NATIONAL FIREMEN’S ASSOCIATION.

NATIONAL FIREMEN'S ASSOCIATION.

Special correspondence of FIRE AND WATER ENGINEERING.

The convention just ended may be looked upon as a failure, of which the less said the better. In the first place Persident McNeill, as was the general opinion, did not wish the convention to be held in the West, but in the East, so as to leave the Eastern delegates no excuse about the distance they would have to travel, and as the heartiest support of the association comes from the West, the attendance of the Western delegates was practically assured. Then, again, the postponement of the day on which the convention was to meet, in order to obtain some reduction in transportation fares, was a source of inconvenience and expense, and caused so much dissatisfaction that there was a possibility (at one time a probability) of a rump convention being held for the election of officers only—then to adjourn. The election was hurried on by President McNeill, with the following results: President, C. C. McLain, Bushnell. Ill.; vicepresident, John M. Sherwood, Neosho. Mo.; secretary, Peter McCarty, St. Louis, Mo.; treasurer, Guy Northrun, Detroit; national organiser, Robert Grace. Oklahoma City, Okla. To effect these elections the regular rules and order of business were suspended, and barely twenty delegates were present. President McNeill was not re-elected, as will be seen from the above list. The convention could hardly be called a success in any sense of the word, and the general impression seemed to be that there is no need for the continued existence of the organisation, as all that it professes to try to do for the fire-service can he as effectually done and at less cost of time and money by the International Association of Eire Engineers, the various State associations and those of the fire chiefs in the different States.