NOTES OF MEN AND THINGS

West Indianapolis, Ind , is negotiating with the Gamewell Fire Alarm Company for a number of alarm boxes and all the equipments to make its fire alarm system complete.
The new steam fire engine furnished by the Clapp & Jones Manufacturing Company to Paterson, N. J., was last week accepted by the city, having been tested and found according to contract in every particular.
H. K. Wicker, chief of the fire department of Lockport, N. Y., writes to General Smith, the manager of the Bangor Extension Ladder Company: “The department had one trial of the Bangor extension ladder; it worked satisfactorily and will no doubt prove to be all that is claimed for it.”
The Deane Steam Pump Company of Holyoke, Mass., has just completed and is about to deliver three large pumps to Durham, N. C , each having a daily capacity of about 2,000,000 gallons. That company is also building a 7,000,ooo-gallon pump for Birmingham, Ala., and a 5,000,000gallon pump for Youngstown, O. The Deane people furnish a large number of fire pumps to manufacturers for factory protection or wells, or to cities and towns for water-works and for sanitary purposes. They also build numerous boiler feed pumps, artesian and vacuum pumps, etc.
The Ahrens Manufacturing Company of Cincinnati, O., have just shipped fire engines to Lebanon, O., Portland, Ind., and Los Angeles, Cal., and within a few weeks will forward others to St. Louis, Mo., Deshler, O., and Phoenix, Ariz. The company now has enough orders on hand to keep its works running at full capacity for three months.
The following from The Omaha Daily Bee of March 7 explains itself:
Another test of the new fire truck, recently added to the equipment of the fire department, was made yesterday morning. The trial was made for the benefit of several of the councilmen who were not able to be present when the first public test was made. M. A. Bruegger, representing E. B. Preston & Co. of Chicago, superintended the test, which clearly demonstrated the incalculable value that the apparatus will prove in case of a fire in any of the big blocks of the city. The truck was built in the Preston shops under Mr. Bruegger’s direct personal supervision, and he is excusably proud of the fact that the machine more than fulfills every guarantee that was made for it. President Bechel and other members of the council who witnessed the test, expressed themselves as more than pleased with the workings of the machine.
T. Mcllroy, Jr., for many years past manager of the Canadian branch of the Gutta Percha and Rubber Manufacturing Company at Toronto, who resigned his position some time since, has now established himself in business in Toronto at No. 28 King street west, as the Toronto Rubber Company of Canada, T. Mcllroy, Jr., & Co., proprietors, and has accepted from the Eureka Fire Hose Company of New York, as noted last week, the sole agency for Canada of their Well-known brands of fire hose, “Eureka,” “ Paragon ” and “Red Cross.” With Mr. Mcllroy’s large acquaintance among Canadian officials and the splendid reputation which the Eureka Company’s fire hose enjoys there, the sales of their brands will doubtless be largely increased.
There is an increasing demand for hose wagons for use in fire departments. Some fire chiefs express their preference for hose wagons to hose carts, and strongly recommend their introduction. Manufacturers have vied with each other in building a style of wagon best adaptable to the fire service, and improvements have been made over the form which was formerly used. Messrs. Fenton & Dunn, carriage and wagon builders, at Holyoke, Mass., have in the past few years made special endeavors to turn out a first-class vehicle for carrying hose and general fire appliances, and they have built wagons for various places in New England. Lightness, strength and durability are combined in the apparatus turned out by this firm, and the h ghest standard of work is guaranteed. Hose wagons are built for either one or two horse draught, and a novel form of wagon affords facility for carrying ladders, the vehicle thus combining the uses of a hose and hook and ladder truck. Fenton & Dunn arc now building one of these wagons for the New Haven Fire Department. It is designed to carry 100 feet of ladder, the general paraphernalia of a hook and ladder truck, and the usual quantity of hose carried by hose carts. Three wagons have also been built by them for Holyoke, Mass., and one each for Meriden, Conn.; Fitchburg, Mass., and Biddeford, Me. A cut in our advertising columns shows the extensive works of Fenton & Dunn at Holyoke, the flooring of which covers 30,000 square feet. This firm has been in business for fifteen years, and has gained a reputation for doing first-class work.