The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1904-09-04

ing the present Pension Office.
A Born Fire Fighter.
His career as a fire fighter commenc-
cd when he was quite a youngster. He
recalls distinctly his first run. His fam
.ly was living I'm Georgetown at the
time. and he was not more than six
or seven years old. He had \been sent
or an GRAND to Linthicum's drug store
when h. met the Georgetown companies
running to a fire. There were not maLy
men at the ropes. and before he could
be stopped he had dashed N ana taken
one of the. vacant places.
The experience was must eXhilarating.
an young Pea body was having the tiH,a
/ OF his lie when he suiGcrIy 'elt u
/ firm grip on his ear. and he was dragged
away by the strong arm Of his Iathcr.
/ lie was led along the street to his homo
/ in this manner, and the revulsion OF feel
/ Ing was such that he dragged his big
straw hat over his eyes to hide from
the 1eering crowd the tears OF mOrtifca-
| ton and disappointment that poured
down his face.
Long In Service.
When ne was ten years old he joined
| the old Union company. at Nineteenth
! and II Streets. and ran with them until
ne was sixteen. He then Joined the
/ Northern Liberty company. where be
remained for six years. until change
! or home took him near the Capitol. and
/ he became Identified with the Columbias.
where he remained an active member
nine years, until It disbendcd-the last
company In the city to give way to the
! paid companies.
| For more than nifty years Washing
ton was entirely dependent for Urotec-
ton from fires on the volunteer COIN
parties
| During the grea.er part OF that time
the various companies acted indepcad-
| entity of each 9th 4. and the response to
Ialarns was a matter or inclination. Zach
company carried d membership OF from
| fifty to one hundred men. bot Il fire.
quently happened that at fires there were
not enough members nf the companies
present to man the engines.
BystandeTs Held AloOf.
The pumping was done entirely BY
hand. and the engines that were capable
OF throwing an inch steam 200 feet re
quired at least sixty men at TIE levers.
As o general rule. the bystanders were
! not disposed 20 join in the work
! Occasionally. when appeals for as
| slstance were made. some flippant per-
4 son IN the crowd would ask feelingly
where all the men were who had worn
/ the red shirts in the last parade Of tho
company.
/ There were no water plugs in those
days. Il was necessary to make long
! hose connections capable OF reaching to
: the river. to the old canal on 3 Street
{
! Pennsylvania Avenue; or TO reservoirs
| erected I'm various parts Of the city for
/ fre-fghting purposes.
/ Because of these conditions Il was
/ necessary for tie compan MES 10 carry
/ long lines Of hose. Some Of the com
pan!es carried "A thousand feet on ;heir
reels. Whenever long connections were
/ made II was customary 20 couple mp two
engines one 10 pump water from the
| source. and a second to throw it on the
/ flames
Under One Head
! In 1857 the consent Of all the .oIun-
! teer companies was obstained. and ii bill
/ was prepared and laid before the cts
! council 20 consolidate the independent
| companies into one department undo,
one chief. The council was Democratic
] sAN NAit t'AAAf anu IL mas Slice Dttu stated
/ that he members saw in the proposi-iar
! a dark scheme Of the Know Nothing
party % build up a powerful political or
/ Ranizatiou. Be that as fl may, the
/ bill was pigeonholed and the matter
dropped
! Some time in 1853 or 60 a second at
! tempt was made To have bill Of In,
same tenor passed by Congress. TIL,
/ second bill differed in that il called fol
/ a paid department and steam engines.
! II was lost in the House and a curious
| coincidence I'm its defeat was that Herr,
] Winter Davis member of Congress from
| Baltimore. led In the fight against Il
his contention being that II was a devic.
Of the Democratic council 20 make no
! Ilticai appointments. Apparently all Do
hucal factions I'm Washington durirs
I That period We're on the alert for carr
and hidden motives back Of every plar
for the Improvement and deveIop1n.pt
| OF the city.
Peabody Chosen Chief.
In 1862 bill was passed reorganizina
the volunteer fire department under on,
management, and John J. Peabody wa,
| elected chief. The term I'm Office va,
one year He was unanimously re-elsct
ed when his first term was up.
About that time politics had crept int,
the department and when the third eIec