Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-12-17


i~r,mrui, Nhlch ended is activities
nnd passed uut ut existence ou the nrs,
~ December. came into service ALMOST
I've Years before the Baltic Of Brandy
vine, white Wilmington was stll n
VILLAGE uf not more ,han 5000 souls
nnd WAS striving aa best SHE knew
how iu rct fooihold on the map ami
establish a place for hcrsclf. Almost
all Vt The town ~ thnt period loy along
,hv rhristann ~ the foot of Market
street. nhnut pld Swvdcs church. with
few houses clustered on Quaker iIin
adinrcnt Go the present Friends
Mnptiun House Fourth and West
streets. and several sumrtuous mnn-
siuns ~ The more prosperous families
un the present Market street. also
tlunn the ihnndNwinc. Ia the Ninth
40 and overlooking the stream
IhilN urpmun vshu might have been
oailud tn vxtinnulsh flames in the
homes uf thls nttlc exclusive colony
would hu Obliged tn wait tor ths FER
tyman tu como and convey thcm
ssiuHn, ur elise rush into the stream
aud wade across. which probably was
ihp usual custom ut those DAYS. for
lhu water wpa never deep. nor lid the
men who run With "mashoon" let such
ulnoa nH a stream pf water stand fur
81 mHtnnt between them and duty.
90 ,lWck,is FIRST Equipment.
fho ntat nrc apparatus was INSTALL
su h,tr ln puccmhcr tf1a. three days
isfulu christmas. At least th1t was
thr date uf the meeting uf n number
ni huflnvfa tnOn--nlmrst all that lived
h,i,s-out uf which sprans the Friend
shlp rru Company, which had COM
unuuua ,Nmtoncp ul more than a cen
uii nud q uunrtor
Tho Original equipment uf the
itiundHhip. with which, t Hvt about
a. protect the town n,m flames. com-
irlsvd hHs than two doycn buck e.,
vhlrh number sradually increased to
o., nH each member pledged himself On
rd,bnvu a. supply tWo heather buckets
and u hig basket. in addition to con
uihutlnu hlr fctNicos tC the city
iiN way of nutlng the Improvement
a. the nsiot means of lighting FIRE.
Unp miHht recall the old time process
ni thr Friendship tumunnN. In those
tlnvH each man carried his buckets
humu with him from Hires aud held
thum m readiness fur tho next call.
untn eventually they woro left NJ the
iivhunfv. "a umnll building or room.
vhDrp thr upmhUrs met weekly to dis
tuH matters 1ppcrtnlninr to tho well
iaip eft tho community. exchanging
tuWu tuih bud ruHHit ur diaru asiug the
iruhthiliilvH ut Vni with England and
tho tunfuuutnyvs which wight ousuc
1hutp WHa rrunt dNorUcnco of onin-
Inn aa tu thr uutcmnc or the conflict
iUnW thU inet that there we've almost
unuWs thlr r,rirr hero who were
ftfounn urutudiDDd atr,lnet war with
tnDh powerful nation 80 England
tl thuap meetings nr, mattcrs would
lr discussed. methods of nghting
Namya debated. aud tho Friendship
nattrpod itsolf upon heinE one Of the
Wuat un.to.dntc organizations IN the
vhulp country, and a doubtless was
,uuipared. hoWo,vr. with moders
WsihodH rs operations eccm Co have
huen n hurl,auup.
"ltei iirr," Summoned the "isd.
airs."
tur example. when nro was dis
rnvrrpd The individual makins the
slnfillnN nud Immediately became
wildly uNrltud. set out al top speed
nna raced throuKh the streets. shout
NH at th, top uf bis lungs. "Firel
Ntp'" Tho thrilling cty would he
takun un by others, who would also
tnn m hrcalhlcss haste through the
ulhrt aortlona uf town. repeating the
alarm hui mono of them stopping To
iniurm ihu rcspnndinr nromcn the To-
Vaiiun uf thu turninr building. 90,
while everybody almost was appris-
"a ut n nru, nobody knew whore Il
Waa. unlrHt hy chance or untu u nad
hiuhpn ihpuuNh The roof or walls aud
Wadn lis presence manifest
The nrvmvn, ana this applies par
tlrumny 60 tho Friendship mon aud
thu members uf tho other early COM
fHnipH. upun lvarninG of firc. would
drop whatever they had in hand and
flash fni The sconc ol the condaEration
t u occurred hs day,
ilcn ,ena. nurulug nj window.
" ni nlght, and they had gone to
h0d. thVy would at once arise when
they hoard tho nrft alarm. hastily
iuup into some clothing. grab their
llaihur buckets and baskets ana be
on
ipforc iravlnr tho house. however.
thuN would light a tallow candle and
nitpr q DluFo 90 iho window of their
urHrflud bedroom an token te other
mpmhlfHtl The company that the for
Wpr had Niard the call and was on
thH WY rhrir progress, ono CLEANS
iium thu uld rccords. was slow. often
hlnurfud several minutes, FOR 70 was
na much ihu duty ~ member 20 set
Hla Fellows uut of bed ana on duty as
was O. hnht the flames. Cunsc4
uurntlN lu passluE the house of an
Uih'i member whvru nu candle sig
hslltd 'un duty" one wns Obliged TO
stop ami pound on the door uptil the
iAftif ffuinan appeared when ne
started ~ anew, he was possibly de-
thinru 90 iwo or three other homes
fHi iihv reasons.
Passed Wai,f la buckets.
m The huueU ul stable or store had
not burned down durlnr this railyins
iifupttH ui members tho frcmcn would
hnp nn with ihclr buckets cventur ily
ni ihu fiHhi place. There they would
form q d"nhlr linc between the spring.
nuarcsi pump ur stream. pass the M.
"a hurkvif in the direction uf the FIR,
iulurninn tho cmptiod ones. which
ihsh at tinuf waN continued for sew
plHl hvurs and required good deal
vf Drawn. such aa an mon seemed Ia
have century aud "a quarter ago
IN. enwineera of these carly compnn-
lee wctr supposed 90 be men OF su-
rs'icf iDApmcnt and able 20 deter
min" ~ s'rht whore "a apply the wa
tfii ana whether o. cNiinCuish the ifn-
Uftii4fs fnIUIF Df A Ifsrf ala, .fr..a,.. a..