Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-29

! About the close of 1919 washington's
| 12.0I0 people lived in over 1900 houses.
| There had been some extension of the
! water service from the numerous springs;
and under an act of Congress water had
been piped in wooden logs to the Presi-
dents house.
There was a revival of interest in the
various fire companies. The Star Fire
/ Company continued its meetings at Mr..
! Coltman's, on the Avenue near 18th street,
/ and manned a Treasury engine. It was
! headed by w. w. Billings, president;
] Charles L. Coltman, vice president; j. y.
| NJ. Duncanson, secretary; T. J. Sessford,
! treasurer, and D. Bosworth. G. Given, T.
K Geay, John Douglas and others on the
rolls. This is the company referred to
before as being composed of young men,
and from the accounts in the papers and
| traditions it was a most efficient organi-
! zation.
| The Union company in the first ward
reelected officers for the year 1920, John
n. Moulder being the president: and
nent citizens. the roll including Col.
| Thomas Munroe. the postmaster of the
city; Col Thomas Carberry. afterward
| mayor: John Rawlings, well known
| time in the city post office; William
Linkins. whose grandchildren are now III
| the neighborhood; George McDanlel, lohn
D. Barclay, Thomas F'llebrown. jr.; John
Stretch, +. d. Tschiffely, Nathan Moore.
Michael Nourse, b. w. Dashiell, Joseph
Thaw. Charles a. Davis and William
Williamson. department clerks. with
Louis Lepreux. Samuel Hardness, John
Bancroft, Frederick, Phillip and Abra-
ham Hines and others of that section.
Columbia Company's Officers.
The Columbia Fire Company at it's an
nual meeting at Congress Hall, or
Queens Hotel, elected officers as follows:
Ex-Mayor Rapina, president: Rev. An
drew Hunter, vice president: William
Ingle. secretary, and Alexander McCor-
mick. treasurer
Among the membership were James
Young. director of engineers; Griffith
Coombe of the aXmen. James Middleton
of laddermen and Nicholas l.. Queen of
the sentinels. At this meeting commit
tee reported that the engine provided by
the government for the protection of the
Capitol was ready for delivery and would
be placed in the care Of the company.
The navy yard fire company, at its
meeting January 4. 1920. continued the
old officers and they appointed commit
tee to wait on Commodore Tingey of the
navy yard and ask II they could have
the yard engine to go to any fires in the
city or District.
The first annual meeting Of the Patriotic
company. then the second ward company,
which manned the Center market engine.
was held in the council chamber on nth
street January 8. The Anacostia fire
company met the same evening at Moss
tavern on L street between 7th and Sth
streets and elected the following officers:
DR.. Alexander McWIlliams, president;
Robert Desha, vice president; William
treasurer. with Thomas Halliday, Robert
Brown, Thomas Wheat, George Adams.
Matthew Wright and e. w. Clark direc-
tors of the divisions.
Government Bought Engine.
The Union company Of the first ward
exercised the engine purchased by the
government for the protection OF the
public buildings The officers Of the Pa
triotic company were not elected until the
middle of the month, and these were
Andrew Coyle. chief clerk Of the Post
Office Department. president; Henry
Smith, carpenter; George Sweeney of the
city post office, and Charles Glover. vice
presidents; William Cooper, jr.. printer,
secretary; William Hewitt, city register,
treasurer. and among the members were
John B. Martin, James Moore. jr.: S. p.
Franklin, A. Tate. Jacob Gideon. jr.;
Leonard Harbaugh, Owen McGlue and E.
Young.
The Potomac Fire Company, located near
the south end of AZ street, was organized
February ,. Commodore John Rogers
was elected president, Thomas Dougherty,
clerk of t<se House Of Representatives,
and r Bland Lee, Judge of the Orphans
Court. vice presidents: Thomas Bullhnch,
commission merchant, treasurer, and
A. McCrea, secretary. There were about
nfty members. most Of whom were en-
ployed at the arsenal Among them were
Richmond .IOhnSOn Of no wit
Bank. Eber Ward. NJ. d. c. Marche,
William Wise, John Humphrey, ]. Van Ris-
wick, Hezekiah Hall, Nehemiah Griffith.
William Fl. Terret. E. s. Lewis and Lund
, Washington AT a meeting of the Column
bla Fire Company in March DR. Richmond
Johnson. who had Joined the Potomac
company. near his residence Az street
between and o streets southwest. with
drew. ~
AT this date there were eight compauies
IN the city, viz, the Columbia. Capitol
hill, with thirty eight members: Union.
at the West Market, with eighty-sx mem
bers; Navy Yard. with fifty members:
Anacosta, at the Branch Market, with
ABOUT thirty members: the Star, using
the Treasury engine: Patriotic near the
Center Market. with sixty-seven MEM
sd and NJ streets southeast with thirty
two members. and Potomac, on Green
leafs point, with forty-eight members.
Fiss Destroyed Theater.
She theater at the northeast corner of
c and 11e:l streets was destroyed by fire
April 10, 1870. From the files OF the In
teilgencer IT is learned that it was dis
covered to be on fire at o'clock In the
morning, and SO rapidly spread the flames
that the roof soon fell in. There had
been slight fall of rain the preceding
night, which prevented the roofs of ad-
| joining houses from taking fire from the
| railing emberS and the flames were con-
| fned to the theater, which was practi-
| cally destroyed ny the time of it's dis
| covery. The engine companies We're on
| the ground promptly, and the proprietors
| of the houses on the Avenue between 10th
| and 18th streets in card returned thanks
| for the preservation of their property,
| especially to John Cudpeper and others.
/ who had at great personal risk
! est the theater and extinguished the en-
/ bers they fell. On the 24th of April,
about O'Clock In the afternoon, a slight
| ire took place in the third story Of
! building on 10th street east OF the thea
| ter, and but little damage was done
| in May. 1870 the city was divided into
| wards, the first taking in all west OF 18th
| street, and in this We're the Union COM
pany, at Pennsylvania avenue and 10Th
| street, and The Star at the Treasury De-
| partmeut, though the members lived in
| the second ward. The second ward ex-
| tended from the river to the boundary
between 10th and 18th streets, and there