USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, vol 1 > Part 57
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Soon after the fire, the Flint and Steel was published by Dr. P. W. Leland, in the interest of Democracy. In their turn, then followed the Mechanic, by Thomas Almy ; the Wampanoag, and others. Almy and Milne started the publication of the Weekly News in 1845; the All Sorts, by Abra- ham Bowen; the Journal, by George Robertson; People's Press, a tri-weekly, by Noel A. Tripp, which in 1865 was merged with the Monitor; the Satur- day Morning Bulletin, in 1872; the Labor Journal, in 1873, by Henry Seavey ; L'Echo du Canada, in 1873. The first daily paper was the Spark, published in 1848, Louis Lapham editor ; then came the Daily Evening Star, in 1857, by Noel' A. Tripp, later, in 1858, called the Daily, Beacon, Louis Lapham editor. In 1868 the Daily Times was published from the Monitor office, for about six months. Papers that lived but a year were: The Record, in 1878, by W. O. Milne & Company; the Sun, in 1880, by a stock company; the Tribune, a Republican morning paper, and the Journal and Democrat, Henry Seavey publisher. Likewise the Massachusetts Musical Journal, the Key Note, the Advance. In 1885 Samuel E. Fiske began the publication of ten weekly newspapers, the Fall River Advertiser, and others with headings for sur-
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rounding towns; the Catholic Advocate was begun in 1888, by Franklin B. Christmas and James F. Dillon. In 1890 the paper was sold to an associa- tion, with John J. McDonough as editor, and in 1893 it passed into the con- trol of James F. Lawlor. Charles J. Leary published the weekly Journal in 1890.
Fire Department .- Chief among the public utilities of any city is the fire department, and no city of its proportions is better provided for fire-fighting than Fall River, with its thoroughly motorized and manned department. The equipment in 1923 was as follows: A manual force of one hundred and eighty-four members, divided thus: Chief, Jeremiah F. Sullivan; deputy chief, Dennis D. Holmes; second deputy chief, Edward P. Carey; district chiefs, James F. Conroy and John T. Cook; superintendent of fire alarm, James J. McGuine; seventeen captains, one master mechanic, one engine- man, one hundred and thirty-five privates and eight call men. The ap- paratus: Two American LaFrance automobile pumpers, nine hundred gal- lons capacity; three American LaFrance automobile pumpers, seven hun- dred and fifty gallons capacity; one Ahrens-Fox automobile pumper, seven hundred and fifty gallons capacity; four automobile aerial ladder trucks- one eighty-five feet, two seventy-five feet, one sixty-five feet; one automo- bile combination city service truck; seven automobile combination hose cars; one automobile chemical engine, with two sixty-gallon tanks; one supply car ; one repair car ; four chief's cars-two touring and two roadsters; one first-size Clapp and Jones steam fire engine in reserve, with towing device; one hose wagon in reserve, with towing device; two pungs. Cap- tain Thomas E. Lynch's story of the fire department to 1896 is the most thorough survey of the subject, and the following is an abbreviated excerpt from that volume: The department was of the usual volunteer order for many years. Prior to 1830 the apparatus consisted of one small bucket hand engine, one bucket carriage, one small hook and ladder truck, the department being governed by a board of firewards.
The town fire department was established June 16, 1832, and forcing pump companies were connected with the factories, the first. hand fire engine having been purchased in 1818, Rapid Engine No. 1, with engine house off Inch street. In the thirties the force consisted of Hydraulic Engine Company No. 2, in Stone lane, and Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, on Pleasant street. The pump companies at that time were the Fall River, the Pocasset, the Print Works, and the Troy Works. Dr. Fos- ter Hooper was chairman of the firewards in 1845, and Nathaniel B. Borden in 1848. In 1854, when the town became a city, Asa Eames was appointed chief engineer, and there were then two hundred and forty-five men in the department: Cataract Hose, twenty-five men; Niagara Engine company, seventy men; Ocean Engine company, sixty men; Mazeppa Engine com- pany, forty men; Cataract Hose company, twenty-five men; the firemen then receiving eight dollars per year. The Cascade was added in 1862, this being the last hand engine in the department. The Atlantic, the Metropolis and the Franklin were small engines of the period. The first hose reel was purchased in 1863. Hose car eight came in 1874; hose car six in 1879; hose car two in 1880. The first chemical engine was purchased in 1872; the second was placed in service in March, 1893; the third in
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January, 1896. The Fall River insurance brigade was established March 1, 1878.
The first automobile fire apparatus came to the department in 1909. The department came under the control of the commission when the city charter went into effect in 1903. In 1914, contracts were executed for placing Fall River in the list of New England cities with completely equipped motor apparatus for the department, and twenty-two pieces of apparatus were so equipped.
Among the fire stations throughout the city the following-named arc the best known: The old Fireman's Hall, the Niagara headquarters, the stone building on Pleasant street, between Second and Third streets, that was built in 1838; the Cataract, built the year of the great fire, in 1843, at the corner of Rock and Franklin streets, occupied by the Veteran Fire- men's Association; the Ocean, on Pearl street, built in 1845; the Defiance Veteran Firemen's Association headquarters; the Court Square engine house, purchased in 1857; the Central engine house, built in 1870 and en- larged in 1896. The fire houses of the Anawan, on North Main street; the Pocasset, on Pleasant, and the Massasoit, on Freedom street, were built in 1875; the Niagara, on Plymouth avenue, in 1878; the Cascade, on South Main street, in 1898; the Maplewood building, in 1910; the Bogle hill sta- tion, on Pleasant street, in 1899; the building at South Main and Howe streets, the same year; the Highland station, in 1909. The Gamewell fire alarm system was installed January 7, 1870. The first steam fire engine here was Quequechan No. 1, its company having been organized December 11, 1859. King Philip engine was purchased in 1860; Metacomet No. 3, in 1865; Niagara No. 4. in 1868; Massasoit No. 5, in 1873; Anawan No. 6, in 1874; Engine No. 1, in 1891; Pocasset No. 7. in 1874; Fire Engine 7, in 1895. A small hook and ladder truck came here in 1826; the second in 1844; the third in 1855; the fourth in 1857. Truck No. 3 arrived in 1871; No. 2 in 1873; Skinner Truck No. 1 in 1875; Ladder Truck No. 1 in 1885; No. 2 in 1890; No. 4 in 1895.
Fires of special note and the dates when they occurred are as follows : "The Great Fire," July 2, 1843; the Empire State, January 13, 1849; Globe Print Works, December 5, 1867; American Print Works, December 15, 1867; Massasoit Steam Mill. November 2. 1875; Granite Mills. September 19, 1874; American Linen Mills, June 29, 1876; Border City No. 1, November 17, 1877; Chace's Thread Mill, November 29, 1878; Flint Mill, October 28, 1882; Sagamore Mill, April 24, 1884; Langley's loom harness factory, June 14, 1895; the fire of 1916, when the business section of the city suffered great loss.
The following is a brief reference to the fire of 1843: The fire took place July 2. 1843, when the population was seven thousand. The town owned one suction hand-engine, one bucket hand engine, one bucket car- riage, and one small hook-and-ladder truck. During part of the eventful day, the thermometer registered ninety degrees, and everything was dry and parched. The alarm was given at 4 P. M., the fire starting in an open space near the corner of Main and Borden streets, at the rear of Abner L. Westgate's three-story warehouse. The cause of the fire was the kindling of shavings by a cannon fired by two small boys. Immediately the blaze communicated to surrounding buildings, and it is stated that within five
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minutes buildings on both sides of the street were burning, and shortly the whole space between Main, Franklin, Rock and Borden streets was a sheet of flame. The number of persons who resided in the burned district was 1,324; the number of persons doing business or employed there, 600; 291 buildings were burned; the whole amount of the loss was $262,470.
The permanent department was started in 1860; the permanent engi- neers were appointed in 1874, and the captains of all companies were made permanent in 1894. These have been the chief engineers of the depart- ment: Jonathan E. Morrill, 1855; Chester W. Greene, 1857; Jonathan E. Morrill, 1858; Southard H. Miller, 1869; Thomas J. Borden, 1870; Holder B. Durfee, 1873; Thomas Connell, 1875; William C. Davol, Jr., 1876; John A. MacFarlane, 1882; William C. Davol, Jr., 1884; Joseph Bowers, 1920; Jeremiah F. Sullivan, 1922.
The Firemen's Relief Association, first known as the Firemen's Burial Society, was organized July 10, 1883, with Joseph Bowers as president, and Albert J. Pember as secretary. The Fall River Veteran Firemen's Association was organized August 8, 1890, the first officers being: Presi- dent, D. S. Bingham; secretary and treasurer, Roland S. Adams. The Defiance Firemen's Association was formed in 1900. A more recent or- ganization is the Davol Fire Club, its officers being: President, Robert T. Mitchell; vice-president, Thomas Burke; treasurer, George Hood; secre- tary, William H. Drohan; financial secretary, James Blackburn.
Police Department .- The Fall River Police Department, with head- quarters at 158 Bedford street, is known as one of the best managed and equipped in the State, the organization in 1923 consisting of Chief of Police Martin Feeney, Deputy Chief of Police Frederick T. Baker, six captains, nine lieutenants, seven inspectors, three sergeants, one hundred and twenty- eight patrolmen, twelve reserve patrolmen, four night house officers, five day house officers, two chauffeurs, two conductors, two matrons. A night watch of six men was formed when the department was established, in 1844. When the city charter was adopted, a chief constable was appointed, with seven day and eight night men, and in 1857 the title became city mar- shal. The next few years, with the increase of the industries, the force was much added to. In 1874, the northern, southern and eastern stations were opened, and the city was divided into four districts. The first of the patrol wagons was used in 1890, and an automobile was introduced in 1910. In 1894 the administration of the police department was placed in the hands of a commission. John Fleet was the last city marshal, his appointment ending in 1914. Headquarters have been in Central street town house, in the basement of City Hall, in Court Square and Bedford street. A new police building was erected on the north side of Granite street in 1895.
The Postoffice and Custom House .- The postoffice may be considered one of the old-established institutions of Fall River, the first office having been set up only eight years after the town was incorporated, or on January 31, 1811, the first mail making its appearance here on February 12, that year, and the first appointee to the postmastership being Charles Pitman. On March 26, 1813, the office was removed to Steep Brook. The office was re-established at Steep Brook March 26, 1813; but from that time on, for the space of three years, it appears that the office was abandoned. How-
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ever, March 18, 1816, it obtained a new lease of life, and it has since been an active factor in the community. Abraham Bowen, at that time ap- pointed postmaster, held the position until April, 1824, James G. Bowen, his son, succeeding him up to July, 1831, when Benjamin Anthony received the appointment. The postmasters in succession since have been : Caleb B. Vickery, 1836-49; James Ford, 1849-53; James M. Morton, 1853-57; Eben- ezer Slocum, 1857-61; Edwin Shaw, 1861-75; Chester W. Greene, 1875-81; William S. Greene, 1881-85; Nicholas Hathaway, 1885-89; John Whitehead, 1889-94; David D. Sullivan, 1894-98; William S. Greene, 1898; George A. Ballard, 1898-1906; George T. Durfee, 1908; James H. Hoar, 1916; Godefroi de Tonnancour, 1923.
The amount of postage collected at the office in the year ending March 31, 1826, was $226.86. The postal receipts for the year January 1 to Decem- ber 31, 1922, amounted to $247,394. The special delivery matter received for the latter period was 70,764; insured parcels received for dispatch, 52,416; C. O. D. parcels received for dispatch, 736; domestic orders issued, 62,853 ; international orders issued, 1407; registered mail for dispatch, 52,171. The free delivery system was inaugurated July 1, 1863. Aside from the Steep Brook location, the postoffice has been located at the northeast corner of Main and Bedford streets, at the corner of Pleasant and South Main streets, and in the present government building. In 1873 an appropriation of $200,000 was obtained, and the present site was secured on Bedford street, at the corner of Second street. In 1876 further appropriations had amount- ed to the total of $285,000, and the building was completed in 1880 at a cost of $518,000, of which $132,000 was for land. The ground floor is oc- cupied by the postoffice, the second floor by the custom house.
With the transfer in 1834 of the Custom House from Dighton to Fall River, this city has since been the port of entry for the district. The in- stitution first began to occupy its quarters in the postoffice building in June, 1880. The city ranks seventh in aggregate tonnage of vessels en- rolled, the list of ports that excel this one being as follows: New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Perth Amboy and Bath: The collectors of customs have been as follows : P. W. Leland, 1834-42; Charles J. Holmes, 1842-45; P. W. Leland, 1845-49; Samuel L. Thaxter, 1849-53; P. W. Leland, 1853-61; Charles Almy, 1861-65; James. Brady, 1865-95; John Desmond, 1895-1900; James Brady, 1900-09; Edward T. Marvel, to 1913. Since the year 1913, there has been a reorganization of the Custom House, and Fall River was made a District of Massachusetts, the collector having his office in Boston. The deputy collector of Fall River since that time has been Walter A. Goff.
For the calendar year 1922, thirty-six steamers made 2,288 arrivals and departures at this port, the smallest tonnage being sixty-two, the largest 5091. Thirteen schooners made twenty-six arrivals and departures, the least tonnage being two hundred, the largest four hundred and sixty-seven. There were eighty-one barges, making six hundred and eight arrivals and departures, the smallest tonnage being forty, the largest 2073. The prin- cipal items of freight for the calendar year 1922 were coal, petroleum products, lumber and miscellaneous package freight, carried in barges, steamers and schooners. About fifty per cent of the tonnage was coal, transported in barges and steamers drawing from twelve to twenty feet.
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General package freight, which includes a large percentage of textiles, was carried on regular steamboat lines in vessels drawing from ten to sixteen and one-half feet. Petroleum products were carried in tank steamers and barges drawing from seven to twenty-six feet. During 1922 vessels carried 1,588,589 tons of merchandise, valued at $12,927,054. The tonnage shows a decrease of 680,243 tons from that reported in 1921, due mainly to the fact that large shipments of fuel oil consigned to a station on Taunton river were unloaded in Fall River harbor and re-consigned, and therefore re- ported in both receipts and shipments for this harbor. There was also a falling off in the item of coal in 1922.
Transportation .- Its situation has much to do with the steady and sure advancement of the city of Fall River as a seaboard manufacturing center. At a vantage-point upon Mount Hope bay and at the mouth of Taunton river, the opportunities thus presented were early accepted and made use of. With the establishment of the Fall River Ironworks, in 1821, Colonel Richard Borden, agent and treasurer, the works company purchased the steamer Hancock for use as the first steamboat between Fall River and Providence. She was built in Maine in 1827, and made her first trip in September, 1828, under command of Captain Thomas Borden. The King Philip, also under Captain Borden, began running on the route in 1832. This boat was succeeded in 1845 by the Bradford Durfee; and then, in 1849, the Canonicus, Captain Benjamin Brayton, commenced running, this boat being used in the United States service in 1862. The Metacomet was put on the route in 1854; then, in 1874, the Richard Borden. For awhile, at about this time, small steamers plied between Fall River, Newport, Taun- ton and Dighton.
The Bay State Steamboat Company was formed in 1847, when the steamer Bay State began making trips between Fall River and New York, the company having been formed with a capital of $300,000. The Bay State was commanded by Captain Joseph J. Comstock. Then came the steamers Massachusetts, commanded by Captain William Brown, the Empire State and the Metropolis. The steamers Pilgrim, Puritan, Priscilla and Provi- dence gave this line, later the Old Colony Steamboat Company, world-wide fame.
The Bay State Steamboat Company passed into the control of the Boston, Newport and New York Steamboat Company in 1863, Newport being made the eastern terminus for the boats in 1864, Fall River becoming reestablished as the eastern terminus in 1869, the Narragansett Steamship Company obtaining control of the line. In 1871 the Old Colony Steamboat Company held the controlling interest; but in 1905 that company became merged with the New England Navigation Company, which had been formed by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company for the holding of its marine interests. The Fall River Steamboat Company was organized in 1866 for freight-carrying from Fall River to New York. The Clyde Line began operating freight boats between Fall River and Philadelphia in March, 1876. The Enterprise Transportation Company, with Worcester capital, began operations with New York-Fall River steam- ers in June, 1905. The Dyer Transportation Company started operations in 1905, and the Merchants' and Miners' Transportation Company began to make Fall River a port of call for the Philadelphia-Providence steamers. .
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The first lines of the horse railway of the Globe Street Railway Com- pany were run on Main and Pleasant streets in 1880, by the Globe Street Railway Company, the capital of which company amounted to $100,000. The Fall River street railway was purchased in April, 1894, its line running from North Main and Bank streets to the Highlands. With the installa- tion of electricity in August, 1892, the first car was run on the seventeenth of that month from the Stafford road barn to Morgan street; and the first car through the center of the city started September 2, 1892. The first car of the New Bedford line ran its car through here July 1, 1894; the first car of the Newport road was in 1898; that of the Providence line in 1905; the Taunton road in 1901. The local lines became part of the Old Colony Street Railway Company in 1899. The Dartmouth and Westport street railway to New Bedford, which was opened to this city July 1, 1894, is now in control of the Union Street Railway Company of New Bedford. The Globe Street Railway Company passed into control of the Eastern Massa- chusetts Street Railway Company in 1919. Other lines that gave service to Fall River are as follows: the Newport road in 1898; the Providence line in 1901; Dighton, Somerset and Swansea in 1903.
The Hotels .- The inn, the tavern, the general gathering-place, was the outstanding institution of hospitality in every New England settlement. Invariably these stood at the great crossroads and at the entrance to towns. Before the Revolution the Brightman family kept a tavern near the Slade Ferry; and Stephen Borden, in 1738, had his tavern at North Main and Central streets. The Exchange Hotel, where the Second District Court building now stands, started in 1830, and for years was one of the best known hostelries on the south shore, stopping-place for stage coaches, and social center for travelers. The house was the residence of John C. Borden, and had been built in 1827, and contained fifty-five rooms. In 1833, after the death of Mr. Borden, the house was run as a hostelry by James Valentine. John D. Thornton succeeded him in the proprietorship, and then, in joint partnership, Horatio N. Gunn, Joshua Remington, Iram Smith and Samuel Hamlet had charge of the hotel, long known as Gunn's Hotel. Thereafter it was used as a residence of the Gunn family.
The Wilbur House, one of the best known hostelries in Fall River, had its beginnings in 1859, when Darius Wilbur, long known as "King Wilbur," was the proprietor. The hotel was started with a small restau- rant that stood where the hotel office now is, on the ground floor. With the extension of the building, on the street floor, besides the restaurant there was an express office, the Mitchell grocery and the Hall clothing store. Upper floors at first were rented as tenements, but as soon as the tenants moved out, Mr. Wilbur would take possession and, furnishing them, would let them in conjunction with the hotel business. There being no water works system in the city at the time, the proprietor would wheel the water in a barrel from Bank street, where the nearest well was located. George K. Wilbur, now in his seventy-sixth year, proprietor of Wilbur's- on-the-Taunton, remembers when the stage coaches to and from Taunton, New Bedford, Newport and Providence would stop for a change of horses at the rear of the Wilbur House, and the drivers would pay twenty-five cents for a full course dinner there. "King Wilbur" died in 1883, when George K. Wilbur assumed the proprietorship. He in turn sold to Marsden
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and Eagan in 1896, and they sold to William Leary. There were sixteen rooms in the old house fronting on Main street, which was sixty feet long and forty feet in depth. The new part on Granite street was built in 1884.
The Hotel Mohican, known as one of the largest hostelries in south- eastern Massachusetts, is situated on North Main and Central streets, and is under ownership management. The hotel was constructed and was opened in 1914, the Mohican Hotel Company, owners. Previously upon this site stood the Richardson House, that was controlled by William Durfee, the present president of the Mohican Hotel Company, but that was let to various parties. In 1914, Mr. Durfee undertook sole direction of the present hotel business, and the old building, that consisted of but seventy rooms, was enlarged to one hundred and fifty rooms. Since then, with the rear addition that was built in 1923, the plant now has three hundred and fifty rooms. William Durfee is the president and treasurer of the hotel company, and Fred J. Durfee is the managing director and assistant- treasurer.
The Hotel Mellen is another of the large hostelries of the city.
Gas and Electric Light .- The progress of city building is manifested in the everyday way by means of the office structures that are the public gateway to the plants themselves. The Fall River Gas Works Company doubtless had in view the last word in the office building proposition, whether for their practical use or for adding to the general attractiveness of the city's business section, when they constructed their present hand- some building on Main street and removed there in April, 1912. Incorpor- ated in the story of the Fall River of today, the building, though not large nor over-pretentious, is one of the most serviceable, well-lighted and ac- cessible. The plant has kept pace with every decade of the needs of the city, and particularly within the past twenty years has in itself been indica- tive of the city's growth. The coal gas plant is now located on its new site of fourteen and one-half acres of land. The five-million feet holder was constructed in 1905-1906, and the coal gas plant in 1913-1914. Within very recent years, in 1922, the carburated gas plant was built. With a capital of $288,000, the company was incorporated in 1880, the old Iron Works Company having supplied the city up to that date. The first officers of the company were: President, Jefferson Borden; treasurer, George P. Brown; directors: Jefferson Borden, John S. Brayton, David A. Brayton, David A. Brayton, Jr., Richard B. Borden, A. S. Tripp, William B Durfee. In 1886, there was a change in the management, with these officers: President, John S. Brayton; clerk and manager, George P. Brown; treasurer, Samuel T. Bodine; board of directors: John S. Brayton, A. S. Covel, A. O. Granger, Henry Lewis, Samuel T. Bodine, Randall Morgan, David Patton.
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