Wayne Stuff 26

VARIOUS ORDINENCES AND RULES FROM ONE COMMUNITY

Section 5 The Superintendent may order the removal of any building, erection or fence for the purpose of checking the progress of any fire and with the advise of the Mayor or two members of the Fire Department shall have power to blow up or cause to be blown up with powder or other substance any building or erection for the purpose of extinguishing or checking a fire.

Section 7 The Board of Fire Department when necessary shall appoint for each fire engine one competent mechanical engineer who shall operate and keep said engine in good condition and repair and generally do and perform such duties as may be assigned to him by the Board of Fire Department. Each engineer so appointed shall receive for his service the sum of Fifty Dollars per month.

Section 8 The engineer of any fire engine shall be at all times except when on duty in the immediate vicinity of the engine house and shall devote his entire time and attention to the duties of his office. He shall be a sober practical mechanic and mechanical engineer and shall take care that the engine and hose under his charge are always in order and ready for instant use and shall make all necessary repairs to the same.



Section 10 In addition to the duties heretofore prescribed each member of the Board of Fire Department shall acquaint himself with the place or places where supplies of water can be obtained in his ward for the extinguishment of fire therein and on alarm of fire he shall report himself to the Officer in Command and direct him to the nearest and most practicable place where water can be procured for that purpose. The Board of Fire Department shall also take care that all public cisterns are kept well supplied with water.



Section 14 In order to prevent injury to the hose from passing vehicles when necessarily laid across any street or alley it shall be the duty of the mechanical engineer of any steam fire engine to provide timbers or some other contrivance to protect the same.

Section 15 The driver of any vehicle who shall drive over any hose when necessarily laid across any street or alley except when the same is protected and covered as above provided shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon conviction thereof be fined not less than fire nor more than
one hundred dollars.



Section 18 The Fire Companies shall consist of not less than twenty nor more than thirty men for each fire engine including hose carriages but a greater number may be enrolled for instruction discipline and with a view of becoming members of a Fire Company whenever the Board of Fire Department shall determine that in the interest of the City such additional enrollment is necessary. Hook and Ladder Companies shall consist of not less than eight nor more than fifty members.

.

A true copy of the
Original Ordinance as
Passed by the Board
of Aldermen July 14^th, 1884


Section 5. The members of said Fire Department shall receive as compensation for their services when in actual attendance upon a fire within said City of Marshall, assisting in the management of said fire apparatus and in extinguishing a fire under the directions of said Chief of Fire Department, the sum of Three Dollars for the Chief and Two Dollars and Fifty Cents each for the other members of said Fire Department for each and every day or part of a day so employed; provided the bill for such services shall first be endorsed as "Correct" by the Chief of said fire department who shall certify that the services were actually rendered by the members in whose favor said bill is presented. Said members of said fire department shall be allowed per drill, above provided for, the sum of One Dollar per month provided that any member who shall neglect to drill shall receive no compensation under this ordinance.

Section 7. The Chief of said fire department is hereby vested with police power to be exercised at a fire, and may arrest any person interfering in any manner with the use of said fire apparatus during a fire.

A true copy of the
Original Ordinance as
Passed by the Board
of Aldermen November 8, 1889
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CURRIER AND IVES PICTURES

FROM A WEB SITE

Everyone has heard of a "Currier & Ives print," but many do not know what this term means. "Currier & Ives" was the name used by a New York printmaking firm from 1857 until 1907. This business had been in operation since 1834, first as Stodart & Currier (1834) and then as N. Currier (1835 to 1856). Though the name changed, all the prints produced by this firm are usually referred to as "Currier & Ives prints."

Nathaniel Currier was a printmaker and businessman; James Ives started as the firm's bookkeeper in 1852 and five years later became Currier's partner. Neither was an artist, so though all Currier & Ives prints were published by the partners, they were drawn and lithographed by other persons. Nathaniel Currier retired in 1880 and died in 1888 and James Ives died in 1895. The firm, under the direction of their sons, Edward West Currier and Chauncey Ives, carried on until 1907.

The Currier & Ives firm was in the business of producing lithographed prints intended to be sold to the general public for framing and display in the home or at work. Calling themselves "Printmakers to the People," they provided for the American public a pictorial history of their country's growth from an agricultural society to an industrialized one. For nearly three quarters of a century the firm provided "Colored Engravings for the People" and in the process became the visual raconteurs of nineteenth-century America.

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FROM A WEB SITE

A Revolution In Firefighting Technology

During the early 1800s, a revolution in firefighting technology took place with the development of the steam pumper in England. Steam was created by firing the boiler with coal. The power created was transferred to enable the unit to supply water to hoses. At first, volunteer firefighters strongly opposed the use of the steamer as it was perceived as a threat to their existence. The steam pumper could supply a continuous stream of water more effectively and with far less manpower than hand pumpers.

When steam pumpers were finally accepted into the American fire service, they were, for the most part, hand drawn by firefighters. The first use of horses took place in the 1850s and 1860s. This period coincided with the introduction of paid firefighters who were required to pull apparatus to the scene; consequently, these newly organized paid departments opted to use horses for this purpose. Lighter apparatus were pulled by two horses. Those that were heavier or that responded in hilly districts or in snow were pulled by three horses.

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DO YOU KNOW

That a "Steam Engine Company" consisted of a

Captain, an Engineer, Engine Driver, Reel Driver, a pipe man, a fireman and two runners.

and that

A Hook and Ladder Company was made up of a

Captain, Steersman, Driver, Coal Cart Driver and seven runners.

DO YOU KNOW

THAT IN SOME COMMUNITIES THE ALARM SYSTEM ,CONSISTING OF THE FIRE ALARM BOXES

TRANSMITTING A SIGNAL TO THEIR CENTRAL OFFICE THEN FORWARDED IT TO THE VARIOUS

FIRE STATIONS, WHICH WAS THEN READ AS STREET LOCATIONS WAS CALL A:

"JOKER SYSTEM"

DO YOU KNOW

WHAT A "TWO BUNK HITCH" WAS, BACK IN THE EARLY DAYS.

IT WAS A CONTEST IN WHICH:

Two men going from their beds, hitching the horse team to the fire wagon and reaching a designated point in the least amount of time possible.

DO YOU KNOW

BELOW IS A DESCRIPTION OF ONE COMMUNITIES CISTERNS

WOOD LINED WATER TANKS
12 ' DEEP
16 ' X 16 ' OPENING
TOPPED BY
4 " LUMBER

SIDES WERE LINED WITH
3 " LUMBER

CAPACITY
23 GALLONS

DO YOU KNOW

THAT IN THE YEAR 1884

The Detroit Fire Department owned the only steam fire engine in the

area, which weighed 5 tons, had a top speed of 15 miles per hour, cost

$5000 and was nicknamed "Hercules"

DO YOU KNOW

IN DETROIT, IN THE YEAR, 1880 THERE WAS A HOOK AND LADDER HOUSE, KNOWN AS

"FIREHOUSE NO. 5", ON THE

NORTHEAST CORNER OF RUSSELL AND CALDOUN (SINCE CHANGED TO ERSKIN)

EAST OF THE FIREHOUSE WAS THE

"FIRE DEPARTMENT SUPPLY STABLES.

NORTH OF THE FIREHOUSE WAS A

"HORSE HOSPITAL AND TRAINING TRACK".

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DO YOU KNOW

SOME FIRE STATIONS HAD A STEAM WHISTLE TO SOUND AN ALARM, AS IT COULD BE HEARD FOR MILES.

BUT THERE WAS A DOWNSIDE TO THIS.

FOR THE SYSTEM TO WORK, A STEAM BOILER HAD TO BE IN CONSTANT OPERATION, WITH A PERSON TO

MAINTAIN IT.

THE STEAM WHISTLE WAS ABANDON FOR A LOCOMOTIVE BELL

DO YOU KNOW

ON GOING DOWN HILL WITH A HAND PULLED HOSE CART, THE MEN , AT TIMES, HAD TO TURN THE RIG

AROUND AND BACK DOWN.

THE ROPES USED TO PULLED THE CART WERE NOW USED TO HOLD IT BACK.

DO YOU KNOW

MANY TIMES THE ONLY SOURCE OF WATER WAS THE HORSE WATERING TROUGHS

DO YOU KNOW

THE EARLY FIREMEN USED A PIKE POLE OR A METAL HOOK AND CHAIN TO SNAG FURNITURE FROM INSIDE A

BURNING STRUCTURE AND DRAG IT OUTSIDE.

DO YOU KNOW

IN 1847 , SOLDIERS FROM DETROIT, ON THEIR WAY TO FIGHT IN THE MEXICAN WAR WERE FORCED INTO

FIRE SERVICE AT A FIRE IN TOLEDO, OHIO.

DO YOU KNOW

A PROBLEM AROSE WHEN THE INSURANCE COMPANIES (DUE TO HIGH FIRE LOSSES) CAMPAIGNED FOR

COMMUNITIES TO CHANGE FROM A VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT TO A PAID ONE.

THEY WERE ADVOCATING THE DESTRUCTION OF THE VOLUNTEERS WAY OF LIFE.

THE DANGER WAS THAT THE VOLUNTEERS COULD ALL RESIGN AS A SIGN OF PROTEST THEREBY RENDERING

THE COMMUNITY WITH NO FIRE DEPARTMENT

DO YOU KNOW

SOME VOLUNTEERS ORGANIZED A GROUP OF BOYS AND YOUNG MEN TO HELP IN PULLING THE

APPARATUS, LAYING AND PICKING UP LINE AND OTHER FUNCTIONS AROUND THE FIREHOUSE.

BUT THEY WERE FORBIDDEN TO FIGHT FIRES.

THEY WERE CALLED "RUNNERS"

IN SOME CASES, AS THE RUNNERS GREW IN NUMBER AND AGE THEY WOULD PETITION TO ALSO

BECOME A SEPARATE ENGINE COMPANY

DO YOU KNOW

ARSON WAS SUCH A SERIOUS PROBLEM IN THE EARLY DAYS, THAT MANY NEWSPAPER EDITORIALS

CALLED FOR THE "DEATH PENALTY"

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DO YOU KNOW

SOME OF THE THREE WHEELED TRACTORS, THAT PULLED THE OLD HORSE DRAWN LADDER TRUCKS, WHEN

RUNNING PARALLEL TO THE STREETCAR TRACKS, GOT THEIR SINGLE WHEEL TRAPPED IN THE RUTS THAT

RAN ON EACH SIDE OF THE TRACK.

THE FIREMEN HAD TO JACK THEIR RIG UP TO GET IT OUT.

DO YOU KNOW

SOME COMMUNITIES THAT HAD STEAMERS, DIDN'T KEEP THEM UP WHEN THEY DEVELOPED A WATER SYSTEM

(MAINS WITH HYDRANTS), THE FIREMEN JUST CONNECTED HOSE TO A HYDRANT AND USED WHATEVER

WATER PRESSURE THE HYDRANT PROVIDED

DO YOU KNOW

SOME OF THE EARLY RADIOS IN CHIEFS CARS WERE JUST RECEIVERS, YOU COULDN'T TRANSMIT FROM

THEM.

DO YOU KNOW

WHILE MOST COUNTRIES HAVE A NATIONAL ANTHEM

THAT CROATIA ( Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia)

HAS A FIRE SERVICE ANTHEM.

DO YOU KNOW

WHAT A FIRE-STARTING CARTRIDGE WAS

IT WAS A CARTRIDGE CONSISTING OF

KINDLING ,COAL AND WAX PAPER.

IT WAS USED BY SOME FIREMEN TO START THE FIRE IN

THEIR STEAMERS.

DO YOU KNOW

SOME STREET FIRE ALARM BOXES ACTIVATED THE "BELLS"

IN CHURCHES, ENGINE HOUSES AND THE CHIEFS HOUSE.

DO YOU KNOW

IN SOME COMMUNITIES THE LADDERS AND BUCKETS WERE

STORED IN THEIR CHURCHES.

DO YOU KNOW

ANOTHER NAME
FOR
FIRE WARDENS
WERE
CHIMNEY VIEWERS

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ANOTHER ARTICLE ABOUT THE DALMATION

The Dalmatian

Many people associate the Dalmatian breed with firefighters and fire trucks. The Dalmatian is a hardy dog known for speed and endurance which probably originated in Dalmatia, a province of Austria, on the eastern shore of the coast of Venice in what is now Italy. Statues, engravings, paintings, and writings of antiquity have been used to claim that this spotted dog first appeared in either Europe, or Asia, or Africa, but without proving the point. Perhaps some of the problem about the original home of the Dalmatian can be accounted for by the fact that the dog was frequently part of gypsy bands, and like them, he was well known but had no sure origin. The breed’s activities have been as varied as its roots. It has been employed during wars as a sentinel on the borders of Dalmatia and Croatia. Used as draft dog, and a shepherd, this breed also excels when sent to kill rats and vermin. It is well known for heroic performances as a fire-apparatus follower and fire-house mascot. As a sporting dog it has been used as bird dog, retriever, or in packs for boar or stag hunting. A retentive memory made it one of the most dependable clown dogs in circuses and on the stage. Down through the years the intelligence and willingness of the Dalmatian have found the breed in practically every role to which work dogs are assigned.

The use of the breed as a coaching dog may even go back to the days of the Pharaohs. For centuries the breed has been used with ears entirely cropped away and padlocked brass collar, as follower and guardian of horse-drawn vehicles. It was this that brought the Dalmatian to the fire house as the dog that would clear the way ahead of or around the horse-drawn apparatus. The breed’s build blends speed and endurance. Its gait has beauty of motion and swiftness, and strength. The Dalmatian has vitality and fortitude to keep going until the alarm’s end. Since the breed has a natural instinct for coaching, Dalmatians and horses have a natural affinity. The dog traditionally worked clearing the path before fire apparatus during the horse-drawn era. They frequently ran under the rear axle, the front axle, or, most difficult of all, under the pole between the lead or following horses and chase off other dogs or animals that would bother the horses, thus speeding the apparatus to an alarm. To this day the breed remains the only recognized carriage dog in the world. His love for working (and firehouses) is his most renowned characteristic, but it in no way does it eclipse the breed’s renown for friendship. That is the reason that the Dalmatian found employment in, and now is part of the tradition of the fire service.

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FROM A WEB SITE
> I was in Philadelphia and noticed the fire alarm pull boxes were gone.
> They used to be mounted on utility poles at corners. As a child, we
> were trained to know where the nearest pull box was to our home. If
> we used it, we were to wait there for the fire truck so they'd know
> where to go. Fire drill posters in buildings included the nearest
> street pull box. . .

>In the early 1970s I had a tour of the Philadelphia fire dispatching
> center (this was pre-911 days.) At that time, it seemed most calls
> came via boxes, not the telephone. A pullbox caused a loud oscillator
> to beep the four digit code of the box. (I think the beep was
> duplicated in the fire house that served the location, but I'm not
> sure). The dispatcher identified the location, and telephoned
> (through a private direct line PBX) the fire house to provide details.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The boxes have been gone in Chicago
> for years with the exception of schools, hospitals and residences
> for geriatric patients (old people's homes) where they are required
> by law. The reason is they were subject to too much abuse. People
> who like to play games would pull the alarm on a street corner box
> then run off before the firemen arrived to find nothing going on.
> With 911 working as effeciently as it does, and the prevalence of
> telephones, there is no longer any real need for the boxes anyway. PAT]

The boxes are part of the "Gamewell System" which dates back to 1852.
Gamewell is still very much in business -- and even has a web site at
URL: < http://www.gamewell.com >.

The familiar red pull boxes were based on classic DC telegraph
technology. A single DC loop (wire pair) was run many locations in a
neighborhood and each location would have a Gamewell box which
contained a spring-driven internal sprocket wheel with teeth notched
in a unique pattern. When a citizen would pull the lever on the
outside of the box, the spring would be wound and the wheel would then
turn, activating a switch which would close the circuit on the loop,
sounding a gong in the local fire house. Because each box had a
unique number, the firemen could then identify which box had been
pulled and proceed to that location.

In small towns, the system might activate an air-horn or steam whistle
which would muster the volunteer fire company. The pattern of whistle
blasts, for example 3-4-1, would identify the location so that
volunteers could rush directly to the site and meet up with the crew
bringing the equipment from the firehouse.

Many of the boxes also contained an old-fashion morse code key inside
the box, which could be unlocked by the arriving firemen and used to
send messages back to the firehouse. Certainly quaint by today's
standards!

The beauty of the system was its simplicity. The electro-mechanical
assemblies were very reliable. The fire departments liked the system
because it provided a positive identification of location and there
were no problems with trying understand a panicy or non-English speaking
citizen on a poor quality early telephone system.

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Cities with operating box alarm systems

USA
- California
  - Grass Valley
  - Nevada City
  - Sacramento
  - San Francisco
  - Ventura Co
    - Naval Air Station Point Mugu - Gamewell and Kingfisher radio boxes
    - Naval Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme - Gamewell and Kingfisher radio boxes
- Connecticut
  - Ansonia - street & master boxes, external diaphone air horns
  - Town of Bloomfield (Blue Hills) - street & master
  - Town of Danielson - street & master
  - Derby - street & master boxes, external air whistle
  - Town of East Lyme - street & master
  - Town of Enfield - street & master
  - Groton - Poquonnock Bridge FD - over 300 in service
  - Town of Hamden - street & master
  - City of Hartford - master telegraph & street EVCS
  - City of Meriden - street & master boxes
  - Seymour - Manual Transmitter to external diaphone air horns
  - Shelton - street & master boxes, external diaphone air horns
  - Southington - street & master boxes
  - Wallingford - master boxes only
  - Town of Windham (Willimantic) - street & master
  - Town of Winsted - street & master
- Georgia
  - Atlanta - radio boxes only, numbers not given on air
- Illinois
  - Chicago (very few street boxes, mostly in and near Loop. Lots of master boxes.)
- Indiana
  - University of Notre Dame, South Bend - over 100 boxes in service; only system in state of Indiana
- Kentucky
  - Louisville - radio
- Maine
  - Augusta
  - Biddeford - possibly radio
  - Camden - master boxes only but growing!
  - Falmouth
  - Millinocket
  - Old Orchard Beach - system removed fall 1996
  - Portland
  - Rumford - paper mill only but with repeater at city FD
  - Saco
  - Sanford-Springvale
  - Scarborough
  - South Portland
  - Skowhegan
  - Westbrook - radio and 100 ma
- Maryland
  - Baltimore - master boxes ("10" boxes), only "street" boxes are on firehouses. ALL CIRCUITS OUT OF SERVICE, 7/8/1998.
  - Hagerstown - street & master boxes, station circuits.
- Massachusetts: Note that almost every city and town in the Commonwealth has retained their fire alarm system! Those listed here are the ones with lists available.
  - Boston² - courtesy Eliot M. Belin
  - Dracut
  - Foxboro¹ - courtesy Bob McNally
  - Gloucester
  - Hudson - courtesy Ed Ledoux (see Box 5111 above!)
  - Natick - courtesy Dave Lounsbury and John Herring
    - Box location frame from above - Includes Running Cards!!
  - Needham
  - New Bedford (697 boxes, and still adding! Info and pics, but no list)
  - Orange - one of the first 60 fire alarm systems ever installed! - courtesy Lt Bob Laford, OFD
    - Box locations
  - Peabody
  - Walpole - replacing telegraph boxes with wireless starting 2003
    - Box Locations¹
  - Somerville
    - Box Locations
- New Hampshire
  - Concord, Dracut (Mass), Derry, Goffstown, Manchester, Nashua, Rochester, Wolfeboro - Courtesy New Hampshire StateWide Notification Association
  - Allenstown
  - Concord
  - Derry
  - East Derry Fire Precinct - 3 Gamewell + radio
  - Exeter
  - Farmington
  - Hampton/N Hampton/Hampton Beach
  - Keene
  - Laconia/Weir's Beach
  - Manchester
  - Newington
  - Newmarket
  - Peterboro
  - Pittsfield
  - Portsmouth - system being ENLARGED to cover Pease International Trade Port
  - Salem - system slowly being replaced by King-Fisher radio system
  - Seabrook
  - Somersworth
- New Jersey
  - Bayonne
  - Elizabeth
  - Hackensack
  - Ho-Ho-Kus
  - Jersey City
  - Kearny
  - Lambertville
  - Newark
  - Orange
  - Perth Amboy
  - Ramsey
  - Ridgewood - 325 boxes, incl ~40 master
  - Somerville
  - Teaneck
  - Waldwick
- New York
  - Binghamton, City of - system to be removed in 2000
  - Buffalo
  - Canton¹ - street and master
  - Cortland
  - Depew
  - Endicott, Village of
  - Endwell, Village of
  - Gloversville
  - Hartsdale Fire District (Westchester Co)
  - Hinsdale, Maplehurst, and Pleasant Valley FD, Hinsdale (activates siren only)
  - Homer
  - Ithaca
  - Jamestown
  - Johnson City - system removed c.1996
  - Lackawanna
  - Lancaster
  - Middletown
  - New York City ²
  - New York Mills - about 40 boxes; boxes taken out as they fail as "are too costly to repair". Hmmph. Compared to what? a $600,000 quint?
  - Newburgh
  - North Tonawanda - master boxes, a few radio boxes description of system, no box list
  - Norwich, Village of
  - Poughkeepsie
  - Rochester - radio on 72.75 MHz
  - Rockville Centre, Village of
  - Schenectedy - register equipment replaced with electronics in 1982
  - Tonawanda - system out of service, boxes still up!!
  - Valley Stream, Village of
  - Walton, Village of
- North Carolina
  - High Point - master boxes only
- Ohio
  - Akron
  - Cleveland - removed 1999-2000
- Pennsylvania
  - Ashland - one box only - external diaphone air horns
  - Beaver Falls - 49 Street, 10 Master
  - Corry
  - Cressona - street boxes - external diaphone air horns
  - Emmaus
  - Erie
  - Frackville - only two street boxes - ext. diaphone air horns
  - Hanover Borough
  - Hazleton - ~200 street and master boxes
  - Mahanoy City - street & master boxes - ext. diaphone air horns
  - Minersville - street & master boxes - external diaphone air horns
  - Plymouth Borough^1,3
  - Pottsville - 98 street & master boxes; installed 1892
  - Red Lion Borough - two(!) street boxes plus auxiliaries. Box pull transmits pager tones.
  - Saint Clair - street boxes - external diaphone air horns
  - Schuylkill Haven - street & master boxes
  - Shenandoah - street boxes - external diaphone air horns
  - Sunbury¹
  - Tamaqua - street & master boxes - external diaphone air horns
  - Warren
  - West York¹
  - York
- Rhode Island
  - Burrillville - four volunteer departments with four separate loops
  - Cranston
  - East Greenwich
  - Lincoln - all volunteer, beginning switch to radio
  - Newport - seriously doubt they have boxes that start with zero.
  - North Kingstown
  - North Smithfield - telco
  - Providence
  - Scituate - switching to radio (50%)
  - Smithfield - switching to all radio by end of year (95% radio, 5% telco)
  - Warwick - radio
  - Woonsocket - switching to radio
- Tennessee
  - Oak Ridge National Lab, Oak Ridge
- Vermont
  - Brattleboro
  - Burlington - system phased out 1995-96
  - Hartford
  - Rutland
Canada
- British Columbia
  - Vancouver - system deactivated, 8/8/1995