THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 155 



from this source. But it hns occasionally been a matter of curiosit\- 

 and interest to hear the lightning thus tolHng the alarm bell. 



The total loss by fire under the telegraph fire-alarm s3-st.em, accord- 

 ing to the accurate " Report of the Boston Fire Department for the year 

 1854," was only $150,772, or less than one dollar for every inhabitant; 

 a loss which, for its small amount in so compact and wealthy a city, 

 cannot be paralleled in America. 



Out of 195 alarms of fire in Boston in 1854, twelve are recorded as 

 false ; but at least six of these were from supposed fires, leaving only 

 six unaccounted for. The whole number of alarms and the proportion 

 of false alarms have been greatly diminished by the system. Science 

 can make no contribution to civilization without the requisite social 

 conditions. The trust of the fire telegraph system, in this case was 

 placed in the hands of the citizens, and it has yielded to them its full 

 fruits without abuse. This may deserve perhaps to be chronicled as 

 an instance of well revv^arded confidence in the sobriety and capacity for 

 self-government of the American people. The signal box, which is the 

 sensitive extremity of the system, may beprotected by various methods 

 according to social requirements. In Boston it has been guarded by 

 putting it in the most public place and exposing it to the fullest hght. 



The fire-alarm telegraph contains also the elementsof a perfect police 

 system. In addition to the crank for alarm, every signal box is provi- 

 ded with a finger key, by means of which communications in the ordinary 

 telegraphic method can be sent to the central station, and an answer 

 can be returned from the centre and read by sound from the little bell 

 in the signal box. 



The mechanism of the fire telegVaph is arranged and disposed for 

 the purpose of preserving wealth, the fruit of human industry and of 

 nature's bounty, from destruction. It therefore accomplishes an end of 

 human use. But more than this, it is a higher system of municipal 

 organization than any which has heretofore been proposed or adopted. 

 In it the New World has taken a step in the forms of civilization in 

 advance of the Old. 



