CITY FIRE BRIGADE.
Your obedient servant, li. J. HA WORTH, Chief Engineer, City Fire Brigade. Cliristchurcli, 3rd Feb., 1869. •
TO THE KDITOB OF THE LTTTELTON TIMES. SirA letter under the above heading, signed "A Ratepayer," appears in your paper this morning. Some of the statements in it reflect unjustly on ray efficiency, and are calculated to injure my character, as negligent and unfit for the duty which I have undertaken to perform. Your correspondent says,—" On the arrival of the men at the station it was found necessary to search ahout in all directions for fuel to get up steam, the engine not being left, as should have been the case, ready for immediate use." This statement I entirely deny the truth of; and I can produce respectable witnesses as to its untruth. I reside at the
Ugirt&llouse In tliif Mkrkfet-piadJ. I Wdl •awoke by -a person-knocking at the door about seven on Sunday morning. I got the engine out with all speed possible under,, |tlie, of[ their being none but a few volunteers—not of the brigade—present, to help > me, i-There t was sufficient fuel , in' : ' the. locker of the engine to last four hours, and the fire was alight as soon as the engine .wis got outside the engine-house. " A Ratepayer" also says that "46 minutes elapsed from the time the alarm was given by all the bells in the city " before the steam engine was in workiiig order. ' When I was called at 4h, 7m,, no bell was yet ringing, I did not happen to notice how many minutes elapsed between that and the engine ' being ready to work, But we had got her to the position assigned to her, done air that we could do towards extinguishing the fire, and: were limbering ui> to take her home , when the clock struck five; so that your correspondent would make out that we were not more than eight minutes at work on the fire —which every one present knows to be incorrect. Trusting that you will allow me space for this defence against an anonymous and untrue attack upon me,
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Bibliographic details
Lyttelton Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2524, 4 February 1869, Page 3
Word Count
351CITY FIRE BRIGADE. Lyttelton Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2524, 4 February 1869, Page 3
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