The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1868-03-13
The New Orleans Times and the Fire
men.

men.
To the Editors of The Daily Ne,rs:
My attention mas been called to the following
paragraph, which appearedin late number OF
the New Orleans Times:
SIN vain do We look st the records Of other
cities for examples Of that devotion and energy
which are characteristic of our fremen. In
other cities the spirit of lawlessness and riot
is set loose on every occasion. and rowdylsm
mingles with blacksualdism. to make fire COM
panies Stunned and their unions feared; their
parades never take place without heaSy DIS
play Of police vigilancc-their reunions are
orgies and their entertainment beastly. But
our fire companies form brotherhood OF men
whose entertainments are got up with taste
and in order, whose celebrations are con-
Quoted with elegance, and the force OF
whose services is made apparent on
every occasion that the public good
requires. They live in the hearts OF
the people, VINO cherish in grateful
remembrance their good deeds, and who,
on their tete days, move along their process
sions IN masses of popular strength. Eacn
| company has its own officers and CLUB rlnes,
and their meetings are conducted with an or
der and dccorum which puts to shame the de-
| lberations OF city councils, and lhelr laws 1or
their own government are obeyed, or are itn-
|. plcitly followed with good Will and suDser-
vience which, it is amazing, are seldom seen
in delibcratiye bCdies and which are vaunted
as the law builders for the country. None OF
the public exhibitions of this city can ever be
COMPLETE without the aid Of the firemen, whose
united force Of character any society may coVet
and few attain. Back some thirty years ago,
an old inhabitant reflects upon the improve
ments which time has made in the hre de-
partment, and looks upon the result OF their
societies with pride. The small hand engines
have disappeared from such size as Brooklyn
Three, of Algiers, gave to their boys, they
have grown to be of large dimensions, and
these in turn have given place to the steam
fire engine, models Of architectural beauty ana
correct uniformity, and the whole with the
present organization have reached thorough
efficiency
Of the fremen of New Orleans, know but
little, but 1 am satisfied that the writer of the
above paragraph received no encouragement
from them in his attempt to exalt the firemen
of one particular city at the expense OF the
fire departments in all other cities in the whole
United States. Ignorance can be excused;
malice and ignorance combined cannot be par
doned If the Times is serious in its asser-
tions, I pronounce them to be as untrue as
they are scandalous if the Times erred
through inadvertence, respectfully ask that
it will at once, as a respectable journal, with
draw its reckless accusations
In stating broadly that the iremen of the
South are neither lawless rioters nor beastly,
and affirming, on the other hand, that they
are decorous, obediont, and Of good reputation,
T am speaking of my own knowledge and upon
my own responsibility.
For many years have known the Charles
ton Fire Department, for many years have
been connected with it; and, while do know
that its members are good citizens, honest
men, brave and untiring fremen, and ines
Unable and worthy in every condition of life,
cannot, as their chief, allow them to be Will
fed and abused in common with their brethren
in the South.
The paragraph in question is so loosely con-
structed, 30 lame and impotent in expression,
that it cannot we'll have been written by
member of the editorial staff of the Times,
and do not therefore, in all courtesy, hesitate
to call upon the editors Of that paper for e1-
PLANTATION or apology. If they will make nei-
ther, it must then be assumed that the vision
of the Times is limited, that it cannot see be-
yond New Orleans, and has no knowledge OF
anything that goes on beyond its borders. AS
long as it confines its remarks to tremendous
praise of it's own people, outsiders have moth
ing to say; but when it errs wilfully, when it
makes charges that blind man could see to
be untrue, I, as the representative Of the eight
hundred gentlemen who compose the Fire De-
partment of Charleston, am bound in honor
and duty to give its statements an emphatic
and positive denial.
NJ. Fl. NATHAN,
Chief Fire Department.