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Letter to Editor
December 19, 1939
Henderson Daily Dispatch
Henderson, Vance County, North Carolina
What is this article about?
Johnnie W. Beckham of Henderson criticizes a city law barring the fire department from aiding fires just outside city limits, noting residents' economic contributions and the department's aid to Oxford, urging equal protection after a neighbor's home burned.
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OTHERS VIEWS
OUTSIDE FIRE PROTECTION.
To the Editor:
I think that those intelligent men who govern the city and enact a law forbidding the fire department to respond to an urgent appeal from a citizen who lives just a short distance outside of the city limits when his home and all his earthly possessions are going up in flames and smoke are bright boys and should be transferred to Washington and be made brain trusters in the intelligence department of the cabinet: we people that live on the outskirts of the city spend our money with the merchants of Henderson and help make it possible for those merchants to pay their taxes and license to the city. We don't go to Oxford to buy our groceries but I have known them to send the Henderson fire department to Oxford to help save our Granville friends' property, but when it comes to giving aid to we people who live hearing distance of the town clock, just over the line the Romeo's fiddle while Rome burns to ashes, and may it please your honor, I think that I would be safe to say that I am voicing the sentiment of all the home owners that live on the fringe of the city, that we should, at least be entitled to as much consideration and protection as our good friends in Oxford, and I hope that they will wake up and see it in this light, and try to prevent there being another pile of ashes where once stood a home sweet home to some unfortunate family, that spends his daily earnings in Henderson instead of Oxford. And if this unjust law is not changed and wiped off the books, that we could expect to get as much protection from the Oxford fire department as we could from the Henderson. My next door neighbor lost his home the other night and I am telling you that it's getting pretty close to the judge. The only thing that bothered me was a little smoke, so when I started to build my home, I knew it would be a joke to expect fire protection, so that is why I built it out of stone.
JOHNNIE W. BECKHAM.
Henderson, Dec. 16, 1939.
OUTSIDE FIRE PROTECTION.
To the Editor:
I think that those intelligent men who govern the city and enact a law forbidding the fire department to respond to an urgent appeal from a citizen who lives just a short distance outside of the city limits when his home and all his earthly possessions are going up in flames and smoke are bright boys and should be transferred to Washington and be made brain trusters in the intelligence department of the cabinet: we people that live on the outskirts of the city spend our money with the merchants of Henderson and help make it possible for those merchants to pay their taxes and license to the city. We don't go to Oxford to buy our groceries but I have known them to send the Henderson fire department to Oxford to help save our Granville friends' property, but when it comes to giving aid to we people who live hearing distance of the town clock, just over the line the Romeo's fiddle while Rome burns to ashes, and may it please your honor, I think that I would be safe to say that I am voicing the sentiment of all the home owners that live on the fringe of the city, that we should, at least be entitled to as much consideration and protection as our good friends in Oxford, and I hope that they will wake up and see it in this light, and try to prevent there being another pile of ashes where once stood a home sweet home to some unfortunate family, that spends his daily earnings in Henderson instead of Oxford. And if this unjust law is not changed and wiped off the books, that we could expect to get as much protection from the Oxford fire department as we could from the Henderson. My next door neighbor lost his home the other night and I am telling you that it's getting pretty close to the judge. The only thing that bothered me was a little smoke, so when I started to build my home, I knew it would be a joke to expect fire protection, so that is why I built it out of stone.
JOHNNIE W. BECKHAM.
Henderson, Dec. 16, 1939.
What sub-type of article is it?
Persuasive
Political
Provocative
What themes does it cover?
Infrastructure
Politics
Social Issues
What keywords are associated?
Fire Protection
City Limits
Henderson
Oxford
Local Policy
Economic Contribution
Unjust Law
What entities or persons were involved?
Johnnie W. Beckham
To The Editor
Letter to Editor Details
Author
Johnnie W. Beckham
Recipient
To The Editor
Main Argument
the city law forbidding fire department response outside limits is unjust, as outskirts residents economically support henderson and receive no aid, unlike oxford which gets henderson's help; calls for change to provide equal protection.
Notable Details
References Neighbor's Recent Home Loss
Built Own Home Of Stone Due To Lack Of Protection
Alludes To 'Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned'
Date: Dec. 16, 1939, Henderson