The Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume IV, Issue 412, 23 August 1876, Page 2

The Bay of Plenty Times

"THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES SHALL TEACH ME SPEED." KING JOHN, ACT IV

Wednesday, August 23, 1876;.

It is a matter of regret that the organisation of a proper fir© brigade still remains in abeyance. It will be ■within the recollection of most of our readers, that about two years ago some Thirty or Forty pounds were .collected towards this desirable object, and otit of this fund a triangle was erected- for an alarm, in case of fire. A brigade was also formed, with Mr Oliver as its superintendent, and all the necessary preliminary arrangements for the proper maintenance of such a. force were carried out by purchasing, the requisite gear,. &c. , The • brigade died a natural death-, ■however, and we believe that all the gear is at present lying in Mr E. Gr. Norris's yard. At tile same time that this enthusiasm existed in Tauranga, the New Zealand Insurance Company,. witH. commendable foresight;., sent down, an, engine,- which is also in Mr Norris's yard, as there is no responsible person to hand it over to. We are not alarmists, but we cannot too strongly impress upon the public of Tauranga the necessity of something being done, and done at once,, to remedy this evil. There is no use in locking the stable door after the horse is stolen,, and we have no hesitation in saying that should a fire break out on the Strand of Tauranga, the result would be simply disastrous. It would be far better that a brigade of some sort should exist — if only with a nominal roll of members, the difficulty being to get members to meet for practice-^-than' to have no brigade at all ; for in case of fire someone would then be in authority, and in a position to maintain discipline when everyone- is ready to assist and no one to direct. We have a gentleman- in our midst who has been long 1 and favorably known, in Auckland and elsewhere, as connected with fire brigades, we -'.' allude to Mr Ashor Asher, and' we are sure if he were requested to. organise a. proper' fire brigade, he would willingly do so. We- think the community ought to take a lesson from the evil of having divided authority in a case of fire, which was so strongly illustrated in the

burning down of the Pps,t Office and Provincial Government buildings in Auckland. Relative to tHW disaster we extract from. Mansard, August 15, 1873.:— "That Mr Williamson asked, the Premier, if: any. enquiry had been made into the cause of the destruction ' of this- valuable block of buildings, and prayed, on behalf of Mr Asher Asher, that an* investigation should be made into the circumstances.. He explained that two brigades existed in Aucklandi—Mr Hughes being in command of one,, and Mr Asher Asher, who, for sixteen years, had assiduously devoted himself to extinguishing fires, and had, he believed,- been present at every fire in the city during that period, having charge of the other. Mr Williamson then shewed that this disastrous occurrence was principally the result of divided authority." We have quoted the foregoing as an example of the danger* of having tbo many masters in case a fire should break out in* Tauranga; and> would strongly recommend that, as a precautionary measure, a properly organised fire' brigade be formed and placed in charge of some competent and J responsible person.