aaassea
wit.
■--- ?
'" 1
,'d ou   soroe"
ow?
y hhara, -now*
aid passion.
fashion ?
knees,
■>
all it may be ;
.ie day be
;ka of Circe,
;ep eyes, mercy, i
lay Love's seasons|   i
love's soft treasons ?i   *
.iat subtle surgery
with Lore's gentle per/ut^ ;
A
swells and falters,.
.■Us tender psalters;
.ado-fv gleams imeneer   ......  .
re moon's silver censer,    f" I fe**X
and bow before her :
iiUe, Eo'r the true^dorer ! %-
eyes, and her quick glance ana^ersvS*
4e, shall we join the (fancera*?       *     kal
 .         x>J
[Written for The Jooknal.] ^>k
REMINISCENCES OF RACINE.
History of the Fire Department from
1851 to the Present Time.
Joys Amid Sorrows - -Koses Amid Thorns
In the Life oi' a Fireman.
BY I. V. GREEN.
As Chicago has been writing tip her Fire
Department, perhaps it would be interesting
to the readers of The Journal to call to
mind something of the early history of that
of Racine. As I think I hear you say : " Of
course—why not V here is
ITS ORGANIZATION.
Up to about 18S0 and 1851, we had not ex
perienced any very disastrous fires, and the
Deparment was rather slim—consisting of a
Hook and Ladder Truck, the little " Coffee
Mill " of Mr. Skinner's, and a Bucket Company—(no reference to the " Old Oaken
Bucket.")
The fires of those years which  destroyed
the old Exchange, kept by the  Messrs. "Raymond, together with out-buildings,   horses,
etc., and other fires of like magnitude, awoke
our people to  a  sense  of the dangers that
hung over our young and growing city, and
the  ''fathers"  concluded to purchase three
hand engines ;   on  their arrival here three
splendid companies had been organized to receive them.    No. 2 was organized first ; but
the older fellows of No. 1 had not been asleep
and got their number—thus securing the best
machine    But tke  Department was put together with Marvin G. Armour as Chief Engineer ; H.  T.   Taylor,   as  Assistant; S. S.
Dickinson, Foreman No. 1 ;   S. P. Bounds,
Foreman No. 2; Evan Lewis, Foreman No.
3, and the machines were given to the respective companies regularly organized under constitutions and by-laws, subject to the city government., No. 1 was made up  of our more
elderly and  substantial  citizens.    No. 2 was
composed  entirely of young men,  and was
rather a  temperance company, for Rounds
(Ster-man)   was the publisher  of   The Old
Oaken Bucket, a paper that at that time found
its way into almost every household in the
whole  Northwest, and  his name  and  character was held up by mothers to  their children as a light by which they should be guided
in their future lives.   Of course, his followers
in No. 2  strove  to   emulate  him ; how  far
they succeeded, I will not undertake  to   say.
No. 3 was  composed  of our   YVelsh  fellovr-
citizens,   were   orderly in their conduct, and I
always rendered efficient service at fires.
Under this organization the fire fiend was
readily handled and subdued ; but sometimes
the boys would get rusty, or tired of serving
on hose committees, when they would get up
an alarm just for fun, and to stretch their
bgs.
ared for by No. 1—each company was the
guest of a Chicago company. Many of our
party had never been in the Garden city before, but our foreman, through Assistant
Chief EngineerLangdon, and our Chief Engineer Taylor, on the right side of Chief
Bradley, soon put us on a good footing—there
was nothing in Chicago too good for us, and
No. 7 made us feel perfectly at home. There
were fire companies from Detroit, Buffalo,
Milwaukee, Bacine, and other points to the
number of some fourteen hundred strangers,
and red shirts mingled in good feeling, as
though they had been acquainted for years;
and it seemed as though the whole population
wanted to be firemen, in fact, several tailor
shops were kept running from the time we
went there till we came away, (three days)
making uniforms for outsiders who wanted to
get into good society, and the dressy uniform
of a Bacine fireman was a sure passport. It
was one continued round of pleasure ; and
the dinner which was furnished us at the
Tremont House—it would take a solid column to describe as it should be Suffice it to
say that those fourteen hundred guests enjoyed it hugely—particularly the " pop "—
a mysterious looking bottle, which came
around in its course. No. 1 was ranged on
on one side of the table and No. 2 on the other. The look of the bottles was new to several good Sons of Temperance, and one of
them leaning over toward Bill McCarty asked
what it was. Bill says : " It's pop, Uncle
Ira—a new kind of pop." Ira, with t ncle
McD., "cracked" one bottle, and then another, and corks were flying through five
whole Divisions of S. of T., as it were, each
declaring it wasthemost splendid "pop" they
ever drank ; and its effect was so glorious,
too—it lasted two or three days. That night
—there was only one place where we had not
been used very well—at Cozzen's ten pin
alley ; we went up in considerable numbers,
commenced playing, drinking " pop," etc.,
until about 11 o'clock, when the alarm of
fire sounded, and true to duty, every fireman
skedaddled, forgetting how much they "hung
up " Cozzens for—but then it must be laid to
Eop—everybody had been drinkingpop. The
re proved to be the old Mansion House, and
the fire was an impromptu affair, gotten up
tor our benefit; but it was the finishing up,
as the day before No. 1 had borne off the
broom at the trial of engines—though force
of numbers had something to do with Bacine
beating the cities of Buffalo, Detroit, Milwaukee and Chicago. It happened in this way :
No. 7 had asked George Barrows how it was
best to fix their machine—an old goose-neck.
George told them to back her into the river,
and they did so—she lay there when we came
home. They then joined in with No. 2 of
Bacine ; when No. 1 took the stand, both
companies went to her assistance, and she
' got away with all the baggage," from one
end of the Chain of Lakes to the other. Capt.
Applebee, of the steamer Sultana, as she
came up on his boat, " patted her on the
back," and praised her as " the girl that took
the colors."    She is still in the hands of No.
4, and with that efficient company, Bhe keeps
up her reputation, although the last relic of
the Volunteer Department.
The trip was one of pleasure and profit in
more ways than one. Our firemen learned
many things in regard to the working of fire
aparatus that was of great use in after years ;
5. P. B. cemented a friendship that resulted
in a business partnership, from which he has
walked up the ladder of business prosperity,
till he stands among the solid men of Chicago,
doing more business with the printing fraternity of the Northwest than any furrishing
house this side of Philadelphia, and is President of the celebrated Taylor Press Manufacturing Company, of Chicago. Many other
social relations were formed, which intervening time has not obliterated. We all got
home, in time, though most came on the Sultana and Pacific. I'm not going to say anything about our Worthy Chief (H. T. T.)
walking off the pier into Lake Michigan, because it was currently reported that he and
Andrew Bobertson were the only ones who
did not drink " pop." The city'was unusually quiet when we arrived here, but suddenly
awoke at the looming of cannon, for the
boys had prepared a salute for the returning
excursionists. A few little incidents had oc-
cured, among others, the venerable Uncle j
J. A. H. found there had been a surprise party at his house in his absence. The surprise
is now a married woman. No. 3 had taken
good care of all conflagrations.
THE BALI, AT- CASE'S SHOP.
Our next circus was the ball at J. I. Case's
new shop, which many will remember as the
affair of the winter. * No pains had been
spared, and unde the Terpsechorean direction of Bounds, Bill McCarty, 'Rash Taylor,
and others, our guests from Milwaukee, Kenosha and Chicugo pronounced it decidedly
rescherche.    '• Rough and  Ready" 4, of Mil-
Hook and Ladder would, once in a while,
with Uncle Arby Tyrrel as foreman, get hold
of a 2x4 scantling, burned off at both ends,
and yank blazes out of it. But then it was
merely an asylum for those who did not want
to serve on juries, or work out their poll tax.
The organization is in better shape now, and
renders good service.
FOURTH OF  JULY CELEBRATION.
The first celebration we had after our organization,  was  on  the  4th of July  of the
same year, when some of the citv fathers defeated a proposition in the Council to furnish
the Fire  Department  a " free dinner."   As
No. 2 left the  house to  go into procession,
Sol Cather says : " Jim, you print the labels,
and I'll furnish the rest."    The labels were
printed :  " The city council refuses to provide
for us on this occasion,  and   we  provide  for I
ourselves."    By this time Sol. came with two
cards of ginger-bread, which were  put up by
the buckets, and  four bottles  of small beer,
one hung to  each end of the brakes.    But
there was an incident occurred  that made all
things right :    Acting Chief Engineer Taylor
wasasked to detail men for a "hose company"
to act for the day.   The detail was made, and
afterward it turned out that the   " hose company " was made up of good old fellows.who
couldn't stand the march in the hot sun, and
that their chief duties were to get up a dinner for us at Congress  Hall,' and  furnish refreshments for the rank  and  file  during that
hot day's march—which they did  to  perfection, under the orders of H. T. T.    The dinner was good ; the iced champagne better,
and it was a lively Independence  Day from
that time out.
. I am not going to tell who rolled Durand's
grind stones down Congress hill ,- who made
the farmer's wagon to pieces, and made it up
again on the top of a lumber pile ; who got
up the serenade for Madame  Anna Bishop,       .-- -      ...... ,.,,..,,„..,.„  .,„,„„„,,,,
the English songstress, and Old Boxcy, which   they could to make the trial of her capacity
waukee, had been invited, and the boys ou.
watching reported that they were coming.
The thing was a success, financially, as our
citizens had bought liberally of our tickets,
and the treasury was in good shape. The
cannon was loided, and rammed to the muzzle
with cabbage ; "States" Munroe sat astride
the gun with a lighted cigar, and at the word
from George "touched her off." Then there
was fun; "States" had been thrown under
the gun by the recoil—unhurt, but begrimmed
with powder as if he had been blown out of
a magazine ; there was scarcely a light of
gliiss left in ihe building ; $64 dollars put
it in again, but the profits of the ball were
that much less—and still everybody was
happy. The Milwaukee boys appreciated the
" salute," and the balance of the entertainment, as they attested by favors to George B.
and his boys on an after occasion in Milwaukee.
THE  MILWAUKEE  FIRE.
In August, 1854, Milwaukee had her big
blaze, and telegraphed to Racine for help,
which was promptly sent in the three engines
and plenty of men to work them—as the Milwaukee firemen were wholly prostrated with
heat and fatigue. The lamented Jake Wrat-
ten was Chief Enginer at that time, and during the fire he received such injuries in the
discharge of his duties as laid him up for
months ; but then the big hearted City Council of Milwaukee voted him $100. At this
fire, No. 3 was offered by the proprietor of a
drug store, $500 if they would save his property. The Welsh boys pitched in and did
the job—but the next morning the $500 man
could not be found.
NO.   1  WINS THE  SILVER TRUMPET.
When the first State Fair was held at Milwaukee, George Barrows took No. 1 there.
Phil Dayly, foreman of No. 4, extended to
George and his boys all those little courtesies
so well known and appreciated among firemen—run out their own engine and gave our
boys their  house,   and  furnished  all the aid
was the subject of a column criticism in the
London (England) Times, and reproduced
here by the Kenosha Telegraph; who
swopped Milliner's signs for Doctor's ; how
' Pa " Stevens saw the trick; who put Little's liquor sign on the unfinished steeple of
the Baptist Church, and tied the old grav
horse to the bell rope ; how S. P. took all his
boys to hear that great revivalist, and how the
good Doctor was so pleased to see us that he
forgot his original text, and went off into a
lecture for our special benefit. No, I can't
tell you about these things this time - it
would swell this article to such dimensions
that it would burst The Journal "chases."
THE  TRIP TO CHICAGO.
The next bit of recreation we were to have
was a trip  to  Chicago,   by invitation of the
Chicago Fire Department, to  attend a Firemen's Jubilee,  to be  held in that city   to
which all the firemen of the North-West and
part of York State were to be assembled. We
made great preparations, never doubting but
that the Council would let us take the machine
--No. 2.    We  had  a  meeting,  and   among
other committees, one was appointed on decorating the engine, with Al. Howes as chairman.    Al. rose and begged, in a bashful manner, to be excused, as he had never " dedicated " an engine in his life.     He was not excused, however, for he was a dry goods clerk
and knew how to buy ribbon.     The stock of
the stores and millinery establishments were
exhausted, and we employed Signor Blitz, the
necromancer, to blow us out a few fathoms
to finish up with.     On the night  before we
was to go—just as the last ribbon had been
wound on the brakes,  an alarm of fire was
sounded, and away we went, ribbons and all
It proved to be Norton's packing house, over
a success. In spite of the Water Witch, o'f
Janesville, and the balance of the State, she
walked away with the silver trumpet, valued
at $95. It was kept and shown with great
pride on Review Days while George was in
the Department; I have not seen it lately
but understand it is in -the city, but held as
private property. It is something that should
be city property.
The Vo'unteer Department and hand engines were all very well for those times and
all felt secure till the riisasfrous fire which
swept away Titus Hall, the Episcopal Church
the Bacine House, and in fact, both sides of*
Fifth street, from Main to Wisconsin—involving a loss of some $100,000 worth of property
It was then seen that hand engines were of no
use where a city had attained the proportions
that Bacine had, and
A PAID STEAM FIRE    DEPARTMENT
was demanded. After a great deal of talk
and mainly through the hard work of Messrs'
John Vaughan and L. S. Blake two steamers
have been purchased, and under Mr. Fred. '
Gottbehuett as Chief Engineer, we have one
of the most efficient Fire Departments of its
size in the State. The steamers are named
respectively after the gentlemen whose energy has secured this valuable improvement in
protection to life and property. With Adam
Hertzog in charge of the " Blake," and Pat
Traeey of the " Vaughan;" with No 4
Hook and Ladder and Asby to help them'
our citizens sleep secure in their houses, without fear of any very considerable  conflagra-
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I have thus briefly sketched this historv as
I remember it over these twentv-three years
of time. There are undoubtedly sins of
omission and commission—for both of which
on the river,   and   of course No. 2 was the   I am willing to be forgiven
first on the ground. There was only a narrow
track  between   the   seething   flame and the
rivei,b^t_ through it we went, some getting
Before the other engines
severelp>Prched
As an illustration of the increasing value of
walnut lumber the Indianapolis Journal notes
that the standing walnut trees on a half-sectio
of land on Eel River, in Miami County
were recently sold to a lumber dealer for>T7
000,    There is a large amount of
ber on the tract which is not include, only
the walnut timber being sold.   Wjffnut lumber is coming more and more inWSse throughout this country and Europeujffd  at present
a very large business is donafn preparing and
shipping it from Indiana.  A
arrived it £g hot worb_ as many wU,  ^
A  ;™Pt&rldnS so hard t0 save propertv
word came th,the CoMcil whi h     V   P    -
session had vc^ not t   }    No. 3       to c°h\°
mfsta~k"f TheVvard  tu™d out  to be a
£5£& anheinVW6rbeut-te^ JS&f"
speech to them, 4'.b"'Man thl Vi *
boys, we'll put this K ' , ■■ Ma" ^e brakes,
cW anvhow, and ypnl, and we'll go Chi-
the* machine, we will fc*!^let "*».*
His word was law and if Pu* out another •'
Sred all the balance of ***e We la
our dilapidated decorations" *o restore
1 and 2, leaving the  safety*^  botli  NoAs    .. ..
care of No. 3, left for Cnica,[°e city in the   sand grasshopjifrs were hatched out.     After
One steamboat sufficed t, being subjecjid to twenty degrees of freezino-
iait it took three or four to brl«e us down,   they were.iriawed out as lively as ever    An°
our  arrival  there No. 2 was« back.  On   other big crop of these insect pests  for the
reived and ' next season is feared.
Some of the folks
been  experimeritin&rvn uaicmng out grasshoppers.     The oOilr day six quarts of earth
were placed undjTa stove, and several thou-
artin  County  have
n hatching out
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ward
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