The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-09-25
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
Nj Brief md Comprehensive He
view OF Its History.
STRAY Scraps Picked Up by Re
porter
The Record Of the Department From It's
Inception The Story Of Its Greatest
Trials and Losses On the Burn
ing Housetop and Beneath
the Orumbling Walls.

the Orumbling Walls.
Buried Incidents Galvanized.
The death at his post 81 duty Of q. r..
Tarnelee, late foreman OF Protector No. o,
sixth District, on Monday morning last,
torclbly calls to mind the many sacrifices
made and dangers run by our volunteer fire
department and their heroic devotion tn the
discharge or q self-imposed duty. Many and
deserved have been the eulogies pronounced
upon their conduct and each recurring
Fourth OF March brings with IL an abundant
public Offering Of praise and thanka. 1t recks
Mltie when the alarm bell sounds; whether
Mt duskv midnight, when the city is wrapped
lin one stupendous slumber, or In the broad
4iare OF noon, when the hum and hustle Of
liaay life denote the stern application to or
binary pursuits; at all hours 1t liz equally I'M
material: the fireman throws OF the allur-
InK charm OF sleep or lays down hiH
snapIements OF labor, and PUSHES impetuously
10 the scene Of the eonilaRration. The magnl-
fslde OF their sacrifices ID not always fully
appreciated by the ordinary citizen, but his
confidence It'd their zeal, energy and ability he
often unconHciously demonstrates by the
sanse Of security In which he reposes When
III III considered that the fireman runs count
scss risks and subjects himself to still more
prtvatlons and Inconvenience, and bis con
duct, In the collective capacity, ID frequently
Che theme Of Injurious Misrepresentation 1t
will he better understood the character OF
k.e public obligation to him and the repara-
ton due from limited miseoneeption. OF all
public Positions hts, perhaps, is the most
shankless and certainly the least remunera-
tive, and the explanation why the department
EXISTS under such circumstances lies In the
fact of the natural instinct Of companioDship,
aud the competitive ambition to accomplish
most FOR the public good.
While porting yesterday among some musty
records touching the department, a Demo-
CHAT reporter lighted upon some curious and
interesting facts, which have heretofore lain
retired from public gaze. These will more fit
Hngiy appear In a cursory review OF
THE HISTORY. or THE DEPARTMENT,
1T trials, lahors, losses and hardships.
lin 1899 the population OF New Orleans was
about $4,000 Or $4,000. The principal business
niArts were then below Canal street, and
natghhorhoods now almost neglected or worth
less we're then In the heydey Of their prosper
ity. There existed ut that time fire company
which operated hand-engine, and which In
it, day rendered effective service. 1t met at
one of the cotton presses. secession oc-
Cured within the ranks. aud from this sprung,
fulI-armed. Volunteer Fire Company No. 1
and Mississippi No .. The now Anticipated
}hMnd-engine was then q costly article, and
frequently subject Oh curiosity with resi-
dents OF places that have since learned to dis
card and retire them from public service. It
was not till 1855 that steam-poWer bad been
used for the extinguishment Of fires. In That
year d fire occurred ct the Verandah Hotel,
sorner Common and st. Charles streets. The
Board Of Underwriters had imported steam
engine, which was then used under the direc-
tion Of the late John Adams and contempora-
ries of the period state that 1t rendered very
valuable aid. Tt would now appear q primi-
tive piece Of mechanism to the flremen
Brought up amid beautiful complex and
shining steamers. 1t was certainly rude In
construction and awkward OF handling but
it marked
THE DATE OF A REVOLUTION
which went OH till hand-englnes were rele-
gated to less a1luent and populous cities
where an organized system OF protection
against fire had begun To be inaugurated 1t
may be remarked Incidentally that the revo-
luton met with powerful depressing force
Ut the beginning, and was the occasion Of
many stormy gatherings, but this has been
the history OF progress as well In mechanics
as ~ every other species Of innovation. Tho
advocates OF the ''steam power idea finally
triumphed, and then the respective eompa-
ntes began to vie in the importation of steam
engines. With characteristic emulation this
continued even when the latter had become
the established institution OF the city, ami the
classes OF engines kept on improving till at
the present day the most superior specimens
Are found In our local enRtne-hUuses. IL 1889
THE FIREMEN's CHARITABLE ASSOCIATION
was formed with charter running for a term
Ut twenty-five years. In 1865 1t expired and
!. renewed Tor the same period a 81 time. II
charitable services performed ny this associa-
ton, but an idea may be formed from the fact |
that at the present day there are no less than |
30 widows and 325 orphans cared for by 1t. |
40 has = regular physician, druggist and
undertaken IN each and every district OF the
City, and sick destitute and dead are alike the /
objects OF their attention.
Inc services OF the physician and the goods |
oI the druggist are free to the members OF the I
association who are In good standing and |
also 70 their families. When the final offices I
which affection and charity prompt are to be
performed the services are likewise gratui-
Iaua, ana the remains are placed away tn the
handsome and stately pile erected by the as
sofafion LII the cemetery which has taken
from them Its name-the Firemen's Gene
terry. This tomb is familiar to all who love
the artistic and would see 1t. 1t is IMPRESSIVE
IN Its design. aud wears about it that solpm-
nifty 80 suggestive OF the place. Affection
pranpted the erection upon it of tha shaft
which bears the name Of Trad Ferry, the first
%raFss II N /
Gent of this association Is Hon. /. n Marks. |
whose administration has been given the
best evidence uf appreciation by his repeated |
elections to that office.
The department AS 1t now stands is mostly |
composed Of Wurktngmen and mechanics. |
who hesitate not. though possibly after n
fatlguing days work. to respond to the call
OF the bell and MAKE their Offering on the
1&r,. - &rsY