USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Municipal history of the town and city of Boston during two centuries : from September 17, 1630, to September 17, 1830 > Part 16
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On the second of September, when Lafayette returned from New Hampshire, an elegant entertainment was given him at his residence in Park Street by the City Council. Lafayette pre- sided at the table, and they dined with him apparently as his guests ; and this gratifying arrangement formed an appropriate conclusion to the attention and tributes he received from the city government of Boston.
CHAPTER XI. CITY GOVERNMENT. 1821-1825.
JOSIAH QUINCY, Mayor.
State of the Fire Department - Claims of the Engine Companies --- The Result -- They surrender their Engines and resign - Other Engine Compa- nies formed - A new Organization of the Fire Department recommended - Measures taken to carry it into effect -- Office of Auditor of Accounts esta- blished.
DURING the first year of the second administration of the city government, the City Council were restrained by obstacles, appa- rently insurmountable, from any attempt to improve the then existing system of protection against fire, although great changes in it were evidently requisite. Firewards, engine, and hook and ladder men, with associated friendly fire companies, constituted the fire police. Their efficiency chiefly depended upon the aid of the inhabitants, applied under the authority of the firewards. They formed lanes of bystanders, who, by their direction, passed buckets of water, from pumps or wells in the vicinity, to the engines playing on the fire, and returned them for further supply.
This system of protection had its origin in the relations of the colonial state, when the inhabitants were few, habitnated to labor, and respect for the rights of property was general. Dwell- ing-houses being then separated by gardens or vacant fields, extensive conflagrations were infrequent ; yet, being of wood, and the means of insurance unattainable, their occasional loss kept alive the feeling of sympathy in the community. The duty of joining some fire company and assisting at every fire was, therefore, regarded as imperious.
At the time of the adoption of the city government, Boston was in a transition state, and fast advancing to that period, when, by the increase of population, ties of individual interest were diminished. The establishment of insurance offices had, in most cases, transferred the loss upon capitalists; and poverty and crime, multiplying with numbers, began to regard fires as
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harvests, from the gleaning of which they had not principle enough to abstain.
Although this state of things was obvious, and its effects began to be felt, yet it was long before the duty of aiding the sufferers caused the necessity of imposing restraint on the general interference of the citizens at fires to be recognized. This reluct- ance to acknowledge the effect of circumstances on the. then existing system of protection, was peculiarly strong among the engine companies, in whom the esprit de corps was active and general. From the earliest period of the settlement, the mem- bers of these companies had been accustomed to regard them- selves as the guardians of the city against this element, and took a pride in the consciousness of their power. They were a body of men energetic and fearless. So far from regarding their labors as onerous and looking for their reward in pecuniary compensa- tion, a premium was often paid for admission into the compa- nies, and they deemed themselves recompensed by a small allow- ance from the town, sufficient for an annual social supper, by exemption from militia duties, and the consciousness of useful and acceptable services to their fellow townsmen. Their engines, found and supported by the town, were without ornament, and valued only for their power. To be first, nearest, and most con- spicuous at fires, was the ambition of the engine men; and the use of hose, as it had a tendency to deprive them of this gratifi- cation, was opposed. The hostility to any change which should induce its use, was apparently general. The opinion of the effi- ciency of the then existing system was riveted in the belief, and fortified by the pride of the engine companies. To doubt it, involved with them an inevitable loss of popularity ; and the introduction of a hose system was ridiculed and regarded as use- less. Although the citizens in general did not coincide in the opinion of the engine companies, and perceived the difficulties of the subject, they were far from being unanimous relative to the improvement the state of the department required. The City Council, therefore, determined to defer until a more favorable moment the desired alterations; and the Mayor prepared for changes which he deemed inevitable, by entering into correspond- ence with leading members of the fire departments of New York and Philadelphia, whose systems of protection were reported to him as highly efficient.
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The fire department was brought under the consideration of the City Council in June, 1823, by a petition of several engine companies for an additional compensation for their services. The Committee to whom it was referred, reported that the remu- neration already allowed was sufficient, and gave them leave to withdraw it. The acceptance of this report gave the petitioners great dissatisfaction ; and the Mayor soon received notice from the captains of some of the companies that they would never be content with their present allowance, but that at a proper season they would renew their application. The Mayor understood, from the terms of this notice, that this renewal would be made in the winter, when their services were most important and arduous, and when, therefore, it would be most difficult to supply substitutes. The City Council consequently, immediately turned their attention to the present organization, efficiency, and equipments of the engine companies, the inducements given to join them, and the power of the firewards. These investigations increased their dissatisfaction, and presented new difficulties. 'The citizens complained that the firewards did not exercise their authority, despotie for the emergency, with the same energy as their predecessors. The firewards asserted that the citizens no longer aided them in their duties, by becoming members of the fire companies ; and that while the classes of population dis- posed to be inactive or to depredate at fires increased, those who were willing to assist were much lessened. It was, therefore, more difficult to form lanes to supply the engines, and impossi- ble to support them for any length of time. The multiplication of insurance offices, also, by diminishing the losses of the suffer- ers, weakened the sense of obligation to risk life and health for their relief. The engine companies were also equally loud in their complaints. 'The increase of population and extent of the city had rendered alarms more numerous and made distances greater. 'They were often obliged, from a deficiency of water, to drag their engines some hundred feet from the fire to the pump, and then back again, with the loss of half of the water obtained. In this labor and in that of working engines, the citizens were not as willing to aid as formerly. Admission into the engine companies was, indeed, yet regarded as a pri- vilege, for which from five to eight dollars was paid by each candidate. The companies were accustomed to have four sup-
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pers in a year, which exhausted their fees, fines, premiums, and allowance from the city. The fines for failure in the mili- tia service had been so reduced, that exemption from it was no longer a powerful inducement to enter the engine compa- nies. Four hundred and sixty men were their full complement, but only three hundred and twenty were enrolled, and conse- quently not one company had its full complement, and one had but twelve members. The city owned sixteen fire engines, but only fourteen were in service. A few of them were of great power, but in general they were ordinary in appearance and workmanship. Only eight hundred feet of hose belonged to all the companies collectively. Of these each engine had its pro- portion for its sole use; and as the serews were not adapted to each other, to act in a conjoined line was impracticable.
Although these facts were well known, no general dissatisfac- tion existed ; and it was dangerous for any man's reputation for sense or patriotism to question the axiom that there was no place whose inhabitants were more distinguished for alacrity and success in extinguishing fires than in Boston. The members of the engine companies, who held most firmly this opinion, were skilful, alert, and vigorous men, experienced in the service and attached to it, and so confident of their ability and popularity, that several of them said to the Committee that if the companies resigned, no individuals could be found in the city willing and able to take charge of the engines. All acknowledged that fires were more destructive than formerly ; but this was attributed not to any defect in the system, but to the want of cooperation among the citizens. The remedies proposed and urged were, to revive the ancient volunteer fire companies, to enlarge the sup- ply of buckets, and vest greater authority in firewards. The pro- posal of a fire department which should exclude, instead of com- pelling the assistance of citizens, was received with indignation. " Do you think, sir," said one of the captains of the engines, " that the citizens of Boston will ever submit to be prohibited from assisting a fellow townsman in distress. Such sort of laws may be obeyed in despotic countries, or in cities where the inha- bitants do not feel for one another ; but this is not the ease, nor ever will be in Boston. No such system can ever be introduced into this city." When the advantages of the hose system were suggested, it was answered, that it was practicable in Philadel-
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phia, from the abundance and easy command of water; but Boston possessed no such facilities. When it was stated in reply, that in New York the want of a sufficient head of water was supplied by stationing engines at intervals between the water and the fire, which, by playing into each other successively, enabled the nearest to throw a continuous stream upon the fire. The answer of one of the captains was characteristic of the state of the existing prejudices on the subject. " Set enginemen at a distance from the fire! It will never be submitted to. Their desire is always to be in the hottest of the battle. The nearer the fire the higher the post of honor. Their struggle is, who shall get to it the first, and who keep the nearest. It would be more difficult to keep a Boston engine back, in order to play into its neighbor, than it would be to put out the fire." Many thought- ful and intelligent citizens had also doubts concerning the etli- ciency of the hose system; and the City Council concluded, after much deliberation, that it was most prudent to postpone for a time attempts to introduce improvements obnoxious to so many prejudices.
During the year 1823, the whole damage received by the city from fires did not amount to five thousand dollars. And this uncommon exemption from calamity, by diminishing the appre- hension of danger, delayed expenditures for protection.
On the seventeenth of September, 1823, the engine compa- nies renewed their petition, demanded the usual premiums for the first and second engines which arrived at the fire, and an annual compensation of fifty dollars for each company, to be disposed of at their discretion. The Committee to whom this petition was referred, were the Mayor, Aldermen Odiorne and Eddy, with Messrs. E. Williams, Oliver, Adan, and Wales, of the Common Council. They had frequent interviews with the cap- tains and leading members of the several companies ; but the circumstances of the department, and the temper and language in which their claims were urged, made the course to be pursued very difficult. The season of the year and that which was approaching, were those in which any known general derange- ment of the engine companies would occasion great alarm among the citizens. The members of those companies had been long in the service of the city. Great confidence was attached to their experience. By many, the safety of the city
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was deemed to be essentially dependent on their continuance, In their opinion the engine companies were composed of a class of citizens whose claims it was unsafe to deny, and in whatever spirit demanded they ought to be granted.
The claims of these companies were, in fact, pressed in terms indicating their belief that the city could not dispense with their services. The Committee of the City Council were told plainly, that unless their petition was granted, they would una- nimously resign their engines. On being asked, whether the companies will not be satisfied with less than fifty dollars each, the reply of one of the captains was, "No. We are fixed on that point. Forty-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents will not do!"
After this evidence of feeling and opinion, a majority of the Committee came to the conclusion that any grant made under such circumstances would be considered as an " acknowledg- ment of the dependence of the city upon the individuals who then composed those companies, be attributed to fear, and be only a temporary expedient and a source of future embarrass- ment; that the permanent safety of a city should never be allowed to be regarded as dependent on the capricious estimate of their own importance by any set of men; but that general confidence should be permitted to rest on no other basis than the conviction that there exists always among the mass of its citi- zeus talents and will adequate to self-protection.
The Committee, therefore, on the twenty-fourth of November made a report, which was accepted by the City Council, that it was not expedient to grant the prayer of the petitioners, the pre- sent exemptions and compensations being a sufficient remunera- tion.
In anticipation of possible difficulty, however, the Aldermen immediately instituted inquiries in their several wards, and ascer- tained that the citizens generally coincided in the views of the city authorities on these claims, and that if the present compa- nies surrendered their engines, others might be formed without difficulty.
The City Council, however, being unwilling wholly to reject the petition of the engine companies, on the sixth of November, appointed another committee, consisting of the Mayor, Alder- men Patterson, Eddy, and Hooper, with Messrs. Swett, Wins- low, Wright, Tappan, and Adan, of the Common Council, who,
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on the twenty-fourth of that month, made an elaborate report, embracing all the topics of controversy, and after doing full just- iee to the efficiency of the engine companies, proceeded to show that their present compensation and privileges were greater than those granted to the engine companies of New York, who found no difficulty in keeping their numbers full. To show, however, the appreciation of the City Council of the services of the Bos- ton enginemen, the Committee proposed to increase the pre- miums of the first and second companies which should arrive earliest at a fire, and an annual allowance of twenty-five dollars to each company, to be used at their discretion, which should have on the first of January in each year a complement of twenty members. This report was accepted in both branches.
When this result was announced to the companies, their cap- tains came before the Mayor, and gave notice that they should deliver up their engines and resign their offices at their respective engine houses on the first day of the ensuing December.
Accordingly, at the hour assigned on that day, the captain of each company, at his engine house, delivered its keys, his engine and apparatus, all in good order, to members of the Board of Aldermen, who attended to receive them, and who immediately delivered them into the custody of able and active bodies of citi- zens, who had volunteered their services on the emergency. On the evening of the same day the Mayor announced to the City Council, that the fire department of the city was in its usual state of efficiency, and, in the course of the month of December, engine companies were organized in connection with every engine.
Such was the system of protection against fires at the end of the second year of the city. These arrangements were the best the state of public feeling and private interest would admit. The Mayor regarded them as temporary ; and, being convinced that a radical change must be effected in the whole system, he con- tinued the correspondence he had opened with the chief mem- bers of the fire departments of Philadelphia and New York, to satisfy his own mind on the true principles on which an efficient organization of a system of protection on this subject should be established.
The same general views concerning the inefficiency of the ex- isting system were also entertained by the members of the City
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Council, and had been confirmed and made evident to the citi- zens by a conflagration in Beacon Street, on the seventh of July preceding, which continued through the whole day, and con- sumed fifteen valuable dwelling-houses, the loss being estimated at one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, exclusive of furniture.
The inefficiency of the fire department seemed now to be gene- rally felt and acknowledged; but no evidence was given of such dissatisfaction with the existing system as to justify an attempt to change it altogether. The old complaints, against the fire- wards, of the want of fire companies and of buckets, and of the indifference of citizens,1 were reiterated, and the old remedies proposed. The diversity of opinion on this subject, and the force of prejudice was so great, that an attempt to introduce any efficient measures for a change of system was still deemed hope- less, until the seventh of April, 1825, when a conflagration oceur- red in Doane Street, and extended' from State Street to Central Street on the one side, and from Broad Street to Kilby and Liberty Streets on the other, destroying in the course of a few hours fifty-three houses and stores, at a loss of half a million of dollars. The scene, on this occasion, was one of extreme em- barrassment and confusion. The lanes, formed by the firewards with great difficulty, were soon broken or deserted, and great depredations were committed on property, brought forth indiscri- minately and left unprotected in the streets. From the want of water, the engines were dragged one thousand feet to the dock, and half the water obtained was lost before they could be drag- ged back again and put into operation.
This calamity made a deep impression upon the citizens. The want of water, and of the means to bring a continuous stream of it on the flames, were apparent; and it became evident, that the change in the habits and sympathies of the population, and the recent and increasing infusion of foreigners, rendered a change in the organization of a system of defence against fire and a more efficient police essential.
The Mayor deemed this a favorable opportunity to exert offi- cial influence for the introduction of an independent fire depart- ment; and, under the sanction of a Committee of the City Council, consisting of the Mayor, Aldermen Baxter, Odiorne,
1 See p. 155.
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and Patterson, with Messrs. Goddard, S. K. Williams, Frothing- ham, Haskell, and William Wright, of the Common Council, made, in April, 1825, a report, stating the causes of the existing deficiencies in the system of defence, and the diversity of opinion concerning the remedies, each of which were analyzed and ex- plained. Among these, reliance upon associated fire companies and the aid of the citizens, although, at the time, of all others the most popular and generally acceptable, the report represented as altogether mistaken; and that it would be encouraging false hopes and a false system, if the Committee did not declare their opinion concerning its inadequacy to protection, and did not express themselves decidedly in favor of introducing a supply of water to the engines through the means of hose, instead of by lanes formed of bystanders. The report then submitted eight resolutions for the adoption of the City Council; the four first of which had for their object to satisfy their fellow-citizens, by actual experiment, of the impracticability of reviving the ancient system of fire companies. To test the possibility of this resort, the resolutions proposed an invitation to householders and other citizens, to form themselves into societies for their mutual pro- tection against fire ; and a system of organizing such societies, under the sanction of the Mayor and Aldermen, and prescribed the number of buckets, fire bags, and other instruments usual and proper for the service, which each company should provide; and the authority which the members of such companies should exercise at fires ; with an assurance that the City Council would apply to the State Legislature to invest them with all requisite powers. This scheme, although carefully devised, when pro- posed to the citizens, proved an absolute failure. For, although some associations were formed, the attempt evidenced the utter hopelessness of any such reliance. Three of the remaining reso- lutions proposed the constructing of three reservoirs in suitable places, each containing twenty-five thousand gallons of water; the purchase of two engines, in New York and Philadelphia, of approved power and construction; and also a hydraulion,1 with the usual quantity of hose attached to each form of engine, as practised in those cities. The last and eighth resolution declared the expedieney of adopting a new organization of the fire de-
1 A small engine, with one chamber, used for forcing water through hose, as a supply to the engines.
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partment, on the principle of distinct and individual responsi- bility ; and that a Committee of the City Council should be appointed, for the purpose of arranging and reporting the details of such an organization.
The City Council adopted all the suggestions of the report, and passed the several resolutions it recommended, and appointed the Mayor, Aldermen Blake and Welsh, and Messrs. S. K. Wil- liams, Barry, Boies, and Wales, a Committee on the eighth reso- lution, to arrange and report the details of a new organization of the fire department. This Committee reported on the twelfth of May two resolutions, which were adopted at once by the City Council.
The first declared the expedieney of establishing a fire de- partment, consisting of one chief engineer, and as many engi- neers, firewardens, engine men, hose men, and hook and ladder men, as may be chosen and appointed by the City Council.
The second requested the Mayor and Aldermen to apply to the Legislature for such powers and authorities, to be vested in the fire department, and also such privileges and exemptions granted to its members, as may be requisite, and in their wisdom deemed expedient.
The Mayor and Aldermen immediately took measures to have two engines, of approved capacity and power, to be built, one in Philadelphia, and the other in New York. Gentlemen of skill and intelligence, in cach city, kindly undertook the superintend- ence of their construction ; and the mechanics employed in each city, being apprized that their work would be brought into direct comparison, under the stimulus of emulation, produced two engines, each of which was pronounced by competent judges to be equal in power, capacity, and workmanship to any engine in either city. Their style of construction, differing from those nsed in Boston, gave an opportunity to the mechanics of this city to compare, and possibly to improve, the construction of their own engines.
'These measures did not pass without animadversion. It was inquired, through the press, " whether the mechanics of Boston were inferior in skill to those in Philadelphia and New York ? and why the money of the city was expended in the patron- age of the mechanics of other cities, rather than of its own ?" But when direct inquiries were made of the Mayor by Boston
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mechanics' themselves, concerning the principles and effects of this policy, the explanation given convinced them of its advan- tages; and also, that an entire change in the system of our pro- tection against fires would cause expenditures ultimately tending to their benefit.
Such were the first steps taken towards the establishment of a fire department, to act independently of the general aid of the citizens of Boston. At this day, (1851,) after the experience of the advantages of the system, it is impossible for any one to realize the extreme antipathy, and even predetermined hostility, to the measures, evinced by men in other respects of great judg- ment and sagacity.
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