Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 94, no. 2437: Articles]: November 28, 1914

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REAL ESTATE AND BUILDERS NEW YORK, N0VE:\IBER- 28, 1914 iii3i^ijy:iiJiyjk.ri ■;it:■■'.i;^«!iil«iWai^iJ^'^;]iSi;fP!!'i!i!i:is!:]'^:i::^^^i^^4!.^^i;^.ii.!^-^\^f r:'^^<'.:•-.-'■) 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