The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-12-11
IN HOTEL CORRIDORS.


marked a gentleman at the National af-
ter the fire department had run down
the street Fourteen years ago there
was hardly a small town in the west
that did not have volunteer fire de-
partment. and some of them did mighty
good work, too. I do not recall the nrst
company in the west, but every city
now claims the honor and I guess they
are all entitled to it for they started
about the same time When the Doom
struck the west every town at once Vo-
ted WaterWorkS bonds and StandplpeS
were almost as thick as church steeples,
for it is the standpipe system that was
the cheapest and best for the small
town. AS soon as the WaterWorkS SyS-
tenn was in working order the young
men of the community would get to-
gether and agitate the question of buy
ing hose carts and hook and ladder
trucks, for the purpose of protecting the
property of the tax payers they said
but in reality it was for the purpose OF
having fun. and 1t was fun to be q
member of volunteer fire department
in one of the boom towns. They would
have firemen'S dances, parties and social
gatherings of all descriptions, and be-
sides this they had tournaments where
they would meet the hose companies
from other towns and would contest for
a prize, which was generally. silver
plated speaking trumpet. On July 4, they
would be in The parade in the morning
and in the afternoon they would have
the engineer at the waterworks steam
up and would show the people from the
country how far they could throw the
water. All the day they would wear
their red shirts and belts, and they
would have 81 room where the city coun-
ell had kindly provided beer in kegs so
that the visiting team could have
good time. OF course the bill was not
presented to the council as beer, but II
went in on the expense of the glorious
fourth. In most small towns the fire
company generally entered into the poll
tics of the place; this was especially true
If there happened to be two or three
companies in the same town and each
company wanted one of its members
chosen as chief. The chief was always
appointed by the mayor, which will ex-
plain why they got into politics. There
was always a great rivalry between the
local companies, but they got together
when one of the teams was to go to
neighboring town and compete in race.
Then the best men; that is, the fastest
runners were chosen from all the COM
panies, and they would train faithfully
for weeks getting ready for the contest
All the men chosen would meet in the
evening after working hours and they
would run races for a distance of 100
yards. They would rub themselves with
different oils calculated to timber their
joints and would also diet themselves.
The word of the captain of the company
which was to enter the contest was law,
and when he told one of the members
that he was drinking or smoking too
much the member would at once curtaiI
wanted to attend the contest, for if the
captain said he could not go it was set
tied and no one thought of questioning
his right to rule.
Sometimes when the companv was
entered in an especially interesting con-
test, such as the championship of the
state men who were professional foot
racers would be hired to come to the
town and join the company so that they
could run in the race with the COM
pany. When this was done the profess
SIGNALS were put on the end of the rope.
that is, they were in the lead You know
in those days all the hose carts were two
wheeled and the men pulled them by a
long rope, the men running two abreast
Or course there were two men the
tongue to keep the machine from wob-
bling The men on the tongue were the
stoutest and the men in the lead were
the swiftest. / remember of one contest
which was held in Kansas City Ia years
ago in which the hiring of foot racers
was worked to a finish. At that time I
lived in southern Kansas town where
there were three companies in the de-
partment and we wanted to win the
prize. so We got the best men from each
company and trained them on the hook
and ladder truck. for that was the prize
we were after. The contest was open to,
companies from four states, Iowa. Kar-
sas, Missouri and Nebraska 1 do NOT
remember what the prizes were. but Z
do know that we were determined TO
win the hook and ladder contest ard
when we found that there were other
companies that could make the run as
quickly as we could we began to fish
for professional runners We expected
to make our money-money to pay the
rOfessiOnals-from the side bets we
could get We made arrangements with
Brown, Robinson, Kitt1enan and Bethuen
and lot more men who were swift but
were not known SO we'll. They were on
our rope when the race came off and we
Won by about ten seconds Some ono
had found us out and we were ruled ol1+
of the race because we had professional
men in the team. All the bets which We
had made were pulled down and we had
to go home with nothing If I remeua-
Der correctly the company from CLAW
Center was given the prize as they were
next in the race We were a very sore
set when we reached home for we could
have won the prize without the assist
ance OF the professional runners
7 noticed in the papers not long ago
that the wife of Jesse James had died .
said a. man who formerly lived in Mis-
souri, Il used to keep a pretty close
watch on the James family for 1 had a
sort of state pride in them. OF course
other people did not look upon the
actions of the James brothers as len
iently as did Missourians but I will
never be convinced that they were en-
tirely bad. I do not intend telling of
their good traits, for that has been done
often enough, and we all know they
were more than cOunterbalanced by
their bao ones; but the James boys al
ways treated their families well, and
Mrs. Jesse James was mighty good
woman. Speaking of the James boys
recalls a story I heard in Kansas City
| several years ago when Louis James. the
actor, was there James has a strik-
ing personality. and would be noticed
in a crowd of a thousand men, His
head is splendid. One of the old-time
Missourians was in the city, having
come UP from Bates county with some
cattle He had never heard Of Louis
James and when he saw on the bill
boards that he was to play al the
Coates opera house that night he nearly
fell over himself getting a seat He was