Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 243, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 October 1916 — Fire Prevention Program Proved Real Interesting. [ARTICLE]

Fire Prevention Program Proved Real Interesting.

The fire prevention program was carried out at the high school auditorium Monday evening as advertised, and proved to be a splendid entertainment, as well as beneficial. Monday was the anniversary of the great Chicago fire in 1871, and this day has been designated as fire prevention day throughout the United States. /J lof the numbers were given with the exception of Mayor Spitler’s talk, who had to attend the council meeting last evening. Fire Chief Montgomery made his first debut as a public speaker and gave a very interesting talk, pointing out the dangers of fire and how the fire loss could be cut down each year. E. P. Honan was another speaker of the .evening. Mr. Honan was the organizer of the first fire department in the history of the city of Rensselaer, and in his talk he gave the history of the fire department up until the present time. Rev. Fleming talked on fire prevention and said that most of the fires were due to carelessness on the part of the people. Moses Leopold talked on fire prevention from an economical standpoint, and gave statistics showing the loss' through fire each year. All of ilte addresses were well given and instructive, but probably the most interesting t talk of the evening was given by John O’Connor, who told of the great Chicago fire. Mr. O’Connor was a resident of Chicago at that time, and lived only a few" blocks from where the fire originated. A good sized crowd was on hand for the entertainment, although there were not as ma r business men there as was desire%Ly the committee.