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REAL ESTATE
AND
BUILDERS
NEW YORK, N0VE:\IBER- 28, 1914
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FIRE ALARM SYSTEM OF NEW YORK CITY
Its Past History and Present Plans for Radical Improvement—
When Completed Will Be Most Modern One in Existence
By PUTNAM A. BATES, E. E., Chief Bureau Fire Alarm Telegraph
m
THE movement for an improved fire
alarm system for the City of New
York, which the present administration,
through its Fire Commissioner, Robert
Adamson, has actively taken in hand,
was started in December, 1904, when the
insurance companies urged that a com¬
mittee be appointed and report. In Feb¬
ruary, 1905, the New York Board of Fire
Underwriters, under the direction ot
Messrs. Carty and Miller, signaling ex¬
perts, made a careful study of the prob¬
lem in Manhattan, and reported the sys¬
tem beyond repair. The report stated
that the only remedy lay in the installa¬
tion of a new system, separate and dis¬
tinct from the present one, and, when
completed, the old one should be aband¬
oned. In 1907 preliminary plans were
prepared for a modern hre alarm sys¬
tem for Manhattan.
Little Headway Made.
Practically nothing more was done
for the next four years. Small appro¬
priations of Corporate stock were set
aside, but these funds were largely di¬
verted to continually pressing needs in¬
cidental to keeping the old system in
operation. In ten years the money set
aside aggregated about $1,609,000.
Through the establishment by the pres¬
ent administration, of a definite policy
with regard to '"subway" construction,
based upon the opinion of the Corpora¬
tion Counsel, much misunderstanding
and delay will hereafter be avoided. The
agreement between the City and the
Empire City Subway Company, in 1891,
makes it mandatory upon that company
to provide the city with such ducts as
may be needed for the fire alarms in all
streets where subways exist, or where
there may be a demand for subways.
Thus the city will be able to install
the modern fire alarm system, without
constructing subways, which offers an
advantage in the element of time, as well
as in cost. This saving will not be con¬
fined to Manhattan, but will extend to
the Bronx, Brooklyn. Queens and the
built-up portions of Richmond.
Disposition of Appropriations.
Following is the disposition made of
outstanding appropriations and the ex¬
tent of new work undertaken: A new
central station building each for Man¬
hattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx; under¬
ground service cables, for connection
with 138 street boxes in Manhattan;
also for 199 street boxes in Brooklyn;
an important underground feeder line
to southwest Brooklyn; bridge cable
connecting Manhattan with Brook¬
lyn; underground service cables for
connection with 119 street boxes in
the Bronx; also 8 in Queens; also 2,000
alarm post boxes; a supply of 300 cast
iron manhole frames and concentrating
subways leading to the new Manhattan
Central office building and the similar
structure in the Bronx, respectively.
The aggregate of these contracts
amounts to about one-third of the total
appropriations, all of which were found
in an unfinished state, except four of the
smaller items, representing a total of
about five per cent. The unemcumbered
COMMISSIONER ADAMSON.
balances were about equal to the aggre- .
gate of the contracts placed, leaving a
remainder of about one-third of the total
appropriations diverted to other uses,
principally that of maintaining the old
system.
In 1865 the fire alarm plant consisted
of twelve bell towers, or look-out sta¬
tions, located at points of advantage,
such as the cupola in the City Hall,
Washington Market, Essex Market. Jef¬
ferson Slarket, 33rd street. Slst street,
85th street and what is now known as
Mt. Morris Park. This latter tower is
still in existence.
By means of spy glasses men watched
from these towers for smoke or other
indication of fire and by means of the
Morse telegraph signaled directly to the
central office and the message was com¬
municated to the Department by the
striking of bells at the twelve towers.
The City Hall office was the terminus
of four lines connecting the Post Office,
Essex Market, Union Market. MacDou¬
gal, JefTerson and Slst street towers. It
is an interesting fact that some of the
fire telegraph apparatus installed at this
time has performed its service until the
present day, a period of almost fifty
years. This primitive system was soon
found inadequate and in 1870 a com¬
plete new installation was made, costing
$450,000.
Over-head Wires Costly.
"Over-head" wires are the most costly
to maintain, as they are subject to in¬
jury by every storm that occurs. New
work of this character hardly can be
completed before defective conditions
arise through interference from other
over-head firing systems. *'Under-
ground" systems are less costly to main¬
tain and when properly installed, their
life is several times the length of that
of over-head service.
In a large city like New York the opera¬
tion of the fire alarm is accomplished
manually. Many attempts have been
made to devise schemes whereby the full
operation might be performed automat¬
ically, but so far nothing feasible has
been evolved.
The present installation comprises two
distinct classes of circuits, box and en¬
gine house circuits. The former con¬
nects the central office to a certain num¬
ber of street boxes, but at present there
is a great variety both in the length of
box circuits and the number and type
of boxes connecting the same. Some of
the circuits in Brooklyn, for instance,
have more than one hundred boxes,
while the average throughout the city
is approximately twenty-five. All street
lire alarm boxes are operated on "closed
circuits." In other words, current is
constantly flowing and any interruption
may be detected at once at the central
ofiice. Thus, operators always know the
condition of their lines. The current
used is drawn from storage batteries lo^-
cated at the central office and charged
from the Public Service supply.
Change of Location.
It was strongly emphasized in the pre¬
liminary plans that the new central of¬
fice of the new fire alarm telegraph sys¬
tem should be afforded the maximum
degree of protection against hazards of
any nature. It was recommended that
the structure for Manhattan should be
erected on Transverse road, No. 1 in
Central Park. The exact location was
not defined and the final decision was
made to locate this building on Transverse
road. No. 2. This decision was made as
a result of recommendation by the De¬
partment of Parks. The fact that the
building is in the park is an unques¬
tioned "advantage, but unfortunately its
exact location was surrounded by haz¬
ards which will necessitate additional
constructive work to insure safety.
Absolute Protection Necessary.
In planning- such a building the aim
must be to make it absolutely fireproof
and, insofar as possible, immune from
all hazards, such as earthquakes, wind
storms, explosions, or floods. It is
obvious that a serious hazard is created
by the presence of a large body of water,
such as now exists in the reservoir ap¬
proximately 150 feet north of the site
selected for the Manhattan central^ of¬
fice, and also the presence of a 20-inch
and 48-inch water main now resting on
Transverse road, immediately in front
of the fire alarm building. This is equal¬
ly true of the gas main in the same
street.
For Brooklyn and the Bronx the sites
selected are all in public parks, but
semblance of the hazardous condition in
Manhattan does not exist. The interior
plumbing systems are, however, and the
installation of the main service elec¬
trical connecting will be restudied to
avoid the possibility of interruption to
electrical supply through any internal
disorders.
All Wires Underground.
It is the purpose of the present ad¬
ministration to place all new wires under
ground as far as practical and the speci¬
fication which has been adopted to these