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1931
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c. 1931 - Central Station running out of time. New Stations No. 1 and No. 2 soon to start.
1931 - Last picture of personnel in front of Central Station.
1931 - "A" and "B" Shift, Station No. 1.
February 17, 1931 - Station No. 3 - Left to Right, Lt. Syl Anderson; Bennie Williams; William Coultr; Capt. Walter Robinson; Bennie Ballard; Lester Foust; and L.A. Miller, Driver (at top).
March 5, 1931 - Opening of New No. 1 and No. 2 Stations.
| By March of 1931, the new No. 1 and No. 2 Stations were ready to open. On Thursday, March 5, the siren screeched at Central Station for the last time, the doors opened and half a dozen fire trucks rushed out, not to a fire this time, but to their new quarters at No. 1 and No. 2 Stations. This was the first time since 1907 when four two-horse teams were drawn into their stalls, that Central Station was ever without men and fire apparatus. The only reminder was a clock and a piece of an old hose wagon (bought as original equipment), both of which had helped open the two hose houses before coming to Central Station. The Police Department would use the building for a garage until it was remodeled, and became the home of the Police Department for the next forty-five years.
By the middle of 1931, pressure was being felt by the City Commission to lower taxes, and sacrifices were called for in the shape of up to $10 salary cuts for City employees. The cuts were to be for one year and it was hoped that they would not be permanent. An article appeared in the Eagle explaining how the savings of employee reductions were to be used. The salaries of the underpaid Firemen, Policemen and other City employees were to be used to finance a new disposal plant, south of the City. The cost was $52,877. Since the City would save $60,000 by wage reductions, the employees of the City literally paid the entire cost of the project and more. The Eagle referred to it as "class discrimination," and in December, the Eagle spoke out in defense of the Firemen and Policemen. By law they said, these men are entitled to wage increases by virtue of the City reaching 110,000 population. The City Commission, not only refused to grant them, but by coercion and threats of reprisal caused these men to accept reductions in their already meager pay. They said the pay cuts were made in the interest of economy, yet they proposed to squander $5,000 on a special illegal election to give Wichita an increased burden of debt, a proposed bond issue to build a water softening plant at Sullivan Dam (north of the City). The City did, however, retain the policy of replacing equipment; a new American LaFrance Triple Combination Pumper was purchased to replace an old "Boyd" bought in 1915.
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Related to 09 - H.H. McCall (The Old Man) |
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