New Fireboat for New York City
The John Purroy Mitchell, a new oil-burning fireboat built by the Standard Shipbuilding Corporation of Staten Island, was taken over for the city of New York by Fire Commissioner Thomas J. Drennan on December 27, 1921. The vessel, which will be stationed at the Battery on the extreme southern end of Manhattan Island, cost the city $250,000 and is said to be the last word in fireboat construction. She is equipped with a steel lattice mast, twenty-seven feet high, on which is her main water battery. In addition to the tower there will be four other turrets, one on top of the pilot house, another on the fore-head and a second aft on the main deck. The boat will carry 3,700 feet of hose. The Mitchell is equipped with five turbine pumps, which are capable of delivering 450,000 gallons at a pressure of 150 pounds. When working to her full capacity she will be equal to the combined water deliveries of twelve shore fire engines. She is 132 feet in length over all, 27 feet beam, and has draft of 14 feet, 9 inches. On a recent trial trip she made a speed of twelve knots an hour. At the ceremony of acceptance Chief John Kenlon of the New York fire department and Deputy Chief Edward J. Worth, in charge of the marine division, assisted Commissioner Drennan in receiving the new fireboat. An illustration of the John Purroy Mitchell is shown on this page.
Safety Director McCune of Columbus, Ohio, has notified several of the outlying villages that on and after January 1 the fire department of Columbus by an order will refuse to answer alarms from the villages. This order will hold good unless the villages can arrive at an agreement with the city to pay a just share in the upkeep of the department. He also ruled that no arrangement on a “per call” basis will be allowed as the calls are frequent and a charge of this kind will not contribute proper support to the department. The villages affected are Bexley, Grandview, Upper Arlington, Marble Cliff, East Linden, East Columbus and Hanford.
