tho motor fire equipment. equip-ment. The" average mileago for tho two pieces of motor equipment in one year has been found to lie flno miles. On this basis, Chief Canfield computes, tho equipment should give first-class service ser-vice for a period of twenty-five years. And he cinches the argument by d'eclar-i d'eclar-i n tr that neither machine will be eating; grain and hav for the twenty or twenty-four twenty-four years that it is not in actual service ser-vice at a fi'"o. Of the entire 245 alartns received during dur-ing the vear j.nst there was but one serious fire. This was the fire which damaged the flour mill plant of the Ocdcn Milling company last February. The property, located at Lincoln avenue and Twenty-fourth street., was then owned by the Pcery estate. The fire originated from an explosion that wrecked a portion of the plant. For the effecient work of Chief Canfield and his men at. that blaze the officers of the Peery estate expressed their appreciation ap-preciation willi a $25 check. Including the chief the Ogden fir department reL'ularlv emplovs twenty-five twenty-five men, the. annual payroll being about $27,000. Ho Wanted It Decided. "Ma! Ma!" bawled Freddie as the usual niorninrr wash was poing on. "Do niv ea-s belong to my face or my net-k ? ' ' Ma temporized. "Why, what is the ir-a: U't ? ' ' she asked. . " want it decided now. Fverv timo vou Ml Marv to wash my face or my neck she washes mv ears, too." Ladies' Home Journal. |