186 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March i, 1908. 



The New York Fire Hose Situation. 



DURIXG the month a commission appointed by Mayor 

 McClellan has held an investigation into the character 

 of the hose in use by the New York fire department, the 

 result of which has been to confirm the charges made by the 

 New York Board of Fire Underwriters. [See The India Rub- 

 ber World, February i, 1907 — page 141.] One object of the 

 investigation was to fix the responsibility for the existence in 

 the department of much poor hose, but nothing definite seems 

 to have been brought out under this head. It would seem that 

 the fault has been due to a system long in vogue rather than 

 with any particular individual. The head of the department is 

 changed frequently, so that most of the hose now in service 

 was purchased under the administration of officials now no longer 

 in position, and therefore beyond the power of the city authorities 

 to discipline them, even if any criminal negligence could be 

 proved. It was established, however, that Mr. Lantry, the fire 

 commissioner in office at the time of the Parker building fire, in 

 January, had it in his power during -the preceding year to buy 

 very much more hose than was ordered, but used his discretion 

 to expend the department appropriation for other purposes than 

 the purchase of hose. 



Following the investigation Mr. Lantry's resignation was ac- 

 cepted by the mayor, who has appointed as the head of the de- 

 partment Mr. Hugh Bonner, who was for a long time an official 

 in the fire service, being retired on account of age and alleged 

 physical incapacity. Subsequently, however, he reorganized the 

 fire service of Manila. He is referred to as the first practical 

 fireman who has ever served as fire commissioner of New York. 

 He has begun actively the introduction of new methods, with 

 a view to reforming the department, with the idea that so many 

 new conditions exist, in this era of tall buildings, that many of 

 the old provisions for fighting fires have become obsolete. 



Mr. Bonner recommends the appointment of a commission 

 composed of an expert in mechanics, an expert in chemistry, 

 and an expert hydraulic engineer, to purchase all supplies, to be 

 secured as far as possible by competitive bidding. He con- 

 siders necessary the early expenditure of $150,000 for new hose 

 and hose repair. The city authorities on January 31 appro- 

 priated $50,000 for immediate use in the purchase of hose, and 



it is probable that further appropriations will follow soon. 

 * * * 



The Merchants' Association of New York has shown a lively 

 interest in the question of fire protection, following the recent 

 disclosures regarding the quality of hose used by the city fire 

 department. The association, as a body, has not confined its at- 

 tention to the matter of hose, but has taken up the broader 

 question of the management of the department. In a letter to 

 the mayor of New York, the president of the Merchants' Asso- 

 ciation calls attention to the importance of the new high pres- 

 sure salt water system now nearing completion, "the future use 

 of which involves important modification of fire department 

 equipment and practice, toward providing which, however, little 

 has as yet been done." 



A special point in the letter from the Merchants' Association 

 is thus expressed: 



"The head of the fire department should be a competent engi- 

 neer, fitted by education and training for the task of developing 

 to its highest efficiency a thoroughly modern fire department. 

 The changed building conditions have developed engineers spe- 

 cially trained in criticizing construction and suggesting fire de- 

 fenses, so that there is now a class of professional experts, from 

 whose ranks may be selected a man fully equipped to meet the 

 emergency of the hour. "It is respectfully submitted," says the 

 letter to the mayor, "that you can render no greater service to 

 the city at this juncture than to make such a man commissioner 



of the fire department, fully divorced from all political affilia- 

 tion and with a free hand to accomplish results." 



* * * 



The wholesale condemnation of the equipment of the New 

 York fire department which appears in the daily press, says 

 Fire and Water Engineering, does not seem to be justifiable. 

 While it is true that a large number of lengths of hose in pro- 

 portion to those used have burst during conflagrations, this 

 ought not to warrant the statement that all the hose in the de- 

 partment is rotten. 



The city that buys cheap fire hose risks the destruction of the 

 whole place by fire. Everything that enters into the manu- 

 facture of hose costs more than a few years ago — rubber and 

 other raw material and the labor employed. So manufacturers 

 should not be expected to sell hose at former prices. Fire and 

 Water Engineering thinks that hose sold at less than $1 or $1.25 

 per foot ought not to be expected to stand high pressure or 

 be guaranteed by the makers. 



The paper referred to insists that in every city the fire com- 

 missioner should be an expert in the science of fire fighting, and 

 not a mere political appointee, who depends upon others to in- 

 form him what he should or should not do to keep the fire 

 department up to the mark in personnel and equipment. 



* * * 



In the discussion of fire hose conditions in the newspapers 

 and by the public the expression is constantly heard that the 

 bursting of the liose is due to its being lined with "rotten" 

 rubber, and in some of the articles published an attempt has been 

 made to show how this is so. The idea appears to be overlooked 

 entirely that the rubber lining of fire hose contributes almost 

 nothing to its strength, that element being due to the cotton 

 duck used. The function of the rubber lining is to render 

 the hose more water tight, to protect the interior of the cot- 

 ton hose from the eft'ect of moisture in inducing mildew and rot- 

 ting, and to lessen the friction, or resistance offered by the 

 hose inner surface to the flow of water. While the rubber 

 lining is not depended upon for strength, it is desirable that only 

 the best rubber be used for this purpose, for the reason that 

 the cracking or giving way of the rubber from whatever cause 

 permits moisture to reach the interior of the cotton fabric, thus 

 causing it to rot. It is for this reason that an inferior quality 

 of rubber tends to shorten the life of hose, which bursts at an 

 earlier date than is contemplated under the customary guaran- 

 tees. But such early giving way is by no means conclusive that 

 a poor quality of rubber has been used ; oftener than not it is 

 an indication of lack of proper care of the hose — for instance, 

 as in not properly drying the hose after use. 



CAMPHOR BECOMING LOWER. 



SINCE the camphor industry in Formosa became a govern- 

 ment monopoly, August 8, 1899, the monopoly bureau has 

 been able by regulating the supply of the raw product to advance 

 considerably price of camphor to consumers. The price finally 

 became so high as to stimulate the camplior industry of China, 

 resulting in an enforced decline in prices. Moreover, synthetic 

 camphor is coming into competition with the natural product, 

 and prices are expected to remain permanently lower than for 

 a few years following the creation of the monopoly. The con- 

 tract of the Formosan government with a British firm to act as 

 sole selling agents for camphor will terminate March 31, 1908, 

 after which it is reported that Japanese commissioners will open 

 offices in New York, London, Berlin, and Paris, for the sale 

 of Formosan camphor direct to consumers, in the hope of in- 

 creasing the government's reveinie from this source. 



