MASTERTON FIRE BRIGADE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2298, 18 May 1886, Page 2

MASTERTON FIRE BRIGADE.

The following trenchant article, which bears evident marks of Masterton authorship appears in our Carterton Contemporary. Our Masterton friends— wo mean the Civic fathers who represent meat, wheat, chaff, potatoes and aasafcetida with the Borough Council of that ilk, have lately been tinkering with thou* local fire brigade. The atmosphere of Masterton has lately been tolerably cool, "all the houses are occupied, rents are fairly paid and there has been no occasion to sell unsaleable goods to those poor men'a friends, the insurance companies. Under these conditions the brigade been getting out of gear, growing. rtjjp and mutinous, and the tinkggfc of the Borough Council does not sSK to be improving matters. Tne Brigade is suffering because it has got no work to do. Some of the members are said to have betaken themselves from pumping water to pumping beer,"and although Councillors are not total abstainers, they assume a virtue, though they have it not, by ueprecating the aldermanic behaviour of the brigadiers. The misfortunes, of thi brigade date from the time when they quarrelled with their bell, and substituted for their useful alarm half a ton of rather useleas/pot-metal. Ever since then theyhave been quarrelling among themselves or with the Council, disbanding and sampling captains. Of-the latter, they have had quite a variety. They have had the coachbuilder, the express man, the, carpenter, the baker, and the shoemaker. Lately they- have been going to the dogs. They applied to the Council for new uniforms and" show the kind-hearted Johnny—all soits refused, they danced at their fancy dress ball with thoir old togs, and won the sympathy of a benevolent hostess, who offered to head a rag fair subscription list. In' revenge the Oounciltriy''Ja cut tho ground from under stop their wot practice by purchasing a steam fire engine on the deferred payment principle, King Cobb vory graciously offering to advance the money for seven per cent. In this instance, however, discretion proved tho better part of valour, for being warned that they could not pledge the rules, the Johnnys turned tail and drew in their horns. They are now on the horns of a dilemma, for they are (joing on in forlorn hope to tho burgeeses with the song 'Please give mo a penny,' as by authority to atriko a special penny rate, borrow £IOOO for their uew toy tif a fire engine, and they had decided to load the unfortunate ratepayers with a. paid municipal brigade infantine in place of an efficient Volunteer Brigade,