The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1902-07-15

GTdV6I6T T6LuTnS," Duly
may be said "men may come and men may go,
but Relief flows on forever" and her bells
will continue to ring OUT calling her members
together TO give aid an succor to those need
ing her help and assistance. J.C. C.
At the conclusion of this paper Mr..
Cowgirl was heartily applauded The
chairman called on several present to
speak. Henry S. Haines, city surveyor,
of Burlington, was the first to respond.
He continued the historical line of thought
suggested by Mr.. CowgilPs paper
He referred to the great changes
that had taken place during the past $50
years, and alluded to the stage line which
ran between New York aud Philadelphia,
taking two days for the transit One of
the men mentioned in the paper was I'M
able to attend public meeting on one oc-
casion owing to his inability to get from
New York in time for the event. The
contrast between then and now when one
can go to New York and be home in time
for dinner is great. Mr.. Haines thought
, if those living $50 years ago could be here
now and see the changes they would be
much surprised. In his vocation as sur
veyor, being called upon to search many
old records, he had seen many things of
interest and he recalled them briefly. His
talk was very interesting
The speaking was interspersed with
music and after another selection Col.
Sloan introduced John c. Heed, Lieuten-
ant of the Fire Police of West Chester,
Pa. He expressed his pleasure at being
privileged to be at this anniversary His
acquaintance with Relief dated from the
time of the parade in his city, when the
latter company was in the line The
friendship thus formed had been continued
and he hoped it would last forever and be
renewed in that land where he hoped all
would go, where there would be no fires
to fight. Mr. Heed referred to the mis-
sion of firemen as that of saving lives, and
said he would rather be found on ladder
taking a human being from a burning
building than to be at the head of a col
umn in war intent upon destroying life
Yet that action seems at time to be abso-
lutely necessary and during the civil war,
in response to the call for aid, his com
pany sent a generous quota forward OF
$50 members 1853 answered and Joined the
ranks in defence of their country.
John Il. Clay was the next ST eaker He
is a representative of the old volunteer
system of Philadelphia He congratulated
the members of the company upon having
reached this good old age and on the pros
perity it was evident the company is en-
joying. Mr.. Clay spoke of the interest
he had always felt in New Jersey in gen
eral and Burlington county in particular
He recalled the fact that many of the
prominent men in Philadelphia first saw
the light of day in this county, and sever
al of the notable buildings in that city
were erected under the supervision of
Burlington county boys" Like the
West Chester company the organization
of which Mr.. Clay was member had re-
sponded to the country's call, and of 1903
members 103 had gone to the front and
many of them were accredited to New
Jersey regiments. Good volunteer fire
men make good men for any position, and
there were no more valiant soldiers than
those who had seen service in fighting
fire-the Fire Zouaves were an example of
that fact Mr.. Clay hoped Relief would
continue in prosperity and that at the next
15Oth anniversary the records would be
read with as much interest as those of the
past.
Evan F Benners was next introduced.
He is a member of Relief Fire Company,
of Moorestown. Mr.. Benners said when
his company was recognized the members
looked around for suitable name and
finally decided to take that of the old
company in Mount Holly. They had
never regretted the action. With the re-
cord of the old organization before them
they had an incentive to make a fair name
for themselves, and he hoped that nothing
would ever be done by the younger organ
ization to cause blush of shame to the
company who stood sponsor to them.
William NJ. Jeffries, ex-Chief of the
Burlington Fire Department, extended
greetings from our neighboring city. He
regretted that Gen. Bird w. Spencer,
who had been expected to speak, was I'M
able to be present, as he would undoubted-
| ly have given some valuable information
about the Firemen's Home. which is being
SO successfully conducted at Boonton, and
is one of only two such institutions in the
United States.
When Captain Charles EVAN Merritt
was introduced he said at one time there
was volunteer fire department in the
city of Philadelphia, and whenever it