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Before telephones were widely available,
most cities installed alarm systems with pedestal-mounted
alarm boxes on street corners. The Gamewell Company manufactured
most of the components in these systems. The street alarm
boxes were connected to all fire stations in the city by means
of wiring that carried direct electrical current. When a citizen
pulled the lever on an alarm box, a predetermined pulsating
signal would travel to every station where alarm gongs would
ring out the identity of that box. For example, the signal
from Box 321 would cause the gongs in all stations to ring
"gong-gong-gong-pause-gong-gong-pause-gong" repeatedly.
Apparatus and personnel from the stations that were pre-assigned
to incidents in the vicinity of Box 321 would then turn out
and respond to its location. If there was a fire near the
alarm box, it usually would be visible. If it were not visible,
firefighters at the scene would investigate the neighborhood.
Unfortunately, many of the calls generated by street alarm
boxes were false. This fact, and the growing availability
of telephones made the system of street alarm boxes obsolete.
The beautifully restored alarm indicator gong in the CLAFMA
collection is an example of the devices that were mounted
in fire stations.
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