Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-11-03
Learn One New Thing Every Day
BULLETINS BY THE
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
THE EVOLUTION OF FIRE FIGH TING

The passing of the fire horses
from Manhattan Island and the in
s%tallation of a high pressure water
system in Boston to eliminate even
the fire engine are further steps in
the stage of progress from the ro-
mantle days of the picturesque old
h~and-tubs," says a bulletin from
the Washington, d. c., headquarters
of the National Geographic Society.
Some remember when citizens
tricked themselves out in red shirts
and glazed caps and carried torches
in the front of a procession or form
ed part of the bodyguard of the gal.
liant old tub as it paraded the
streets on a gala occasion. Then
passion for fire fighting ran to a
high pitch and arguments were
waged about the merits Of partic-
ular engines. Today the throbs of
a m~otordriven engine are taking
the place of those heart throbs.
The horses that might have clat-
tered from their stalls, glided he
meath their harness, and raced glo-
riously through the drizzly night
darkened streets before the fire
splitting demon are drawing farm
wagons or blowing the fields.
I'm those days communities were
dependent upon volunteers. and
men from all social ranks gave
valuable time to qualify themselves
for the service.
Fire fighting in some sort Of or
ganized form is ancient. Ma
chimes for throwing water from a
distance were known, according to
our first clear evidence, in the Sec
ond century before Christ. Heron
of Alexandria, two hundred years
before the Christian era, in an old
manuscript which has escaped de-
struction, described an hydraulic
machine used in Egypt during the
time of the Ptolemies. 1t was COM
posed of two brass cylinders resting
on a wooden base with pistons fitted
into them-in it's principles practi-
cally Xix our present engine. Like
nos other knowledge, this was lost
in the dark ages which followed.
The Romans had squads of men
to carry water in 'Hamae,' or light
vases, to the scene of an outbreak
where 1t was projected onto the
hre by those in charge of the 'si-
phones or hand pumps. The pre-
else nature of this instrument has
not been determined, but from
specimens found in excavations it
u have been much like the old
fashioned syringe used by garden
ers. These large organizations. of
men gave the Roman authorities
trouble by their turbulence. Ira
jan, the Roman Emperor, and
Pliny, at hat time one of his gov
errors had long and serious cor
respondence over the ACCESSIBILITY
of organizing fire departments in
the cities under Pliny's jurisdiction,
leading to the conclusion that such
groups would attain sufficient
strength to be a menace to the gov
eminent.
Mention is made of the medieval
use of forcing pumps as fire engines
at Augsburg in 1918. England and
the countries of the continent were
using hand squirts and syringes at
this time. America took her ideas
from the English adapting them to
her peculiar needs. At first the col
orists were content with preventive
measures. but these scarcely had
any effect upon the chimneys, built
OF wood, generally used by the
early Inhabitants.
Before the English flag flew over
Manhattan an old Dutch ordinance
directed the burgomasters to de-
mand from every house money for
the purpose of ordering from the
mother country leather fire buckets,
fire ladders and fire hooks, and
once a year, to demand for every
chimney n guilder for the sup