CORRESPONDENCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 222, 28 October 1878, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor op the 'Evening Mail.'

Sin— Some useful lessons were suggested by the iire yesterday morning which, but for the judicious and strenuous efforts of the Volunteer Brigade in directing our Ep/e^drd water service would have hecn iuJuitel|'inote dps.stpu?. Nevertheless the fact cannot be' disguised thai, wjiii prqper arrangements, much valuable property might have been saved. A properly organised Sa'vaue Corps, acting in conjunction and in luarrnony with the Fire Brigade, would have Temored nearly tjip whole of the merchandize from Messrs'.' ftiiv/ards £ Co.'s Bonded Warehouse, now damaged and destroyed by water. Employees of one of the Eire Offices, | foreseeing the inevitable mischief, made au attempt to rescue the contents of the buildj jujj, beginning with the tea, but were per- | empto.-^ forbidden, by persons presumably hi authority,' to feuiov.2 knytjiiiuj ; and thus, although'thfcre was ample tinie and me^u-i at hand to prevent it, a seriou's loss has' unneressarily accrued, which an" aiithoi ised company v/puld not have permitted. The next suggested is the precious moments lost | in ifie beginning oj a fire, in raising the alarm,

from the inconvenient distance of the fire bells from the principal blocks of buildings. In the case under consideration Burrell'g shop was practically consumed before the alarm was sounded, and nothing but resolute, indefatigable, and skilled exertion, favored by perfectly calm weather, arrested it from assuming alarming dimensions. The remedy for this is so simple and self-evident that it r seems almost absurd to say " Remove the bells!" A simple watch, tower on tbe Church Hill would command a view of nearly the whole of the town, aud the cost of employing a proper "look-out," nightly, would not exceed the sum paid to a, " watchman " for perambulating half-a-dozen corners of streets, sounding his octaves to " All's well," whilst mayhap a big fire is blazing before him. A commanding and central position like this would facilitate the promptest response to an alarm, especially if the bell were rung so as to indicate the quarter or ward of the town where help is wanted; the method is so simple, so practicable (and practised elsewhere) and so well known as to need no explanation here. Again, the second firebell could well be dispensed with from the Waimea Road, and ill lieu thereof, if necessary, the bell in the open turret at All Saints' Church could doubtlessly be made available, whilst the firebell itself could have a fitting place found for it near the lamp iu the middle of Trafalgar-street below the Bridge-street crossing; this as an adjunct to the suggested bell and watch tower on the Church Hill, would send out the- alarms, and collect the forces without the loss of the valuable first moments. To give effect to this I would suggest a conference of the officers ' of the Volunteer Eire Brigade, the City Council, and the Fire Insurance Association. I am, &c, W. M. Stantox. Norwich Union Fire Office, October 28, 1878.