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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1904)
Omaha's New Fire Department T IS ESTIMATED that the Omaha fire department will be Increased from 15 to 26 per cent la efficiency reason of the new engine " ' t houses, apparatus and men with In tho next two months. The new stations have been built at a total cost exceeding W,000, a new fire engine and other equip ment purchased at an expense of $:TS.00O, fend arrangements made necessary for the employment of twenty-seven additional tncn. Aside from this about fifteen horses have been bought at prices averaging $'-QJ apiece, meaning a total outlay of approxi mately $85,000. With all this, neither Mayor Moores nor Fire Chief Suiter are satisfied, and they are making long distance plans for two more houses and equipment one to be lo cated near Twentieth and Lake str.ets and the other In the neighborhood of the high school at Twentieth and Dodge Streets. The fire department now consists of 118 men, but will be Increased to 145 after the new stations are put in operation, a hook and ladder company of twelve men. both to go Into the house under construction at Eleventh and Jackson streets, and another hose company of bIjc men to go Into th house Just finished at Twenty-seventh and Jones streets. After several years effort upon the part Of Mayor Moores the house at Eleventh and Jackson streets, intended to protect the jobbing district, is nearing completion. It Is a big and handsome structure, in do Sign so striking that It was mistaken for a railway passenger station by a woman Visitor from the country tho other day. , Although in the wholesale district. It la near enough to the retail section of the city to be of avail there in case of a big" fire. It will be used to house tin engine company, an Immense hook and 1 tdder truck and Its complement of men, hose wagons and a chemical engine, not now In service. It will be No. 14 of the city fire stations. The house Just completed at Twenty seventh nnd Jones streets Is substituted for an old frame building and, therefore, does not add to the sum total of the houses. A new hose wagon and company will be Stationed there, however, together with the light hook and ladder company that has been housed there. When the new equipment is In the de partment will have five engines and com panies, eight hose companies, two eight y-flve-foot hook and ladder trucks and their big companies, three light city hook and ladder companies, a water tower, operated by an extra man with one of the engine companies and a chemical engine, which will be manned without a separate com pany. The new fire engine which Is to go into the Eleventh and Jones streets house Is being manufactured by the American Fire Engine company at Cincinnati at a con tract price of $5,100. It Is known as the "Metropolitan" engine and is an extra first size, weighing 9.S00 pounds and capablo of throwing 1,200 gallons of water a minute. It is equipped with the Fox sectional boil ers and is made throughout of the best materials that money can buy. It will be the biggest and best engine in the Omaha department and but ono size smaller than the largest engine made. It will bo named tho "Frank E. Moores," and Is due to arrive within a month. The trucks and five new hose wagons have been purchased from the Sea grave company at Columbus, O. The elglity-ilve-foot aerial, rapid raising hook and ladder truck cost $5,400 and Is said to be one of the finest of its kind ever designed. It has one elghty-flve-foot ladder, one sixty feet and one fifty, together with several smaller ones. The hoisting device enables two men to raise the biggest l.idder In fifteen seconds, whereas six men are re quired to perform tho same service on the big truck now owned by the city. The mechanical devices are the most improved manufactured. It will require four months to build this apparatus, which has a water tower attachment. The fifty-foot city truck Is much lighter and contains several ladders of that length Which are raised by hand. The price was $1,800. The t "e new hose wagons are built of the finest materials and equipped with heavy rubber tires. These wagons have What Is known as the Glazier monitor nozzle, which enables a stream to be thrown from the wagon in any direction, or, attached to a line of hose, permits the resting of the nozzle on a support instead of having a fireman hold it, exposed to the danger of the falling walls. One new wagon will be assigned to each 'of the new houses and the other three will go to downtown stations, the wagons replaced heing repaired aud sent to stations in the outlying district. This will enable the placing of several old-style reels on the emergency list. Together with the other apparatus 6.CO0 feet of hose, or nearly a mile of It, has been bought, all being cotton covered. New harness has been bought for the horsos and four Qamewell gongs, costing $50 apiece, purchased. The hose was ob tained for 90 cents a foot and Is of the host quality. The new engine bouse at Twenty-seventh 1.7 i m if ft ?! oj Of?!?. ! "1 nMt If ..HL 3 ... ' .-. . ."!!! ssL j. ..wi i J " 'T. t' til I f r . ir -5 i J fi a M ft .: i. PART OF THE CREW OF NO. 12. THE NEW ENOINR HOl'SE AT TWENTY-SEVENTH AND JON ES. l'hoto by a Sluff Artist. MAIN FT,OOR OF THE NEW NO. 12 KNOINE HOUSE, JI'ST 11NISHED. AT TWENTY-SIiVENTH ANU JONES BTUEETd. l'hoto by a Staff Artist. and Jones streets, which has been prao- , tieally completed and will be put In op- eration in about a month, cost about $16,000. 1 It was designed by Architect W. T. .Mela ner and one of the chief features is the economy of space. Every available foot of tho building is used in a convenient way, so ns to make it simple yet ctllcient for th purposes constructed. I The house is the first modern, high class fire department station erected in Omaha. It replaces an old and dilapidated building which was once a barn and which was in such a bad condition that the firemen could not keep warm in the winter. The station is forty-four reet wldo and 105 feet long and Is made of brick with Interior finishings of plaster nnd hard pine. The apparatus room is 42x72 feet in size and Is without an obstructing post, the second floor being supported by steel girders fif teen feet from the floor. Around tho roonx Is a terra cotta pressed brick wainscottlng six- feet high and cemented. The hose can be turned upon It, enabling easy cleaning from mud and debris brought in by the horses and trucks. Tho house presents n solid and handsome appearance from the outside, although lit tle effort has been spent on the ornate. The front and twelve feet back on each side Is of pressed brick, the first story in light terra cotta and the top story in buff. Hruford stone trimmings are used. The front doors are equipped with an automatio folding device, under the control of the drivers after they have climbed to their seats. Seven Tindstam patent stalls lead to the ' apparatus room and there Is one roomy box stall. These stalls are so contrived as to bo kept perfectly clean at all times, a . miniature sewer system with running wa ter being constructed underneath. They are lined with oak and floored with vitrified brick. The posts and upper parts are made of iron. Metal feed boxes render It easy to maintain the stall In good condition. This part of the house is well equipped with hay and feed rooms, patent oat clean ers and other first class fittings. The arrangement on the second floor, Which contulns the quarters for the men, Is considered unique. Each company Is en tirely separate from the other, it being the Intention to have a complete hook and ladder company of eight men and a hose company of six men at this station. A corridor running down the house gives ad mission to all the rooms, which nre fur ther connected by Inner doors. In front are the sleeping rooms, 21 xX feet in size, light and airy, with excellent ventilation and windows between so that a cool draft may be obtained straight through the house during the summer nights. Hehind tho Bleeping apartments ore the locker rooms, each man having a locker for himself. To the rear are tho toilet and bath rooms, provision being made for shower baths, hot and cold. Then comes small gymnasiums and nearest the stair way the reception or loafing and smoking rooms. A small space at the extreme rear of the building Is to be used for feed and hay, the bln3 being lined with tin to keep out the rodents. The heating Is by steam. Throughout the house has the air of com fort for tho men and great convenience In handling apparatus Rnd responding quickly to alarms. The desk controlling the auto matic doors from the stalls, and having the telephonic and other connections, Is y. lBSSSBBBBBSBBBBj riKE.OCPT. J .. ' V 1. ' '.J J. Jl;i....-ii.a,vh FRONT VIEW OF TIIT3 NEW ENOINE HOUSE. Photo by a Staff Artist. located downstairs between the two front doors. The new house at Eleventh and Jackson streets, which is nearing completion, is a much more pretentious afTuir. It will cost more than $.'!0,no0 and the site cost the city $11. COO. The station was designed by Fisher & Eawrle with the advice of M;iyor Moores, Former Ituildlng Inspector Carter and Fire Chief Salter, who intended that it should bo the "exhibition" engine house of Omaha It Is larger than the Twenty-seventh und Jones house by more than one-third. This station Is of brick with lavish light stone trimmings and an oblous effort to wards the ornamental. The roof is trussed and very high and peaked, the ridge being Sixty-one feet from the ground and sloping at a long angle towards the eaves, which aro but twenty-eight feet high and towards the front and rear. The front Is luiilt up in an elaborate design ami wrought iron fleurs de-lls are used to help out the effect. Tho pressed brick used Is a uniformly light buff, and the immense roof area is covered with Hlate. A party wall divides the house Into two sections from top to bottom, but there are doors between. The whole house Is CCxllO feet In size and the largest apparatus room is 40x79 feet, while the smaller is 22x72. There are ten Llndstam stalls and two box tails, with plenty of room for hay, feed and repair room. The rear yard will be excavated and a cement floor laid. On tho second floor the rooms aro urranged for two companies to occupy the l.irger side of the building nnd one the oilier. Tho large sleeping room Is i4x42 feet nnd tho other 3iix20. There are two commodious gymnasiums and n full complement of locker rooms, toilets and baths. The re ception rooms are rather small, It being the evident object to make the gymnasiums a large as possible. Heating Is by steam and the ventilation bus been carefully looked after. Interior finishing has Ix'i n started at this house and completion will lie hurried. It Is a diHtlnct addition to the lire depart ment of the city and Is designed for the especial protecting of tho wholesale dis trict. Not Lost on Her liy a desperate effort the man with the cowboy hat saved Klmself from f illing on tho slippery rrosrlng. Ills Impulsive exclamation, however, was heard distinctly by the elderly woman of severe aspect who was Just behind htm. "I beg your pardon, ma'am," he sajd, raising his hat. "My foot slipped." "So did your tongue, sir," she respondeat frigidly. Chicago Tribune. ,