_The Wise Peter Cooper, and his most extraordinary proposal of a Tank on
the summit of the City Hall, for the extinguishment of disastrous
conflagrations._
[Document No. 13.]
BOARD OF ALDERMEN, }
February 6, 1854. }
The following petition of Peter Cooper, in relation to the prevention
and extinguishing of fire, and to give greater efficiency to the Police
Department, was received and laid on the table and ordered to be
printed.
D. T. VALENTINE,
Clerk.
To the Hon. the Mayor and Common Council of the city of New York.
The subscriber takes this method to present to your Hon. Body, certain
improvements for the prevention and extinguishing of fires, to give
greater efficiency to the police and greatly lessen the labors of the
Fire Department, and at the same time give greater security to life and
property, and the government of our city.
Your subscriber is of the opinion, that these improvements will, if
adopted, result in great benefit to the City, State and Nation.
A good government in this city, like the heart of a great body, will
make itself felt throughout our State, our Nation, and to some extent
throughout the world. Desiring greatly to secure for my native city, the
inestimable blessings of good government I have ventured to propose and
urgently recommend, to the serious consideration of your Hon. body, a
plan founded on a principle, that I believe will do more to bring about
security, order and good government, than any and all other measures,
that are within the range of our municipal powers, to adopt. The plan
and principle to which I allude, will make it directly the dollar and
cent interest, of some three-quarters of all the officers in the employ
of the city government to faithfully perform their duty.
If this can be shown to be conveniently practicable, it must be admitted
that it would bring about greater efficiency in the execution of all
useful laws and ordinances, than any other means which have ever been
applied to the government of our city.
Before I attempt a description of this plan, I will state that it will
require greater conveniences for the extinguishment of fires than those
now provided by our present arrangement.
The necessary facilities for conveniently putting out fires, can be
arranged in a short time and at comparatively small expense, by placing
a boiler-iron tank of some thirty feet in height, on the top of the
present reservoir on Murray Hill. This tank to be filled and kept full
of water by a small steam engine provided for that purpose.
And as an additional security I would propose that the present City Hall
be raised an additional story, and covered with an iron tank that would
hold some ten feet of water. The outside of this tank to be made to
represent a cornice around the building.
If an additional building should be put up, to take the place of the one
lately destroyed by fire, it should be so formed as to be in harmony
with the present City Hall, and covered with a similar tank, and
corniced to correspond. With this greater head and supply of water
always at command, and ready for connection with the present street
mains, the moment the signal is given from any Police Station, it will
be apparent that all the hydrants will be made efficient to raise water
over the tops of the highest houses in the city.
I would, in addition propose, that there should be placed at convenient
distances in every street, a small cart containing some three hundred
feet of hose. These carts should be so light that one man could draw
them to the nearest hydrant to the fire, and bring the water on the fire
in the shortest possible time. With this arrangement, I propose to make
it the interest of every man in the police, to watch against
incendiaries and thieves, and to use every possible effort to extinguish
fires as soon as they occur. To make it the interest for the police to
perform their duty faithfully, I propose that the Corporation should set
apart as a fund, two shillings per day, in addition to the wages of each
man, to be held by the Corporation to the end of each year, and when it
shall be ascertained that the loss and damage by fire, and the loss of
property stolen, shall have been reduced below the average of the last
ten years, then this fund of two shillings per day, in addition to their
former wages, shall be equally divided between the men forming the
Police Department.
In addition to this I propose that the Corporation should request all
the Insurance Companies interested in the property of this city to bid
or offer the largest per centage that they are willing to give on all,
that the loss and damage by fire can be reduced below the average agreed
upon.
This fund to be added to the Corporation fund of two shillings per day,
and to be equally divided with the men forming the City Police.
This would enable every one of the members of the police to secure for
himself sufficient to pay his rent every year over and above his present
wages. They would also have the elevating satisfaction of knowing that
while they are saving one dollar for themselves they are saving fifty
dollars for the community, and in addition saving thousands of
individuals from that wretchedness and misery annually produced by the
desolating ravages of fire.
A police appointed for and during good behavior, with the liberal salary
they now receive, and with the additional privilege of securing to
themselves annually so large an amount over and above their regular
salaries might always be relied on to forward every measure that would
tend to secure order and good government. A department so formed, whose
duty it would be to traverse every street of the city by day and night,
would find it their interest as well as duty to watch against
incendiaries, and when a fire was discovered they would instantly signal
for as many hose carts as desirable, with directions for every next man
to double his walk. When such men come to a fire they would all be armed
with police powers to protect property, and to bring and use the carts
with hose on the fire, until the general alarm became necessary to
summon the firemen to the charge, which would seldom happen with such
facilities and such an interest to extinguish fires. One of the best
features in this arrangement will be the constant tendency and interest
there will be to draw into the department good men and crowd out bad
men. They find it their interest to have every man turned out who is
either drunken, idle or dishonest, and to have in their place those that
are sober, honest and efficient. They find it their interest to close
every rum shop that is selling without license, and they will not be
long in finding out that a large part of the fires arise from
drunkenness and the degradation and carelessness that are the natural
results of dissipation.
[_Conclusion in our next._]
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☞ Owing to an unusual amount of matter in this number, we have omitted
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