FIRE BRIGADES' CONFERENCE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 8098, 24 March 1905, Page 6

FIRE BRIGADES' CONFERENCE.

Secretary Lewis' Impressions.

Some Interesting Notes by

the Way.

An Enjoyable and Instructive

Trip.

At the - meeting of the Mastorton Fire Police, on Wednesday evening, Secretary Lewis read a lengthy report, of which the following is a synopsis, of the recent Fire Brigades' Conference, in Dunedin, at which he represented the Mastevton Fire Police as delegate : —

On March 2nd I left Master ton, in company with the representatives of the Masterton and Patea Fire Brigades, and were joined by several other teams before reaching . Wellington. Our boat — the Moeraki—was timed to sail at five o'clock that afternoon, so that we had several spare hours in which to " see the sights " of the city. The run down to Lyttelton occupied 14 £ hours, and we thus arrived too late to catch the express train to Dunedin. The next through train left at eleven o'clock, so that we had just time to look over the museum and a few other places of interest. At the. hour stated we started on the somewhat wearisome train journey of 101 hours, and, by the time Dunedin was reached, there were fully two hundred firemen on board. Foreman Carrington, of the Dunedin City Fire Brigade, met us at the station and directed us to our lodgings, The next morning (Saturday) I strolled down to the practice ground ; all was bustle and stir. There were about three hundred men on the ground, some packing up, others running, and others again waiting anxiously for a turn. That evening a further complement of delegates and competitors, numbering about 250, arrived. The only event worthy of note that night was an alarm of fire, at about nine o'clock, which created no small stir, till it was discovered to be an outbuilding about a mile or so from town. There was a good muster at church parade next morning, and a very interesting sermon, the subject of which was " Courage" was preached by Rev. W. Goven, of Knox Church. In the afternoon the procession, including five bands, formed again at the Octagon, and marched to the Botanical Gardens, where we had the pleasure of listening to a sacred concert. Unfortunately, the pleasure was a little damped by a heavy " Scotch mist." A collection taken at the gates, in aid of the Hospital, realised £200.

At nine o'clock next morning, the President, Captain Wynn, of Lawrence, declared the Conference open, and expressed pleasure at seeing so many old friends, and also warmly welcomed the large number of young delegates. He trusted that all would receive some benefit and inspiration from the Conference. After the formal opening, the delegates were welcomed by Mr Arnold, M.H.R., the Mayor, Town Clerk, and several Councillors. The first business on the agemht paper was a motion from the Gore Fire Brigade, which, however, was negatived after a brief discussion. The old familiar friend of the Conference, " boots," was next discussed for some considerable time. The principal business was the discussion of the motion from the Napier Fke Police, that the previous resolution admitting fire police and salvage corps only under certain restrictions be rescinded, and that they be admitted to all privileges of the Association, Avith the exception of the longservice medal (already agreed upon). On being put to the meeting, the motion was carried unanimously. Invitations to hold the next Conference were received from- Temuka and Nelson, and on the ballot being taken it resulted in favour of the latter place by 73 votes to 8.

The Fire Brigades' Bill was then discusser!, officers elected, and other business transacted, aad the Conference adjourned at G p.m. At seven we formed up at the Octagon for a torchlight procession. An immense crowd lined the streets, the largest crowd in fast that has been seen in Dunedin for a long time past. Next day a very enjoyable picnic was held at Waitati, the firemen and their friends being conveyed thither in a train of eighteen double carriages. One of the chief events of the day was a tug-o'-war, " North Island v. South Island," in which the former came oIT victorious. On Wednesday morning all were on the qn'i rice for the great Demonstration was to commence at nine o'clock. A little delay was caused by the bursting of one of the water mains, but apart from this everything went smoothly. The gate takings amounted to over £90, which was very satisfactory, considering the charge for admission was only sixpence. At night the Conference was concluded and the business of the Accident Insurance Conference also transacted. The rest of our stay in Dunedin was devoted to sight-seeing and pleasure, and never did we enjoy ourselves more thoroughly or receive such kindly consideration on every hand. One of the first places of interest to be visited was the Town Hall. Fortunately, I had my camera, and secured some splendid views from the top of the tower, 175 feet in height. The dial of the clock in this tower is twenty-five feet in circumference. A good deal of our moving about from place to place was by means of the cable cars. In some places the grades are very " stiff," one dip in the Mornington extension being one in three. I must confess that when our car took this dive I commenced to wonder where we would end up. I secured some good views of the steepest incline in the world. On Sunday I went to the Hospital to see an old fireman, who had been taken ill at the Demonstration. I had hardly reached the institution when an alarm was • sounded on the firebell. A sensational incident happened when the Brigade was responding to the call. One of the horses fell, with the result that the fire-cart collided with one of the electric tram poles, doing considerable damage. The driver's arm was broken, but the rest of the firemen escaped with sundry bruises. At mid-day, on the following Tuesday, I left Dunedin, stopping at Palmerston, Orari, and Geraldine on the trip to Christchurch, which place was eventually reached at 11.30 on Wednesday night. . At 5.30

p.m., on Tuesday, we steamed out of Lyttelton,. and reached Wellington next morning, after a rough passage of a little over twelve hours. An hour or two later we were on board the train, and speeding towards Masterton.