Watertown Republican

Funny - The Columbus Journal, in commenting upon the late fire here, has the following: "If it had not been for the fire department with their 'engine,' the whole might have been saved, as we understand a gentleman of the place to have remarked that at the time he first saw the fire, a boy with a large syringe and a wash bowl full of water might have extinguished it."

We suspect there is some mistake about this. So far as we have been able to learn, no one was present at the fire until it had got under considerable headway.- If the "gentleman" above spoken of tells the truth, he is very much at fault for not having done something beyond quietly folding his hands and waiting for the fire company to come and extinguish the fire. It would have been more creditable for him to have put the fire out himself, than it was to have made such a disgraceful announcement as that imputed to him by the editor of the Journal. That's our opinion on that subject

As to the "fling" at the fire department, we are bound to say in justice to its members that they accomplished all that it was possible for them to do under the circumstances. If there was no water in the vicinity that could be obtained, we do not see how they could make their engine any more efficient than it was. As at present equipped the fire department does not amount to much. There is only a small quantity of hose belonging to the engine, so that if necessary to use it at any considerable distance from the river, it is of no value whatever, but rather a curse; for people sometimes have an idea that they must not lift a finger towards extinguishing a fire when there is an engine around. We have sometimes thought, and are inclined to think now, that the city would be better off without the engine and its present limited appendages, than it is with them. People would then know exactly what to depend upon, while now they are frequently misled as to the amount of aid that may be expected from the fire department, and sometimes look for more than can possibly be rendered, which occasions the feeling of indifference we have spoken of, and often is attended with disastrous results.