MATAURA FIRE BRIGADE

Southland Times, Issue 23254, 17 July 1937, Page 9

MATAURA FIRE BRIGADE

To The Editor Sir,—As one of the first members of the Mataura Fire Brigade I should like to state that I am entirely at one with members of the brigade in the stand they have taken. A public meeting was called by the Mayor (Mr C. D. McConnell) and addressed by his request by ex-Superintendent T. Ramage somewhere about 10 years ago for the purpose of forming the brigade. The speaker endeavoureu to convince that meeting of the advisability of declaring the town a fire district under the Fire Brigades Act. In doing this, I realize now that he was striving to save us from all this dissatisfaction. I see that the brigade at the last council meeting made a request for a hose-drying pole. I remember quite well the late Captain W. Nixon making a similar request about eight years ago. How many repeated requests for this have been made I do not know, but knowing the necessity for such I should say they would be numerous. Before making a statement to the effect that the brigade always get what it asks for councillors should make themselves conversant with the facts. The present council is undoubtedly now suffering for the delinquencies of past councils. Summed up, is it not time that the ratepayers took a hand in this by way of the polling booth, when I am quite certain that the right thing would be done for the brigade, placing it on a proper and efficient footing and thus ending all this frequent difference of opinion and dissatisfaction to both council and brigade. —Yours, etc., EX-FIREMAN. July 16, 1937.