THE NEW YORK FIRE DEPARTMENT.

THE NEW YORK FIRE DEPARTMENT.

两个星期前在《重新印刷port of the New York Board of Fire Commissioners in full. To do this, the expenditure of much time and money was neces_ sary. Before a single copy of the report had been prepared for the use of the Department itself, THE JOURNAL had laid it in its entirety before the whole world, or at least that part of the world’s inhabitants which are interested in the Fire Service. It filled forty-two pages of the paper. The expense of this undertaking would have deterred most papers from giving their readers the valuable information therein contained, but it must be remembered that THE JOURNAL is a newspaper, and not an organ to promote private interests, and when it is necessary to make a " spread,” as it is termed in the printing-office, it proves equal to the occasion, regardless of cost. The report of the Chicago Fire Department was printed in full a month or two ago, also in advance of its regular publication, even the daily papers of that city taking their information from THE JOURNAL. The report of the New York Department is of more than ordinary importance this year, and it is well that attention should be called briefly to the more conspicuous points. First it gives statistics of fires covering the entire period that the Paid Department has been organized. The number of fires during that period, and the amount of losses, are given as follows :

While the number of fires has steadily increased from year to year, corresponding with the growth of the city, the losses have, as a rule, decreased yearly, owing to the steady increasing efficiency of the Fire Department, and the average loss per fire was less in 1880 than in any of the fifteen years except three. This is a remarkably good showing for the Fire Department, considering the great number of highly inflammable buildings that have been erected during this period, the many faults in construction that prevail, the numerous tall and ungetat-able buildings that have been erected, and the short water supply in some sections of the city. The secret of the success of the Department in keeping down the loss ratio is due to the promptness with which fire alarms are telegraphically communicated to the Firemen and the celerity with which they reach the scene of the fire. Three minutes from the time the alarm is sent suffices for one or more Engines to reach the scene, when the first duty of the Firemen is to ascertain the exact spot where the fire is raging and to put it out with the use of as little water as possible. Thus out of 1783 fires that occurred during the year, only 41 extended to other buildings; 1253 were extinguished with buckets and Chemical Fire Extinguishers ; 22 by Chemical Engines ; and 246 with one Steam Engine; only 263 requiring the services of more than one Steamer. The Commissioners have expended many thousands of dollars in the last few years perfecting the fire alarm system, and in arranging the Engine-houses with a view to enabling the men to get their apparatus out with the least possible delay. It is a maxim with the Commissioners that, in this city, when a fire is raging, the question of seconds in reaching it involves the question, also, of thousands of dollars in losses. Being also aware of the fact that as much damage is frequently done by water as by fire, they have equipped the Department very thoroughly with Chemical Engines and extinguishers, and appliances for shutting off and controlling streams ol water.