12

PRIZESChief Maher . Will Get New

Medal for His

on Saturday next. Mayorw Mltchel or Ills rcprcsenta-tlv- u

pins tlio now admlnlstra-tlo- n

mctlnl of tlio Fire Dc- -

parttiMtnt on tho coat of Deputy ChiefPatrick Mnhor his ent will slgnallzotlio success of Fire CommissionerItobcrt Adamson's experiment In run-ning tlio department with tlio aid of Its5,000 uniformed men.

Last summer Mr. Adamson Invitedthe entire 0,000 to come. In and helphim to manage tho department, offeringa medal to thu man who turned In thebest suggestion. The result was thatthe officers and firemen sent In audia flood of Ideas that the Commissionercannot find tho time to put them allInto practice.

It was the Commissioner's Idea thatthe army of trained and practical mentinder him must, as a matter of course,have a wealth of Ideas based upon ex-

perience which It would be extremelyuseful to him to havn. Ho found,however, that n sort of Chinese wallseparated tho men from tho Commis-

sioner In tho form of nn ancient ruleforbidding any member of tho forcefrom communicating with tho Com-

missioner or the chief except aftersubmitting nn application In writing tohis Immediate superior and having It

come all tho way up through officialchannels.

The new plan of admitting firemenInto the management of the depart-ment has created n revolution In thodeportment. It has stimulated thecapable and ambltlouR men In the.

department as nothing has done Inyears. Tho hardest Job of all wasdetermining which, of nil tho multi-

tude of suggestions sent In, was thebest. The choice finally fell upon thostiirccstlon of Chief Maher for a planof discriminating between good andbod firemen by Installing a system ofworking records.

Before tho adoption of tho sugges-tion of Deputy Chief Maher there wasno way of distinguishing betweentho work of tho worst and ofthe best firemen, as It was ens-toma-

to give awards only forllfo saving. Often tho best firemenIn the service entered promotion ex-

aminations upon the wmo footing asfiremen who did not perform theirduties with the enthusiasm the ser-vice required. Great difficulties MoodIn the way of cqultablo adjustment Inratings on merit.

By Deputy Chief Maher's plan, de-

veloped and Improved by tho officlnlsand officers of the Tire Departmentappointed by the Commissioner; ascheme was evolved whereby credit ormerit ratings are to bo made onlyupon a definite statement of facts, notopinions, of the company commnnders.Indorsed by the battalion ami deputychiefs and passed upon by a boardof service records, composed of of-

ficials of the Klre Department ap-

pointed by thn Klre Commissioner.The findings of this board are to forma permanent part of the official recordof tho Klre Department, and when menenter civil service promotion examina-tions duo credit will be allowed ontheir papers for the awards Issued bythis board.

Tho great value of this suggestionlies In the Increased stimulus It willgive to the entire force and the definiteIncentive which It offer to every manto win recognition for excellent Areservice. It was considered by the FireCommissioner and his coadvisers asthe best suggestion brought forwirdand most deserving of the medal. Itwill go Into effect on July 1.

Chief Maher has been a member ofthe Fire Department nearly thirtyyears and during that time has takenpart In many of New York's most seri-ous fires. For a number of years he

ARTIST'S

TO FIREMEN FOR IDEAS THATDeputy

AdministrationRating System.

was stationed In the lower part ofManhattan and has seen strenuous flroduty In the llnnnclal section. Hisnnmo appeared on thu roll of merit of1903 as having rescued with two otherfiremen Capt. Collins of Engine Com-pany 10 from the hold of a burningship at Pier IK. VZan Hlver.

Another Important proposal, and onewhich has been put Into Immediateeffect, wn that advanced by Capt.Charles E. Kleld of Hoolo and LadderCompany 107. Capt. Kleld proposedthat uniformed men should be drilledIn various physical exercises In

order to keep them constantly fit fortheir work. He has long been Inter-ested In athletics nnd .wns one of thefirst members of the Itrlghton Ath-letic Club.

Cnpt. Kleld was born In New YorkIn 1869 and entered tho departmentJanuary 1. 1831- - Ho was attached toHook and Ladder Company 107 whenho met with ft dIs.itrous accident,lid was acting ns tlllcrman ono nightnnd responding to nn alarm when Incrossing the Long Island Unllroadtracks his truck was struck by a loco-motive nnd he was so severely Injuredthat one of his nrms and all of histoes on one foot hnd to be amputated.Ho was In such good physical condi-tion, however, that he was back atwork In the department within threemonths. Owing to his severe- - Injurieshe was detailed to clerical work atUrooklyn headquarters.

Ho subsequently became Inspectorof forage, fuel, gas and electricity andhad charge of the hospital and train-ing stables for horses. He was one oftho first to suggest that the depart-ment do Its own horseshoeing.

Capt. Kleld attributes his remarkablerecovery from his accident to thephysical exercise In which ho was in-

terested nnd at which he was ah adeptat thnt time. In a letter which howrote to the Commissioner with ref-erence to his proposed exercises hesaid:

"It Is one of the most essential quali-fications required for members In thisdepartment to render good service ntall times to have a regular dally xith-let- lc

drill In company quarters underthe direction of company commandernt such time ns the officer may desig-nate, dumbbell exercise, parallel liars,&.C., tending to develop muscle nndstrengthen physical condition to com-bat with the severe strain attendingwork nt lire.

"On entering the department tin-men have practised and trained topass the athletic examination re-quired, but after appointment thetraining stops and the men put onextra weight. The older men areconsiderably overweight for theirheight and care very little for anyexercise or additional work, conse-quently the Kire Department Is notusing or developing their physicalstrength In keeping the men In con-dition for any emergency, and as themost Important duty Is rescuing life,men ought to be In the best possiblenctlve physical condition."

The suggestion made by Cnpt. Kleldwas put Into effect In tho early partof May and was a pronounced suc-cess from Its Inception. Certain dif-ficulties ns to the best method ofconducting the work, of course, hadto be overcome. To tench callsthenlcexercises to f.,000 men required nolittle organization.

A certain number of men were care-fully selected by chief olllcers fromeach company and required to reportfor Instruction nt tho West Side YoungMen's Christian Association, Manhat-tan. These men were put through arigorous course of drill nnd thoroughlyInstructed In the various exercises.After becoming elllcicnt drlllmasters

Capt. Albert Reid. RBSSSSS'WalHthemselves they wre assigned to varl- -ous companies nnd arc now carryingout the dally exercises with excellentresults.

Klre Commissioner Adamson Issueda .o t of Instructions to the forco In theform of n letter, which was Incor-porated In a drill book Illustrated withvarious drawings. Among other things,the commissioner said:

"The object of these exercises Is tokeep the men In as good physical con-

dition ns when they came Into thecivpnrtment. Wo have a large num-ber of companies where tho work Isnot sulllcleii, to give tho men the ex-

ercise they need, the runs being lessthnn one a day on tho average.

"In these companies the men areapt to become soft, take on surplusweight nnd become too glrthy ThisIs a bad thing for men who have todo the active work that firemen haveto do climb ladders, carry hose over

"high roofs, work In smoke nnd heatam) frequently save life under cir-cumstances requiring the highestphysical skill nnd endurance.

"The exercises aro the simple 'set-ting up' exercises such ns are used atWest Point, In the National Gunrdand' by many athletic Instructors, Thebest In a number of physical manualhas been adopted nnd adapted to theuse of this members of this department.Klfteon minutes a day are to be de-

voted to practising the exercises. Thecompany commnnders are expected tosee thnt tlio exercises are regularlycarried out, except when the men arefatigued from tire duty when tho exercise hour arrives."

Incorporated In the drill book oncalisthenics. 7,300 of which were distributed, were also n number of In-

structions on first aid, artificial res-

piration, wounds, fractures and hy-giene.

Krom the outfet the callthenlc ex-

ercises "loosened up" a number ofmen who had become unused to ex-ercise, not so much perhaps from afault of their own as from being mem-bers of engine companies which didnot have a large number of fire callsto answer. A number of men who hadtaken on flesh hive already reducedtheir weight, and while there are afew perhaps on whom the exercisesare somewhat of a hardship the ma-

jority are being vastly benefited. TheInstructors were required to do nnhour's drill twice a week until theylearned their parts thoroughly nnd ofcourse the exercises fell mom heavilyupon them than upon the others; butthe firemen are only required to de-

vote fifteen minutes a day to thiswork.

The third suggestion which rankedhighest In the estimation of the Com-

missioner nnd his committee was that

IMPRESSIONS OF A

THE SUN, SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 1915.

Uniformed firemen at calisthenic exercises. One of the sugges-tions made by Capt. Field.

Above Deputy Chief Patrickpartment

made by Capt. Albert Held of EngineCompany No. 73. This was a methodfor prcvontlng tho freezing of hydrants In the winter time. Capt.Held lilt upon tho Idea accidentally.

He was Inspecting storage nndrefrigerating plans in his neighborhood nnd found thnt by the use ofcalcium chloride In tho hydrants theycould be made to stand n greater do- -

greo of cold than ordinarily. Aseries of experiments conducted by theKlre Department during the last twomonths of the winter confirmed Cnpt.Ui-ld'-s Judgment In this matter andhis Idea will be further experimentedwith during the coming winter.

If his plan works out It will be nnImmense relief to firemen who hive tolight fires In cold weather. Owingto the freezing of hydrants the lire- -

men have to lie constantlythrough the streets to Inspect them, i

and in the coldest weather fire engineshne to be sent out to thaw out thepipes. It frequently happens thnt fire-

men are delayed In their work at afire by frozen hydrants nnd conse-quently the fire damage U greatlyIncrcnsed.

Cnpt. Held has been In the depart-ment since January "7. 1S91, and wasfor eight years supervising engineerunder Chief Croker. He has, duringthe past two or three years, given upa great deal of his spare time to thestudy of chemistry with a view toImproving his status In the depart-ment.

The three suggestions outlinedabove were selected from a vast number, many men in the departmenteven making two or throe sugges. j

J unique In character. Se'.ecllng va -

Maher, whose idea won the demedal.

Hons suggestions at random, the following deserve mention:

Seneca Larke, Jr., engineer ofsteamer, Engine Company "0, sug-gested that oil be used for fuelIn fire engines, lie maintains thattho advantage of this plan wouMbe to save great now IncurredIn maintaining a system of fuel sup-ply wagons, to say nothing of theeconomy in fuel Itself.

Fireman John J. McCarthy 2d ofEngine Company SS proposed thatfiremen attending the Klre Collegeshould receive a course in fire preven-tion.

Opt. John Conway of EngineCompany 233. among other proposalsof value, suggested that buildings beequipped with outside sprinklersnlong the edge of the cornice. Thesecould be used for protecting buildingsagainst fires in adjoining property.

Capt. l.e'.nnd I ). of EngineCompany "i proposed an Improve-ment In the Kire College coursesby opening the automobile school tocaptains and lieutenants, giving thema full course In the operation andcare of motor apparatus.

I.Ieut. Thomas O'Connor. EngineCompany 27. made n practicable sug-gestion for assisting the giving offire alarms in places where boxesare out of order. He proposed thatsigns be furnished to each companyto be attached to each alarm boin the district reading "Telegraphout of order. I'se telephone box at- -

Inched to send In alarm"; th.U tele- -phone boes be attached to all tele -graph boxes and connected dinct'yto the Fifty-eight- h s reet station, -- o

broken down they can send nen out

tlons, all of a more or "ess practical that when company eninmanders re-

value. Some of the proposals w ere notice that the Is

HELP SERVICE

Capt. Charles E. Field, Hookand Ladder Company 107.

over the district with these signs.An Interesting suggestion came

from Engineer of Searchlight 3, JohnJ. llowen, who said that engines oftenbecomo chnrged with electricity be-

cause of steam escaping through 11

sum!1 outlet or orifice, and he pro-posed a remedy for this condition byplacing some metal object on the en-gine and letting It hang to the groundso that the electricity will be con-ducted to the earth. Engineer Howellmade 11 number of other suggestionsnlong technical lines.

Engineers of steamers I.uclen DuKlon and Francis J. Sample sug-gested that fire houses and schoolbuildings in clore proximity shouldbo heated by the same plant.

Fireman Hobert .1. Evnns of En-gl- n

Company 230, nmong othersuggestions, proposed tint all build-ings should have a valve outside bymeans of which tho gas supply couldbe cut off. This would materiallyassist in tire fighting and preventinge.)lolins. Another one of ElromnnEvans's Ideas was tlut Inspectorsshould appraise the contents of nilbuildings Injured e a certainamount. Still another suggestionwas that owners of vacant lots berequired to keep their property freefrom fire breeding material.

Fireman Kurt Fuchel of EngineCompany 20 suggested that allmen ,'liuitld - assigned to companies.ocated In the busy dis-tricts, nnd after from three to fiveyears service there should he trans-ferred at their cwn suggestion.

Fireman John H. Corrlgan suggestedthat all alarm boxes 1k fitted with asiren horn or some device which wouldstart sounding the moment the handlewas turned nnd would keep soundinguntil the alarm was actually turnedin. the ibject of this Idei being toprevent the inlrtnkn which nowincur when persons not familiar withthe tire alarm boes do not operatethem correctly.

Flrrmnn Charles II. HartelU- - sug-gests that all Mibwny stations befurnished with portable electric fansequipped with 200 feet c f flexiblecord, so that firemen fighting lire Inthe subwiy could use these fans forthe purpose of driving the smokeahead of them He nlso suggestedthat the subway be provided with in-

dependent electric power f'-- use Incase of a breakdown.

I.Ieut. William Wlllmott of Enginei Company 22'.' seems M think thatthe firemen nt present do not havesulllclent power III Inspecting buildings, and pr. pO'ed mat all firemendetallt d to Inspection work shouldhave police powers.

Fireman ItenJ.iiiun Silvcr-tNn- . Er.- -

jgine Company 37. suggested that

SIGHTSEEING TOUR ON THE

1

Success of Plan!Shown in Great!Number of Valu-- !

able Improve-- 1

ments - Suggested1by the Men

lire extinguishers be Installed on everyother floor of upurtinmt and tenementhouses.

Engineer of steamer John T. I.on-ahn-

Englno Company 0, proposedthat a diagram be kept In the hallwajsof buildings having cellars nnd sub-cellar- s,

so that In case of fire th chiefofficer could seo at a glance where tofind stairways. Interior openings, Ale.

He said Hint he was present at the tirewhere Chief Krtig. r lost his llfo andthat had such a diagram been In useat the time the chief might not havefallen through the stair opening tohis death.

Tho following list comprises thenames of those whom the Fire Com-missioner and his committee deemedmost worthy of mention In connectionwith the administration 111ed.1l: Capt.I.eland D. Potter, Engine Company2S6; Capt. John Conway, Engine Coin-finn- y

233; Capt. Wllllnm Diignu,Engine Company 49; I.Ieut. JamesJ. Mella, Engine Company 2i'.3,I.Ieut. Patrick J. Sullivan . Hookand Ladder Company 3; I.Ieut Will-iam F. Messlter, Engine Company1M4; I.Ieut. Magnus Nttsch, llm k andLadder Comiany 107: Lieut. ThomasO'Connor, Engine Company 27; Engi-neer of stenmer Seneca Larke. Jr.,Engine Company 20; Engineer ofsteamer John F. Lnnhan, EngineCompany 6; Engineer of steamerI.uclen Du Finn, Engine Company 227;Engineer of stenmer John J. Fell,Englno Company 69; Engineer ofstenmer Francis J. Sample, EngineCompany 7; Engineer of steamerJohn J. Howen, Searchlight 3.

Large numbers of suggestions wereof a more or less technical characterwhich, while of Interest to experts,would not exactly appeal to th- - pub-lic.

The great advantage derived fromthis whole movement Inaugurated bythe Klre Commissioner was the stimu-lating of the mentality of the mem-bers of the uniformed force. Theywere encouraged to give their best ts

to thinking of what would Im-

prove their work Just as men In thegreat manufacturing plants are en-couraged to give their bet efforts tothe corporations which employ them. I

Though this is the first year of theadministration medal, Klre Comtnls-sinne- r

Adamson has ieen gratified ntthe results and the lntenst shown bythe men and rfflcers of the Fire De- - I

partment. The administration med ilIs a democratic affair. n It Is com- -'

peted for not only by the officers butalso by the men.

GIVING TIME TO SAVE TIME.

i - T T .so t the ft-- minutes n ,,t ufI olllce emploee Iom' h, coin

ing to the otllee late at lilnie orless frequent Intervals that doesharm." said a Madison Square em-ployer of twenty or more youngwomen. Cilelty stenographers. "It Is

the bad start they get nnd the disar-rangement, many times, of the diy'swork.

"I ued to have a s.xsteiu of line-- ,as most otlli-e- s do, but really I felt kindof ashamed of myself for taking moneyfrom girls who were not getting anytoo much anyhow, and I began to lookout for something better. I've got Itnow. and ror since it has been Inoperation 1 find matters running muchmure smoothly nnd I've got ml of thefining unpleasantness.

'(ur plan is to allow each emplnveewho It, never late we begin at S:'Jn

iiuooKi.rv ,n i:iiTixi:tii:.VT.

PIANOS.icirnflteerl 'eV

aypr-Pian- o

Q7C M010

fio MonthlyBench. Cover,

U Holis,

a New SlylQ ;ew $nrSUprighlj ItJ Upright s 110JCC Moutlilf S5 M.miM,tpO filll I'llil 1 -- hi

."s" 1 141 1New $995

A tlnrlffhlt.1 UH"b"",J?; M11nll.l1 SG M. 'nihil

i mil i' 1,1 I mil

iioi.. MrsitFREE rmiat. 1 ah ri, rthis i:k

Used Uprights Bargains$85 F. Connor S3 M

;! ,

90 Royal 4 " ",!', ,

IIS F. J. Crane 4 M,!' ,

125 Weser Dros. 4 ,

130 Haynes 4 v ' ,

135 E. Gabler i i

150 Hsnning65 Mathushek10 Neadham175 Weber180 Esiev105 Fischer

VK'IOK VlC'DiOLAS515 to $250

FASV TFHM- -

381-8- 7 COURT ST.

nftsP. b rook LYrv .:.ri. lie da a iii mU'i. Tiat il.ix is herto do with as she p . .is jud wlulomost of tin in use u m I .ing pi rsonalwork .r home t'i nulu i erw so

have time for man. of thnn make aleal linlda ami n- -t .r n gmngaway on Saturday at tmnn we quitnt tioeii on Saturdays' ni.d 'cini ".tig;In tin- - coitnirv or seiii' .win re w'thfriend, until Monday night.

"I like them ! il" ib. i' i" fise twodays and a half out of imn everyin. .nili Is a might goo.l Hi.'.- - t i '

general energy on. I heat!. In i hosummer time marly nil or t'l.m ir.ik'ithat sort of c(.iifM!i!iti..ii f i "touting.

of course -- nine itlrN II in i.nnno matter what reward fm n iIs offered, and when we l.ie ..ii. whois chronically tardy In r allihe d lys In the month ae.l -- ! s..'n-- r

M ) In take lei l' Til M .V I.Ot

iff.it a radii al cure, .1 .1 . - a.

I. II Is vt I 'CI. el in .1

"No. I don't uiipposc We . . r i i .inlllpln.N ee who l"SI by t.i.l'i'

much as eight hours a monthare giving more time thnn ..

but we ,iiv saving it h g. " i 1

start every day and 1" 1

spirit of the giiis .is a re ,il- ' laythat Is a.' tbeir.s. '

Wan lei sun. U onl.ln'l I are follaii4bler.

Ill .ioMsiii e .. . .luii"wiuite.l a l.i.v ,in.l not a '.on giv- ii by .Mrs Si i l. I ' r.

will, why she dnl nottliifi?-t.ir-o- tl.iui.hter nnun front m-- iami mother .iskc.l tli.it theii, tie. I to tV i .ire o; the tso. I.- i Is, it to a h ni noi ..in i or.i. reti

FIFTH AVENUE BUS