Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-02-02
A local fruit man who attended the recent


a RECORD UNION reporter the other day,
during ride in the cars out H street: 81
met an old acquaintance while up there in
Oroville, who is connected in no small way
with the history of Sacramento. He was
one of her first residents and business men.
His name is Hiram Arrents, and many old
Sacramentans remember him well. He is
at present employed as book-keeper for the
Union Hote,, at Oroville, and he's always
glad to meet any of his old friends from
Sacramento, and chat about old times with
them. His memory is remarkable for one
who is nearly 70 years of age, and he
frequently gives some of his "reminiscences
of early days for publication in the Oroyille
newspaper.
'He landed in Sacramento on the Fourth
of July, 1849, and here he located.
"In 1851, when Sacramento had grown
so large as to require fire department
for the protection of its buildings from
disastrous confagrations, Hiram Arrents
was valuable counselor, having been
member of the old New York Volunteer
Fire Department before coming West. Ar
rents memory is very clear about the
formation of this Fire Department, and
his relation of it is very interesting. When
the subject of an efficient department was
being agitated, he says, Sacramento was
already possessed of pretty good hook
and ladder. When a fire broke out,
though, the only way to get water to the
burning building was by forming long
line of men down to the river and then
passing buckets of water from one to the
other until the building was reached. This
kind of work was, of course, soon out of
date, hence the demand for competent
department.
Committee on Ways and Means. and little
trouble was experienced in raising enough
money to buy three engines-the old-style
hand machines, you know. He told me
what they cost, but L have forgotten the
amount. Anyhow, as soon as the engines
arrived, Arrents was elected Chief of the
| Observation-Disclosures first Fire Chief.
They had their engines and had plenty of
volunteers, but big obstacle suddenly
confronted them--water. The only way to
get it was to pull the engine up on to the
| high bank of the river and pump 'er up.
But suppose fire was way up near Sew
enth or Eighth streets, what then? Well,
| they fused around for quite while, some
arguing for wells, others cisterns, and
various other devices, none of which were
at the time practical.
But Arrents was again to the rescue.
| Under his direction six cisterns were sunk
three on K street and three on ]. Those
on street were located at the intersection
of Second Fourth and Sixth, and those on X
street at Third. Fifth and Seventh.
| Then the fun commenced. The hose was
! Just long enough to carry the water from
| .. TO oic
] streets, but no further. But Arrents'
genius stood the people well in hand. He
| had the first cistern pumped full; then he
| had an engine stationed between the first
and second cisterns which pumped the
water out of the first into the second. The
| third engine conducted the water to the
| third cistern. In this manner all three OF
| the J street cisterns were filled to the brim,
and then operations were transferred to the
X street cisterns, which were also filled in
the same way. Then they had all the
| water they wanted for fires.
| Mr.. Arrents afterwards moved to Chico,
and in 1870 he organized a fire department
| for that city, and was elected its Chief He
now holds exempt papers from three cities
New York, Sacramento and Chico"
George W. Ficks arrived in town last
evening from the scene of the recent great
snow blockade in the Sierrss, and related
numerous incidents, some humorous and
some pathetic, which occurred at various
times during the great battle in the mount
aims, and which have not as yet been pub
lished.
Zone of the best things" said George,
| while on his way up from the depot in a
red car, happened this morning before we
| left Truckee. Assistant General Manager
1 H. e q, -
| to leave in his special car for the Bay, and
desired to send private telegram to Sacra-
mento. He wrote out the dispatch, and,
handing it to his private Secretary, in
structed him to put it N the hands of the
| operator. The Secretary started off to
| obey, when Mr.. Curtis remembered that he
| had another dispatch to send to San Fran
| cisco, and he Immediately followed in the
| footsteps of his Secretary for the tele-
graph Office. He reached there just
as the operator was calling up the
Sacramento Office, and asking the operator
at the latter place if he was ready to receive
a dispatch. Is it Important queried the
Sacramento operator over the wire. Yes,
replied the Truckee man, ticking away at q
great rate it's from that old bald headed
| Curtis
Nov, that poor operator didn't know
| that Mr.. Curtis is himself an expert tel
egrapher.
"Mr. Curtis of course caught the words
that went over the wire, but his counte-
nance never changed. The operator
| saw him, and smiled as he
mumbled to himself the old saw about
When ignorance is bliss etc. But you
ought to have seen that smile evaporate
when Mr. Curtis coolly stepped over to an.
other instrument beside the operator and
began to rattle off a dispatch to San Fran
cisco in the most expert manner. Mr.,
Curtis enjoyed the situation hugely, but
that operator is now confined to his bed
suffering from nervous prostration."
A reporter overhauled Sam Ginsberg
who, with Mr.. Enright, owns the Sacra-
mento Baseball Club, and as the two rode
out ] street the smiling Samuel was
quizzed about baseball matters.
"Well," said Mr.. Ginsberg, II can't tell
you very much about the details of next
l =, baa nm,