This day in 1918 in The Record
Tuesday, May 7, 1918. The late Patrick Byron was Troy fire chief for more than a quarter century and had become a city institution by the time of his death last month. Now that he’s gone, controversy is breaking out over who should succeed him.
The favorite to take Byron’s place is acting fire chief Cornelius Casey, technically second assistant chief and formerly captain of the volunteer Arba Read Steamer company. Casey was promoted to the paid force after surviving the explosion of the Mohican building in April 1917, when three other firemen were killed. Casey was on the roof of the building as it collapsed and was lucky to suffer only a badly lacerated scalp in the disaster.
At least one Record reader questions Casey’s qualifications for the job. Writing as “The Man in the Street,” the skeptic asks in today’s “Pulse of the People” column why the city isn’t holding a competitive examination before filling Byron’s post.
“The Man in the Street” believes that battalion chief T. Harry Ranken would make a better fire chief than Casey. “When efficiency is referred to, Chief Ranken is the man thought of,” he writes, “A record of many years in our fire department proves this and defies criticism.”
Why is Ranken being passed over in favor of Casey? To the letter-writer the answer is obvious. “The whole matter is summed up in the knowledge which every Trojan must now possess – that the Troy fire department is so thoroughly mixed up in the political tangle that efficiency is apt to be wasted and political prestige allowed to rule.”
In short, fire department promotions following Byron’s death are being determined by party loyalty. Current Read Steamer captain Arthur L. Quinn is favored over Truck 2 captain William J. Cunningham for the battalion chief position to be vacated by Casey, “The Man in the Street” believes, because Quinn is a Democrat and Cunningham, like Ranken, is a Republican.
Cunningham “is accused by those who follow the old school of politics of having supported ex-Mayor Elias P. Mann when he ran for mayor. The same charge seems in the case of Cunningham to overbalance fifteen years of service and metropolitan instruction. These men once supported a Republican, so the welfare of the city must be disregarded and men who supported Cornelius F. Burns [the Democratic incumbent] must have the position.”
The letter-writer may not be willing to stake his name on it, but he seems certain that Ranken would prevail over Casey in a fair test. Tests aside, the fire chief job is rightfully Ranken’s “by length of efficient service to his city.”