Eastern Association Meets
The Eastern Association of Fire Chiefs held its 20th Annual Conference Monday. August 18. 1947, at the Hotel Pennsylvania, New York City.
The gathering, which included 356 registered members, with perhaps again that number of guests, was timed to dovetail with the 74th Annual Conference of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, which opened the following day.
The conference was called to order by Chief William G. Wandras, President. Following the invocation and the singing of the national anthem the members were welcomed to the city by Deputy Fire Commissioner Harry M. Archer, for Fire Commissioner Frank J. Quayle, who was unable to attend. “Doc” Archer, who numbered many friends among the chiefs, spoke of the good old days and felicitated the delegates upon their deliberations.
The reply to the Commissioner’s address of welcome was delivered by former Chief of the Arlington works, Charles Greenfield, of Arlington, N. J. After this came routine business of the conference and the first business address of the day by Herbert A. Friede, who described the “latest development in radio fire alarm communication,” a new device which serves much the same as the conventional corner fire alarm box but transmits its signal by radio rather than by wire circuits, at the same time sounding warnings for alerting the nearest law officer.
The address “Today’s Problems in Selling Your Fire Department” by Chief Roi Woolley, Assistant Editor FIKK ENGINEERING, was deferred in favor of Mr. Friede’s demonstration. It will be included in the printed proceedings of the Convention.
The afternoon’s session opened with an address by Edgar A. Spotz, Adviser, Fire Service Training, Pennsylvania Public Service Institute, entitled “Fire Training in Pennsylvania.” Motion pictures of the Pennsylvania State Fire School were shown by R. C. Heagy, Lancaster. Pa., after which Chief Joseph J. Scherer. Hammond (Ind.) Fire Department spoke on “The Place of Carbon Dioxide in Municipal Fire Fighting.”
An amusing interlude in the conference came when, with appropriate ceremonies, Mr. John A. Fcnchen, General Sales Manager of the Hotel Pennsylvania (Convention Headquarters), was duly initiated into the fire service and presented with the “badge,” and other regalia of a full-fledged fire chief.
Two further papers were discussed in the afternoon session; one had for its subject the “Importance of Inspections by hire Departments” and this was handled by Leon Watson, Newark Schedule Rating Bureau. The other, delivered by Hubert Walker, Manager, M. F. A. Sales Engineering Department, American-LaFrance-Foamite Corp., Elmira, was captioned “What Firemen Should Know About Ladders.”
Chief Wandras recounted the progress of the Association in his President’s address, following which there were the customary committee reports, reading of resolutions and the simple memorial services for the deceased members. Prayer was delivered by Rev. Frederick R. Frohnhoefer, S.J., St. Francis Xavier’s College, New York City.
There was no change in the officers of the Association. They remain—President, Chief Wm. G. Wandras, Kearny, N. J.; First Vice President, Chief Rudolph Swanson, Jamestown, N. Y.; Second Vice President, Supt. Herbert Friede, Washington, D. C.; Treasurer, former Chief George L. Mitchell, East Orange, N. J., and Secretary, former Chief Charles E. Clark, Wayne, Pa.
