The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1951-09-27
Horse and Buggy
Days
BY OLD TIMER

fuG companies curing the 11OISS anu
Buggy Days, taken from Hagers-
town paper published on June 10,
1895.
The article is too long to be re-
printed in full in this issue so it will
be concluded next week. The paper
carried front page headline read
ing, Historical Hagerstown Halls
The Happy Host" which had refer
ence to a large state firemen's dem
onstration being held here.
The paper devoted most of its is
sue to the big time. 1t said: mo
more suitable nor appropriate place
could have been selected for the
great firemen's demonstration we
celebrate this week. The home, as it
is, of $4,000 chivalrous, industrious
and comedy people, the center, as it
is, of five covering lines of railroads,
and the Mecca, as it is, of hundreds
of annual pilgrims who come to
drink the life-giving air that sur
rounds it and feel in their veins the
pulses of quickening health.
"Hagerstown as she stands today
is not the creature of an impulse nor
a bubble blown from the fancy of
an evanescent boom. She is builded
up on the rock of conservation and
towers up to what she is, from such
lasting foundations. She greets the
fremen from many States with the
enthusiasm of youth, coupled with
the maturer preparation for their
comfort. She is young, yet old.
Founded in 1854 by the historic jon
athan Hager, she spent many years
in quaint, old-fashioned garments of
the village. Up to the sound of the
deep roar of the cannon of Antietam
she had not DOTTED them, though it
was plain that they were outgroWn.
After the war came railroads and
citydom and she put on new gar
ments. In the year 1884, she as
sumed new charter and from that
point came the sudden development
of the locked-up force of 20 years.
The population from that time to
this doubled in size.'
Thus the writer with many flower
ing epithets, went on to tell about
Hagerstown, then entertaining the
firemen. Each of the five volunteer
fire companies of Hagerstown came
in for a Write-up. The First Hagers-
town Hose Company, No. l, was or
gained in 1915, a short time after
the second war with England, in
which our flag was given such a
proud prominence on the sea by
the gallant deeds of the American
sailors. It was stated that all rec
ords of the organization, if any were
ever made, had been lost. It was
recalled that Stewart Herbert and
William Miller were among the or
ganizers. Both had passed away
in 1894.
In 1923, the company was incorp-
GRATED by the Legislature of the
State. The act named as incorpora-
tors: George w. Krebs, c. c. Fech-
tig, H. l. Hahauser, William c. Dru-
ry, John Wise, Jr., Thomas Post,
George Fechtig, William Bender,
Martin Kershner, John Reynolds, Jr.,
James Davis, George Emmert, Will
liam Miller, George Kealhofer, John
A. Boyle, Luther Ainsworth, George
Swearingen, Peter Shank, Stewart
Herbert, David T. Wilson, William
Wise, William Robertson, Samuel j.
Downey, Vaudeville Miller, John H.
Fechtig, John H. Krebs, George
Lorshbaugh, James Zwisler, Jr., Lee
vim c. Willis, John w, Swearingen
and Daniel H. Middlekauff
The first engine house the COM
pany had was situated upon the
grounds of st. Johns Lutheran
Church and was a small frame shed,
only large enough to hold its single
piece of apparatus, an old-time hand
engine, with gallery. In 1886 they
had built for them by John Rogers,
of Baltimore, a then celebrated en-
CINE builder, the small machine
known as pet" It's small size en-
abled the boys to run it into alleys
or the yards of residences and thus
obtain water for it from pumps or
private cisterns. At the time of the
burning of the Schindel tannery,
while H. K. Tice was president, the
company was getting water for their
engine in the yard of the dwelling
later occupied by William Wallace
Slower.
About 1850 or 1852, the company
purchased from Rogers a much
larger and very handsome engine,
which was named ''Naiad," at a cost
of $1,575. When the water works
went into operation the ssNaiad" was