THE COMMAND OF THE FIRE PRIGADE. TO THE EDITOR.

Evening Post, Volume LVI, Issue 155, 29 December 1898, Page 2

THE COMMAND OF THE FIRE PRIGADE. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir — The City Fathers have been "sittng," and the practical result of their incubation is that they require an up-to-date man, with long experience, under 45 years of age, all for' the munificent sum' of £250 and house per annum. Such an inspiration can scarcely be said to be of "Devine" origin, and it proves conclusively that that sapient and august bodyhas not risen to the occasion. In cities like Sydney and Melbourne — and com paratively speaking Wellington is just ass important, and perhaps more so, considering that it is more or less a wooden city —5600 or £5700 a year and quarters is not considered too high a pay for such a service ; and how the Council can expect suck a man to risk his life ajacl hardearned reputation for such a' paltry sum exceeds belief! True, there will be many applicants, but it wil) be- the position that will have the magnetic influence, and it may be doubted if the Council hassufficient ability to single out the proper man. Had say £300 or £350 been offered it might have tempted me, for T n^ust admit I know that much about fires (I light our range occasionally) to say that the Hillstreet one was an excellent example of how not to do it. (Of course this remark is ex cathedra.) I, at least, without knowing anything particularly of hydrostatics, would not have taken more thar four branches frqm a 6in pipe, and certainly would not have attempted as many as 10 or 12. While the late captain might have erred, surely it does not take an expert like myself to point out that if dividing walls do not extend beyond the roof, and if one part burns up, as the older part did in the Royal Oak fire, and the other part burns downward, the fault lies more with (he architect and the builders than with the underpaid fire brigade captain ; fov, after all, did not the Council get all and perhaps more than it paid for? No, make it worth having, and there is a man at hand (not myself this time) who requires neither sleam fire-engines nor obselete fire-escapes, one who, I feel certain, had no equal or superior in that sphere, and the Council will have one who will reflect credit on them and himself alike. — I am, etc., Cebberus.