024413 —- GOR Ea INI esis ARBRE Rae THE LIBRARY OF 2 EMIL KUICHLING, C. E. THE GIFT OF i SARAH L, KUICHLING : es 1919 Cornell University Library TK 7271.A5 1904 Municipal electric fire alarm and poli HHUA TM 3 1924 004 987 446 « ensr.am DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR BUREAU OF THE CENSUS S. N. D. NORTH, DIRECTOR BULLETIN Il | MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC FIRE ALARM | AND POLICE PATROL ' SYSTEMS - WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1904 T ey t MG, é oN Ry BAN 4 aN \ om (& LEE ARY ma TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page. | Letter ol transmittal *:.25,iacetoesisen ack oweisiass stole tle auisedigee wal dha dese sakes welsdeten ye ous bdr sedee ie & eae ies eae eee elas 5 Electric fire alarm systems. ,.........-.--.--2-2--- FSA Ae ta ale secs t At eh Anat Pode te MASTS i yl ce th pT Cae hats 7-23 Telegraphic department, fire alarm headquarters, Washington, D. C., 1902 Ftfaaee aoe) SedGiSenewettieeaha aa soa oeecee s 13 Table 1.—Electric fire alarm systems, grouped according to boards or departments of administration: 1902............-..--- 7 Table 2.—Electric fire alarm systems installed each year.......------------ 2-22 ee eee eee ee ee ee eee 8 Table 3.—Electric fire alarm systems, grouped according to population of cities, and the percentage each item is of total: 1902- 8 Table 4.—Electric fire alarm systems reporting different varieties of construction and equipment, grouped according to popu- lationtof-citiess 1902 os. 258 ci elie a eee cea rai tiny aheratetoucarsieioiasae Bierepepeia oie aabiensd » Mesias Syaieibio 2 eigen Bod oe omens eae 10 Table 5.—Underground construction of electric fire alarm systems, by states and cities: 1902..._.................---.---- 7 11 Table 6.—Employees and wages in cities of 100,000 population and over, electric fire alarm and police patrol systems: 1902 .. 12 Table 7.—Electric fire alarm systems, by states: 1902 -_.-....--...-------- foes d i Patsh tala ceeateLpaararuese Lab dag ete -- 4,15 Table 8.—Electric fire alarm and police patrol systems of Honolulu, Hawaii: 1902 -...-......--.---22-02 222-202 e eee eee 16 Table 9.—Electric fire alarm and police patrol systems having perpetual right of way on poles or in conduits, without cost to the city, grouped according to population of cities: 1902....-......22-22-.2222222 222 eee eee ee eee ee 17 Table 10.—Construction and equipment of electric systems used interchangeably for fire-alarm and police patrol, grouped according to populationiof citiés: 1902: soos so snsc ieee idee Sega Ae ealge rebels cals tAde sah oes oeedecewirss 17 Historical and descriptive: ss| aol ioe) 738 The table shows a total of 764 systems, of which 36 were in cities having a population of 100,000 and over, 37 in cities of 50,000 and under 100,000, 76 in cities of 25,000 and under 50,000, 221 in cities of 10,000 and under 25,000, and 394 in cities and towns under 10,000. These systems had in the aggregate 2,798 miles of pole line owned and 10,952 leased, with a total wire mileage of 28,202 miles, consisting of 27,721 miles of single wire and 481 miles of single wire in cables, engaged in the receipt and distribution of fire alarms. That the practice of putting such important wires as those of the fire alarm telegraph underground has rapidly in- creased of late years is indicated by the fact that, in addition to this overhead construction, these systems included 414 miles of conduit owned and 445 miles leased by municipalities, giving shelter to 11,433 miles of wire, of which 526 miles were single wire and 10,907 miles were wire in cables; thus, out of a total wire mile- age of 39,635 miles, 28.8 per cent was underground. Distributed along the circuits thus enumerated, there were reported 37,739 signaling boxes or stations, of which 34,776 were installed on poles or posts, and 2,963 ‘all other,” or those located in booths, buildings, etc. There were also 93 annunciating boxes reported. It has already been shown that there were 39,635 miles of wire in the systems, and as the total number of signaling’ stations and annunciating boxes was 37,832, the distribu- tion of apparatus by means of which alarms can be sent in to the central office was evidently very nearly one to the mile of operative circuit. .I1f to this signaling and annunciating apparatus be added the 1,900 special tele- phones reported, the stations would slightly exceed one per mile of wire. Over this apparatus and wire mileage 85,070 fire alarms are reported to have been sent or received during the year ending December 31, 1902, which would give an average of between two and three per station and per mile of wire. It will be understood, of course, that these figures for fire alarms sent in or received do not include retransmission from central over other circuits from headquarters to the scattered engine houses, hook and ladder companies, etc.; for this reason it is impossible to determine the aggregate number of alarms received, transmitted, repeated, etc., by the fire alarm departments. Nor can any definite inference be drawn with regard to the number of boxes per mile of circuit in regard to the density of popula- tion or of buildings, for the general reason that as a measure of safety and precaution it is the practice not to put adjacent boxes on the same circuit, the object being to prevent interruption of service on any given _line of communication, and also to lessen the proba- bility of any two boxes on the same circuit being ‘+ pulled” at once for the same fire. Table 3 presents also a variety of data with regard to the central office equipment. By reference to the table it will be seen that there were 155 manual trans- mitters, 295 automatic transmitters, and 402 receiving registers of all kinds, grouped at the various central offices or fire headquarters. These were associated with 1,973 receiving circuits and 1,361 transmitting circuits, for the operation of which there have been installed 214 telegraph switchboards, with 259 sections and a total capacity of 2,407 circuits, working in coop- eration with 62 telephone switchboards, with 153 sec- tions, and a total capacity of 6,480 drops or lines. The single circuits extending from the headquarters and returning thereto were reported a; 442 in number. There are a large number of so-called fire alarm sys- tems that consist in ringing a central bell or merely blowing a shrill whistle at some well-known central point, and it is probable that such an arrangement exists in some localities for calling the police or the vil- lage constable. No so-called fire alarm or police patrol systems were considered by the Bureau of the Census as falling within the scope of the inquiry unless the calls were sent in through a box over a single circuit and received at a fire or police central where at least one receiving register or other device was located. For the operation of the fire alarm systems reported a large variety of apparatus and methods are in use, although battery current is in all the main reliance and the chief source of energy supply. According to the returns included in Table 3, the central office power or current equipment in 1902 comprised 57,010 primary and 49,327 storage battery cells. The primary batteries are usually of simple type, depending merely upon the renewal of acid or of such materials as copper or zinc, and the storage batteries are charged, in most cases, from an exterior power plant. This is shown by the fact that ‘among the 764 systems there were reported only 19 dynamos generating current, with a total capacity of 51 horsepower; 7 steam or gas engines, with a total capacity of 58 horsepower; and 81 motor generators and dynamotors, with a total capacity of 47 horse- power. From this it would also appear that certain of the dynamos generating current are engine driven, and that the others are driven by electric motors. In some instances the power plant installation is in the nature of a reserve or precautionary measure, to insure a supply of current to the circuits in case the ordinary sources of supply should be interrupted. A further study of Table 3 reveals the fact that of the 442 single circuits all but 4 were reported for cities of less than 25,000 population, 97 being in cities of between 10,000 and 25,000, and 341 in cities of less than 10,000. Other details indicate that for the systems in cities of less than 25,000 population there is little cen- tral office equipment other than the receiving registers and automatic transmitters. Of the total underground wire mileage of 11,483 miles reported in 1902, 10,647 miles, or 93.1 per cent, were in cities having a popula- tion of 100,000 and over; a similar proportion prevailed with respect to conduits. The distribution of the 28,202 miles of overhead wire construction, however, was very different, 14,172 miles, or 50.3 per cent, being found in cities of 100,000 population and over, and 8,409 miles, or 29.8 per cent, in cities of less than 25,000 popu- lation. Distributed along these 8,409 miles of over- head wire were 13,352 signaling and annunciating boxes or stations, or 35.3 per cent of the total number. The use of the telephone appears to be chiefly restricted to the larger cities. Only 7 out of 62 switchboards, and only 109 out of 6,480 drops, or telephone lines, were reported in cities of less than 25,000 population; whereas 39 of the switchboards and 5,911 drops were reported in cities of 100,000 and over. In most other respects this table reveals a general uniformity and similarity of equipment and practice in the fire alarm systems throughout the country, as measured by the per cent distribution among the different population groups. In connection with the use of the telephone for fire alarms it may be noted that it has been the practice of the Wisconsin Telephone Company, of Milwaukee, to suggest in its telephone directory that patrons send in fire alarms by telephone. The chief of police has lately requested the manager of the company to omit this suggestion from the book hereafter, for the reason that it frequently takes too long a time to notify the fire headquarters by telephone. This delay, he states, gives the fire a chance to gain headway before the department is able to respond to the call. The percentage each item is of the total is also shown in Table 3. As might be expected, the percentages show that in the smaller communities, where for reasons of economy it is not feasible nor desirable to employ a large fire alarm staff, automatic transmitters prepon- derate, these percentages being 25.8, 34.9, and 14.2, respectively, in the three smallest population groups, whereas in respect to the use of manual transmitters 58.7 per cent are in use in the one group of cities having a population of 100,000 and over and nearly 80 per cent in the three groups comprising a popula- tion of 25,000 and over. It is rather surprising, how- ever, to note that the smallest cities report the largest proportions of all engines and dynamos, which would hardly be expected since a primary battery equipment is usually quite adequate in such cases, but the num- bers dealt with are altogether too small to carry any particular significance. In fact, it will be noted that 51 per cent of all primary batteries and 45.6 per cent of the total number of storage batteries were for sys- tems in cities of less than 50,000 population. Table 4 presents a synopsis of the number of fire alarm systems which reported the different varieties of construction and equipment, grouped according to population of cities. 10 ‘ TasLe +.—Electric fire alarm systems reporting different varieties of construction and equipment, grouped according to population of cities: 1902. NUMBER OF SYSTEMS, BY POPULATION GROUPS. CHARACTER OF CONSTRUCTION AND EQUIPMENT. 50,000 and under 100,000. 25,000 and under 50,000. 100,000 and over, 10,000 and | Under Total, 10,000. under 25,000. Overhead construction:! Pole line— Owned exclusively Leased exclusively Owned and leased Overhead construction ex- clusivel Underground construction :? Conduit— Owned exclusively Leased exclusively Owned and leased Both overhead and underground construction Boxes or signaling stations: Signaling boxes exclusively .. Annunciating boxes exclu- sively Both signaling and annunci- ating boxes Special telephones Central office equipment: | Manual transmitters exclu- sivel Automatic transmitters ex- clusively Both manual and automatic transmitters Receiving registers, all kinds. Receiving circuits .....-... : Transmitting circuits.... 2 Both receiving and transmit- ting circuits Telegraph switchboards ex- CIUSIVELY wnceceseswesnmrcenics Telephone switchboards ex- clusivel Both telegraph and telephone .. switchboards .........---.-- Single circuits exclusively......-. Central station power equipment: Engines... Dynamos . 82 261 50 114 139 387 Engines, dynamos, motor gen- erators, and dynamotors.... Dynamos, motor generators, and dynamotors Battery cells— 19 29 13 eiiee MERER Eee oe dt Both primary and storage. 1 One system failed to report the miles of pole line owned or ieased, and one system failed to report pole line and wire mileage. 2Two systems failed to report the miles of conduit owned or leased. ian Ewe systems reported only telephoning boxes, which are not shown in this From this interesting table it will be observed that of the 764 fire alarm systems in the United States, 681 used overhead construction exclusively, and of this number 387, or over 50 per cent, were to be found in communities of less than 10,000 population. This con- firms the statement as to the extension of municipal fire alarm systems in the smaller cities and towns. There were 83 systems which used combined overhead and underground construction. There were only 114 municipalities which owned their entire pole line, while 509 leased, or used without cost, the supports for their overhead wires and cables. : Table 5 shows the miles of conduit and the wire mile- age for the 83 systems reporting the use of under- ground construction. 11 Taste 5.—UNDERGROUND CONSTRUCTION OF ELECTRIC FIRE ALARM SYSTEMS, BY STATES AND CITIES: 1902. STREET MILES OF STREET MILES OF cONDULT: WIRE MILEAGE, CONDUIT: WIRE MILEAGE. & STATE OR CITY. ae STATE OR CITY. Sing] . ingle ingl ingle Owned. | Leased. || Total. |] Si28!¢) wirein Owned. | Leased. || Total. |] 828!¢ |wire in wire. | Cables. wire. | cables. United States.............. 414 445 11, 483 526 | 10,907 || New Hampshire............-...-].---.-200- 5 14 2 12 California .. 2.2.0.2... 2. .eceee sees 15 21 221 15 206 KK6GHG so ciscuimecanccreissomnasel sepeeserns 1 2 2 eee e sees Na SBM) 6 dese meneticeredis ceminal nemieaneing® 4 12! || cciieaicines 12 1 anaes 10 54 asadena..... 1 2 San Francisco 10 150 New Jersey..........--- wenee eee 1 18 156 2 154 Connecticut ..........c..eeeceeee 30 8 16 Tote Wane state teereeeeeee Hartford ... 40 Montclair ......... New Britain 2 Morristown New Haven 101 alae District of Columbia..........--. 1 6 760 ||.......- 760 en Washington ................. 1 6 760 ||........ 760 || New York TMM 018 es cc sseecccceeceweessssave 62 3 684 |\.......- 684 alany. uffalo Bloomington ..........-.---- 2: | civ sae 18 ||....-.-- 13 Geneva.. Chicago .....- D4 ewcsciews ad 640 ||........ 640 New Yor: BlGini oe ocactieeaeaciede seccmce beamaseicid 1 B | |eaescel Rochester . Evanston. 6, lesiceeeeaee 24 || cocina 24 Syracuse .. ROCKIOlG «0: 3s e:ciscoecenzres assesses 2 Aa ostestetsies 4 Troy. aie onkers .. WGianas 2s eects nsec ackcisles acne yee 5 58 3 55 re Fort Wayne ........---------|--------+- 1 Orla asieuee 6 ONO sieedsabsiauees cineeetenie ANGIANAOUS toagnsereetsayacaaeeyes # Ba 8 49 Alron ee . - anton .. Maines: sidaies ste sea eenaneaaullaawetsisenes 4 AVA ‘Wiasels cheesang 17 Cincinnati Portland: 54 nese es ae ee 4 TT sesaees 17 aoe Maryland au, 220 denvsedaceseee (1) (1) 42 |l......e- 42 TOlCdO ...60c0e cette see recee Baltimore ..........-222----- Qe | Q) 42 ||_......- 42 || Pennsylvania ............-.-2--- Massachusetts .....-.-.-.------ ec 6 124° we Disc eeawainewreerre NE oe ccccne Boston .. 34 Philadelphia - x Pittsburg 5 Rhode Island..........2.....-2+- a : Newport...... Tessas stasis Sesceetcie 4 20: || sacctecas oe 20 Lowel 5 PTO vneces sesneniawene 3 8 TBE Jl scaaaans 181 Nahent et er eMart The Gfhlielt aes “ Tennessee ssavcescissssetenaasnews laciemiesiaee 6 45 || eeeesiene 45 New Bedford....-.. 6 ; Newton fac 2 Memphis <1. occ ccccicaaiecnen|eoeess sone 6 45 |lewes seen 45 i 18 Be ae rane neiee 3 PS RAS te cane eaisuicticd ieiaddtoes kawenena ls 7 26 |leescceee 26 Westfield .. 3 Winthropeeiwcczccccecenccwees| “L:|-ceciemrncs Galveston 2)c020 sein esences 2 Di Ihe sieiSeornieie 82 Worcester ...-....-cecsccnccs|eeceseeeee 19 Se Antonio ; a eee = WO scicnemsseemusieaeacnaieescesmes| $F Malveursmne Michigan ....<..:ss22seesseeecess 33 9 Vv 5 5 ‘ Bay Clty. --cssssecssseeesess: B Noa aeveese wt og s| ont CE ODU SeS Ea reverses ees |e | Pe Se eS OCVOIE . oeecedesmcvismeeres ain OO lara ere tees D 2 02 e : 1 Jackson nen eae Cees 3 10 Race t 10 Burlington 2 9 9: llesicisieae amazoo.. Sl Fille ssseee 7 + int . Lansing ... 2 2 Oates Virginia.......-.-2..0eece eee ees 6 136 ||.-.-.... 136 oe = | eaten MAL, SG pIOTE at cance staee dRaeacetas i Bl Sseacce 5 Minnesota.....-.---.-2s-ce2-eeee 2 19 BIS NW ic ctoonn 315 RiICHMONG s 414502049 es aenes feed seniane 5 TSL jlseusmxee 131 Minneapolis.........-------- 2 3 200 |]......-. 200 || Washington ..............--.---- 2) | seeesceess 2 1D Vcscrcteicrsiots SE PAU ste-ccicscieseisiain gis « sictetece| eect wree 16 LIB ||aiesjeie eee 115 Seattle .........--..0.0-0-20- 2. | eest teeters 2: ID: Nisvass'gigseats MISSOUNI siicieaisticnincaaeemmeeieses 4 il aciad saber 455 |]........ 455 Sty GUIS 4 Seve pehesee qlee ise 466 lve 455 Wisconsin. ...s.ccscessssassaenes 36 2 201 84 117 Nebraska.......0000-ccececeeeees 0) (1) 28 hecese vt 28 Henley ge eeecates - Omaha .....2..0e es eeeeeeee ee (1) (1) 28 Wostschies 23 Milwauke 184 ||" 34° 160 1 Not reported. 2 Has 2 separate systems, but is treated as 1 system, 3 City rents one or more wires in cable owned by private company. It appears from the foregoing table that in the 83 | ground circuit was more widely distributed than might systems included, 414 miles of conduits were owned and | perhaps be expected, being found in no fewer than 23 445 miles were leased, giving a total of 11,433 miles of | states and the District of Columbia. Nor can it be said single wire and single wire in cables from which the | that the larger cities were unduly represented; a glance streets have immediately been released. This under- | at the table shows that New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and other large cities by no means pre- ponderated in this respect. Further reference to this subject will be made incidentally in connection with underground police patrol wires. Table 6 presents the number of employees and the total salaries and wages paid in 1902 in cities of 100,000 population and oyer in 1900, for both electric fire alarm and police patrol system’. Data are presented for 25 systems exclusively fire alarm, 21 systems exclusively police patrol, and 9 systems a combination of fire alarm and police patrol service, or a total of 55 systems. TaB_e 6.—Einployers and wages in cities of 100,000 population and over, electric fire alarm and police patrol systems: 1902. Combina- Fire | Police Won are Total. |jalarm ex-ipatrol ex-| “a nq clusively.|clusively. police patrol. \ Number Of Systems: secucesisseececenacc 55 25 21 9 Salaried officials and clerks: Total number.... aface St], 28 21 35 Total salaries .| $189, 477 | $49,396 | $32,294 $57, 787 General manag | tendents, ete.— : DUNC sce ee cret eeciamins 1) 28 21 22 SAIATICS 6. 35. 5acisieiste as cemvcimscn $124, 728 $49,396 | $32,294 #43, 038 Clerks and bookkeepers— } : NUM DOT sis jasrerayesyarice soocraeche TBs |vocsornaes wees ite wiancavetence 13 SalATICS:. necedensmeiecmcmnet S14, 749 basa ceases el asteecisininiess $14, 749 Wage-earners: Total average number...........-. 818 805 291 222 Total Wa Pes sais sciceasce siciesen $804,065 | $309,034 | $270,903 ! $224,128 Operators, male— Average number 1396 1118 211 67 WARES sesesscceesseeveseess $401, 659 | $132,379 | $201, 204 $68, 076 Foremen and inspectors— 7 Average number..........- 92 30 22 40 WALES) 5 sadieitenacteemsicde sented! $100, 666 || $36,585 | $20, 361 $43, 720 Linemen, wiremen, battery- men, ete.— ) Average number.........-. 289 123 54 112 WARES cece sc ctewieaa seca caine $272,910 || $114,945 | $46,738 | $111,227 All other employees— Average number........... 41 34 4 3 WARES cvseeciscwets urernscny $28, 830 || $25,125 $2, 600 $1,105 1Includes 1 female operator. It will be gathered that the figures shown in the above table are representative rather than inclusive; at thesame 12 time they should not be understood as applying to the systems as a whole, owing to the fact that in so many of the smaller communities the duties which would fall to a fire alarm or police patrol service are merged in those performed by other officials in such a manner that the proportion of salaries or wages paid can not well be segregated according to the amount of work done or relative hours of duty in each department. The num- ber of wage-earners shown in the table is the average number of each class continuously employed during the year in the operation and maintenance of the electrical department of the two systems. Of the 88 cities having a population of 100,000 or over, 2—Kansas City and St. Joseph, Mo.—had no sys- tems of electric fire alarm; 2 did not report employees and wages, the systems being operated by local tele- phone companies on contract; and in 9 the fire alarm and police patrol systems were operated in conjunction and were reported in combination. In regard to the police patrol service, + of the 38 cities having a population of 100,000 or over—Louisville, Ky., New Orleans, La., Scranton, Pa., and Toledo, Ohio—had no electric sys- tems; 1 failed to report employees and wages, and 3 were operated by local telephone companieson contract. The systems for 9 cities, as already noted, were operated in conjunction with fire alarm services and were reported in combination therewith. That the services are already of some magnitude is indicated by the fact that the 55 systems included in this table show a total of 84 salaried officials and clerks, with total salaries of $139,477 per annum, and 818 wage- earners, with total wages of $804,065 per annum. Table 7 is a detailed statement summarizing for each state all of the information with regard to constructional equipment of fire alarm systems, and also the number of alarms received. 1, Relay switchboard; 2, joker board; 3, working switchboard; 4, multiple pen register; 5, automutic line tester. TELEGRAPHIC DEPARTMENT, FIRE ALARM HEADQUARTERS, WASHINGTON, D. C., 1902. 14 TaBLe 7.—ELECTRIC FIRE ALARM NUMBER AND CHARACTER OF BOXES OR CHARACTER OF CONSTRUCTION. SIGNALING STATIONS. eCedTd ARopwn . Nebraska Overhead. Underground. Signaling. Annunciating. Num- |, ‘ sTaTE on TERRITORY, | Pe? Of | tems. || Miles of pole Wire mileage. Street miles of ; Wire mileage. line. , conduit. 1 Nine Num- i cree -ber on All rch ber on al : ; A ther, . Single ; Single || ber, |/PO.e8 OF/other.) par, poles ore Owned.|Leased.|| Total. plngle wire in ||Owned.|Leased.|| Total. ee wire in posts. posts. wire. | cables, ‘| cables. United States ... Alabama. tal Arizona.. Arkansas .. California... 2 Colorado.............. Connecticut ... Delaware ss District of Columbia .. Florida Georgia Wah vessceueveterceeay Illinois. .. : Indiana... Iowa..... ue KRANSAS «0: o cicicjaiccrtern-on'e Kentuckys sccsccccoses Louisiana... aid Maine.... Maryland.... 55 Massachusetts ........ Michigan ............. Minnesota . Mississippi . Missouri . Montana. New Hampsh: New Jersey .... = New Mexico ........-. New York............. North Carolina . . North Dakota... Ohio ....... a Oregon..... so aretasassin eiese Pennsylvania......... Rhode Island .. ae South Carolina South Dakota. as Tennessee..........--. Washington........... West Virginia. . = Wisconsin . Wyoming .....-. 1 Not reported. 2 New York city has 2 separate systems, but is treated as 1 system. 15 SYSTEMS, BY STATES: 1902. CENTRAL OFFICE EQUIPMENT. CENTRAL STATION POWER EQUIPMENT, ‘ ; r gen- Transmit- Telegraph switch- || Telephone switch- Engines. Dynamos. ona Battery cells, Fire ters. : boards. } boards, dynamotors. Special alarms Single tele- R Receiv- cir- hones.| _ Te- Sn Re- |Trans- its p ‘| ceived. resis. | ceiv- | mit- culls tere au) ing | ting: ; kinds, | cir: | eir- Num-| Total Num- | rotal i ;Man-| Auto- NAS. | ovits. | cuits. ||Num-| ber of capac-||NUm-| ber of capac- Num.-| Horse-||Num-| Horse-/|/Num-/Horse-|} Pri- | Stor- ual. | matic. ber. | sec- i ber, | sec- ity. ber. |power.|} ber. |power.|| ber. |power.||mary.| age. tions, tions. 1,900 | 85,070 |} 155 295 452 | 1,973 | 1,361 || 214 259 |-2, 407 62 153 | 6,480, 442 7 58 19 51 81 47 ||57,010 |49,327 | 1 8 838 ||...... 4 3 17 é 1 70 1 iesstese’ 3 4 2 cei eae 305 jj...-.- 1 11 7 4 58 | 2, 661 4 12 19 82 50 6} 1,295 |}...... 3° 2 16 14 33 | 1,183 3 12 4 52 78 segnteess 80 Hacases 1 1 6 6 neapipeie 786 1 2 3 30 14 6 349 2 1 2 18 10 6|/ 1,191 1 3 1 28 20 aiaiarciasias OO | Hi svasicizss||cictelaia's'|ehercture ciate areca Ecaatelejeisl| | pais ctecal eroietcrejeee letcisrata wie | [a wares |aictolciuintallsintelerrcis 148 | 9,027 28 12 42 78 63 8 8 24 6 311 3] 3,648 3 6 13 71 56 6 10 73 3 6 110 26 | 1,807 ||...... 8 26 36 33 4 5 185: |leetciasieaeneee| sees 2 512 1 1 1 8 6 1 1 4 |e eee Jee eee fee eee ee 32] 1,864 4 6 6 25 24 1 1 53 511 1 2 1 22 21 3 3 meee ece 940 |]...-.. 6 2 27 14 5 5 30 | 1,053 31 2 1 31 6 L 1 a 7 245 | 9,491 14 50 71 318 250 33 35 5 6 » 108 | 2,830 8 17 17 64 6 6 58 3 3 115 45 | 2,430 2 3 15 55 26 7 7 64 5 5 116 sinatra 239 ||...... 2 1 8 A, Paeicten| smccen [de sennellecocesacewees|aaanaes! 246 | 2,272 2 1 1 a 20 15 15 185 2 2 150 sseececs| 189° || aansex Ue Warasearate.st Sesmeculliauees Bull. No. 11——3 As might be expected, the 764 systems. while dis- tributed through 48 statex and territories, are to be found chiefly in the older and more densely popu- lated sections. Massachusetts has the largest number, namely 106; New York is second, with 70 (or 71 if New York city were to be credited with two systems instead of being counted as one); New Jersey is third, with 57; followed by Pennsylvania, with 56; Ohio, 50; Michigan, 40; Indiana, 37; Illinois, 34; California, 28; Connecti- cut and Wisconsin, each 26; Maine, 22; Iowa, 19; New Hampshire, 18; Minnesota, 17; Colorado and Kentucky, each 12; Vermont, 11; and Texas, 10. New York, however, leads in almost every respect, having 55578 signaling boxes, as compared with the next state in rank, Massachusetts, which has 4,890. With regard to the use of the telephone as central station equipment, Maryland is reported as having 1,920 drops, or lines, or a shade less than 30 per cent of the total capacity of the country thus engaged, while Pennsylvania has 2,208, or 84 per cent. In telephonic capacity 64 per cent of the total is thus accounted for, but as this rep- . resents only 7 switchboards, 1‘in Maryland and 6 in Pennsylvania, it can not be accepted as a full indication of the facts, 55 of the boards being in use for such work in 21 of the other states or territories. The total number of signaling and annunciating boxes in the United States was 37,832, from which 85,070 alarms were received. Of these alarms 12,794 are cred- ited to New York, from 5,594 boxes, or 2 per box, per annum, whereas in the state of [llinois, with 2,278 boxes, the number of alarms received was 9,027, or + per box. ||” In Massachusetts, with 4,890 boxes, 9,491 alarms were received, pr 2 per box. In the state of Pennsylvania, with 3,566 boxes, 4,571 alarms were reported as having been received, or about 1.3 per box. In Kentucky, with 603 boxes, 1,864 alarms were reported, or 3 per box. In Minnesota, with 838 boxes, 2,430 fire alarms were reported, or 3 per box. The variations in the average number of fire alarms per box may be due either to the prevalence of wooden construction in build- ings, resulting in more frequent fire alarms, or to the ‘heavy duties thrown on the boxes by distributing them more sparsely. This latter supposition, however, does not appear to be borne out upon examining the distri- bution of boxes per mile of wire. For example, Illinois, with a total of 2,820 miles of wire, had 2,278 boxes, or less than 1 box per mile of wire, while Pennsylvania, with 7,591 miles of wire, had only 3,566 boxes, or less than 1 box to 2 miles of wire. Minnesota had 838 boxes to 1,084 miles of wire, or about the same propor- tion as Massachusetts, with 5,330 miles of wire and 4,890 boxes. New York appears to be well equipped in this respect, having 5,594 boxes to 4,937 miles of wire, thus giving more than 1 box to the mile. The higher 16 - Police calls received or sent... proportion of boxes per mile of wire in New York may doubtless be explained by the liberal distribution in the densely populated districts of New York city and Brooklyn, but the difference between the figures for New York and Pennsylvania is, to say the least, quite striking. The proportion of alarms per box would indicate that Pennsylvania is as well served with its fire boxes as New York is with its larger number, but that Illinois faJls below the standard of these two great Eastern states. The suggestion that the number of alarms per box may have some relation to the use of wood in construc- tion is supported by statistics from the Southern states, where the use of brick and stone is less prevalent than in the North. Tennessee, with 267 boxes, reported 995 alarms, or nearly 4 per box; Georgia, 412 boxes and 1,191 alarms, or nearly 3 per box; Virginia, 407 boxes and 1,708 alarms, or over 4 per box. In New York, ‘and other closely settled cities in the Northern states, the use of wood for walls and roofs has long been pro- hibited within the urban areas, and the general intro- duction of structural steel in buildings has been a nota- ble feature of the last decade. Table 8 is of interest as presenting the figures for the electric fire alarm and police patrol systems of Hono- lulu, Hawaii. TasLe 8.—Electric fire alarm and police patrol systems of Honolulu, Hawaii: 1902. Date of establishment oiccis scan ce seecies eeisi)s oetere ve piecee eeecdcadeaeceanis da Overhead construction: Miles of pole line, owned ............:.c2cc cece ee cece ete ce cer ene eeeeee Total wire mileage, single wire..............02...020. 2c cece cece ee ce eee Number and character of boxes or signaling stations: Signaling, on poles or posts ...- 2.00.2... c cece eee eee eet c ee ee ee eee ces Telephoning, on poles or posts Special telephones Fire alarms received Telephone........... Mose cigcin: skeen eaewsie ele All other Central office equipment: ~- Automatic transmitters Receiving registers, all kinds .... Receiving circuits Transmitting circuits Telephone switchboards, number Number of sections--......-.............- Total capacity Central station power equipment: Storage battery cells 290 The construction shown in this table was used inter- changeably for fire alarm and police patrol purposes. All the construction is overhead, embracing 50 miles of pole line owned by the department, with 100 miles of circuit, and 50 signaling and 50 telephone boxes on poles or posts, supplemented by 5 special telephones. The central office equipment includes 4 automatic trans- mitters and 1 receiving register, 4 receiving-and 4 transmitting circuits, and 1 telephone switchboard with a capacity of 150 drops, and the power equipment em- braces 290 storage battery cells for supplying current to the whole system. During the year ending Decem- ber 31, 1902, 50 fire alarms were received, averaging 1 per signaling box, and 2,750 police calls were received or sent, of which 150 were telephonic. ' It is of interest to note that one of ‘our outlying’ dependencies should "be so well equipped, boasting of facilities which, in fact, a great many communities of importance within conti- nental United States do not enjoy. The apparatus and ~ methods, and probably the supplies, in use in Honolulu are, however, of American origin. ti a great many cities of the United States it is the custom of the municipal authorities to exact, by ordi- nance, by grant of franchise, or otherwise, the right to string wires on a certain number of cross-arm pins on the pole line of a telegraph, telephone, electric light, street railway, or other electric company, or to reserve the right to use a certain number of. ducts in.an under- ground wiring system belonging to a specific conduit company, or to any company operating some specified public service. Table 9 gives the number of fire alarm and police patrol systems, grouped according to the population of the respective cities, which have reserved the right of way on poles or in conduits without cost to the city. TABLE 9. petual right of way on poles or in conduits, without cost to the city, grouped according to population of cities: 1902. Fire | Police POPULATION GROUPS. alarm. | patrol. TOA] o cevact soe sesseceees sietcivexceveentses Veecceeeeece eis ‘ 623 123 100,000 an dV erie osc cc sce icevnwduerenveccieseciiveaeshtavereds 34 30 50,000 and under 100,000... ed exis 36 26 25,000 and under 50,000..... ss ait 73 31 10, ‘000 and under 25,000. . ect 195 26 Under 10, 000. iu Siul deta np Samet vecinee eae ee noes awieee tatmnaae dS ee 285) 10 According to Table 9, perpetual rights of way of this character have been reserved for 623 fire alarm and 123 police patrol systems. It is interesting to note that of the fire alarm systems, which secured rights and accommodations of this character without cost as an offset to the grants made to private companies, 480 belonged to communities of less than 25,000 population. Table 10 may be regarded as a connecting link between the fire alarm and police patrol statistics embraced in this report, as it includes the systems, or portions of systems, which are employed interchange- ably for fire alarm and police patrol purposes, grouped according to the population of cities. The statistics given in this table are included in the tables giving the data for fire alarm and police patrol systems, respectively. TaBLe 10. changeably for fire alarm and police patrol, grouped according to population of cities: 1902. POPULATION GROUPS, 4 50,000 | 25,000 | 10,000 Total ane _ and | and | and |Under lh over under | under |under |10,000. * 1100,000. | 50,000. | 25,000. Number of systems ..........-.--- 23 6 4 5 2 6 Overhead construction: : Miles of pole line— OWN x spac cnecereeeee ges 454 385 23 87) |aseee xe 9 Leased. s.:2+scj00% axesececece 485 140 153 8&7 23 82 Wire mileage— 1 . POWAY ic, cis arcrercrciodreicedies Scie 5, 533 4, 809 470 132 23 99 Single wire ........... 5, 488 4,770 465 131 23 99 Single wire in cables. . 45 389 5 De lnceceuiap sacar Underground construction: : : Street miles of conduit— Owned orexcccecsseeccce cee 99 97 Ol erste Sadieie leisiwGeie' 3 [3 aistesiom TLGRSOG fase nies cicitnaie eanciersia cie'sis 157 156 A Paskreccie Miceeaits dd teceee Wire mileage— Totallscccvsns gam adoaeaneds 5,742 || 6,737 Single wire ........... 70, 68 Single wire in cables...) 5,672 5, 669 Signaling boxes or stations ......- 1,711 1,107 Number on poles or posts - 1,472 961 All-other..... 239 146 Special telephones 369 296 Central office equip: Manual transmitters........-. 12 7 3 DP ieisterains, 1 Automatic transmitters....... ~' 12 5 3 De atereteraee 2 Receiving registers, all kinds. 57 28 12 14 les eeece 3 Receiving circuits ...-..-...-. 197 146 25 QD es eccae 5 Transmitting circuits......... 121 63 37 LE Nlesecisicseis 4 Telegraph switchboard i number 34 1 , Number of sections 39 2 Total capacity .. -| 354 4 Telephone switchboards, TOM DOP ssc scnencaseaeenweer ss 11 ‘Number of sections ....... 17 Total capacity ....... ave) 6L Single circuits ...............----- P 6 Central station power equipment: Motor generators and anes motors, number 2 2 7 L. | ecdemtaalsieoders Total horsepower .. 2 2 TW loesssealsexescs . Battery cells— PYIMMALY..:d-:. sisjeinseiorsictnne acini ER 6, 709 446 200 146 247 UOTE S ic ciscicieceie:cicis'sineisiersivis san 1,631 | 1,690 832 |...-..- 74 The table embraces 23 systems, with 5,533 miles of overhead wire and 5,742 miles of wire in conduit, upon which were distributed 1,711 signaling boxes or stations, of which 1,472 were on poles or posts; these boxes were supplemented by 369 special telephones. ‘The central office equipment of these systems included 12 manual transmitters, 12 automatic transmitters, 57 receiving registers, 197 receiving circuits, and 121 transmitting circuits. There were also 34 telegraph switchboards, with a capacity of 354 circuits, and 11 telephone switch- boards, with a total capacity of 761 drops, or lines. Among these'systems there were 6 single circuits, all of which were in communities of less than 25,000 oonabe tion. The power equipment of the central offices embraced 7,748 cells of primary battery, 4,297 cells of storage battery, and 10 motor generators and dyna- motors, with a total capacity of 5 horsepower. These 23 combination systems were widely distributed as to the population of cities, 6 systems being in cities of 100,000 and over, + in cities of 50,000 and under 100,000, 5 in cities of 25,000 and under 50,000, 2 in cities of 10,000 and under 25,000, and 6 in cities and towns of less than 10,000. Cities of 50,000 population and over reported all of the underground construction of these systems and the great bulk of the apparatus, although it should be noted that the 6 plants in cities of less than 10,000 population had more than 30 boxes per system. It might be expected that the combina- tion of the fire alarm and police patrol systems would have found favor in the small communities for reasons of economy, but this table does not support such an inference. HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. The electric telegraph was not utilized for fire alarm purposes until the beginning of the second half of the nineteenth century. Even to-day there are a great many communities in America which retain the inade- quate method of notifying the community by ringing a bell in some high tower, or by blowing a steam whistle, the number of strokes or pauses indicating roughly the location of the fire. As late as 1865, New York city had a watchtower system, under which a watchman, on discovering a fire or receiving an alarm, sounded upon his bell the number of the district; this was repeated by watchtowers all over the city, and thus the whole community was warned. While such a method was effective in distributing information, it is obvious that there was abundant opportunity for delay and mistakes; moreover, while the alarm served as an immediate call to duty, it also notified a large number of people who had no immediate concern in the matter. It was inevitable that the introduction of the electro- magnetic telegraph by Prof. 5. F. B. Morse should direct attention to the ease with which warning signals could be instantaneously transmitted from .point to point. The first suggestion for the use of the telegraph for fire alarm purposes is said to have been made by Dr. W. F. Channing, of Boston, as early as 1839, when the telegraph itself was in a very crude and imperfect condition. Making asuggestion, however, is one thing, and constructinga practical device isquiteanother. The history of electricity is full of instances where possi- bilities were suggested years before it was found feasi- ble to devise the proper apparatus. It is an authentic fact, however, that in 1845 Doctor Channing published in the Boston Advertiser an article in which he de- scribed a method of applying the telegraph to fire alarms. The plan was as follows: A central office was to be established in some public building, in- which the necessary battery, together with a Morse register and an alarm bell, should be located; a double wire to proceed from thence over the housetops successively to every engine house and fire bell in the city, and return again to complete its circuit to the place 18 from whence it started. In every station thus established a Morse register in connection with an alarm bell was to be placed, also a key, by the simple depression of which an appropriate signal would be instantly conveyed to every other station on the circuit. He also suggested the modification of having five or six circuits, or even a circuit from every station, to the central office. By this method the operator would be able to communicate directly to all the stations, and, if so desired, every alarm of fire might be made to pass through the central office before being communicated to the different stations. From among the many modifications to which his design is susceptible, Doctor Channing calls special attention to one, in these words: ‘‘There is, however, one which deserves to be specially mentioned. By a slight change of the arrangement of the alarm bell stations and increase of machinery, the hammers of the bells could all be disposed so as to strike mechanically on the communication of a galvanic impulse from the central office. The agent (operator) would therefore be en- abled, by depressing a single key with his finger at certain inter- vals, to ring out an alarm defining the position of the fire simul- taneously on every church bell in the city.’ -This description clearly indicates the electro-mechanical bell striker, urges the municipal authorities to take his project into consideration; and, as the city had been behindhand in the matter of giving alarms of fire, the adoption of this system would place her in advance of other cities.* Nothing, however, was done until early in the winter of 1847-48, when Mr. L. L. Sadler, superintendent of the Boston and New York telegraph line, in discussing with Mr. F. O. J. Smith, one of the pioneer capitalists associated with Morse, and then president of the Port- land telegraph line, the feasibility of using telegraphy for fire alarm purposes, stated that he had in his employ at Framingham, Mass., an operator. named Moses G. Farmer, who was the most ingenious man he had ever seen, and who, he believed, could work out a system. The matter was brought to young Farmer’s notice, and within a week he had produced an apparatus capable of carrying out the idea, based on electro-magnets and the striking mechanism of an old church clock. This was the first machine ever constructed for giving an electric fire alarm, and served as the starting point for all the later work that has been done in this field. Nothing more came of it at the time, however, although the apparatus was indorsed by Mayor Quincy, of Boston. In 1851 Doctor Channing succeeded in interesting the Boston city council in the subject of fire alarm tele- graphs to such an extent that $10,000 was appropriated for an experiment. His plan again proposed numerous box stations, connected hy telegraph circuits with the central office, from which all alarm signals received from the boxes were to be sent out over other circuits to the bell towers, so that the box signals would be simultaneously struck, electrically, by every fire alarm bell in the city. Ata total cost of about $16,000 this system, with some modifications, was adopted for 39 signal stations. It is possible that both Doctor Channing and Pro- fessor Farmer worked out their ideas independently, although attention should be called to the fact that Mr. ‘Adam Bosch, Trans. Am. Inst. Elec. Engrs., Vol. XIV, 1897 page 336. , : Charles Robertson, who introduced the Morse telegraph system into Germany, had utilized it in New York city in 1850 to aid the fire department in signaling the exist- ence of fires. In fact, lacking evidence to the contrary, it would appear that the authorities in New York city were pioneers in this direction. As early as November, 1846, the common council of the city authorized the in- troduction of the Morse magnetic telegraph into the fire service, and in the next month at a meeting of engi- neers and firemen, a committee of five was appointed to urge the adoption of the plans recommended by the chief engineer relative to such work. In 1847 a permif was granted to Hugh Downing and Royal E. House, a well-known telegraph inventor, to set up a line of tele- graph for fire purposes in different parts of the city, at a cost of $500. In 1851 the connection of the bell towers with fire headquarters by telegraph was com- pleted with immediate beneficial results, but it is a mat- ter of official record that public curiosity on the subject was so great that the entire telegraph apparatus was often put out of service by the tampering fingers of inno- cent visitors. Nothing permanent, however, came of such experimental work, and, for the evolution of the practical machinery required, attention must be paid to the joint efforts of Doctor Channing and Professor Farmer. In 1851 Professor Farmer became superin- tendent of the Boston fire alarm system, continuing in active service until 1855, and remaining for another four years with the department which his. skill and ingenuity had done so much to create. During this period Doctor Channing and Professor Farmer took out, singly and together, several patents which became the foundation of the fire alarm system as it exists to- day. One of these patents, covering what was known as the ‘‘ village system,” was taken out by Professor Farmer in 1859. It naturally would be supposed that so invaluable an aid in subduing fires would receive the warmest wel- come from those engaged in fire extinction; but it is a fact that the bitterest enemies of the new system were found among the firemen themselves. The fire depart- ments, about the middle of the last century, were volun- teer organizations, often partaking of the character of a club, and frequently engaged deeply in politics. The introduction of prompt and efficient methods of giving the alarm marked the beginning of a new era and the creation of the paid fire alarm departments. The advent in the field of the late Mr. John N. Game- well marked another point of departure in the art and industry. In regard to his work, Mr. J. W. Stover has said: The fire alarm telegraph as it’ stands to-day is not the work of one nor a half dozen men. Many have contributed to its perfec- tion. I have only named afew. It has been an evolution; but if I were asked to name the one man to whom, more than all others, we are indebted for its progress and general use, I should without hesitation name John N. Gamewell, of South Caroling. From 1855 to the time of his death he devoted his splendid business ability 19 and his best efforts for its advancement and its extended use. It has been a number of times suggested to me that those who best understand the importance of his work should erect a monument to his memory. My answer has been, and is, It is not necessary; the evidence of his devotion and beneficent work may be found on nearly every street of nearly every city and town in this broad land. 3 Hearing or reading a lecture by Doctor Channing on the subject of fire alarm telegraphs, delivered in the Smithsonian Institution at Washington in 1855, Mr. Gamewell at once became deeply interested in the sub- ject, and bought from Messrs. Channing and Farmer the right to the use of their inventions and patents in the Southern states. In 1859 he purchased the rights for the rest of the country. This investment, while small compared with what is expended upon fire alarm telegraphs at the present time, was an evidence of great courage and enterprise in those days. The original plant in Boston, installed in 1852, comprised only 19 tower bell strikers and 26 street signal stations, and during the year 1854—two years after the system had been introduced—the number of fire alarms in Boston was only 195. The Boston system, with some improve- ments, was taken up in Philadelphia in 1855, and St. Louis closed a contract in 1856, though this plant was not in use until early in 1858. The cities of New Orleans and Baltimore adopted the system in 1860, but further development was seriously arrested by the outbreak of the Civil War. No sooner was the war over than Mr. Gamewell again took up the work actively, pushing the system with great vigor and perseverance by means of a corporation to which he gave his name. But it was not until 1869 that New York city, which had organized a paid department in 1865, abandoned its old watchmen and bell towers in favor of the modern methods with which this report deals. Since that time the progress of the system has been rapid, and several ingenious inventors have devoted their energies to the subject. The lead- ing systems are those known broadly as the Gamewell, the Gaynor, and the Speicher.’ The apparatus has of course been greatly improved since its introduction. For example, the first signal boxes used in Boston depended for their operation upon the turning by hand of a crank similar to the one so long a familiar feature of telephone stations for ring- ing up ‘‘central.” ‘The original instructions placed on these signal boxes were that the person sending in the alarm should turn the crank six times. Fastened di- rectly to the shaft of this crank was the break-circuit wheel; one-half of this wheel was so toothed that in revolving it transmitted and recorded in dots or dashes, by means of a Morse register at the central fire head- quarters, the number of the fire district in which the 1‘«Progress in Fire Alarm Telegraphy;’’ paper read before Inter- national Association of Fire Engineers, New York city, September, 1902. 2For details see Maver’s ‘‘American Telegraphy and Encyclo- pedia of the Telegraph.”’ fire was located, while the other half transmitted a cer- tain number of current pulsations, indicating on the Morse register the number of the box. The tower bell was still used, but only to sound the district: in order to ascertain the exact location of a fire, the firemen were supposed to go to the street boxes and count the taps or strokes made on the small bells inside, these signal taps being sent from the central office as soon as the alarm had been transmitted to the tower bells. If a fireman on reaching such a box did not find the bell striking, it was his duty to signal the central office at once, whereupon the operator there would repeat the signal. unlessthe circuit had been broken or interrupted. All this was excellent in theory, but it was quickly demonstrated that people sending in alarms would exer-. cise the crank so vigorously, in the excitement of the moment, that the operator at the central office could not decipher the signals. The instructions upon the boxes were then made to read to the effect that the crank should be turned twenty-five times, which would seem to give abundant opportunity for sending in the signal clearly, but even then there were mistakes and | delays. With regard to Boston, Mr. Adam Bosch says: The original crank signal boxes remained in service in Boston until 1866, in which year automatic boxes were substituted in their place. The following year, Joseph B. Stearns, the immediate suc- cessor of Farmer in the superintendency of the Boston fire alarm telegraph, received a patent for an apparatus operated by ‘‘reverse currents,’’ which permitted the simultaneous use of the same wire for receiving a signal from a box and transmitting it to the alarm bells. Several years prior to the introduction of automatic signal boxes, Stearns abandoned the method of striking the district numbers on the bells, and new boxes were designed to strike the box numbers only. While, with the adoption of the automatic signal box, the speed with which a fire alarm box was operated rio longer depended on the temperament or mental condition of the person giving the signal, a proof was soon furnished that in a matter of this kind as little as possible should be left to ‘‘the intelligence of the public.’’ Incorrect signals were often received from these boxes, for the occurrence of which no cause could be assigned. It was usually the first ‘‘round”’ that was found to be wrong. This remained a puzzle until the cause was discovered, which was this—that the person giving the alarm, disregarding the instructions to ‘‘pull the hook down once and let go,’’ would, after the first pull, by way of emphasis, give the hook another pull or two. This would momentarily suspend the movement of the break wheel, and if it occurred between two successive breaks a long pause would ensue, and the signal would be either unintel- ligible or a number entirely different from the box number would be transmitted. One of the first important steps forward, therefore, was found in the automatic signal box, operated by pulling the hook trigger and then releasing the mech- anism. The patent on this device was taken out in 1867 by Mr. Charles T. Chester, of New York, while further improvements were made and patented about two years later by Crane and Rogers, of Boston, who introduced what was called the ‘‘noninterference pull.” The use of this prevented interference with a signal sent in by a box until its completion; hence each box was enabled ‘to transmit its signal free from the mistakes and delays 20 caused either by careless and excited persons or by those governed by malicious intent. In 1871 Mr. Gamewell, who was the first to use an open-circuit, break wheel, secured the first patent on his noninterfering signal, box; this prevented interfer- ence or confusion between alarms sent in from different boxes.at thesame time, thus securing certainty of trans- mission. The new Gamewell box was a normally wound box with trigger pulls and-a so-called skeleton break wheel. All automatic boxes were actuated either by weights or by springs; if the Jatter, they were pull wound. The Gamewell box contained an electro- magnet and an armature which, when in the position farthest from the magnet, shunted,the break wheel. If a box, was pulled while the armature was in its normal position against the magnet, the armature was held there until the signal was completed. By the same mechanism the armature in every other box on the same circuit was held in position to shunt the break wheel, so that, even if another box were pulled, interference with the first signal would be impossible. The only chance of inter- ference lay in the possibility that the hook.of the sec- ond box might be pulled the instant the circuit was closed, and while the armature was still held close to the magnet; but the use of a skeleton break wheel made these periods of contact so exceedingly short that the chances of interference were very remote. The next step forward in this important direction was taken by Mr. J. M. Gardner, of Hackensack, N. J., who in 1880 patented a box! which provided not only against the dispatch and reception of confused alarms due to the use of imperfect pull devices at the signal box, but also against interference with a signal from any box through the ‘‘cutting in” of another box on the same circuit; in this way both “local” and ‘* distance” noninterference were secured. The bene- fits of this improvement were felt in the more rapid detection and extinction of fires. Another important improvement in signal boxes was introduced by Mr. Tooker, of Chicago, in 1875. Hith- erto delays had often occurred in transmitting alarms because the key to open a box could not be found on the instant. The Tooker keyless door was intended to deter malicious persons from sending in false alarms or otherwise interfering with the apparatus. The door was opened by the turning of a handle, which wound up a spring, thus setting in motion the mechanism by which a local alarm was sounded on a small gong within the box. The person using the Tooker device, having turned the handle of the door and heard the local alarm, often thought he had done all that was necessary, and would walk away without pulling the hook that sent in the signal to “central,” so that the vital part of the signal was omitted. The next step in the development of this idea was the invention made by Mr. M. H. Suren in *See ‘‘Maver’s American Telegraphy and Encyclopedi Telegraph” for technical desails” ae Peepers ae Ee 21 1895. In the operation of this invention it was only necessary that the handle of the door should be turned, whereupon the bell rang and the alarm was transmitted to the central office without even opening the door of the box. A similar development is seen in the device patented by Mr. J. J. Ruddick in 1889, by means of which the boxes, besides being noninterfering, are made to succeed each other, each in turn sending in its own definite signal, even if three or four boxes on the same circuit are pulled at the same time. It is a common practice to call attention to the signal boxes and poles by painting them a bright red color, or in some other way equally distinctive, so as to aniible a person desiring to use a box to find it immediately. In many communities lists of ‘signal boxes are printed and distributed, so as to familiarize the public with their location. ae Reference has already been made to the fact that as early as 1859 Professor Farmer took out a patent on the ‘village system.” A crude system of this kind was installed in Mobile, Ala., in 1866. It is obvious, how- ever, that in view of the cost of maintaining a staff solely for the fire alarm service, towns and villages of small size‘could not enjoy this means of protection unless the human element had in a large measure been eliminated. In 1870 the village system was rendered feasible of application by Mr. Edwin Rogers, of Boston, who patented what is known as the ‘automatic re- peater.” This device made it practicable to strike all the bells and gongs of a fire alarm system directly from one street signal box without the intervention of an operator at the central office. The idea was too valuable, however, to remain restricted in its application to only small cities, and the principle was rendered useful in central office systems by the application of what is known as the ‘‘joker,” invented in 1876 by Prof. J. P. Barrett, superintendent of the bureau of electricity of the city of Chicago, and head of the electrical department of the Columbian World’s Fair in 1893. By means of the ‘*joker” alarms can be sent directly from a signal box to the fire companies whose duty it is to respond first. This, in combination with the automatic repeater, has been found invaluable in modern work. In the fire engine house, to which signals from cen- tral are transmitted, is usually found the electro-mechan- ical indicator, which dates back to1875. This is placed in a conspicuous position, and shows at once, in large figures, the number of every box from which an alarm is being transmitted; in this manner each alarm is brought to notice, and the location of the fire indicated. The gongs in engine houses, rung by the direct agency of electro-magnets which attract and then release an arma- ture, are another familiar feature; many of them are from 6 to 24 inches in diameter. Other important acces- sories in such work are the whistle, which is often sounded in small communities, and particularly the tower bell; which remains a distinct element of fire + alarm work. In some instances these bells have reached remarkable proportions, one type striking 10,000 blows of a most sonorous character, with a weight drop of 25 feet. An ingenious feature in connection with this bell is its attachment to an electric motor which automat- ically starts to rewind the mechanism when the weight has run down; and this automatic winding system can be used also to wind up the weights driving the trans- mitters and multiple registers at the central fire head- quarters. The switchboards are, of course, the most conspicu- ous feature of the central fire office; they are usually handsome and substantially built of mahogany or walnut in the form of a hollow square, so that the operators have all the apparatus and mechanisin within easy reach. In the fire alarm circuits are inserted galvanometers, whose readings can be taken at the board, to show that the batteries are up to the electro-motive foree required for signal transmission, and also, to indicate the elec- trical condition of the circuits themselves, giving notice of any break or grounding. In fact, the circuits are under constant test, as it is obvious that nontransmis- sion of a signal might be atténded with disastrous and even fatal results. The central office apparatus includes a rélay in each circuit from the signal boxes; for each relay there is a multiple pen or registering device for the purpose of permanently recording the alarms received, and an annunciator so placed that the opening of the circuit causes the electro-magnetic drop to fall, disclosing the number of the circuit affected. A notable feature of every well organized central fire alarm telegraph office is the repeater, under a glass case in the center of the operating room. This repeater is usually provided with a locking mechanism, by means of which all the armatures of the relays of fire signal . box circuits, except that on which the alarm has come in, are locked, so that they can not respond to any new alarm that may be sent in during the transmission of the first alarm; thus confused signals are avoided. There are other devices aiso employed as adjuncts of. this work, such as voltmeters, ammeters, and other ap- paratus for electrical measurements, etc. The battery itself was at first of the expensive Grove and Daniells type, but for a great many years past it has been of the type of primary cell known as the gravity, or sulphate of copper—a form quite suitable for fire alarm telegraph requirements, being easily sup- plied with new material, readily cleaned, and simple enough in construction to be maintained by any fireman of ordinary intelligence. Within the last decade, however, the storage battery has been adopted for this class of work to a considerable extent, being found in many of the larger cities. The maintenance cost of the storage battery equipment is said to be only half that of a primary battery plant of equal size; but since the battery equipment is hardly large enough, as a general thing, to warrant the expense \ of an independent or isolated power plant, the practice is generally to connect the batteries with the local central power station, from which the needed supply of charging current is ordinarily obtained. It is obvious, however, that even this source of supply can not always be depended upon, although the batteries carry a consider- able reserve supply; hence some of the central fire alarm stations maintain more than one source of current supply, or connect with a source by more than one circuit. A further development of recent years has been the more general use of the telephone for fire alarm service. This arose in a natural and simple manner from the fact that telephone subscribers in many small towns would call ‘‘ central” to ask where the fire was. It was readily seen that ‘‘central” could be employed very usefully, either as an auxiliary in the transmission of fire alarms or as a fairly efficient substitute for the regular alarm. For example, at Kansas City, Mo., the local telephone service discharges all the functions of a fire alarm system; the police patrol system there has, however, a signal telegraph. Another very interesting feature of the more recent developments, which, however, is not considered in the statistical portion of this report because it does not con- stitute an integral part of the municipal fire alarm tele- graph, is what is known as the auxiliary system. The auxiliary boxes are placed in convenient locations in buildings, in a school, for example, at the teacher’s desk; in case of fire, a small glass pane in the front of the box is broken, and a ring pulled down, which action operates a trip in the nearest street box and causes the alarm to be sent to fire headquarters exactly as though the box had been pulled by hand. The auxiliary cir- cuit has a special battery, and is not connected elec- trically with the regular circuits of the fire alarm system. As a general thing the municipal fire alarm systems, like telephone companies, have resisted the attachment of any auxiliary apparatus to the devices with which communication is maintained, on the ground that need- less additional complication was brought about, thus lowering the efficiency of the system. The auxiliary fire alarm telegraph, however, is so valuable an aid to the fire department that its use has been encouraged. By the use of this system, not only can an alarm be transmitted at once to the fire department, no matter how remote tlie nearest street box may be, but persons all over the building can be notified immediately and the chance of panic is thus minimized. In New York city, at the beginning of 1902, no fewer than 2,400 of these boxes had been installed, with the approval of the New York Board of Fire Underwriters. The only serious objection to such work has been the leaving of the auxiliary devices in the hands of a private or indi- vidual commercial company, instead of constituting it part of the municipal department under control of the city authorities. 22 Another kind of fire alarm telegraph, somewhat auto- matic in character, is that known as ‘‘ thermostatic.” In this the materials or mechanism of the thermostats, when heated to a given degree of temperature, close the circuit, thus sending in an alarm, and in some cases also releasing showers of water from pipes so placed that a fire may be put out, even before outside assistance arrives. Of course, there is always the chance that such a device may go off accidentally, through some rise of temperature not due to an outbreak of a fire, or through some accident to the mechanism, in which event, if water is released, considerable damage may be done to perish- able goods. A quite ingenious extension of the ther- mostatic principle has been made in the use of a cable in which a soft metal fuse wire is interwoven with the copper wires which constitute the alarm circuits; the generation of undue heat melts immediately the fuse wire in the cable, thus closing the circuit and sending inanalarm. This is a portable and variable arrange- ment, which can be modified to meet changing circum- stances, as, within a storage warehouse: or a large department store, the cable may be trailed or drawn at will over any pile of goods to any point where a fire might possibly break out. In Boston some 500 build- ings are equipped with automatic fire alarms, and no fewer than 110 with the sprinkler equipment. Another important part of fire protection work in the leading cities, which should be noted in this connection, is the insurance patrols, maintained by the fire insurance companies themselves. This work consists chiefly in spreading rubber covers over valuable goods at the moment when the risk of loss of such perishable mate- rials is greatest. Perhaps one of the best examples of this is the Boston protective department, maintained by the insurance companies doing business in that city. It has a staff of no fewer than sixty men, specially trained for the work of protecting property exposed to fire and water damage. They operate with six special wagons, supplied with rubber covers, duplicate sprinkler heads, gas fittings, extinguishers, and emergency tools of vari- ous kinds, and are in constant readiness to respond to an alarm of fire, just as is the regular fire engine or hose reel. The staff and the wagons are concentrated at three houses, located in sections of the city where the greatest, values of property are massed. Fire alarm pole lines are usually constructed with more than ordinary care, although the wires are some- times strung upon the poles of the local electric light, telegraph, and telephone companies, and even on those of the trolley systems. Metallic circuits are always used; that is, there is a complete circuit by wire from the box to central and from central back to the box, and also between all other points of communication, the earth being used as part of the circuit only in case of an accident. It is considered good practice to secure the wires to poles ata height of not less than 20 feet from the ground, and to use the finest quality of gal- vanized-iron wire or hard-drawn copper wire; the wire generally employed has a weight of about 325 pounds to the mile for iron and 170 pounds for copper. All the joints are carefully soldered, and the terminal con- nections of both iron and copper wires are made with insulated copper wire run through the buildings and up to the apparatus, conduits being often employed for this interior work. When underground cables are used for fire alarm purposes the ends of the cables are brought out at short intervals to small switchboards usually placed on lamp- posts, following the method proposed by Mr. William Maver, jr., at one time expert on the electrical sub- ways in New York city. In this manner easy access is afforded to the circuits for testing purposes. In view of the vitally important nature of fire alarm telegraphs, it is rather surprising that more work has not been done in placing the wires underground—not merely out of the way, but where they would be less exposed to the elements or the risk of malicious break- age; no winter goes by and no high wind passes with- out the breaking of some aerial telegraph circuits. A scheme for the use of wireless telegraphy in fire alarm signaling apparatus has been suggested by Signor Mollo, chief of the fire department of Naples, Italy, and others. M. Emile Guarini has worked outa plan for the equipment of fire engine houses and numerous buildings at Brussels, Belgium, but at the time of this report it is not known whether the system has been put in operation. 23 The idea is to utilize thermostats for alarm purposes. The rising of a column of mercury, closing the circuit, energizes an electro-magnet, which, in turn, attracts an armature and releases a disk revolving by means of a spring motor. Each disk has notches cut on its periphery at such distances that they represent arbitra- rily, in a code, the number and location of the building. When the disk revolves, its periphery projections make and break a primary circuit, setting up alternating cur- rent in the secondary coil, which, in turn, energizes an oscillator system, sending out into space the waves which represent the message. These waves are received upon along aerial wire raised vertically at the fire engine house and are again converted into oscillations in the resonator circuit, so that the coherer is affected in the usual way, the filings in the coherer being made to close the circuit as the waves come in, and being decohered by the tapper in the relay circuit; the message thus received is recorded on the tape of the register for the local circuit. This system embodies some of the important features of the village and automatic sys- tems already described. At the same time, as a wireless system can not detect the source of a signal, serious difficulties would appear to stand in the way, and the opportunities for malicious interference might be greatly increased, unless some means could be devised to protect the receiving apparatus at the engine house against receiving wireless signals originating elsewhere than at the scene of a fire. ELECTRIC POLICE PATROL SYSTEMS. Reports were received from #48 electric police patrol systems. The data for systems used interchangeahly for the fire alarm and police patrol services have already been referred to in connection with the statistics for fire alarm systems. The service is of much more recent date than that of the fire alarm, and does not, therefore, include so many plants. Table 11 shows the boards or departments of admin- istration to which the several police patrol systems are subject. Taste 11.—Electric police patrol systems, grouped according to boards or departments of administration: 1902. BOARDS OR DEPARTMENTS OF ADMINISTRATION. Administrative bodies : see Board of police commissioners (or commissioner) Board of police and fire commissioners bet Board of public safety ir director, or commissioner of) Board of public works (or commissioner of) Board of trustees.......-------- ec en cece ce cern eee eneeaeeeenaeeee Department of electricity (or city orogenic Department of fire and police patrol telegraphs. Department of police and city property. ..... Department of wire inspection .... Fire commissioner and city council .. Mayor : nis as Mayor and board of police commissioners. ... Mayor and chief of police Mayor and city council Mayor and city marshal... Police department (or police) Special committee by vote of town _ Superintendent of police and board of public safety . Not reported ......-2---0-eee2eeeeeee ee eeeeee eee cganten gee cera Ssleampe gicies's an Dee RHO REE EDUHREO From this table it will be seen that 49 systems, or about one-third of the total number reported in 1902, were governed by administrative bodies—boards of aldermen, boards of selectmen, city councils, etc.—27 by boards of police commissioners, 24 by police depart- ments, and 14 by boards of public safety. As already noted, electric fire alarm systems.were installed and operated as early as 1852, and during the decade from 1862 to 1872 no fewer than 40 systems were put into operation. However, with regard to police patrol systems, work in this field was of a very uncertain and indifferent character up to the year 1881. The following table shows the number of police patrol systems installed during each year from 1867 to 1902, inclusive: TaBLeE 12.—FElectric police patrol systems installed each year. Number. YEAR, , Number. YEAR. H rs oo Pee RRO moo B Lp SD W RW OTH ONIMOOANIO ROO be It will be seen from the above table that only 8 sys- tems had been installed prior to 1882. From that year onward, however, a marked increase was seen. The decade 1882 to 1892 witnessed the installation of 56 plants; the decade 1892 to 1902 was even more active, 76 plants being installed during the period, while during the eleven years from 182 to 1902, inclusive, there were in all 84 installations. It will be observed, however, that the increase in the introduction of elec- tric police patrol systems has hardly kept pace with the adoption of fire alarm systems, the number of fire alarm systenis being in 1902 more than five times as great as the number of police patrol systems, in spite of the fact that the two can be and are so frequently operated in cooperation, or.under the same management. The following table presents the general statistics with regard to the construction and equipment of the service and the amount of work done, together with the percentage which each item is of the total: x Taste 13.—ELECTRIC POLICE PATROL SYSTEMS, GROUPED ACCORDING TO POPULATION OF CITIES, AND PERCENTAGE EACH ITEM IS OF TOTAL: 1902. | POPULATION GROUPS. PER CENT OF TOTAL. | | 50,000 25,000 10,000 | 50,000 25,000 10,000 Total 100,000 and and and Under || 100,000 and and and Under otal, |) and over. under under under 10,000. || andover. under, | under under | 10,000 f 100,000. 50,000, 25,000. i | 100,000. 50,000. 25,000. | Number of systems...........02-02c0eeeeeeeeeee us | 34 30 39 33 wl = 93.0! 20,8 26.3 22.8 8.1 Overhead construction: . : ; Miles of pole line— ' | i Owned « c.sisa cacacess saneien: sevens 6 B29 582 101 95 42 9 70.2 28 11.4 5.1 11 DGaseG) sesagcacicueenccesseste sian see 8,187 | 1, 589 537 613 302 146 49.9 16.5 19.2 9.5 4.6 Wire mileage— iI ! UT Oba acces a ever enebaetnnnd wyrtereynte dala ee 17, 839 13, 5a2 1, 828 1,197 578 184 78.2 10.5 6.9 3.3 it Single Witt. exes css beeceeee ues 14, 296 10, 654 1, 767 1, 149 542 1s |! 74.5 D4 8.0 3.8 1.3 Single wire in cables ........-..---- 3, 043. 2, 898 61 48 BOr Nea geac mace . 95.2 2.0 1.6 Be Ds | oipeiaiesrei: Underground construction: | | Street miles of conduit— : Owne 71 239 19 1 DE (piste ener 88,2 7.0 0.4 Leased. 502 425 31 18 DEY ecscccssiarnerare 84.6 6.2 3.6 Wire mileag ' Otal 2 sce06 9,011 8, 646 178 69 118 | sere eeae 95.9 2.0 0.8 Single wire........... 264 172 58 6 OG cusses Rigas 65.1 22.0 2.3 Single wire in cables...........---- 8, 747 8, 474 120 63 OO cesnwmetes { 96.9 14 0.7 Number and character of boxes or signaling | stations: ; Biganing: witaidweOlseeeta tg esemiscesense eke 9,476 6, 496 1, 3380 873 497 | 280 | 68.6 14.0 9,2 5.2 3.0 Number on poles or posts 6, 747 4,217 1,127 772 399 | 232 | 62.5 16.7 11.5 5.9 3.4 AllOtherscccscsescieczers 2,729 1 2,279 203 101 98 48 | 83.5 TA 3.7 3.6 1.8 Telephoning ......-..--.----- 1,170 | 798 95 115 154 8 | 68.2 8.1 9.8 13.2 0.7 Number on poles or posts 1,060 753 94 78 128 7 71.0 8.9 7.3 12.1 0.7 All othertecsccncecacasewese s 11 45 a 37 26 lg 40.9 0.9 33.7 23.6 0.9 Special telephones .......-.-------- * 1,998 1, 668 197 112 17 4 83.5 9.9 5.6 0.8 0.2 Police calls received or sent....---- .| 40, 626, 505 |} 31,558, 693 | 5,150,225 | 2,301,511 | 1,252,408 | 363,668 | Th7 12.7 5.6 3.1 0.9 Telephone.......-.-....------++ .| 23, 393, 812 |} 20,480, 896 | 1,439, 191 404, 791 925, 731 | 193, 203 87.3 6.2 1.7 4.0 0.8 BOC OR a cs Sica miccidenmseeaee Sereno. HERES 17, 282, 698 || 11,127,797 | 3,711,084 | 1,896,720 326,677 | 170,465 64.6 21.5 11.0 1.9 1.0 Central office equipment: / Manual transmitters 83 40 14 19 8 2 = 48.2 16.9 22.9 9.6 2.4 Automatic transmitters ...... 30 10 7 9 2 es 33.3 23.3 30.0 6.7 6.7 Receiving registers, all kinds 439 311 51 49 21 7 70.8 11.6 11.2 4.8 1.6 Receiving circuits.... 1,272 826 138 195 90 23 64.9 10.9 15.3 U1 1.8 Transmitting circuits ....-.--.-.- 983 577 138 166 88 14 58.7 14.0 16.9 9.0 1.4 Telegraph switchboards, number 70 2 12 10 4 2 60. 0 17.1 14.3 5.7 2.9 Number of sections.....---.-- 84 49 12 11 9 3 68.3 14.3 13.1 10.7 3.6 Total capacity......-.-.....---- 578 433 64 59 14 8 74.9 11.1 10,2 2.4 1.4 Telephone switchboards, number. . 187 142 13 20 11 1 75.9 7.0 10.7 5.9 0.5 “Number of sections......-.-..---- 224 158 17 33 15 1 70.5 7.6 14.7 6.7 0.5 Total capacity.......-------+--- 3, 055 2,370 195 201 286 3 77.6 6.4 6.6 9.3 0.1 Single circuits. .......----...----2ee ee eee ee eee 28 3 5 dd 6 10.7 10.7 17.9 39.3 21.4 Central station power equipment: Motor generators and dynamotors— Number <.222550-200seeccseseenececs cece 18 8 7 2 Le |sanseged 44.4 38.9 11.1 5.6 |.....2-. HOrse@pOWEL ...--. 02 eee sere eee eee cere 18 8 2 7 Ad lcsalossteieiesertns d44 11.1 38.9 BiG loeseysiee Battery cells— 4 Primary ..--..-----0 +20 scence eee eee 24, 477 19, 785 1, 907 1,178 1,147 460 80.8 i) 4.8 4.7 1.9 SROVARE: ccscwee stennevnnen sca asaenieeeen 11, 317 | 4, 823 3, 439 2,239 742 74 12.6 30.4 19.8 6.6 0.6 The 148 systems reported were distributed as follows: 34 in cities of 100,000 population and over, 30 in cities of 50,000 and under 100,000, 39 in cities of 25,000 and under 50,000, 33 in cities of 10,000 and under 25,000, and 12 in cities and towns of less than 10,000. These 148 plants had a total overhead wire mileage of 17,339 miles, comprising 14,296 miles of single wire and 3,043 miles of single wire in cables, and occupying 3,187 miles of leased pole line‘and 829 miles of pole line owned by the respective departments. In addition to the over- head construction there were 9,011 miles of wire in underground construction, of which 264 miles were single wire and 8,747 miles single wire in cables. This wire and cable occupied 502 miles of leased conduit and 271 miles of conduit owned by the departments. The circuits thus enumerated were occupied by 9,476 signaling boxes, of which 6,747 were on poles or posts and 2,729 otherwise disposed. There were also 1,170 telephone boxes, of which 1,060 were on poles or posts, leaving 110 in booths, buildings, etc. The number of special telephones used by the departments was 1,998. Over all these instrumerts 40,626,505 police calls were received or sent, of which 23,393,812 were telephonic and 17,232,693 were of signaling and all otber kinds. The central office equipment of these 148 systems comprised 83 manual transmitters; 380 automatic transmitters; 439 receiving registers; 1,272 receiv- ing circuits; 983 transmitting circuits; 70 telegraph switchboards, with a total capacity of 578 lines; 187 telephone switchboards in 224 sections, with a total capacity of 3,055 drops or circuits; and 28 single circuits, the nature of which has been previously ' explained in connection with Table 3 of fire alarm sys- tems. The central station power equipment for the operation of this apparatus included 24,477 cells of primary battery, 11,317 cells of storage battery, and 18 motor generators and dynamotors, with a total capacity of 18 horsepower. As in the case of the fire alarm service, the underground construction is practi- cally confined to the larger cities, none of it being found . in cities of less than 10,0V0 population, and only 365 miles out of a total of 9,011 miles of circuit, in cities of less than 100,000 population. The bulk of the signaling apparatus, as of the circuits, whether overhead or underground, is also concentrated in the larger cities, 6,496 signaling boxes, or 68.6 per cent: of the total number, being found in cities of a population of 100,000 and over, while of the telephone boxes 798, or 68.2 per cent, were found in cities of the same popula- tion group. The work done by the service followed practically the same proportions, 77.7 per cent of the total calls received or sent being limited to the cities in the highest population group. The 10,646 signaling and telephoning boxes reported were distributed over 26,350 miles of circuit, or 1 box to every 24 miles of circuit. For these 10,646 boxes, the total number of messages sent and received was 40,626,505, giving an average, per box or station, of 3,816 messages during the year, or a daily average use of more than 10 calls. This would appear to be a very extensive use of the systems, and will give some idea of their value and service as a means of increasing the efficiency of the ‘police department and of furnishing aid at times of emergency. It is noticeable that the use of the tele- phone predominated, the number of telephonic messages being 23,393,812, as compared with 17,232,693 of all other kinds. The difference between the fire alarm and police patrol systems is here sharply indicated. In the case of the former, when a fire breaks out, the chief object is to notify headquarters and near-by engine houses, etc., of the exact location of the fire, which can best be done by having each box preadjusted to transmit a definite signal. On the contrary, in police administration, the occasions which arise for the use of the telephone, aside from locating an officer on his beat, are of a most varied character, requiring, both in | transmitting messages to headquarters and in receiving them upon a beat, the giving of a number of specific details, which could not-be conveyed by prearranged signals. The inference with regard to the telephonic service is not correct, however, if based upon the num- ber of telephoning boxes only, as it would appear that the -1,998 special telephones should be considered. If, therefore, the number of special telephones be added to the number of telephoning boxes or stations, it would appear that the 3,168 telephones are to be credited each with 7,384 calls sent or received, or about four times as many as the signaling boxes, a striking demonstration of the prominent part played by the telephone in the police patrol system. The variations in the service are further illustrated by a study of the percentages shown in Table 13. The 25 systems were well distributed, 28 per cent being in cities of 100,000 population and over, 20.3 per cent in cities of 50,000 and under 100,000, 26.8 per cent in cities of 25,000 and under 50,000, 22.3 per cent in cities of 10,000 and under 25,000, and 8.1 per cent in cities and towns of less than 10,000. The table brings out very clearly the fact that cities of 100,000 population and over reported a large proportion of the equipment; and that, extensive as the use of the police signal box and telephone has been shown to be, they are:still lim- ited to the larger cities; 68.6 per cent and 68.2 per cent, respectively, of the total number of such boxes were located in cities of 100,000 population and over, while the corresponding percentages for cities in the smallest population group are 8 and 0.7, respectively. Moreover, cities of 100,000 population and over received and sent 77.7 per cent of all police calls, and no less than 87.3 per cent of all telephone messages. Thus there appears to bea large field for the introduction of telephones for police service in the smaller commu- nities, where they would be most useful, the number of officers being few and the population and dwellings being sparsely scattered over a large area. Table 14 may be studied in conjunction with Table 13, as showing the number of police patrol systems report- ing the different items of construction and equipment, grouped according to the population of cities. TaBLe 14.—Electric police patrol systems reporting different varieties of construction and equipment, grouped according to population of cities: 1902. NUMBER OF SYSTEMS, BY POPULATION GROUPS, CHARACTER OF CONSTRUCTION [| AND EQUIPMENT. 50, 000 and under 100, 000. 25, 000 and under 50, 000. 10, 000 and under 25, 000. 100, 000 and over. Under Total. 10, 000. Overhead construction: Pole line— Owned exclusively Leased exclusively Owned and leased Overhead construction exclu- sivel Underground construction: Condui ~Owned exclusively .. Leased exclusively Owned and leased Both overhead and underground construction. Boxes or signaling stations: Signaling boxes exclusively .. Telephone boxeS exclusively. . Both signaling and telephone boxes Special telephones...............- Central office equipment: Manual transmitters exclu- sivel Automatictransmittersexclu- sively Both manual and automatic transmitters Receiving registers, all kinds. Receiving circuits Transmitting circuits Both receiving and transmit- ting circuits Telegraph switchboards ex- clusively @alephone. switchboards ex- clusivel Both telegraph andtelephone switchboards - Single circuits exclusively Central station power equipment: Motor generators and dyna- THOLOTS -. cisinicieeie'saie's © sis wine s cere Battery cells— Primary Storage Both primary and storage. 14 105 29 91 13 35 9 57 125 19 3 56 36 13 12 116 120 112 112 24 in jaieio) sisjatoleiateieye luis cisieceie 56 14 28 11 94 74 24 22 18 6 19 20 9 20 23 5 24 11 3 10ne system reported only telegraphing boxes, which are not shown in this table. 26 Of the 148 systems considered, 57 used both over- head and underground wires; of these, 28 were in the first population group, 11 in the second, and 10 in the third, or a total of 49 in cities of 25,000 population and over. There were 125 systems which reported signal- ing boxes only, 19 which reported telephoning boxes only, and 8 which reported both signaling and telephon- ing boxes. Of the 112 systems using both receiving and transmitting circuits, 28 were in the first popula- tion group, 25 in the second, and 33 in the third; and of the 12 systems reporting the use of both manual and automatic transmitters, 11 were in the first three groups. With regard to the power plant, it is interesting to note that 94 plants reported the use of primary bat- teries, and 74 reported their dependence upon storage batteries; a much larger proportion for the latter than could possibly have been expected. Although, as TaBLe 15.—UNDERGROUND CONSTRUCTION OF ELECTRIC “ already noted, only 19 systems reported the use of tele- phoning boxes exclusively, and 3 the combined use of signaling and telephoning boxes, 56 reported the use of telephone switchboards. It would appear upon the face of it, that such figures must involve discrepancies, but in many of the systems in large cities the boxes are of a combination signal and telephone type, and were reported as signaling boxes only, thus vitiating to a great extent a comparison between the number of telephone boxes and the telephone calls shown in the tables. This fact accounts also for reports of telephone. messages or switchboards in cases where there are no returns of telephoning boxes or special telephones. Table 15 shows the miles of conduit and the wire mileage for the police patrol systems using underground construction, 57 cities being enumerated in 21 states and the District of Columbia. POLICE PATROL SYSTEMS, BY STATES AND CITIES: 1902. STREET MILES OF STREET MILES OF CONDUIT. WIRE MILEAGE, RoR Cte WIRE MILEAGE, STATE OR CITY. 5; STATE OR CITY. Spi . Single : ingle Owned. | Leased. || Total. | a wire in Owned. | Leased. || Total. ele wire in * | cables, * | cables. United States.............. \ 271 502 9,011 264 S747 || MIGHT PAN 5 s.e0:cssiniclessis sigciessics, scien: 22 273 273 : A i 5 Detroit ..... 20 |. 260 260 CAIPOLMIG,.-. sic occ seicisiaceis cecacisinices ; 15 15 193 43 150 Grand Rapi 9 |. 13 13 Los Angeles . 5 28 2B lei aracnie cial a i San Francisco . 15 10 165 5 150 || Minnesota............----..-.+5- 2 23 358 358 : Mi li 3 200. | wars ere-erays Connecticut «s.s<6ses.eseceecc ees i 17 16 62 58 4 St.Paul. a 20 158 |leccesac a Hartford ..............2.---- 8 sitet amen 10 LO! fesicwsscexs . . New Britain. teres 1 Hits |Ccsaneced MiSSOUL wxcis see cewtie ences sce. 505 |j........ 505 New Haven ........-.-.2-+5+ 8 16 51 47 4 St. Joseph D0 || eesseene 50 St. Louis.... 455 ||....-.-. 455 District of Columbia ........--.. 1 6 760! || nsexcees 760 sca - CDlaSE a ed serenuGanaetin eral simasecesce | ——— Ter OD Wee 22 INE COM sisi njercidinnise one FBO Ihe acecerecseeie 7 Washington : ‘ ae $0 OMANA waceeccaia cs cows ween 22H wees wares: 22 INOIS sec eageemaseesseedanaess: 2 646 2) 644 tNinols = New Jersey wccccsses cov ssvas sees 11 86 2 84 Chicago .........--eeeeeee--e| BA eee eee eee 638 638 Newark . ce 9 84 84 Elgin .... 1 2 2 Paterson....-..-20.2022200005 2 2 2) | seaewexe BVAnStONyepcices deceessetess|) <2 Weseree eees 4 2 Rockford .. i, 2 lls suse 2 |) New York .....0.2..cceseeeeee ee 60 584 || vans so 584 TMA DG hosts ce Sidestiesossecaleiesisau 7 5 58 2 56 plbeny 38 4 20 Neate sere 20 uffalo .. 20 OF |lesas sere Fort Wayne ..........---22++ 1 Bil [eases 5 hain is iy ee 2 Indianapolis ......--.-- 4 53 2 51 New York! . 18 440 ||_._..... 440 Rochester ............00eeee+ 13 TG ress ie aie 15 1 2 24 \ 1 2 2 OUI10'ss4 sanwasineasiss tnesniccecis sani 32 208 3 | icteesiscare 208 Akron 1 28 Ml cicisiciearsi« 23 3 DE | sateesraxseats 27 Sen 1 Hie eka 2 ‘incinnati. 20 108 | occ scaas 3 27 27 ‘Cleveland 10 25 lee. 8 41) 16 16 | Pennsylvania 4,224 68 | 4,171 Portland sc icois ccsmceesssccnes 4 16 16 Allegheny. 252 |I........ 252 | EVi@ cz. coseeccumesciccss 9D | eee 3 MACYS erases execesyesresceoee= penn venes 50 200 H wewwieee 200 Philadelphia . 38,905 53 8, 852: Baltimore .........-222--002-eeeseee2-- 50 200 ||-...---- 200 Pittsburg ......-.22-+---- 22. 9 |---e eee 64 |]........ 64 Massachusetts .........2--022024+ 22 108 ee cae setttetseee esse eeees 68 || ...-... 68 Boston .. 6 36 EWDPOTb ss 13 |j........ 13 Brookline «...-.+.+.+01--+---]eeseeree-- 16 Providence BD: |lesecciees 55 Cambridge secaaliys Clinton... 1 VIE oa ccovnasdaxiemianaviaenae VAs | iene 14 Fall River. 9 Norfolk... A i ictsreecats 4 Holyoke... 5 Richmond................... 10° |leeeteees 10 LOWEN scr accisseiine cncde sees lgeseeeeses 5 : ay New Bedford.......--....--.| 6 |.-.-- ee ae Washington ...........2....2222. 2 | 2 NEWHOM cviceccroxesavaccuenviececowrcnsl 92 OW 9 el Be ate Neen LE ee ancy Se ee if Seattle .... 2 2: || ese aralegniess TINGE Gj: ge wes Socsirsiosiocal