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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 1904)
THE OMAHA ' ILLUSTRATED BEE. Dumber U. 1004. Omaha's I - ? OKI AT TTTE TOP OF THB NEW EXTENSION IADDERPboto by a Guff Aitlit. HEN tha red-shirt ed. cnthuslastlo '1A man of tho vlllac and early I town dars tmased off tha scan to rive place to tha always trimly clad fireman of metropolitan Omaha, he left memories that are still precious to many citizens and their de scendants. The old-time volunteer fireman waa a hero, every Inch of him. With tha real one the volunteer of quick blood and obstaole-jumplnf vim there waa only one thought; that waa to set to the Are before the other fellow and get into action at any old place within reach of the blase. There were Instance of volunteers taking a sec ond thought on a howling night In winter and going back to bed. That Is, old veter ans now living take the liberty of saying such Instances have been known; but so rarely that they were set down as remark able.. "Jump her, boys. Jump her!" waa tha uni versal driving cry as the rival companies got under way for the fire. Only the high places In the unpaved, rocky and ofttimes tump-strewn road were hit by the rope drawn apparatus. Swinging, jumping, bumping and humming, it sometimes put tha men on the rope to their very best gait' to keep ahead of it Arrived at the fir and with hose laid and coupled, while tha hook and ladder men were getting Into action at a doien points the chanty of the engine company would rise with inspiring enthusiasm, "Break her down, break her down down!" and, thrilling with tha en couragement of the chief and the foremen, shouted through the trumpet glistening badge of authority the brawny crowd on . tha hand rails threw every ounce of power they possessed Into the down stroke; each side alternately being lifted -off the ground, and then again bringing their opposllc-s to the highest reach of their arms. Wonder ful for those , days were the streams the old hand-engines sent hurling onto the fire In, the humble home of a neighbor or tha tor wherein everybody knew the location of the cider barrel or tha free tobacco box. Golden Wedding Anniversary that Recalls Pioneer Days in ORTY-IPTVT v.uri In tha waat anil Fl fifty yt .iarrVed is the record I that Mr. und Mrs. David A niter. con, who will celebrate their golden wedding anniversary at South Omaha on Monday evening. And this great event In their lives finds both hale and hearty, enjoying all the fruits of a long and busy life, and with hosts of friends who rejoice with them in their prosperity. These years have been varied in their message, but have all been light ened by indomitable will and desire to do well. They have been scattered in their effort from the peaceful valley of the Brandywlne, through the sunny south and among the pioneer scenes of Colorado and Nebraska. And their harvest has been a lifetime of useful activity, now slowly set tling down to its evening shades. David Anderson was born in the valley f the Brandywlne. on a farm lh the con ventional log house. His father was the oo of a revolutionary soldier, hlmBelf a veteran of the legion led by Andrew Jack son in that memorable engagement at New Orleans, where General Pakenham's vet erans were so signally defeated by an army of recruits. The grandfather was a sol dier tinder and a close friend of "Mad An thony" Wayne. These two circumstances are christened by Mr. Anderson as memo ries of mora than common- matter. David Pointed Paragraphs The quicker tha , lunch the slower tha digestion. When a man's down he thinks it is all up with him. The promoter Is a sort of drum-major of Industry. Some men mistake a demijohn for tha fountain of youth. . A thoughtless man loses a lot of time when be hurries. A girl thinks she's a first-class co.k It she can make fudge. Diplomacy la often a knife in the hands of the underhanded. It takes a swift man to pursue a success ful career nowadays. Lusy men like to fish and hunt fish for suckers and hunt soft snaps. As a rule a girl who is stlf-possesued can be Induced to transfer the title. Age brings a man knowledge of many things be would rathtr not know. Many a man who thinks he's ready money resembles a dollar minus seventy cents. A good neighbors one who lacks interest la affairs that are none of his buslnesa While the average man Isn't bad enough need reforming, he is not good enough sometimes to make a desirable husband. A girl doesn't care to be everything to aa eligible young man; she la satisfied to be oums his better half One trouble with many self-made man la that the part ha talks with Is out of , proporUoa te toe sart ha thinks with. CUoaga News. Fire Department Its Early Days and t . t ' ' . ' r A. .1 r 1 mikkk 1 t : i ' "- . i -. ' , - - 1 ..... . .-. Walking beam or piston rod never under went greater strain In a better cause than that to which tha volunteers put the stoutly made hand engine. Nor did they spare themselves. From the moment the alarm startled in the daytime or aroused from sleep in tha night, until the consuming element waa quenched and laid low, prodi gies of work aye, and many of valor were performed. Scorching sun or drench ing rain or freeilng cold, none of these deterred the lOyal souls that ran with the machine In the good old days. If they had not modern sky-scrapers to - surmount, neither had they the quick-moving auto matic contrivances of the present-day de partment. Their work was excellently done and bucket brigade and hand engine and hand hooks and home-mude ladders all served well their day and generation. . Firemen Came Early, Like other towns, Omaha had not moved very far along the path to present great ness before the need for Are protection was met up with. With the pioneers, to think of a fire brigade waa to have one; so on the 27th day of April, I860, William J. Kennedy, James W. Van Ostrand and Ben jamin 8. Stickles decided to organize a fire company. It was but a few days be fore tha required number of names waa seoured to the, written agreement they had drawn up, and on May 2 a meeting waa held at which the organization waa com pleted. The first parade of the company was held on July 4, 18t0, with thirty-three men In line; the company also had Its new truck ahd equipment out and ready for business in that parade. George L. Collier, one of the early day attorneys, made a speech of presentation pf the apparatus to the company. No fire having occurred In the meantime to test the mettle of the company, In August of 1840 three members of the com pany conspired together and secretly built a large bonfire en Jefferson square. This saw the light first in the year that Andrew Jackson was re-ekected to be president of the United States. Sixteen years later he had gone to Philadelphia, ' where he was apprenticed to a house and sign painter. On assuming his standing as a Journeyman he set up in business for himself, and was soon a recognized master painter in the City of Brotherly Love. Here he pros pered, but his adventurous spirit wouldn't let him be content. As a boy he. had en listed In a regiment raised during the Mexican war, but got only as far as the Red river on his way to the front. As master painter he went to Natchez, where he was married. From Natchez he re turned to Philadelphia and prospered for a season, but the panto of 1857 swept him off his feet financially, and he determined to strike for a new country. Leaving his wife and little ones, wHh nine other young men as adventurous as himself he started for the golden west. On the Wny West. In March, 18S9, this little bunch of Arga- a V ? " Vs. ' a V -Us--.., y( K3. DAY ID M " HATOR MOORES was started between 1 and I o'clock in the morning and the response by the new company was all that could have been desired, every man turning out to the alarm. A sort of Informal Jollification In the shape of an Indian war dance was held about the biasing pile and the boys made a night of It, as real boys always have. Pioneer Hook and Ladder company No. 1 was Incorporated by the Nebraska terrt tor.al legislature in January, 1861. The passage cf the act was attested under the great seal of the territory January 17 of that year by J. Sterling Morton, secretary of the territory. The in:orpo , ruturs were Benjamin Stickles, J. S. Mc cormick, Henry Uray, William J. Kennedy, Henry Z. Curtis, M. II. Clark, P. W. Hitch cock and Andrew J. Simpson. The mem bership was limited to fifty men and the organisation was empowered to remove and appoint members whenever deemed necestiary for the good of the service; $2,000 was fixed as the limit of the lioldiiiK-i of real and personal property. By tiie act of Incorporation the members were exempt from all assesamcnta for labor on the highways, frcm Jury duty and. In time of peace, from service in the mlillla. Pioneer Hook and Ladder company No. 1 was called to fight Its first fire early in the following winter. It was In a cot tage on a lot adjoining tho ' site of the present Bee building and by utilizing a huge snowdrift and the water from a well the blaze was conquered, with a loss of only about 200. William J. Kennedy, one of the members present that night, says tho hot sun never faded a big snowbank quicker than did the volunteers on that memorable occasion. They made It dis appear quicker and more completely than Mrs. Chadwick is alleged to have gene through the capital stock of the Ohio bank. The second Are was fought on the site where the old Emmett house was located. It was very cold weather, the wind was strong, water was scarce, the material was nauts started from Harrlsburg, Pa., with a mule team, determined to conquer for tune in the faraway Pike's Peak country. They embarked at Pittsburg ana naa plenty of company, for on board the boat with them were 300 men, all bound for the new Eldorado. At Leavenworth City, then a mere ham let, wild, broad-horn Texas cattle were purchased to haul the freight and food across the broad plains for 600 miles. On April t twelve prairie schooners, twenty five men and one woman left Leavenworth in the midst of a raging snowstorm. Mra. Thornton was the first white woman that crossed over the Smoky Hill ridge to the newly discovered gold mines in Colorado. The cavalcade was largely augmented at old Fort Riley, then on the western border of civilization, by many, who had preceded this handful of pioneers and were waiting only for larger numbers bi fore entering ih Indian territory. When this emigrant train arrived at Cherry Creek, now the city of Denver, it contained fifty-two wagons and - ' X . ANDEIlSON. Y t.- -V . . ' ' ' ' 1 w .. .V, V - WATCHING TTIK TE3T OF TUB ArPARATU3.-Phot by a Staff Artist ' dry and the firemen worked at a great disadvantage. Thereafter the winter passed with only a few chimney fires and one or two false alarms. Osnaha's First Esglne Company. In June, 1806, Uua Wlndhelm, father of the present assistant chief of the depart ment, with the assistance of members of Pioneer company No. 1, organized the first engine company. A second-band engine was purchased from Davenport, la., trans ported down the Mississippi to St. Ixiuls and from there It came up the Missouri on the steamer Stonewall Jackson. It was re ceived at the landing place In Omaha by a large gathering of the citizens, who evinced their confidence In tho new machine by most hearty praise of all its good points. Shortly after its arrival the engine was taken to a fire In the block between Thir teenth and Fourteenth streets on the sjuih side of Farnam. At that time this prop erty waa occupied by a row of one-story frame stores, except the tullcLng of Ketchum & Burns, which was a two-stcry brick. This building pioved of material as sistance to the firemen In ' checking the blaze and they succeeded in saving the west end of the wooden row. It proved t very fortunate that such was the case, for the new engine stood an Idle spectator pf this first big battle with the flumes. The company had no suitable hose, and some that it borrowed from the Union Pacific Railroad company would not fit' the engine couplings. However, the boys of the en gine company Joined with the hook-and-lad-der men In combating the flames. Water being very scarce, the most effective method used to check this Are waa by pulling down the buildings in the immediate vicinity that were sure to be attacked by the fire; and the men who owned and occupied them had no other recourse but to Join In the work, that damage might be minimized. Cisterns were provided in the business 200 men. Fifty-five days or suffering, hard ship and privation were occupied In reach ing the goal of their anticipation. The Arapahoe and Pawnee Indians made sev eral murderous onslaughts upon the train. At one camping place 8.0u0 Indians formed a semi-circle around the camp. They sent two chiefs to Investigate and report upon the ability of the emigrants to 'defend themselves. The chiefs reported a heap of pale faces and heaps of "fire spouie.s." This meant guns and other weapons of de fense. Consequently the attack at that time waa abandoned. For sixty hours these tlred-out, weary, futlgued travelers were deprived of water and fuel. A tor nado struck the camp one night that stam peded the oxen and Uveled every camp tent to the ground. Mr. Anderson painted the first bul'.dlng erected In the present city of Denver. He established the first pony express mat s from Denver into the mining dUtrlcts of Gregory, Russell Gulch and Clear Ci'tek. He discovered the first feasible wagon mute through Eight-Mile gulch, lending Into the very bowels of the Rockies. He at In the first territorial convention befo e the state of Colorado was named. Ho wat present at the first marriage and saw tha first outlaw hung In that ltind. One morn ing In August Mr. Aniier i n assisted In le llevlng one tree of three corpses, outlaws who were hanged by the vlgi.antei. Ha took an active part In favor of law an.l or der and helped to banish seve.al r.ng leaders of the notorious gang that infested that countr. Home In nebraska. Mr. Anderson crowed the plains six times be.'ore the advent of railroad west of the Missouri river. In the tp lug of 1KC0 he sealed with his lamlly in the great Platte valley, eight miles cast if Columbus on tha old California tr.il. For s x een yearj he freighted,-farmed and kept r nch. In 1871 he disposed of his farm and moved into Columbus. There he cng: gtd in the handling and shipping of live stock and was for ;en years one of the heale t ship pers In the ttate. He he pad to form the Live Stock Shippers' assort -tlMi In Ne braska, acting as Us fust vice president. He was one of the first ihliperj lo pa r n Ize the South Omuhi suck y-.ds. In Columbus he organic. U tho toltmb s hog packing plaul and Creamery company. In 18T Mr. Anderson abandijed the ship ping business and moved to S u;:i Omaha, erecting what was ,li n Uhe ilre. t h mo in the city. He aa slued in oig.iling tha first republican club In South Oniahit, act ing as president for two years. Mr. Ander son organized and was ell c'-td prejid nt of the Board of Trade, the pioneer luiiieM association of South Cm.Ii. Tin El ct I) Light. Heat and Power tompany, the first to Illuminate' the city whh aro ajid In candescent light, was suggested aud On ly consummated mainly through the jer istent efforts of Mr. Anderson, who was a, stockholder of the company for t-everal . years. He was also chairman of the real estate committee and vice president of the South Omaha Loan and Building a a ora section shortly after this fire, each holding approximately 1,000 barrels of water, and when the engine was next called into play it did the work expected of It in good shape. This was at a Are which broke out In the brick block of Will U. King, situated at Twelfth and Farnam streets. With plenty of water and suitable hose, the volunteers extinguished this Are in short order and with but slight damage to the building and stock of merchandise. Faaelnar of the Volunteer. Omaha was steadily growing, new resi dents flocked in from the eaaiern stales and from the countries of Europe. Soon the city authorities realized the need for more and better Are protection, und es soon as the steam Are engines had proved their practicability one was ordered for Omaha. This was in December, liw". From this time may be dated the real beginning of the present paid department; and It may be said, in passing, that the volunteer depart ment ended its career forever on the 5th day of Mary, liw. The Anal dlsbandment (.4 the organization that had served the young city so well was celebrated by a grand parade participated In by the vet erans in uniform and by the city officials, the press and citizens generally. In 1887 the Veteran Firemen's association was or ganized and U still In existence to keep alive the memories of the good old days when they "ran with the machine." When the present chief, Charles A. Salter, Joined the department in 1878 it was a partly paid department, something like a dozen men being on salary. These were the engineers, firemen and drivers of the three engines, three two-wheeled hose carts and one hook and ladder truck that then constituted the apparatus owned by the department. Besides these paid men there were sixty to seventy volun teers who turned out to every alarm. Later on the volunteers got $2 for each fire they tion from Its organization up to years ago. a few Knew Many Presidents. "Uncle" Dave Anderson has seen every president from General Jackson down to President Roosevelt. He has been In every large city, state and territory of Uie union. He has always practiced economical, indus trious and temperate habits, has never used strong drinks or tobacco In any form. He has withstood the severe attacks of yellow fever, cholera, smallpox and la grippe, hat run many hairbreadth escapes from In dians, highwaymen, prairie fires, drowning, eto. Few men have read their own obit flaxy and still have the satisfaction of living. Many years ago Mr. Anderson read an account of his own death in the Omaha papers. Mr. Anderson never sought office, but has always been a strong party man, an ardent republican. He sat in the Arst national republican convention that met in the old Musical Fund hall in Philadelphia in 1856, and served as secretary of the Arst republican club of the Twenty-fourth ward - v v" 1 v -' ' ' VV- - ssMtOAJSTDimSOtS. Present 1 1 TESTING A NEW ENGINE FOR THE a Staff Artist. worked at, and at least two men besides the regulars slept at each engine house. The volunteers still held monthly meet ings that were never altogether uninter esting, and once a year the election of company officers and of a chief furnished plenty of good-natured rivalry and ex citement. The chief had to be confirmed by the council after being elected by the men, but in no instance was a man so chosen refused confirmation. Engine lloose Headquarters. In '76 the headquarters was located at Sixteenth and Farnam, where Engine com pany No. S and a hook and ladder com pany were stationed. No. 1, the original engine company, was reorganized in lbS5 and took station at 1317 Harney street. No. 2, organized as a steam engine com pany in '69, waa also reorganized in '96 and located at 211 South Tenth street. En gine company No. 4. formerly Hose com pany No. 6, reorganized in the same year, was placed at Sixteenth and Izard. ' Hose company No. S, organized in '91, is on Pierce, opposite Eighth street. No. 6, formerly Hose company' No. 1, went Into the new organization in '81. No. 7, sta tioned at Thirty-seventh and Jones, went Into service the same year, as did No. 8, at 4022 Hamilton. No. 9, formerly Hook and Ladder No. 8, was reorganized In '95, and Is at Twentieth and Dorcas. No. 11 was mustered in in the same year and housed at Thirtieth and Spaulding. The colored company, No. 12, formerly No. 6, Is In the house at the corner of Twenty seventh and Jones. At Eighteenth and Harney is Hook and Ladder No. 1, the successor of the hand company organized In '63. No. 2 Hook and Ladder dates'from 1878 and No. 3 from '91. The old house now standing on the lot at Twenty-seventh and Jones was used as quarters for No. 5 until the new house was completed recently. It formerly stood on the lot now occupied by the city hail and was originally Governor Saunders barn. It of that city, organized in 1864. He has not lived In vain, and now at the ripe old age of 78 is as active as a boy, enjoying the best of health. Mrs. Anderson's Boar Life. Mary Elizabeth Denver was born in 1838 near Baltimore, where her parents had re sided for years. When 6 years old hei mother died and she was taken by her father, who carried her twenty miles In his aims, to St. Joseph's academy near Km metsburg, where she was reared by the nuns. When 16 years of age she went to live with her brother, Samuel Deaver at Philadelphia, On December 12, 1854, at Nat chez, Miss., she was married to David An derson, and the next spring the young couple returned to Philadelphia, going by boat to Pittsburg and then overland to their destination. In 1860 Mrs. Anders, n started with her three little girls to follow her husband to the west, where he had pre ceded her the previous summer. Her route took her through Pittsburg, Chicago and Hannibal, and finally across the state of Equipment OMAHA FIRS DEPARTMENT. Photo by wmt Into tha trade by which Mr. Paxton secured the present sit of the Paxton block for the city hall property. Bonds voted by the citizens in 1891 wore used to build six new houses. In 1902 145,000 in bonds was voted and at the recent dic tion $00,000 more to construct new houses and purchase new apparatus. The build ings erected with this money and to be erected, it Is calculated, will provide for the necessary growth of the department for a good many years to come. These stric tures Include the new brick houses at Elev enth and Jackson, 66x120, two stories, and at Twenty-seventh and Jones, 44x120, also two stories. At Twenty-fourth and Cum ing it is proposed to build a new two-story brick to take the place of the present tem porary quarters at Twenty-fifth and Cum ming, occupied since the old building at Twenty-fourth and Cuming was condemned. A similar brick building will be provided in the vicinity of Twentieth and Lake, and another In the neighborhood of Twenty third and Davenport. These will all ba commodious enough to give room for much more apparatus than the department now has in service, as the same may be needed. The recent additions to the fire-fighting apparatus are the first to be purchased by the city In several yeara They consist of a new engine, an eighty-five-foot hook and ladder truck and five hose wagons. At Twenty-seventh and Jones It is proposed to locate an engine and a hose company and the new extension truck to replace the old truck now In this house. Two new hose companies will be organized and three of . the new wagons will replace old ones at present located In the business district. Tha old wagons will be repaired and held in re serve, together with the old hook-and-lad-der truck. The number of men at present in the de partment, including officers, is 119, whii-h will be increased to something over 130 when the two new hose companies axe or ganized. Nebraska Missouri to St Joseph, where she took a steamboat for Omaha. The lst stage of the trip was seven days in duration, be cause the steamboat was aground more time than It was afloat. Here she met her husband, who had Just come in from Pike's peak, and together they took up a ranch in the Platte valley west of Columbus. Here Mrs. Anderson shared the privations and pleasures of a pioneer's life. Eighteen years ago she, moved with her husband to South Omaha, where she has since lived. She is a zealous member of St. Agnes Cathollo church, and has been active in re ligious and charity work. Four children, daughters, were born to Mr. and Mrs. An derson, Laura Virginia, Ida Charlotte, Ella and Emma G. Ida C. and Ella wens laid to rest many years ago. Laura V., now Mrs. Fenner, and Emma G., now Mrs. W. 8 Cook, still survive. The grandchildren Hying are: Harry and Walter Fenner, Hazel Cook, Frank and Fred Llghtfoot and Mrs. Lillian Cahill of Ogdcn. One great grandchild has descended from them so far, Frank Anderson Cahill of Ogden. Utah. Prattle of the Youngsters During the Thanksgiving dinner Tommy was nearly choked by a tendon whioh ha encountered in a leg of the turkey. "Mamma," he said a little later, "the cook forgot to take that old turkey's gar ters off." Little Fred was told of a new arrival In Ms uncle's family. "Is the kid any rela tion to me?" he asked. "Yes; he's your first cousin," answered his mother. "Huh!" exclaimed Fred. "I should think he would be my last one." "Now, Tommy." said the teacher, "what la this word I have written on he board s-l-o-w?" "Dunno." Oh, yes, you do think. What does your paps csll you when you go on sn errand and don't get back fcr a long time?" . "You'd lick me If I told yer, ma'am I" A well rr.eanlng young teacher In a coun try school house prided herself on a big American Aug that was draped In a pretty festoon over tho tlme-stoli-ed wall at the beck of her de k. It was hung In such a way that tl f children wero Ji-rced to leuk at It, and under It there wore dispensed r.nt only ti c v i.-doin end rtprimand of the class room, but many u stiriii.g recitation. 0:ie day during the recitation of the cluss In hls'cry ale Kked the pupils why they thought she 1 (id placed li e fing dj the wall. TI.ere was perfect silence for a moment until a diminutive younn-ler sitting in the far curner rised hlx little fist to Indicate that he had an answer. "Well, Bobt.y," said the teacher, encour agingly, "Please, ma'am," said Bobby, "isn't It to hide the dirt on the waill" Brooklyn Eagle.