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XIX.
TILL some twenty odd years ago, there existed in Wednesbury no established and systematised means for the prevention of the spread of fires, or for effecting salvage therefrom. About that period some heavy losses by fire, in and around this neighbourhood, roused up the Insurance Companies, if not to a sense of their duty, at least to a sense of the risks they incurred through this deficiency.
It was in the early part of the year 1862 that the Royal Insurance Co. sought to remedy the defect by sending into the town its first Fire Engine. This was the "manual" which is still with us, and which found its first home at the Dartmouth Arms Stable-yard in Dudley Street. A Volunteer Fire Brigade of Firemen was readily formed to work it. Within a few months of this, the District Insurance Company also sent us an Engine, and this new acquisition found convenient quarters at the Turk's Head Stables in Upper Russell Street, and was soon manned similarly to the other engine. It is an interesting fact, and one that is worthy of note, as indicating how that recognition of old-fashioned officialism still lingered to so late a generation, to find that among the earliest captains of these rival Fire Brigades, were the two men who usually filled the antiquated office of Parish Constable. And although these two may have been appointed primarily simply by virtue of their official standing in the town, it is but due to them to say that they vied with each other as much in the discharge of their new duties as guardians of life and property from fire, as in the preservation of order and in the guarding of the public peace. Anyhow, they worked the system very satisfactorily, and matters went on in this way for some 10 or 12 years, the men receiving from their respective Companies a certain fixed sum for each fire attended. At the end of this period the District Insurance Company withdrew their Engine from the town, presumably on account of the business of this Office decreasing in the locality. However, the prestige of the Royal Engine was upheld for several years longer ; and the only charge that can fairly be brought against the system was the unsatisfactory horsing of the engine. It not unfrequently happened that when a fire suddenly demanded the attention of the Engine that no horses were available on the instant, and much precious time was lost in procuring the necessary animals. This is a difficulty which has not yet been overcome. It was in 1878 that a great change was effected in the management and constitution of this life-saving establishment, when the concern ceased to be conducted on the volunteer principle under the direction of an Insurance Office, and became a branch of the public service under the control of the town authorities. It would seem that by this time the Royal Insurance Company had also become tired of maintaining an engine in the town at their own expense, so on the 29th April, 1878, they formally turned over the whole concern to the Wednesbury Board of Health. The conditions imposed by the Fire Office were that the Engine, with its appliances, should be a free gift to the town, providing the authorities agreed to work it at the public expense for the safety and protection of the ratepayers ; but that whenever the engine played upon any property insured in the Royal Office, no charge should be made to the Royal Company in respect thereof. On these conditions the engine was taken over, and the brigade was re-organised. But from the foregoing it will be gathered that the present efficiency of the Wednesbury Town Fire Brigade is not a spontaneous development, but that it is the matured growth of a considerable number of years. That it is efficient we have ample testimony. In 1880, in a great competition at the Aston Lower Grounds, the "Horse-drill Prize" was won by Wednesbury with comparative case. In 1883, a member of our Brigade won the prize for "One Man Drill" at Birmingham ; and the whole brigade took part in a Fireman's Demonstration at Chorley in the same year, where the Captain (John Corrall) was to have exhibited a new portable fire-escape, and the mode of using it. There was, however, no suitable building available to which to attach the apparatus. To Captain Corrall, and that mechanical ingenuity, which he adds to an unflagging zeal in the Brigade work, much of this efficiency is directly traceable. Corrall was a Fireman as far back as 1862, when he worked on the District Engine ; and since he has held the captaincy of the Town Brigade, he has done much to elevate and improve the service.
A visit to the Fire Station will soon discover this fact. A fiery-red lamp in front of the Anchor Hotel, Holyhead Road, intimates that the Fire Engine Station is situated in the stableyard of that establishment. Now in most towns it is considered more convenient to locate such Stations in a front street ; their very nature demands a striking prominence. A suggestion has been made to the authorities that they should build a new Station, surrounded by residences for the Firemen, in some central position. However, having found the Station, the clever contrivances of Captain Carroll soon occupy the attention. The Engine seems fairly equipped with hose, buckets, and various appliances, and all are kept in capital order, although they would perhaps look better for a fresh coat of paint. There is a pole ready to slip in for a pair of horses, and there is also a handle for dragging the Engine to any fire near at hand when there is no need to wait for the horses. There is further provided a hand pump ; and several other appliances are kept at the station for hurried attempts to cope with those smaller conflagrations, the insidious character of which demands prompt efforts to overtake them. On the walls of the place hangs a code of regulations and instructions ; there is also a printed list of the Firemen's names and addresses ; a glance at the latter must very forcibly show that the wide area covered by their scattered residences is a serious obstacle which must necessarily interfere with that expedition which ought to characterise their response to the urgent calls of duty made upon them. Still it is pleasing to know that the station is regularly frequented at night by the men, who make it a rendezvous ; on drill nights they often remain late at their posts after duty, prepared for any sudden call, and to beguile the tedium of the hours they have provided themselves draughts and other games of a similar nature.
Corrall is the inventor of a new coupling for fire-hose. The great merit of the invention is the instantaneous spring-snap with which it is fitted together ; this is a manifest advantage over the slower fitting of the screw-socket more generally used. The snap-catch, on a similarly self-acting principle, has also been applied to the hinged-joint of the pump-handle of the engine, whereby time is further gained in bringing it into action. The same inventor has contrived a very handy hose-coiler, which not only wraps up the hose more expeditiously than by-hand, but also obviates the long sketch of space which was, under the old style, necessary for first laying out the length of hose in a straight line. That this same ingenious mechanic is enthusiastic in his work is evidenced in another way. At the Old Park Works, where he has charge of the Electric lighting, he has, with the consent of the manager, Mr. Braithwaite, established a "Works Fire Brigade." This amateur Brigade takes a regular drill with hydrant, hose, standpipe, and ladders. There is no doubt that this body of trained men would prove invaluable at the Works in case of any threatened conflagration ; but over and above this, the "Old Park Works Fire Brigade" has resolved itself into a King's Hill auxillary of the Town Brigade, to whom they would act in a subordinate capacity as Helpers and Messengers in case of necessity.
Till just recently the Town Fire Brigade consisted of eight men only, but the full complement is now eleven. The rate of pay is so much per fire, and so much for each drill attended. The hints thrown out in regard to the housing of these men, and the possibility of a breakdown in the horsing of the Engine, are points which are worthy of attention. At west Bromwich a splendid system of telephonic communication is established between the Central Fire Station and the outlying districts of the Borough, where there are branch offices at which fire alarms may be given. The Brigade also works a Fire Escape, an appliance for life saving which Wednesbury does not yet possess.
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