Evening star., 1902-01-09
ANCIENT FIRE COMPANIES
CONTINUATION OF NARRATIVE BY
MR.. J. j. PEABODY.
Old-Time Incidents Given in Detail
Veterans to Celebrate Washing
tons Birthday Anniversary.

secretary. The fact that of those pres
.ent at the January meeting last year one
Mr.. ]. W. Carr-had passed away was
referred to in feeling remarks by the pres
ident and others. The question of OBJ
serving February %, the anniversary of
the birthday of Washington, who was at
one time a fireman in Alexandria, was
considered, and it was decided to cele-
brate by parade and banquet, the arrange
ments 10 be made at the February meeting.
Mr.. Peabody read another installment
of his sketch of the volunteer fire COM
panics of early Washington. In the In
telligencer of March u, 1920 he said,
appeared an advertisement of W. G.
Huniman of Boston, stating that one of
by Thomas Bulfnch The Gazette of April
s, 1920 had a call for a meeting of the
Star Fire Company for that evening, sign
ed ]. SeSsford. Many remember Mr. Sess-
ford, VINO resided on d street between 18th
and 18th streets. and was long ward
commissioner and an active fireman in the
ranks of the Franklin company, which
succeeded the Star company.
The commissioners of the third and
fourth wards-W. A Scott and John B.
Forrest-annOunced in the Intelligencer of
April IL, 1890, that in May they would
proceed to examine fire buckets which the
citizens were required by law to keep,
and requesting that the law be complied
with.
''Under the heading of Our Theater Fire.
the lnteliigencer of April 90 1920 said:
About I o'clock yesterday morning the
18th instant, the theater in this city was
discovered to he on fire. There was scarce
ly an interval of a moment from the dis
cOVery of the fire before the whole roof
and interior were in flames, and in less
than fifteen minutes the roof fell in The
opinions of those who inquired into the
matter vary as to the cause of the fire;
some suppose it to have been the work of
n II To
have been the result of an accident 1t for
tunately happened that there had been
llght fan of rain the preceding evening;
otherwise, such was the Suddenness and
rapidity of the confagration, the showers
OF burning embers which fell on the roofs
of the adjoining houses would have fired
them also. AS it was, no material damage
was sustained by them, except that which
was unavoidable from the hasty removal
OF the contents of the houses. The engines
were Immediately on the ground, but it was
useless to attempt to save the theater,
which was almost destroyed before it was
discovered.
" The loss occasioned by the fire falls on
few of our public-spirited citizens to
whom the building belonged and on those
to whom the scenery in the theater be-
ionged. The loss, it is hoped and believed,
Is such as not to involve any of the suffer-
ers in any serious calamity
Much credit is due to some individuals
who first gained the roofs of the houses in
tion enables us to say that the tribute of
thanks in the following card is well mer-
tied:
THE proprietors and occupie-s of the
block of buildings in front of the theater
return their sincere thanks to the fire com
panies and citizens of Washington for their
great eXertions in preserving their property
from the conf1agration this morning. Par
tlcularly to Mr. John Culpeper "a rep
resentative in Congress from North Caro-
llna) and others, who took a stand on the
roof of the inner building nearest the the
alter while in flames and there remained, ex-
the fire as it caught on the
roof at great personal risk
Site of the Theater.
The theater was on the site of what was
Carusfs saloon in ante-bellum days, where
now is located Kernan's Theater 1t origi-
nally occupied but part of the lot at the
northeast corner of 11th and C streets,
which was "a by 135 feet inches on 11th
street, and was owned by General Van Ness
and few others. Some effort was made to
rebuild after the fire. but a year after the
ground was offered for sale at public auc-
ton and purchased by Mr.. Gaetano Carusi
VINO then lived at what is now 1904 Penn
sylVan1a avenue. He rebuilt on the old
walls theater and assembly rooms and
1t was the scene of many interesting occa-
slons of the past. Political and other meet
lngs. inauguration, military, fancy and club
there. and it was as well the scene of tri-
umph in the dramatic art. On more than
one occasion the old Franklin held there
Its birth night anniversary ball on Janu-
airy IA.
April 25, 1920, a fire is noted In the In
telligencer is having originated in the third
story OF a nearly finished house not far
east of the theater, fronting on 10th street
1t was subdued quickly and caused but lit
tie damage. Calls for meetings of the Co.
lumb!a company at the City Hotel May 2
1920; the Patriotic at the council cham
bers May 3, and the Union at Major John
gencer
Under the new charter of 1920 by act Of
May "A the city councils changed the ward
boundaries, throwing that portion of the
ward; between 18th and 10th into the sec
ond: between 10th and 1st streets west
north or + street south into the third; be-
tween list street west and Sth street east
north of E street south, the fourth; be-
tween 10th street west and 4th street east
south of E street south, the fifth, and the
rest of the city the sixth. This division af-
fected the fire companies by locating the
Union company In the first ward, the Star
in the second, the Patriotic in the third |
the Columbia in the fourth, the Phoenix
and Potomac in the fifth and the Anacostia
and Navy Yard companies in the sixth.
The second ward appears to have been
well supplied with engines, for the coun-
cils by act of May &c, 1920. authorized the
&C commissioner of the second ward to sell
at public or private sale, under direction
of the mayor, one of the engines then in
use in that ward. the proceeds of the sale
to be used in enlarging the engine house
BY the act of May 81, 1920, the councils
appropriated for the year ending March 81
previously, for fire apparatus, etc, for the
first ward, SSO42: second, $22S.75: fourth.
S25S.62, the last item being for the Ana
costa Fire Company.
'On July 1, 1920, the Union company was
called to meet at the house of Mayor John
Davidson.
For conducting the water to and finish
ing the reservoir in the sixth ward. an ap-
of not exceeding one hundred
dollars was made by the act of June 20,
1920
Appropriations were made by the act of
June "a. 1920, for building an addition to
the engine house of the late second ward
and the purchase of an hydraulian engine
for the use of the ward, the amounts to
be paid from the funds of the second and
third wards in equal sums. The former
second ward extended from I'd to 14th
street west, and at this time the Star and
Patriotic companies were within it's bounds,
though the former used the apparatus of
the Treasury Department. which. subsequent
to the act of 1909, was included in the first
ward.
The change Of boundaries in 1920 gave