CHAPTER \'I1I.

F.  C. A.   ADMINISTRATION (CON Tl NUED)—ISTC to   issr.

The Fifth Coxtr.vct .Vxvakhkh to tiik .'Vssori.xTioN—HrRxixo of the Ship
Torn.xiu)—M.xDisoN School Fire ; Death of Hartnett .xnd DKLKin<—
Dedication tiF Tablet to their Memorx—.Address of R. X
Ogden—Yellow Fever Epidenhc of 1878—Generous Relief from
Fire Associatioxs Throuohout the Colntrv—C)i;skijuifs of Presi¬
dent Garfield—De.\th of Goxernor Wiltz—Dftfrmixkd Move for
A Paid Department—F. C. A. \4(Toriocs .Aoai.x—Dancers from Iron
Shutters—The Fire Chiefs at Xew Orleans—The City on a Cash
Basis—Se.mi-Centennial of the F. C. .A.—The .Association (;ets its
Last Contract from the City—M.xrks .xxd O'Connor Defend the
Department—Visit of the PHii,.\DEi.rHi.x Fire.men.

HROUGHOUT the year 1876 the subject of the renewal of
the fire contract at the end of the year was discussed in all its
bearings. The Underwriters, notwithstanding their general
friendliness to the department, still hankered after some direc¬
tion of the department's doings, and in May the Association found it
necessary to protest against the insurance companies having the voice
they wanted in the selection of the Chief Engineer, or forcing on the
department chemical engines or other apparatus, preferring to be their
own judges as to what was involved in a faithful performance of the con¬
tract with the city. It was during this year that the Association resolved
on purchasing from the city the engine houses occupied by the depart¬
ment, paying for them partly in cash and partly in back indebtedness of
the city. At the end of the year the contract—the fifth since 1.S55—was
awarded to the Association, for five years, at the same figure as previously,
$140,000 per annum.

The condition of the fire-alarm telegraph system in 1878, when there
was much trouble with its operations, was described in  an  interview in