Norwich bulletin., 1920-12-21
THE EVOLUTION
 OF FIRE FIGHTING

"The passing of the fire uvIees rom Manhattan Island and the installation of high pressure water system Hi boston to eliminate even the fire engine are fur ther steps in the stage of progress from the romantic days of the picturesque old hand tubs" says bulletin from the Washington, D. C., headquarters of the National Geographic society.
 Some remember when citizens tficKed themselves out in red shirts and glazed caps and carried torches in the front of a procession or formed part of the body guard of the gallant old tub as it paraded the streets on a. gala occasion. Then pas sion for fire fighting ran to high pitch and arguments were waged about the merits of particular engines. Today the throbs of motor-driven engine are talk ing the place of those heart throbs. The horses that might have clattered from their stalls. glided beneath their harness, and raced gloriously through the driZZly, night-d rkened streets before the fire spitting demon are drawing farm wagons or blowing the fields.
 "In those days communities we're de- pendent upon volunteers, and men from all social ranks gave valuable tune to qualify themselves for the service.
 Fire fighting in some sort of organized form is ancient. Machines far throwing water from a distance were known, cordng to our first clear evidence, in the second century before Christ. Heron of Alexander, 200 years before the Christian era, in an old manuscript which has es- capped destruction. described an hydraulic machine used in Egypt during theNtime of the Ptolemies. It was composed of two brass cylinders resting on wooden base with pistons fitted into then-in it's prn- | ciples practically like our present. engine ! Like most other knoIyladoa thig lOSt i in the dark ages which followed.
 'The Romans had squads of men to | lc2rry water in ,Hamae,' or light vases, to the scene of an outbreak, where it was projected on to the fire by those in charge of the 'siphones' or hand pumps The precise nature of this instrument has not been determined. but from specimens found in excavations it must have been much like the old-fashioned syringe used by gardeners These large organizations of men gave the Roman authorities trou- ble by their turbulence. Traian the Ro- man emperor, and Pliny. at that tiinr one of his governors, had long and serious correspondence over the advisability oi organizing fire departments in the cities under Pliny's jurisdiction, leading to the conclusion that such groups would attain sufficient strength to be menace to the government.
 
 of forcing pumps as fire engines at Augs burg in 151S. England and the countries of the continents were using hand squirt. and syringes at this time. America tool her ideas from the English adapting then to her peculiar needs At first the col onists were content with preventive meas ures, but these scarcely had any effec upon the chimneys. built of wood, gener ally used by the early inhabitants.
 Before the. English flag flew ove Manhattan an old Dutch ordinance direct ed the burgomasters to demand from ev cry house money for the purpose of or dering from the mother country leathe fire buckets. fire ladders and fire hooks
 and once a year, to demand for ever, chimney one guilder for the support ant maintenance of the same This ordinanc states in it's preamble that in all wei regulated cities and corporations it i customary that fire buckets. ladders an hooks are in readiness at the corners o the streets and in public houses for tt . time of need Imagine the modern Man Ihattan so. equipped! Buckets hung ou on Broadway corners would in n,imbe run close second to the bulbs on it electric signs.
 Boston had the first regular fire com pany under municipal control in thi country in 1878. Before this date. low ever the sturdy Bostonians had bucket and ladders in their meeting house an imposed penalty for their use except 1 case of fire.
 George Braithwaite. an EnglishmaI first conceived the steam fire engin. which so definitely ma rked the next stag of progress in fire fighting. Scoffers jeel ingly called his invention 2 steam spur, and kitchen stove,' but it came to sta, unless such steps as Boston's innovatio in installing high pressure water sys F tenn drives it into romantic past"