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<br />Be it remembered that the Common Council met in the Council. Chamgers in the City Hall, Monday
<br />May 22, 1939, at 7 :32 P.M. All members were present. President McCarthy r.resided. The reading
<br />of the minutes was suspended.
<br />C Oi'v,i,'UN 10 AT ION
<br />City Council
<br />South Bend, Indiana
<br />Gentlemen:
<br />May 11, 1939
<br />This Company is the owner of an- proximately 50% of the lots abutting Nineteenth Street between
<br />Wilson Avenue and Colfax Avenue.
<br />Ale, therefore, respectfully petition your honorable body to change the name of Nineteenth Street
<br />between Wilson Avenue and. Colfax Avenue to Ellsworth Place.
<br />Respectfully submitted.
<br />INLAND BONDING COi��P VTY
<br />By E. A. Coates, Secretary
<br />Councilman Hull made a motion that the communication be referred to the Streets & Alleys Commit-
<br />tee. Councilman Pulaski seconded the motion. Motion carried.
<br />00M.YUNIC AT I ON
<br />Gentlemen':
<br />South Bend., Indiana
<br />May 22, 1939
<br />I had. originally meant to read the enclosed letter at your Council meeting; lest Monday Night,
<br />however, 'I discovered that it had been postponed.
<br />Business -' Prevents me from attending this meeting tonight but I am enclosing said letter for your
<br />consideration this evening. It is as you will see of vital i.rnportance to you gentlemen and the
<br />tax - payers of the City of South Bend as a whole.
<br />I personally feel that you g entlemen will be doing a great service to our community by giving thf
<br />matter stressed herein you most careful thought and consideration.
<br />The Common_
<br />Gentlemen:
<br />Council of the 0it1T of ... South Bend
<br />Yours very truly,
<br />W. H. TROST , JR.
<br />May 14, 1939
<br />Upon one of my visits to the City Hall, I noticed that some repairs were being made, and. upon
<br />investigation, I found. that an atterrart was being made to install the Police Radio in the Police
<br />Quarters of thetity Hall:
<br />Having served in an official capLcity under former Administrations at a time when the Police
<br />RFdi.o was. installed, I quite ,naturally was anxious to learn why it was-now being removed.
<br />I was told that -,by having this ..department under the direct supervision of the Police, and. in
<br />quarters set aside for police work, it would promote greater- efficiency in operation. That was
<br />more natural then, than to assume the position that the present method. of operation was i:neffic -'
<br />Tent and. inadequate.
<br />It was under this premise that I began my investigation. I talked with various Police officers,
<br />with men who made a study of the proposed plan, radio men themselves, and finally I visited the
<br />Broadcasting Station itself. The answers that I received to my questions wereanazing.
<br />I discovered that the station was being operated -with the same degree of efficiency as that of
<br />any other station of its size in the State. Secondly, I found that there Yews a general con -
<br />census of opinion that Chief Ingram had not given himself the time to become acquainted with
<br />its operation to discover whether or not it was operating efficiently or inefficiently, but
<br />assumed the position that its operation anc. methods were different from those of Witchita,
<br />Kansas, therefore, our system, w o _old have to be r eva_mped. Thirdly, I found th<<_t the building
<br />located at East Wayne Street was especially constructed as a fireproof building to house the
<br />Police and. Fire Alarm Systems at a. cost to the Ta.z=)ayers of South Bend of a sum in excess of
<br />$175,000.00, and that to rernove this Commiunications System from this building to the City Hell,
<br />which building is fair f rom being fireproof would be a. grave error in judgment. Consider, Gentlej
<br />mien, what would happen if the City Hall should burn, and thepossibility is not too remote for I
<br />understand that it has been considered a potential firetrap. If as I say, this should occU.r and.
<br />this im- oortant communiction systern is housed therein, it Tn-ouldcertainly be imperiled and
<br />possibly destro;Ted . Fourthly, I foun? that the same end. could be reached by merely placing a
<br />microphone at the Sergeant's Desk, and groadcasting could. be done by remote control, leaving the
<br />Radio Transmitter in the building in which it now rests.
<br />Under the proposed plan the various branches of t'^e Police department will have direct comx:uni-
<br />ca,ti.on with the main a_t b-he -ixiicrophone by telephone. This same method is no,v being used, and
<br />under the present rnethod, not one second more in time is lost by the ft.ct that the Des',,,- Sergeant
<br />i.e seven blocks away f rom the Radio Operator than if he were in the next room.
<br />Another pertinent item to consider, Gentlemen, is the fact that this removal is going to cost
<br />the tax-payers of South Bend, a. sum of money and such expenditure is needless.. Not one more
<br />degree of efficiency will be ha•.d by such removal_, and. I e4rneetly believe that our City Official
<br />are unaware of all thefs;cts as they exist, or they too ca-�ld see the unreasonableness of this
<br />venture.
<br />Gentlemen, I, as an interested citizen anal. a demand that you investigate the r emova.l
<br />of the Police Radio f rom its present location_, and_ in so doing asic .yourselves the following
<br />questions:
<br />
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