DOCUMENT No. 19.

BOARD OF ALDERMEN,

AUGUST 26, 1844.

Annual Report of the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, was laid on the table and directed to be printed.

CHARLES A. WHITNEY, Clerk.

To the Common Council of the City of New-York:

The Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, in accordance with the Ordinance of your Honorable Body, respectfully

REPORTS:

That the communications hereunto annexed, contain a full and accurate statement of the names, residence, and occupations of the different members attached to the Fire Department, together with a brief summary of the locations of the houses, condition of the apparatus, &c.

It will be seen (by reference to the report,) that there are thirtyLine Engines in good order, and one in indifferent order; thirtyeight Hose Carriages in good order, one indifferent, and two building; eight Hook and Ladder Trucks, with forty-six ladders and forty-nine hooks; thirty-one thousand eight hundred and fifty feet of good hose, and six thousand two hundred and fifty feet of hose in ordinary, making in the whole thirty-eight thousand one hundred feet of hose. There are at present in the department forty-one Engine Companies, (one of which performs duty with a hose carriage,) forty-one Hose Companies, eight Hook and Ladder Companies, and one Hydrant Company. The present number of men in the Department, is one thousand five hundred and eighty-one.

The Chief Engineer would again urge upon the Common Council, the necessity which exists in this populous city for the organization of an effective Fire Police; not only would the property of our citizens find protection from those who avail themselves of occasions of fire, to commit depredations, but the firemen themselves would be secured from any interruption or inconvenience in the performance of their duty; and every violation of discipline and good order would be successfully checked in its origin, and the individuals who participated, identified and secured. Under such a system the Department would enjoy a larger share of public confidence and respect; its discipline and usefulness would be promoted, and peaceable and active men would not be deterred from connecting themselves with it from any dread of personal violence.

The Chief Engineer also feels it his duty to direct your attention to the culpable and notorious neglect of the Fire Wardens to perform the important duties imposed upon them by the laws. Although obviously intended by the letter and spirit of law, that the Wardens should be actual residents of the Ward to which the company is attached, yet in many instances they reside in remote

portions of the city, consequently they are destitute of any local knowledge of the buildings in progress of erection. In two or three of the Wards, indeed, some regard is still observed for the office and its duties, but the partial enforcement of any law has a tendency to bring it into disrepute and render it obnoxious to the people. It frequently occurs that two buildings erected on different sides of the same street may equally violate the Fire Law, but being in different Wards, one is caused to be torn down, and the owner fined, while the other is permitted to stand, a monument to the ignorance or indifference of the Wardens. Enjoying the same privileges and exemptions as Firemen, the Wardens should be rigorously required to perform their light but responsible duties, or promptly disbanded, and some more effective arrangement made to enforce the observance of the Fire Laws.

Experience has also evinced the necessity of some material amendments to the present Fire Laws. When a building is now erected in direct violation of its provisions, and plainly unsafe in the event of fire, a fine only can be imposed, no power being conferred to remove the violation. Thus the law, while contributing to the funds of the department by the imposition of fines, fails to afford the protection obviously contemplated by its framers, and leaves the firemen exposed to serious but unnecessary danger. A building may also be erected which is to cover two or more lots, with merely a girter running through the centre of the building instead of a partition wall, and upon it rests the ends of the beams; now a fire occurring in the cellar of such a tenement, and burning through the girter, would undoubtedly occasion the fall of the whole building; and in such an event many firemen must be buried in the ruins.

Impressed with these convictions, the Chief Engineer would respectfully suggest that an effort be made at the next session of the Legislature, to remedy the present defects in the provisions of the Fire Law.

Every year confirms the advantages derived from the Croton Water, in the prevention and extinguishment of fires;. and its gradual introduction into public buildings and private residences, is likely to be productive of further security and protection.

During the year ending 1st August, 1844, there have been two hundred and three fires, and fifty-nine district alarms, by which the damage to buildings amounted to seventy-eight thousand eight hundred and twenty-five dollars, and to furniture, goods, &c., one hundred and seventy-nine thousand eight hundred and thirty-two dollars, making in all, damage to the amount of two hundred and fifty eight thousand six hundred and fifty-seven dollars.

The Chief Engineer cannot close his report, without acknowledging the prompt, active, and general co-operation of the Department, and that to this devotion, must be mainly attributed the comparatively small amount of property destroyed during the

year.

Respectfully submitted,

CORNELIUS V. ANDERSON,

August 26th, 1844.

Chief Engineer.

DOCUMENT No. 20.

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS,

OCTOBER 1, 1844.

The Committee on Annual Taxes, to whom was referred the Assessment Roll, presented the following Report thereon, with the necessary Resolutions in accordance therewith; which were laid on the table, and directed to be printed for the use of the members.

CHARLES A. WHITNEY, Clerk.

The Committee on Annual Taxes, to whom was referred the Assessment Roll, as completed, respectfully

REPORT:

That it has heretofore been unusual for the Committee to present a written Report relative to Taxes, but the subject is one involving principles, so important to every citizen in a pecuniary view, that they have deemed it proper to place it before the community, in as condensed a form as possible, that every citizen may be enabled to judge impartially of the matter, and form a