THE FIRE BRIGADE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 57, 21 October 1911, Page 5

THE FIRE BRIGADE.

annual meeting and dinner

’fhe annual meeting and dinner of the Fire Brigade were held last night

Tho Meeting.

The meeting was held at the Fire Brigade Station, there being a full muster of members. The Committee presented the fol- , losing report:—The total receipts for the year have been £B2 6s 3d, including balance from last year of £1 19s (jjE, Of this total £53 17s lid -has •ijcdn expended, leaving a balance of £2B 8s 4d to' credit. The largest item in the expenditure was £23 15s 3d, in paying off the balance of tlie overdraft in tho name of Captain Grbbb and Secretary Burgess at the National Bank in connection with the alterations to the station. The number of fires for the year has been soven ( an increase of two over the previous year. The first was Derby Bros’, sash and door factory. When the brigade arrived at the fire it was flbriri at once that it was a hopeless tank to nave anything, the fire having too strong a hold before the alarm was given. The next was the Trocadeto, which proved to bo the worst khown in Stratford. The building was well in flames before the alarm was given. A number of the boarders met M’ilh accidents, three of them being seriously burnt and injured, but we are very thankful to say that all of then! have quite recovered. This fire was -another almost past saving, but the brigade did excellent work in saving, part of the building and the raily way signal-box, the Department presenting a cheque for ten pounds to the/brigade for their good work. The blither factory fire was next, but owing jo the very . poor pressure of water, which was a great handicap, the time spent in getting the fire out was longer than it Would otherwise have been. The brigade received a letter of thainks and a donation of £5 5s from the directors for their good work in checking the fire. The old Huymarket was the next fire, the alarln in this case also being given late,, the building being almost down when the brigade arrived on the scene. Tho brigade was next called to Mr Besley’s residence, but the fire was suppressed with a few buckets of watch. The sixth alarm was for the School/' The fire in this buildiqgjnlso had a strong hold, but with a good muster 1 of members and a good supply of water, the brigade saved a good portion of the building. The was at Mrs Greig’s boarding but in this case the members had jb pick up the metal on the road before'the plugs could be found, this rafting up froin fifteen to twenty minutes,::- With tlje strong wind blowi fig, at "the Dime and the delay in getjpg the water, the fire gained a good toft!, and under the circumstances the lUpjhbers did good work in saving parf of the building. The matter qf. v ,:,aiiending to. the fire-plugs was brought under the ■ notice of the Borough and at the present time we are pleased to say they are in gbqd order. - The total musters for the year have : been 32—meetings 13, practices 12, and fires 7. ' There were ~no false alarms. The present membership of the brigade is 25, including'two messengers. One member is bn leave, four have left, and five new memfiprs have joined. The committee • pave again to congi’atulate the members on the good work done l during 7 they ear. ' Both practices and meetings have been well attended, and good work has been done in cohipetitiopi . The; 1 United 'Fire Brigades .'Association's conference and .demonstration 1 , was held'at; Hokitika Utst MdrbliV 1 the Stratford brigade being represent/ ed by Firemen Evans, Griifin, Drake, Boon, and Rickleben. The next conference is to be'Held at Rotorua. Tlie brigade’s thanks are also tendered to the Borough l Council for the manner in „whicb they look after the brigade in supplying the necessary requirements.. The brigade’s annual juvenile Hall was hejd last month, and, as usual, was a great success. Your committee must place on record the untiring work done by the ladies’ committee, to .'whose energy in training the children and providing the supper, the success of/the ball is due. In

Conclusion, your committee trusts that this brigade, by careful management,. ' and with the assistance of members, will still maintain the strong position and good name it now holds. In moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, Captain Grubb congratulated the brigade on its good financial position, and also on the success of the brigade generally. The past year had been a strenuous one, but on every occasion members had done their duty in the best manner. Lieut. Rowson seconded the motion. '■ - - The'.Mayor thanked the brigade on behalf of the Borough Council for the good work done during the year. He did not realise until he heard it mentioned ' in the report that there had been seven fires during the past year. ‘ The Council were considering the raising of a loan, and if the loan was obtained he assured them that the brigade would not be forgotten. The Council hoped to be able to equip the brigade as the brigade of a town of such importance should be equipped. (Applause.) ‘ , The report and balance-sheet were adopted. The secretary reported that the credit balance on the recent juvenile ball was £24 15s 6d. The Mayor said he had. made several endeavours to get members of the fire police together to swear them in, but had not been able to do so. Sixteen persons had handed in their names as willing to serve in the corps, but only two had turned up to be sworn in. Captain Grubb said he would get the names of those willing to serve, arid ' arrange times for swearing in. The attendance roll for the year was read and showed that Lieut. Rowson and Custodian Payton had attended the full number of musters—-thirty-two. Mr. T. G. Grubb was re-elected captain. Messrs; Rowson and Wilson were nominated for. the post of lieutenant, Mr. Rowson being re-elected. Mr. Wjlson was elected first foreman, Mr. Boon withdrawing. Mr. Burgess was elected second foreman and secretary of the brigade. Messrs. Boon, Walsh, Drake, Kivell, Davey, Davis, and Lane were nominated for ( positions on the committee, Messrs. Boon, Walsh, and Kivell being electpd. Messrs. Sole and Bnrmester wore re-elected auditors. Mr Payton declined . nomination as custodian, ‘ and Mr. Datis was elected to the position. An honorarium ..f three guineas was ■voted to the secretary. Lieut. Rowson reported that he had inspected both stations and found all plant in good order. Captain Grubb read a telegram ' of apology from Captain Rolleston, of the Inglewood brigade,-for non-attend-ance. The Dinner. After the meeting members and their guests repaired to Mr. Simmons’ Dining Rooms, and after full justice had been done to the good things provided, a toast-list was gone through. Captain Grubb presided. The Borough Council’s Fire Brigade Commit-

tee (the -Mayor and Crs. King and Lawson), and Captain Nuttall, Lieut. Rogers, Foreman Murray. Secretary Burrows, and Fireman Dillon (of the Eltham Brigade) were among the guests. Tlie Mayor proposed the toast of the Stratford Fire Brigade. He asked his hearers to contemplate tho sad straits of the country if all tho firemen went on strike. The fireman had a hard job, and was always at tho call of the fircbell. Personally, lie would almost prefer to be a Borough Councillor than a fireman. Sometimes tiie firemen said the Council did not treat the brigade properly, but the fact was that the Council was not able to do more than it did. If the brigade wanted improved plant, they would have to vote for tho Borough’s proposed loans, and if tlie loan for the, electric light was not carried ho felt sure the other loans would not be carried. Ho also desired to state that if the electric light works were acquired at a reasonable price—perhaps much less than the company wanted—they would provide revenue which would pay. interest on a further loan of £15,000. He did not exactly like to go into local politics at such a time, but he might not have tho opportunity of speaking again to tiio present company, and what ho had just said he was saying to everybody iie met. In conclusion, Mr. Masters said that despite slight temporary disagreements, the Council was proud of the brigade, and desired to see it equipped in proper fashion. Captain Grubb said, in reference to a remark of tho Mayor’s, that members of the brigade did not regard their work as a sacrifice. The work was highly exciting both for old and young members, and the old members were quite as enthusiastic as tlie younger ones.

Captain Grubb proposed “The Borough Council.” The Council was to the brigade as the cow to the calf, and during tho past year the brigade had got practically everything they had asked for. Ho felt sure that when tiro loans were carried the first thing the. Council would think of would ho tho Fire Brigade. Cr. King, in reply, sajd tlie Mayorhad said everything possible about the Fire Brigade, and on the question of the light, he was not allowed to speak, as if he said anything tho Borough Council would call him to order and state that ho was 'trying to, foist a worthless bussiness on the unsuspecting ratepayer; but he would say this, that if tho business paid the Borough as well as it had paid tho company, the Borough would have an excellent asset. There came times when the building trade was slack, and at such times the fire brigade always seemed over-zealous, and as for a hose bursting, the hoses would never burst when the buildjng trade was dull. (Laughter.) He felt sure that tho time was not far off when tire brigade wo.ud need some better means of getting to fires, and an engine should be procured if the proposed loan was carried. He had known the bri, 'de when it was under Captain KiveU, before there were any water mains, and he had seen the work of Captain , Grubb, and during tlie whole of that •time _the brigade had done excellent work. In conclusion, ho assured them that tlie Borough Council, whether' - he was on jt or not, would always have the best interests of the brigade at heart. 'The following two years’ service liars were presented by the Mayor:— Tq Lt. Rowson, completing 17 years’ service, Fireman Kivell 17 years, Firequi'l Crossan, 17 years; Foreman Burgess, 13 years. Hydrantman Walsh was presented with a three yea-s’ cer tificate. ■'

Rowson proposed ■ “The United Firo Brigades’ Association,” to which Captain Nutt all (Eltham) rcpllied. Captain Nuttall said the association had been in existence for between thirty and thirty-five years, ft had started with a membership of about twelve brigades, whereas now there were a hundred and ten. The association had done excellent work in improving the condition 1 of fire brigades, and had .to be thanked for instituting the insurance scheme, which vj as one of . the best things the association had ever for firemen. Ho had known the Stratford Brigade under both Captains Kivell and Grubb, and lie had always looked upon it as one of the smartest in Taranaki. Ho had seen some excellent saves by the Stratford Brigade. Ho had suggested to Captain Grubb that the Stratfo-d and Eltham brigades should exchange visits for the purpose of holding a card tournament.

Foreman Wilson proposed “The Visitors.” Instead of a card tournament, he would be in favour of a firefighting competition. (Captain Nuttall: “We’d beat you.”) Ho was surprised that the brigades of Taranaki ■wore not more in touch with each other. At present the Dominion demonstration took place only once in two years, and those taking part had to travel long distances. He thong lit there should be a demonstration for Taranaki brigades. Big prizes were not necessary—he thought members of all brigades would be prepared to compete for medals, even if they were small silver ones, j Lieut. Rogers, in reply, said that five years ago a demonstration was held for brigades from New Plymouth to Patea; but it had to bo considered that such a fixture was expensive to run, and a big attendance of the public could not he relied on, though the competitions were interesting enough to firemen. He would like to see a competition between Eltham and Stratford brigades. Eltham had a pretty slick team . (A voice: “So nave we.”) He would like to see some sort of a competition arranged between the Eltham, Stratford, and Inglewood teams. Ho thought the New Plymouth and Hawera teams were rather too good for the other Taranaki brigades. (A voice: “Question.”) Captain'Nuttall doubted if the brigades in the larger towns were much better than in the smaller towns. If a Taranaki demonstration was wanted Stratford should tiy it next summer. Foreman Burgess proposed “The Life Members.”

Ex-Foreman C. D. Sole, in reply, said ho was pleased to see some of the original members present—Lieut Rowson and Firemen Kivell and Crossan—these having joined the brigade when it was formed. Properly, Fireman Kivell should have received the Association’s gold star, ho having really rendered twenty-five years’ service, though he had been struck off the Association’s books through having been out of a brigade from the time ho left New Plymouth Brigade until the brigade was formed in Stratford.

Mr. T. Partridge also responded. Fireman W. Baton proposed “The Ladies,” Fireman Gorton responding. Fireman Kivell, proposing the toast of “The Press,” said that two Taranaki demonstrations had been held, one in New Plymouth and one in Wanganui, but neither was a success. He thought Inglewood, Stratford., and Eltham should have three competitions each year, a shield being provided for the winners. He was sure all the brigades would be willing to compete merely for the honour of winning. Mr.' C. D. Sole proposed “Our Host,” to which Mr. J. Simmons responded. Captain Grubb proposed the toast

of their accompanist, Mr. J. H. Thompson, and mentioned that he had presided at a good number of the brigade’s dinners. Air. Thompson, in reply, paid a tribute to the work of tlie brigade, which hud come under his notice as an insurance agent. During the evening songs wore contributed by Mr. J. H. Thompson, Secretary Burrows (Eltham), Foreman Wilson, Fireman Walsh, Captain Nuttall (Eltham), and Fireman Ricklohen.