The times., 1899-04-23

There were further changes In the de-
| partment in 1905 On July of that year
the town was divided into wards. All that
| part east of Thirty ysecond Street and north
| OF K Street constituted the East Ward
! while the remainder of the town extending
! as FAR west as the river and as far north
| as there were any buildings within the
| corporate limits made up the Second Ward
FIRE companies were organized in each
ward, each company electing its own Off
| GERS, who acted in conjunction with the
| stan officers appointed by the mayor. The
! owners or occupants of houses were re-
| quired to preserve and keep for mis- or her
house as many buckets as there were sto-
ries in the said house or houses. These
buckets were of leather, holding two and
cne-half gallons each. 1t was provided
that all buckets must be registered with
the clerk Of the town. The custodians of
the buckets were required to keep them In
some place easy of access in the house un-
der penalty Of 81 for each neglected
bucket
The mayor was further authorized to ap-
point four staffmen, whose duty it was to
preserve order at fires, form the lanes, in
dtcate the places from which water was TO
be brought, see that the buckets were regu-
larly served and returned. extend or con-
tract the lanes. and TO order on duty every
person not otherwise usefulIy employed
| The staffmen were given authority to COM
pei every person to aid in extinguishing the
| fire. Any person who refused to obey a
staifmans orders could be arrested and
upon conviction, be fined S. for each Of
fence This ordinance further directed
the mayor to locate the engine in the East
Ward under proper cover and appropriated
SIS for its repair. Later. in 1906 axes and
ladders were purchased for the sum of $50.
year later, as further precaution
ney sweep to clean all the chmnays in
the town used for cooking stoves or fire.
places once in three months. from April 10
October, and once in two months from &C.
tober to April. II the occupant of house
refused to allow his chimney to be swept
fine of SIS was imposed, and should an un-
clean chimney take fire the fine was dou-
bled- All fiues of chimneys were required
to be fourteen inches square.
Introduction of Water Mains.
1t was not until 1853 that water mains
were laid and consequently before that
time there were no fireplugs or hydrants
such as there are today. The old engines
were of the handpower type and In order
to operate them, number of men had to
manipulate the long, wooden handles.
When one set of men became exhausted,
fresh men were put in their places. Water
which was thrown on the fire was obtained
from cisterns or pumps in the vicinity of
the blaze. Two lines of firemen were
formed from the engine to the source of
water supply, one to pass the buckets fill
ed with water to the receiving tank of the
engine and the other to return them to the
well or cistern. These lanes were in
charge of the staff men who were equipped
with trumpets and a white staff five feet
long. This method of filling the engine
with water by hand was abandoned when
the suction engine made its appearance.
From this new type of engine a hose was
run to the water supply. In those days
the engines and hose carriages were not
drawn by horses, but by hand, and to the
hand-tongue was attached rope about
100 feet in length with which the firemen
and citizens dragged the apparatus to the
scene of the fire.
AS in all communities. the town had its
share of borrowers and lenders. Many
persons were in the habit of borrowing
the hooks and ladders of the fire depart
ment, and, like most borrowers, failed 10
return them. The number of buckets 6nd |
ladders decreased at each succeeding fire. |
as 4 consequence, until the engine and hose |
were the only remnants of the fire depart |
ment. IN 1913 an ordnance was passed |
imposing a penalty of $50 one-half to the |
informer. upon any person who directly or |
indirectly borrowed a hook or ladder In |
the following year four fire companies were I
directed to be organized. The companies |
in existence at the time OF the promulisa-
tion of this order were the Potomac Fire
Company, organized in 1873. and the Vigi-
liant, organized in 1917. Other companies |
were afterward organized as follows: The ,
Mechanical Fire Company In 1873; Column
bian Fire and Hose Company, 1927; Eagle |
Fire Company. 1927; Western Star Fire |
Company, 1881, and the Potomac Hose
Company. 1864. In February. 1927, the en-
gines. ladders. hose and other fight
ing paraphernalia were PLACID in charge OF
the mayor. to be repaired and placed in a
place easy of access in case of emergency
Two inspectors were appointed az a salary
Of S25 each per year TO inspect the prop
erty of the department. They We're re-