Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-12-17
VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT
HAS AN INTERESTING RECORD;
WOMEN ONCE SAVED WILMINGTON
First Company Organized Two Years Before Battle of
Brandywns; q Few Leather Buckets and Baskets
Constituted Paraphsrnalia of Original Company,
First Steamer Here in 1866.

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householder know if his property Is In
danger during his absence.
Under the new paid department cf-
f'cicncy II will he entirely possible TO
have the engines fully manned and
ON the way out of their houses within
N minute after the cal.
SCOT Grcat Fire Menace.
Tho fircmen of the early days had
much else to do beside actually fight
Ing the flames. They were expected
to see To II that tho chlmneys were
kept cleaned of SCOT and all foreign
inilammable substances. and their
duties IN this direction were respons-
sblc for the beerimed. besooted and
hrigandlsh looking indviduals--still
remembered hy the older generatIon---
who walked the streets. and with n
sharp call. pitched i'm high-carrying
note. sang out sweep o. Sweep OF"
repeating their long drawn notes es-
pecially at housecieaning seasons, un-
til their services were hired by clean
~. prudent housewives.
With a wisp of broomstraw, he
would dcs, end tho chimney, starting
from the roof and sweeping Il as he
descended, until eventually he emerg-
cd 50 black and dirty that he would
1carccly DO indcntinable as a human
being.
For this service. tho chimney sweep
was paid "levvie" or an eleven
A. n
value of about ~ cents. but with a
purchasing power of moro than the
dollar OF the present moment. Quite
as effective as tho sweep I'm getting
rid Vf the SCOT was the custom of
burning the chimney, which was re-
sorted 10. \ bunch OF straw would be
fastened I'm the prong of n long pole.
set aiirc and pokcd up the chimney as
far ns possible. The SCOT would catch
lire and burn out and the residue would
drop harmlcssly TO the fireplace. As
many OF the fires originated from the
uoot that gathered i'm the chimneys
following the uso OF wood as fuel the
Importance of looking we'll TO this
source of danger was highly impor-
tant With the coming of coal. the
htRfihfff fthffifAfN ENtfif ithiih MS W.
cation gone. and possibly 80 per cent
of the fire hazards.
First Clash With Council.
The Friendship Company had SINH
lar troubles over appropriations or
conversation az the local companies
faced just a few months ago, which
probably illustrates the fact that SER
Vico performed without compen ion
is not likely TO meet with appreciation.
~ early as lI9S. this original company
met n stumbling block in Council Just
as its successors did more than 12u
years later. 1t demanded Of the city
% provide enough money for' the mem
hers 20 equip themselves for efficient
service. with improved or renewed
buckets. As an alternative II threat
cned 20 quit lighting fires. TO 1isband
In fact, unless the borough gave 'the
company the fire buckets deemed es-
scntisi and which were already the
property of the town. Coupled with
the insistent call for buckets was the
further demand for an appropriation
~ Nao for the erection of building
In which 90 store tho hsnd-pressure
engine the company had procured
cight years before. and which, after
hard use and exposure us very much
d,rangcd"
The threat had the desired effect
for II is recorded that Council com.
piled with the request and the engine
was fixed up and continued in ser.
vice until 1925. Where the first en-.
g.ne-hand pump-came from, oriei.
nally, seems to he still vague, unless
u was part OF the fire equipment used
aboard a French man-of-war. from
which IL may have been transferred
to the Friendship Company. Early
too, this first company found the need
Of hook and ladder, and added on,
to its equipment, one that was carried
& and from the fires by members OF
the company.
Town Saved by Women In 1901.
IL was this old hand pump. ther
comparatively new, that served to
save a large part OF the town from
being destroyed by the historic fire or
election day of 1901. Upon that oc.
casion, the men OF the town. or all OF
the able-bodied ones. had gone TO New
Castle TO vote as they did at all zen.
oral elections OF those days Will,
the town was thus deserted by almos
all its firemen, flames broke out an,
Tor time threatened to destroy al
the mills and residences along tn,
Brandywine at Market street. Th,
women seeing the peril and the ex,
trcmity, got cut the old engine an,
manned" II while others came Will
their buckets and vessels of all kind.
and worked heroically until the flame,
had been checked. II was the ANA.
zonic efforts OF Wilmington women
coupled with the efficiency Of the oil,
engine, that checked the worst fir,
menace that ever confronted the town
The old Friendship Company wa
indeed most potential organization
ell To pass an ordinance prohibiting
the erection Of chimneys a yard abov,
the housetop, with a penalty of s.
FOR all violations. half of which wen
To the fire company If it reported in
fractions Of this fire prevention ordi
nance, which they invariably did wher
they had occasion, which, however
was rare. for people took less libert,
with laws than they do at this late
period.
First steamer Here In 1866.
II was not until 1866 that the frs
steam engine became part of the 10
cal FIRE department. II was owned b,
the Water Witch. that had organize,
but short time before. With tn
acquisition came the nifty" red rec
and hose truck, but before this dat
the iiremen had adopted the red shir
as an essential part of their uniform