The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-12-03
Tho CITY. Council YiSit Unitoa -.EiEs.
company. ..n.4

tho CITY, Council Visit United -RiEo
.rq,sSSsHPllil ePsa.HHS'mci4
Inspect the APRNFatuI and SHny
sr1iId .giTs ~ LOFTS l1'l' ~ y.
s.fS no wRir i-4gH n9i No A-
Speeches BY the 1IemboES, &c. "a"
MI M. oil 49, HIagl4l HNt .Hu4
Il has seldom been our fortune to be
present on an occasion so interesting
and 10 productive OF good feeling, as
the visit, on Saturday afternoon last
OF the members OF tho City Council 70
the Hose HOUSE, Of the First United
Steam Fire Engine Company, in the
Sixth Ward. The visit was made, in
compliance with the desire of the COM
pany; for the purpose Of inspecting tho
building and Its arrangements, and 1.-THE
various pieces Of fire apparatus kept in
II. ThBtime from three to four o'clock
WIS occupied in this business, and in
witnessing repeated trials Ofpspeed by
the company, in hitchlng the horses to
the engine and reel. Thequlckest time
made was Lhirty.tive seconds. The
horses can be hltched to the several
pieces Of apparatus in shorter time,
but on the occasion ofswhlCh we are
speaking, there was so great crowd in
the house that they had 70 be driven to
their several positionsa % 5la Isl
Amer the members ofthe Council had
examined fully everything below, they
proceeded up stairs TO the elegant hall
ofthe company! This hall furnished
(by private subscriptlOn) rs well as the
most of private parlOrS. II Is finely
CArpeted; is supplied with comfortable
arm ChnirE lighted with gas; has a
stand at the upper end. for speaker;
the walls and ceilings frescoed1 and Is
all in all aa neat place as one could
wish TO enter. The membera of the
Council having examined the room
thoroughly, the asse!nblage was called
to order by s. p. Duley, President of the
length, and In a very handsome man
neT explained that the object Of the
company in inviting themembers ofthe
Council to visit them, was 10 let them
examine the arrangements Of the house,
the condition and working of the fire
apparatus, and satisfy themselves that
the money which the city had given TO
the company had been expended for
legitimate purposes and to the best ad-
vantage. The speechIwRs closed with
IN invitation to visit the "hayloft," a
part Of the building which had not pass.
cd under inspection. '-
The word i'hayloft" will probably
excite in the minds Of our readers Wis
ions OF u huge pile Of cured grass in the
upper part of a stable, a pltchiork or
two sticking in it, and overhead, last
ened to the rafters, the nests Of noisy
and dirty colony Of swallows. But let
them not be deceived. The "hayloft" nj
the Hose House was a very Christian
like place rs 1t appeared on last Satur-
day afternoon. Entering from the main
hall, the eye was enraptured with the
sight of four tables ranged along the
room, and covered with snowy cloths,
on which appeared u very tempting ar
ray of things good for the inner man.
The walls were hung with wreaths Of
flowers, and over the ceiling was stretch
ed large American flag. The arrange
ment Of the room did credit to the taste
of the members of the Steam Fire En-
CINE Company, and vas much admired
by all the Councilmen present. As u
proof of which we may mention that
one. and all, without an exception, did
hearty justice TO the delicacies spread
out before them.
The refreshment Of the counCilmen
having beenel1ected, the main hall was
again filled, and the business of speech
making commenced. s .....s. a-ti
Loud cries for Mr.. Blair resounding
from nll parts Of the house, that gem
tleman, who is Chairman Of the Com
mittee on Fire Department, advanced
to the stand, and returned thanks to the
company for the courtesy which had
been extended to himself and the rest
ofthe Councilmen. He also took Ocea-
sion TO express bis personal gratiGca-
ton with the condition in which the
house and apparatus was kept, and
concluded with glowing tribute to.the
efficiency Of the company US tiremen.
Mr.. Shallcross, being next called for,
INDUCED in some remarks lAudatOry
of the company. Other gentleman
followed, but, AS theyitoOk care to in
| form the audience, none of them were
orators and what they had to say was
generally short and TO the point. The
suggestion of S. Laughlin, Esq, that
the members Of the company should
provide themselves with II library, WIS,
we thought, q particularly u. sound
one, and If acted on, can not fail 10 re-
suit in permanent benefit 10 the gentle
men for whom 1t was intended. Mr..
MGClellan's speech was full Of good
things. He commenced by saying that
he was no speech-maker, and thut he
was entirely unprepared for the oeca.
sion. In fact he had supposed the Hon.
Mayor would be present, who would
do all the necessary talking, and he
(Mr. MO- thought his duty was to do
duty in the HnterOom" lhayloft). This
sally brought down the house, aud the
gentleman received many plHudils. He
closed with u very Aatteriug tribute. 10
the company. .....- ....... s
After Mr.. Mcclellan had taken his
seat, Mr.. George Forbes was called for.
He also informed his heaters that he
had never made a speech in his life,
which, TO sAy the least, WIS slightly
surprising to those who had heard him
at meetings Of the Council and Demo-
cratic conventions. The gentleman
spoke highly OF the company, and ex-
pressed an opinion that there should be
two or three more like ii in the city.
Mr.. Ewing followed in u short speech.
mfr. Duley, President of the company,
here delivered u deserved eulogy upon
William II. Harrison, Esq, Chief
Director, who replied ut some length.
After which we were considerably sur
prised to hear OuTself called for. We
could hardly believe our ears ut first,
but, when the President announced that
the local editor of the INTELLIGENCER
was requested to take the stand, we re-
sponded with that alacrIty for which we
are characteristic. Modesty forbids
that we should report in full what we
said on the occasion, but we may
state confidentially that our speech
was universally acknowledged TO DO
the best Of the OCCASION. Mr.. Franz.
helm ana Mr.. Cummins, Superintend-
ent Of Water Works, We're called on,
aud responded in e very happy man
ner. The names of others were nn-
nounced, but rs they had quietly slip
ped down stairs before, the nssemblage
was cheated out of some brilliant re-
marks.
Everybody being satisfied, and the
shades of RightHppronching, Mr.. Duley
made few closing remarks, and the
assembly dispersed in the best OF hu-
mOrs.
THE United States District Court nd