The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1895-10-18
BRATTLEBORO. VERMONT FRIDAY. OCTOBER 49, 1851
THE OLD FOUNTAIN ENGINE.
Her Achievements and Record Reminis-
cences of Old Fire Department Days
suggested by the Boston Tournament.

Her Achiev vements and Record Reminis-
| cenees of Old Fire Department Days
suggested by the Boston Tournament.
There was thrill of old time Brat
| tlcbro pride and a breeze from the
memory of old volunteer fire depart
ment days AS our people read yesterday
of Fountain engine now of Milford,
n. H., at the great fireman's muster at
the Congress street grounds at Boston
Wednesday. where 33 engines were en-
tered from all parts of New England and
engaged in one of the largest contests
ever SEEN Fountain" was the last to
enter and the last to draw position and
she took the second prize of 500. play
ing in the darkness of the evening 210
feet and 7 inches and within 6a, inches
of the winner which was the Peabody
Union of Washington. But no Brat
tleboro fireman will believe that she
could have failed. il rightly manned and
managed and in fair wind, to take
first money. Fol they say they never
saw the engine under equal conditions
that could beat her She has -
cylinder, a II, l3 or IA inch stroke, is
built strong throughout and has the
stanchest and stiffest brakes they ever
saw 1t was believed here after careful
experimenting that - inch stroke
and 56 men on the brakes could get the
best service from her. The papers say
that she had - al Boston and if so il
was cnongh To hinder. In all the out
of town contests she entered while
Brattleboro machine she never failed To
take a prize and never but once was it
anything but first money The strife
was close and spirited in the old days
between the engine companies here, but
in all our local musters she was beaten
but twice. once by Western and once
by No &. In practise once only No. 3
got ahead of her.
, Fountain cana from Lynn. Mass.
where she was used in the regular ser
vice and as sporting machine. When
the old mo. 1 +" afterwards rebuilt IN
to No. &, was played out. s. NJ
Waite heard about the Lynn machine
being on the point Of being discarded
for a steamer, and in his characteristic
way without authority from the vii.
Iage or anybody he Slipped down and !
hought her, paving $500. and the
first our people knew of il was
when the machine appeared here. /
This was in 1866 and in 1863 she won !
At Rutland Next at Greenfield she took /
$50. Then at Orange where West
,rn won prize too. and afterwards at
No. Adams, where No Hose also
ook first money. and at kcenc where
'he played 221 feet three times and
irst money was divided between her
md the Gardner machine which made
he same and refused to play it off.
: Fountain s. best play was AT the
'ircman' parade in 1877 226 feet and
inches. and when the steamer beat
Ter b, two feet. She was sold to 20
o Milford after the steamers were
'ought.
The first No 1 Engine CO., had
'ol. Arnold Hines for foreman and he
;as succeeded in turn by Capt. Har
ey Simonds, Capt. Alonzo Joy and
apt. j. W. Simonds, who was the
brennan when Fountain was bought
'ollowing him AS fo, emcn were, j. a.
'aylor. c. b. Fairbahks, l.. II. Dear
orn, Jonathan c. Howe, James b.
'offin, l.. S. Higgins, C.. H. Briggs :
nd Geo. a. Hines, nearly all of whom
AT some of the machines
,mous victories, which were always
Celebrated with enthusiasm here.
Among the men who served in this
)mpany, many of them through :
ing series Of years, were some of the I
aiding names of Brattlcboro. and men s
no count their tiremcn's experiences /
mong the most enjoyable of their {
yes. Many have passed over but 6
orc are still here to enjoy reading I
bout their old machine On the I
Impanys old rolls are such names as {
ov, Fuller, Col. &. II. Bond, and l
Tea. II. f.. Bond. ". H. Alexander. I
onas Putnam, joel Willard, Joe ]
ones, y. W. Lnomis, L. H. Barrett, !
m. Bardwell, Dea. y. y. Stcarns.
. K. Rose. C. b. Dickinson, Fred /
DOT. Geo. +. Root. Warner and Ed /
in Atwood. VI. T. NanDoorn. JOIN ;
Jas. Bowler. Vim. Cunning n
am, John Ninton, David Downcr- v
nandcr Thomas, f. II. Thomas. d. t
Tolles, Theu. Turner. p. 5. White. i
c. Wilcox. \. F. Wilder. Henry G
ilcutt,l |. \. Williams DIR. +. A. Wood =
Try. ". +. Combs, Jerome Corbett. Otis Il
igerton. John JOY, George W. Esta- o
ook, +. \. Foster. Thomas Harmon, d
W. Harlowe. Hiland Haskins, r. v
Hescock, L. S. Higgins, NJ. o. b
odgkins, l.. NJ. Howe. l.. J. John
n. A. +. Knight. f. L. Knowlton. fc
l.. Childs, +. L. Cook, o. II. But a
rfeld, F. A. Bagg, Milton Bement, q
l.. Parker, ii. G.. French, II
I'm Orton. |. X. Allen, c. l.. Piper. n,
W. Stewart. c. +. Reed, S. W A
chardson. W. H. Roleau Oscar ao
lith, c. l.. Spear, n. l.. Staples. th
ank Stockwell, Alarson Stone, Il.
Timson. C. \. Waitman. Drury L.
Hosea Jones. l.. A. je
tt, III. NJ. Wood. G. H. Woodward.