STUDENT FIRE DEPARTMENT

In order to make use of the superfluous energy of twelve hundred young men at the time of a fire, instead of allowing them to make a nuisance of themselves, a student fire department is to be organized. The plan is to develop a squad of twenty men, which will constitute the fire-fighting company of the College. The number will be made up from the eleven members of Palaeopitus and the captains of the five major athletic teams who are not already members by virtue of belonging to Palaeopitus. The remaining number to complete the twenty, will be chosen from the junior class by the President of the College and Palaeopitus. The President of the College will pick the fire chief, who will be responsible to the chief of the Hanover fire department for the conduct of the college squad. In cooperating with the fire department, the squad will perform the following duties: direct the undergraduate body of onlookers; establish fire lines; move furniture when necessary; appoint and direct student volunteers, who may in this way be accounted for at all times; enter the buildings in case of necessity; fight the fire directly when no other course is effective.

Such an organization should prove of inestimable advantage to the College and the town in time of danger from fire. The valuable services of the Hanover fire department and of those volunteer firemen who spring into action at critical moments, are fully appreciated, nor is the fact overlooked that with the nightly rounds of a faithful watchman and with all our dormitories satisfactorily equipped with fire escapes, we are in a much safer condition than we were a few years ago.. On the other hand, not one of the private buildings in the village is fireproof, and only a small percentage of those owned by the College; the community is quite largely scattered, so that much time, especially at night, is lost in getting the fire-fighting apparatus to the scene of action; the compact crowd which inevitably gathers at the sound of the alarm is at present a greater hindrance than help. It is these latter facts that make it necessary for the community to take all possible precautions.

The new organization should be greeted with thanksgiving; an effective use of the brain and brawn nearest at hand will prevent the repetition of a loss like that of South Fayerweather and forestall the occurrence of a possible worse disaster.