New Device to Assist In Making Connections with Hydrants
The New London Telegraph says: Cary A. Main of Westerly, ex-foreman of the P. S. Barber Hose company, has made and presented to the company a little device which will enable the boys to hustle a stream from a hydrant “just a leetle bit livelier.” It consists of a strong leather belt about the size of a hoop to a prune cask; to this belt or hoop is strongly sewed a strap, which is then buckled around the hose about four feet away from the end of the coupling as it lies on the reel. In case of an alarm, the hose reel is run up to the hydrant, and instead of waiting for the hose to be coupled to the nozzle of the hydrant before unreeling, as formerly, one man simply throws the belt over the stand pipe of the hydrant, and thus the hose is held while the others continue on with the carriage. The man who throws the loop has slack end enough to comfortably couple to the hydrant, and by the time the hose is run the hydrant man is ready for orders. Attached to this loop is a pocket, which contains a stop valve for the second nozzle of the hydrant, also place for a hydrant wrench and hose spanner — everything which is necessary for him to complete his part of the station bill. The device has been given a trial, and it works to the satisfaction of all concerned.
The Waterbury Evening Democrat, Waterbury, CT, March 19, 1889