INSPECTOR HUGO HONOURED.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 197, 14 May 1908, Page 9

INSPECTOR HUGO HONOURED.

■« ADDRESS AND PRESENTATIONS. . WELLINGTON'S EXCESSIVE FIRES. , Tho dreaded firobell did not ring. Danco and song succeedcd 0110 another joyously and without- evil interruption, and tho social givcnr by-,tho;Wellington Firo Pohco to Inspector Hugo and the.-member-of tho Wellington Firo Brigade last ovenmg at the station was undoubtedly a great succcss. Tho most important . matter was, howV e^er,'/nQt..-the dancing, ( but the .supper, for. that--■'':Was:jmado: J ':tho;'::o(^flsipn , .;.f6r. tions ito 1 -Inspector ' Hugo, who has Telm- '- quiaheil ,tlie "positioh'of-supcrintondeht of the Wellington Firo Bngado ~to accept tho newly-created -post, of General Inspector of Firo Brigades hi. tho Dominion, ' THE JLVYOR'S ADDRESS : The: Mayor; (tho Hon. T, W. Hislop), who ; was present' with Mrs. Hislop, said that one of tho: objects. of -the gathering was that ' tli'e Fire ; Police should present- Mr. ■Hugo; 011'tho occasion of his retirement from , the Brigade'' command, with an' address -'showing" their appreciation of the services 'which;-he'had rendered' to Wellington .in general, to tho -Firo Police m particular; - and-to tho iFiro 1 Brigade. They wero all very sorry to lose lus services as manager and superintendent of tho-Fire Bngado and Fire- Polico, but- they were reconciled by thoi fact. that : he would enter mto a larger sphere," where,ho ..would exercise control' over the fire brigades ■ of the Dominion, and whero Ill's abilities and usefulness-would have wider-'scope. Mr. Hugo had come to Wellington ; many years* ago, and since then ho had-recommended .himself, not..only by his own-st&rii-.attachment to duty, but- by the way mUwhiclr hevhad-,controlled tho Bngado,- and (maintained, among its membors 1 a spirit- of emulation jn,-their; service. to -thocity: 1 He was :,quito ■ suro that m his now position Mr, 11 Hugo would; by his high qualities - and devotion; to duty, exercise a very great influenco on all- the brigades 111 New Zealand, and thoy congratulated the Govern-ment-011 making'such a good- appointment. ■ Ho had'had mixed feelings when Mr;-Hugo spoke to him-' about, a testimonial from s thc .• City . Council in now of .his new. position. Ho .had' a- selfish, feeling-that it- would be better perhaps if tho City kept Mr. Hugo for > '•.' itself, 1 : but-i wh'en'- i ho '■ considered' ' the 1 - highest -citizenship.'.he,iknew;that,.it; was, best that tho < advantago of ■ his- sorvices. should.-be 1 shared -by the., rest of the - Dominion.- The. I Wellington .Bngado would have tho .benefit | of, his; advico . m futuro, and so would tho 1 : other. ..brigades., . .Ho was sure that ..Mr. Hugo's .work. would go to make tho firo ,brigades: fit New Zealand far. moro.effective and that-lie would create a spirit of comradeship and,emulation m-tho brigades that must be; for,, the;good.,of. tho Dominion in general. 1 _

THE ADDRESS. '--'' ; Th6'l'{6Uoinng;:add]^:t'(KliS:;.^e|^/ ( Lieutenant Dawson, and. presented to Inspector Hugo — . Wellington,"New' Zealand,' " May 11, 1908 ",To Thomas T. ;Esq., Superin-. .• 'Firo \ Bngado., > : "Dear-: 1 -Sir—Wo '-tlio undersigned '. --. officers ' and 5 : members; of. the; Wellington Volnnt-eer.'Fire Polico feel'that the :occasioix. of . your' departure from among -lis i should merit some expression of the gooa - - feeling which is entertained,for;-you by - tho-members generally.-:. Tho long period • ■ of you£ offico, some nine years, assupir- ; ' .. . intendont' bfrtho'-local brigado hai' served to • ongonder i ties of personal friendship - -. with you-which cannot easily: bo severed," . and wo desire therefore; to-ask'.vour,ac-'"- ' coptanco -of, .this illuminated ' address as'.' -' a small' token* of ■' our,.' dpp'reciatioff ,trfTJ v our s ..services during... Jiho., timo wo have been -;unde.r,your,control, and as (i.memento-,of. : : all -jifmes ..fho" ® fies. ,of; your.',;., officq./ Wo further desire to assure you thatinyournew position of General. Inspector ofvJTiro- Brigades -for. tho .Dot-. . minion tho'best.wishes, of will: follow 'you, .and. they will- ever, be ■ -,pleased-to. hear of both your own and : family's; prosperity, and'success. r \ • " Wo romam, dear Sir,' -.-j". . '' "YOTJR:VERY SINCERE FRIENDS" (Here'followed tho names of tho officers ■ and members of tho corps ) i The'address,-which: was handsomely framed; : was very , beautifully engrossed by Mr. J." ' Zachariah. In the top left-hand corner was a representation: of tho brigade's motor firo, OTHER TRIBUTES.

~ - Councillor Colion, who - has boon very dose-' ./-" ly identified lyith Mr.' Hugo's work as' Super- , intendent; 'said that tho City- .Council should ■ •' bei-proiid 'that; tho..;6oyernment I ; lla'd''gblected, , ■ its officer ouji. of"some • eishtepnor' twenty .../ .applications |fonii':an'the'Ai#i^ , skn - 'Staiietf.--Hera's- losiiig Mr, -, ' .pjeastjd that; lie was gotting; such ,' a: JhteHi* pbsitioM: ■ v ;The: 1 Wellington brigado ; would not'bp, entitled to his sei> - iccs, as' there 'was no' ; flre'-,bbard hefe; but ho. had ho doubt that. heiwould:givo.. them : ;tho' benefit of his advico : .whenever : jt might-bo-required. <. . Councillor Ballinger,/'who -has 'also, -been' : dosely,.associatediwith.Mr.;'Hugo. Binca his arrivaL ,in., Wellington, - said he -that' tlio Gpverilmeht , had Zinado.;; a splendid ap-. ;■pointinqrit..:,;'Sb wisherl-Mrl Hugo. and his ... Wraily 'eyfry.successVahd-, happiness. - , r ~ ■ '>■' Lieutenant Doyle, of ,the:f'iro -Police, ,'aiid- ;■ ed ■ his " congratulations. ~ Everybody ..recog-:, •' nisod, ho ■ said,'the 'excellent:,standard of tho. Wellington iFire Brigade now;, but few: real- : ised the which Mr. : Iluiro had V had to siirmount'in'bringing; it to that conditioii.; -Jlr. Hugo ' had made enohiies, Hko every ; man'; that;, 'salt, -but' : y.y cortainlV ■' hi? - most bitter enemy.; could - not' V. : deny tliat -h'o was 'an ablo fif-cman- and 'a' scrupulously.'honourable', man. • (Applause.) Lieutenant 'Biggs,' of' the- Fire' Police"; also ... spoke, Rafter: which: hearty cheers -were given; for Mr. and Mrs. Hugo. ,- • ' • Councillor ',Cohori,' bn behalf of tho Fire Police,: presented Mrs. Hu"o with a beautiful gold bracelet. Although Mrs. Hugd was not a-member ;■ of the,'Firo .Police, she had taken a-great-, deal, o{ interest in their work, and her departure would-bo greatly missed. . : INSPECTOR HUGO IN REPLY. Inspector - Hugo, in replying, said that ho dad-.."got a littlo list" of ..matters to v/hicli he must refer. . In, his first'-.report to the ®. City Council he-had asked for" 17 permanent men and \IOO "auxiliaries. That number ;might''seem.tp'bo "on-'tho-largo'side,' but Hie quoted-tho example of Portland, - Maine, to show that-it was not excessive. . .His troublo | was that there'iworc ';no , suburban brigades. Ho saw thalj-.he would not got.right av/ay the .' force which ho- desired for a city brigade, , and; ; this; .led him to, .tho formation' of tlio. ' Police.: Fire,. Corps.' Messrs. Balliu'ger ,and ;; Cohcn' .topk ,up the selibm'o, ,'aiid. at the, first meeting,- hold in 1899,' eleven members we'ro' enrolled,; of whom five were present that evening. ..The first' captaiii was Mr. Ballingcr, . and the - first secretary'. Mr. Bedford. He - thought'- that tho '. Wellington ' I'ire . Police Corps,-Were ' alnip'§t uniijue; somo :of their work had been'.very exceptional." Ho had never heard'of! any pilfering at fires in "tlio city since 'they : w6ro; erirolled; . He • thanked them for the assistance they had given him. To the Mayor .and .Council, and particularly the Fire Brigade; Committeo, he gave thanks for : the ..most; courteous treatment which he ': had ■ -always expe/ioncod from'thorn.' If • ho had not; always received from them !all that . he required, the funds, and not their desire, : T/ere 1 lacking. As, regards the Brigade, it contained.-'good firemen,, and if they wero as loyal tjj;his'.successbr as to himself-lio would' have.,no cause-for coniplaint; He had not been stricter! 'than was Accessary..:for. the corps! good, and he had novcr spared himself. (Hear, hear.) In the volunteer brigades they had 80 men, and now that these wero getting a little experience of fires, and tho. Council intended to present them with uniforms, , they tfould bo of great service in the caso of ; largo fires..' Very fow. fires during his term of ofSco had got otit of tho -building in which they'started. When they, did do so,',on,tho . occasions-of. the Hawker, Street and Lamb- : . ton 4 Quay fires, the-cause .was lack of'water. Tho n->oortinn - f fires to nopulat,inn in Wel-

lington and : New Zealand was far too large. There were 257 calls to fires' in Wellington last year, and with this record ho contrasted tho. following British totals for, the samo period:—Dublin' (population 400,000), 250; Aberdeen (170,000), 130:, Newport, Wales (70,000), .31Sunderland (152,000), 112; Bolton (174,000), '89. There ■ must bo something very wrong in Now Zealand, and 'it was timo -that steps, wero taken to diminish.- this excessive number of fires. Ono cause was over-insuranco; he did not say that many fires were dirootly duo to incendiarism, but they wero very/largely due to carolessness, caused by over-insuranco, and very great over-insurajice. Scrim and paper made another cause. Some, of tho older houses in Wellington had been vory badly built, and this militated against the work of tho brigade.' It was a redeeming feature ■ that • there had nover been loss- of lifo through fires in Wellington during his This was partly duo to tho Government's legislation in regard to fire escapes. Ono of tho-things that had been tho salvation of Wellington had been the excellent reticulation, the largo and numerous mains, 71.11 d tho splendid water supply. Thcro would be no need .of Tiro engines in Wellington while that' supply was maintained. There was 110 Tiro service in-thp-world that could surpass the water pressure that was:turned on at the recent fite in Conrtenay. Place. He was' very - loth to leave tho' Wellington brigade.- Pecuniary considerations had had nothing to' do with his.retirement; financially his now appointment was hot so good as tho one lie ..had', left. He had .been greatly, pleased, by tho congratulations which lie had received from all parts of New. Zealnaid and Australia, 1 many . of them from Australians in responsible positions ,'who had. nover seen him, but only acted nn the: reputation ho had ; left'behind;-; He thanked;',the fire police warmly, for' their presentations to Mrs.- Hugo and himself. • - ; > ■ , , OTHER PRESENTATIONS. ; The' Mayor presented Mr.' and Mrs. Hugo with 'handsome dressing-cases, appropriately inscribed, from . tjie members of ' the Firo Brigade., ' Mr. Hvigo returned thanks. / ; . ! The Mayor also' presented medals and bars to members; of ; the' Brigade ..-as . Lieutenant Banfierety, seven years' .service) medal -,; Fireman Watkius, thirteen years' service, bar.s Fireman Tail, seven years' 'service, bar Fireman Reynolds;, five years' service, medal; Fireman Roberts, three years' service, certificate. ■ ':■ V T Cheers wero then given for tho Mayor and Mayoress,"and the programme of dancing, was resumed. ■ ••'■ .- •••; During the evening' sones .were given, by Miss Hugo, Miss M'K<iy. Mr. T..Donaldson, and Mr. Durnev, while Mr. Oakland contributed n concertina solo. Lieutenant Doyle was M.C. Over a hundred persons wero present. - .., ,