UGLY RUMOURS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 69, 14 December 1907, Page 6

UGLY RUMOURS.

ARE THE 810 BUILDINGS THREATENED?

ELABORATE PRECAUTIONS

PERMANENT MILITIA MEN ON DUTY.

Elaborate precautions are being taken to safeguard the big wooden.' Departmental Buildings from the fate which has overtaken the Legislative Chambers. The Premier, it' is said, has received an anonymous communication threatening mysterious destruction to the huge pile, and, in obedience to' telegraphed Ministerial'orders, members of the Permanent Militia are keeping .weary guard against some possible prowling. foe. with incendiarism in his. heart. A camp of two bell tents has been pitched among'the red geraniums of the lawn, and all day long, while, the heroic clerks toil unremittingly in the huge building, two of the Dominion's defenders parade up arid down outside to protect them from a possible sudden doom. At night they pace with silent steps and furtive glances the length of the .long, walls, two men attempting, in a spirit of fine Quixotism, to defend' from cunning surprise an immense building with four sides. The duty x has its alleviations. The terms are merely two hours, "on" and four hours " off," and the man on guard is not required, to wear a burning helmet or to carry a rifle. Armed only with a, bayonet he ventures upon his deadly watch. His trust is in five other men left in the two bell-tents, who will hear his voice at. need, providing he does not get on the wrong side" of the building. They must not undress, or even take off their boots. They must be ready to rush forth at once, when the alarm is given. Those are. their strict injunctions. The old catechism of instruction in respect of- such occasions said: "Sentry, what are your duties?" Answer: "To take charge of all Government property in view of my post, and in case of fire, alarm the guard." That is what the Permanent Militia man will do. Ho is thankful that it means extra pay, and a respite from annoying duties on Sunday.

" WHO is the enemy? But who is tho dreaded enemy? It has been ingeniously suggested that some desperate criminal, knowing that the records of his finger-prints are preserved in the big building, may dream, of obliterating for ever the /damning evidence of his past misdeeds. If that is the case, his hope is vain. Fingerprints of criminals, to the number of- some soven or eight thousand, are indeed preserved on neat glass slips somewhere in the Departmental Buildings, but we are informed by the police that they are stored in a strong room which' is warranted to preserve its contents ontire against any fire that might burn. But if they were destroyed the invariable gaol practice is to take these precious' records in duplicate, and the duplicates are stored in another strong room, in another building. Even if the'contents of both safes wore destroyed ; not many criminals would escape identification in the future, for in the case of every criminal worth the name, photographs are taken of his finger-print records, which are sent, to tho police in other centres. These could be borrowed back at any time, or copies asked for. .The way.of the transgressor is indeed hard. .

PREVIOUS THREATS. . "Under the sun there's nothing now," and we are informed by the police that there have been repeated threats to burn down the Departmental Buildings during the past fifteen years, yet the Buildings still stand. Our informant could not say whether special precautions were taken on those occasions against the danger, but he thought they were. It was not known'who made the threats; they were, all anonymous.

A COMMON RISK. Probably the worst risk that imperils the big wooden buildings is the vague.risk common to all great wooden structures, which, in. the case of public offices, have an average life of only twenty years the whole world over. That is the allotted span according to statistics, so Captain Henuah, who has charge of the fire prevention arrangements, at the Departmental Buildings, informed one of our representatives. Now, these bnildings are already ove'r 30 years of age, so that it is necessary to have care. Captain Hennah thinks that jit'would beian excellent thing if the guard from the Permanent Militia, were made a regidar precaution. The Government Messengers are, for the most part, elderly men, who havo lost the activity and cjuickness essential to good firemen. Out of tho whole staff of firomen Captain Hennah lias only six whom ho can use for fire brigade duty. With these he holds a practice, ovory month, and they are fairly proficiont in their work. Tho members of the Permanent Militia, being young and active mon, accustomed to discipline, would speedily become oxport in handling tho fire prevention appliances at the Buildings, tho use of which is very simple. Tho layman'chiefly errs by turning on tho valve too quickly, and sometimes drains are hurst through such ignorant haste.

PRESENT FIRE PREVENTION SYSTEM. As far as ordinary precautions are concerned. Captain Hennah states that the facilities for fire prevention at the Departmental Buildings are very complete; hotter, indeed, than thoso of any building he has soon m Melbourne or Sydney. Captain Honnah was For-.fourteen years in command of tho. Ba.llarat City Fire Brigade, and left that position ,to become.Chief Officer of the Fire Brigade Board in Victoria, so inoi, he does not

speak without experience. Four night irr.tchmen aro on duty every night in the Departmental Buildings, two of them doing, duty until midnight, and two. more relieving theiii at that hour. None of tliem is a member of tlie huildings fire brigade staff. While'ono man makes the round of the buildings, flue other waits for him in the messengers' room. This room is in direct connection with the Fire Brigade station and the police, and from any jjoor the nia.n making the rounds can communicate directly wilii • his comrade in the.'messengers' room, or with the Fire Brigade station. The facilities for dealing with a fire are very V.ompfoto on every floor, arid there is a'splendid pressure of water. All the valves are in perfect .working order, ,as Captain Hennah, with his, senior fireman., tests them weekly. They are old-fashioned valves, and'turn'in the' opposite direction to the modern article, but they work quite easily.

■'With the men J have," said Captain Hennah, "I am certain that, any firo breaking -out-in the day time could always be put out, provided it had not reached the roof.' 1 He added that if a guard were retained to watch the buildings from tho outside, at night, while the night watchmen did their duty inside, the' risk from fire would be diminished to a minimum.,

It appears that Government House was in =tnminent.danger during the tire on Wednesday morning. The paling fence within a few feet of .the residence actually caught, and sparks were falling on.the building; which was probably saved by a little party of (ire-fighters with two lengths of hose working independently of tho Brigade. If Government House bad been destroyed, the Museum would, almost certainly have gono with it, judging from .the direction of the, wind.