THE FIRE ALARM TELEGRAPH.

THE FIRE ALARM TELEGRAPH.

In dealing with a fire, the element of time is the most important factor in the matter of its extinguishment. A fire that a single pail of water might put out, if left for fifteen minutes may result in a conflagration that will defy the exertions of the best Fire Department in the world to extinguish. The most important auxiliary which the fire department has received of late years, is the Fire Alarm Tleegraph. By its means the Firemen are informed of the existence of a fire the instant it is discovered, and tho time consumed by them in reaching the scene is only measured by the distance they have to travel. By this rapid transmission of the alarm much valuable time is saved when the fire is in its incipiency. But for the aid of the Fire Alarm Telegraph millions of dollars worth of property would be destroyed annually above what is now lost. Insurance companies recognize it as a necessary adjunct to an efficient Fire Department, and their rates of insurance are based upon such efficiency.

But it is not every system of Firo Alarm Telegraph that is to be trusted. IIow frequently we sse it noted in accounts of fires, that a wrong signal was sent out and the Firemen thus led astray; or that tho signals were confused and unintelligible, thus leaving the Firemen to ascertain for themselves the locality of the fire. Such faulty systems are worse than none at all, for in the absence of the telegraph tho Firemen are usually guided by the ringing of bells, which indicate the locality of a fire without sending them on a false secnt. The Telegraph is a delicate piece of mechanism, requiring very nice and careful adjustment to insure correctness. Unless so adjusted it is an unsafe guide to trust to, but when intelligently put together and manipulated, it becomes one of man’s most useful servants. Tho Union Fire Alarm Tolegraph system is one of the most perfect in von tod, possessing several features that place it at the head of all competing systems. An important feature lios in the fact that it is absolutely non-interfering. That is to say, when an alarm is sounded in any given box, no other alarm can be sent out from another box until the first has been correctly givon. This prevents any jumbling or confusion of signals to the misleading of tho Firemen. Thou this system does for fire alarm machinery, what the Waltham and Elgin companies have done for watches, viz: secures perfect uniformity for every piece of machinery. By this means the mechanism of one alarm box, or any part of it, may be exchanged for that in another box. The cost of the Union Fire Alarm system is very much less than that mdao by any other company, at tho same time securing a greater degroe of efficiency. This is an important consideration in these hard times, when taxpayers aro overburdened already. We certainly would never commend any article necessary to an efficient fire service simply because it was cheap, but if cheapness and excellence go hand in hand, it then becomes our pleasure to so speak of tham. This is the case of the Union Fire Alarm Telegraph, and we can confidently commend j it to those town and city authorities who contemplate the purchase of such a systern.