Charges Made Against Billings Chief
The firemen of Billings, Mont., have filed grievances and charges against the conduct of Chief V. H. Steele. The city council are planning to make a thorough investigation into the charges, and to get at the seat of the trouble.
The men allege that on one occasion, the whole fire department responded to a rural fire thereby stripping the city of its fire defenses. It is stated in the complaint that one of the firemen who suffered a broken leg in a street brawl, was granted full pay for more than a month. A nephew of the chief and a non-resident of the city was appointed to the force; he was granted leave to visit a baseball game and no man was assigned to relieve him. It is alleged that the chief made things so unbearable for the men, that two of the firemen, one of whom had served for more than sixteen years, resigned from the department. Other minor complaints were also mentioned in the complaint.
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