Delaware County, Indiana - The Muncie Fire Department, 1881

against destruction by fire in the city of Muncie have had the form of organization and discipline. From the early settlement of the town to the year 1871, no effort, so far as can be learned, was made to organize companies for the protection of property within its borders. Yet the freeholders were not altogether at the mercy of the devouring element, for there was then the protection of what has passed into history as. "the bucket brigade." When an alarm of fire was given, every ablebodied man repaired to the scene with a bucket, and two lines were formed by those on the ground, reaching to a well or cistern hard by- Buckets full of water were passed from hand to hand along one line, and, as they were emptied, passed in like manner down the other line to be replenished. Thus almost a constant stream was kept playing om the fire. This brigade, although it accomplished commendable results, and saved a great many buildings in the early and more recent history of Muncie, was yet without organization, and the man who could yell the loudest was recognized as the leader. It was always remarked of Muncie that she could raise a larger " bucket brigade" in a shorter time than any other town of her size in the State. Fires, in the earlier days, occurred but seldom, and were never permitted to get beyond the control of a few buckets of water. The first great fire occurred about midnight , November 21, 1842, when the brick building owned by Jack & Russey,, on the present site of William Lynn's shoe store, was discovered. to be. in flames. The "brigade" turned out as rapidly as each man awakened from his slumbers, but the fire had gone too far to be controlled. The. office of the Muncie Telegraph. in the second story of the building, was: destroyed, and only a portion of the goods in J. Henry Wysor's store on: the ground floor was saved. Perhaps ,this disaster had the effect of' awakening thoughts of a better system; at any rate, within a short time. thereafter, a number of hooks and ladders were purchased at the expense~ of the town, and stored in an obscure shed. The well-meant endeavors. of the committee, however, were not fruitful of good results; for there.

accessible to any one in need of such an article, were "borrowed" one - by one for indefinite periods, and if they ever served a good purpose, it.

had then been a city for six years; and that there should be some more effective measures than when it was under the system of government of incorporated towns, seemed imperative. In the Common Council, on the evening of October 16, 1871, George L. Eliott introduced a resolution "that the Mayor appoint a committee to inquire into the expediency and probable cost of procuring a hand fire engine, with the necessary attachments." From time. to time after that date, the minutes of the Council contain references and suggestions bearing upon this subject, but no important action was taken. At the meeting of April 15, 1872, Mr. C. E. Shipley submitted to the Council a communication he had received from J. A. Richardson, in the interest of a company engaged in the manufacture of fire engines and Holly Water Works, containing a proposition to furnish the city with either. This communication was referred to a committee, who were to report at the next meeting. The interest of the City Council was now thoroughly engaged in this matter, and the probability of its success was at least flattering. At the meeting of September 30, 1872, James Boyce, S. F. Brady and P. F. Davis were.

appointed a committee to visit Cincinnati, Ohio, to confer with the Chief of that city, and his assistants and decide as to what kind of an engine would best suit the purposes of the city of Muncie, and at what terms it could be bought. At the same meeting the following resolution was offered by Mr. Jones and unanimously adopted: "That Messrs. Youse and Rumsey be and are hereby authorized to construct a hook and ladder carriage, at a cost of from $200 to $225. In the meantime communications had been received from H. J. Bond, general agent of the Babcock Fire Extinguisher Manufacturing Company, and, at the meeting of Council on the evening of October 3, 1872, a resolution was offered by Mr. Shipley, to the effect that the Councii accept the proposition of Mr. Bond to sell to the city of Muncie the No. 3 Babcock Fire Engine, then on exhibition at the Cincinnati Industrial Exposition for the sum of $2,500, and that the agent be requested to forward the same immediately. This resolution was unanimously adopted, the members voting being Messrs. Brady, Boyce, Davis, Jones, Mong and Shipley. A new impetus was probably added to the desire for perfecting arrangements by the fact that, about 11 o'clock, on the night of Tuesday, June 18, 1872, a fire broke out on the east side of the public square, on Walnut street, the property destroyed being that of Maddy Brothers, Huffer Brothers, Charles F. Willard and Volney Willson. A large crowd of men were soon on the ground, and formed the usual double line extending to the mill-race at Wysor & Kline's mill, a distance of about six squares. 'They succeeded in saving the adjoining proporty, and preventing what would otherwise have been a terrible fire; but Huffer Brothers' tinware store, and Coffeen's Marble Works were almost totally destroyed, while the frame end of McCulloch's building on the north was badly burned. |

The Babeock engine came, according to instructions, was examined by a committee, and accepted. There was no place provided for its reception, and it was placed in a shed on the vacant lot adjoining the Baptist Church, where the composition for extinguishing fires often froze during the winter, rendering it inefficient in case of need. This was perhaps one of the first causes leading to the erection of the city building, combining a council-chamber, engine-house, lock-up, jailer's residence, ete.

On the evening of January 1, 1873, a meeting was held at the Mayor's office, in the Senate Block, for the purpose of organizing a fire company. James Boyce was called to the chair, and, on motion later in 'the evening, appointed a chief and three assistants to serve until officers could be regularly elected. Thad..A. Neely was appointed Chief, and D. R. Youse, A. R. Brown and J. A. Shepard, Assistants. The following charter members signed the constitution: Ed W. Gilbert, George F. McCulloch, J. Milton Long, George Richey, J. B. Knowlton, H. 0. Klein, George H. Andrews, Frank -W. Watson, Thomas H. Kirby, W. Ed Richey, J. Wall Perkins, W. M. Knapp, W. D. Rumsey, John M. Kirby, A. R. Brown, J. A. Shepard, G. S. Maddy, P. Turner, J. V. H. Cassady, Thad. A, Neely, W. L. Little, James Boyce, John Voorhees, K. B. Bishop, Walter Holbert, A. ©. Stouder, D. ©. Mitchell, Harry Winans, George W; Perdue, G. P. Manvell, Charles Wilcoxon and Steve | Roche. January 4, 1873, Lyman Baldwin was elected Chief of the company, and on the 5th of March following resigned his position, having been appointed Chief of the Fire Department by the Common Council of the city of Muncie. The name of this office was then changed to that of Captain of the company. Mr. Baldwin served a little more than a year, and was succeeded by Noah Shaffer, who served for one year. .C. C. Jones succeeded Mr. Shaffer, and Thad. A. Neely was elected as the successor of Mr. Jones in the spring of 1878. Hitherto it- had been the privilege of the firemen to elect their own Chief, and every incumbent of that position, with the exception of Mr. Baldwin, had been so chosen. Upon the expiration of Mr. Neely's term, the Council assumed the responsibility of appointing a Chief regardless of the wishes of the firemen, and selected a man who was not a member of the department. The _ action caused warm feeling and dissatisfaction, as Mr. Neely was evidently the choice of the companies for re-election. The dissaffection grew and culminated as is shown by the minute-book of Muncie Fire Company, No. 1: "At a meeting of Muncie Fire Company, No. 1, held January 7, 1879, the following members offered their resignations, which were accepted: J. V. H. Cassady, John M. Kirby, T. H. Kirby, W. E. Richey, H. L. Richey, Lon. M. Neely, George F. McCulloch, J. M. Long, T. A. Neely, Charles Wilcoxon, S.A. Beardsley and D. R. Youse - the cause assigned being the action taken by Council in appointing a Chief (Capt. Horace Williams) outside of the membership of the department." ;

Mr. Williams, the new Chief, entered upon his duties under very unfavorable circumstances. The disaffection was not confined to Company No. 1, but extended to the steamer company and the hook and ladder company as well; so that he only had the broken remnants of three companies to rally around him. Hitherto the fire department had been composed of volunteer members, but, under the new regime, it was so divided as to form four companies of twelve men each, and the members now receive each $10 per annum for their services.

Mr. Williams served one year, and, at the expiration of that term, the members of the department were permitted to select their Chief as previously, and Charles Gass, the present incumbent, was elected in June, 1880. During his administration the running machinery, hosereels, etc., have been nicely repainted and a new lot of hose purchased.

Mr. Neely, during his term of office, brought to the department all his inventive skill, and took a lively interest in perfecting the interior arrangements, and introducing improvements to augment the efficiency of the companies. The stalls in the engine-rooms were re-arranged in such a manner as to permit the horses, upon the sounding of an alarm, to reach their places at the engines without confusion. An automatic attachment was placed in the house, which, by pulling a rope, instantly unloosed every horse from his halter, and by a diligent process of drilling every evening at 7 o'clock, horses and men learned their places so well that, in the space of eleven seconds after the alarm was sounded, the department was ready for work.

He also invented and put up the fire-alarm telegraph now in use in the city, and contracted with the Council to put up four miles of wire, one gong, six cells of battery and thirteen boxes, at an expense of $300. Instead he put up six and a half miles of wire, two gongs, thirty cups of battery, and twenty-six boxes, at a cost of $303.76, Council allowing him the difference. His next improvement was an alarm-box. Having found it difficult to teach people to turn in a correct alarm, he invented a box by which none other could be sent. In external appearance it resembles an ordinary alarm-box, but is so constructed that when the door is opened it sends in the correct alarm, without further effort on the part of the person sending it. To the inner side of this door is attached a cord, which is hauled. taut as the door opens. - This works a lever and sets in motion a series of clock-work on the inside, upon the fly-wheel of which are a number of knobs, corresponding to the number of the box. As these revolve they strike a little plate at the bottom, opening the circuit and the sound is conveyed along the wire to the engine-house, where every stroke is reproduced upon the gong. Should a person send in an alarm for mischief or fun, he is sure to be detected. There are two keys for the box, one for the Chief, the other to be left in the possession of some person living in the neighborhood. Every key is numbered, and the name of the person holding it is registered on the Chief's book. These keys, although they unlock the box, do not lock it, nor can they be withdrawn until the Chief arrives at the place and locks the box with his own key. By consulting his register, he can easily determine from the number of the key, whoturned in the alarm; and if it is a false one,'the person sending it is easily detected. Thése boxes are not now in general use in the city, but will be put up during the coming spring. |

Another valuable invention of Mr. Neely's is a patent for stopping leaks in bursted sections of hose at fires; and by its means, work can be continued with an interruption of only a few seconds, whereas, under the old plan, it was necessary to take out the entire section when it was found to be defective, and substitute another, this work requiring from ten to twenty minutes, during which time the fire often gained the mastery. Mr. Neely's patent is a malleable iron casting lined with rubber and working on hinges with a rachet at each end. It will thus be seen that it works automatically, and can be instantly clamped over a leak, with scarcely a perceptible impediment to the progress of the work.

The castings were first made after Mr. Neely had left the department, and several of them were placed in the engine-house by him, to be used in case of emergency. They were laughed at, as new inventions generally are, for people are slow to recognize the genius of their fellows; but that very evening a fire occurred in an old frame building on Main street, and it was left for experience to demonstrate what judgment was loath to accept. A section of hose exploded under a pressure of 200 pounds to the square inch, the "leak-stupper" was instantly clamped over it, and the stream of water played on the fire with a cessation of only a few seconds, while the "stopper" was being adjusted. Having proven such a pronounced success, it was sought for and purchased by the fire departments of Dayton and Hamilton, Ohio, and other cities.

The Babcock Engine had its first practical test at the burning of the Neely Block, on the northwest corner of Main and Mulberry streets, on Monday, December 30, 1872. The firemen were not well drilled in the management of it at that time, and though they controlled the fire and prevented it from spreading, there was a great deal of dissatisfaction manifested by some of the citizens, who pronounced the " Babcock" a failure. Subsequent experience, however, proved it otherwise, and it is now recognized as a valuable acquisition. .

In 1874, the city purchased a No. 4 Clapp & Jones steam fire-engine, together with two hand hose-reels. The steamer, " Delaware Chief," is stillin use and has done valuable service, while the hose-reels were afterward substituted for a larger reel, which is drawn by horse-power. Upon the purchase of the steamer, A. C. Stouder was appointed Engineer, and served in that capacity until 1876, when he was succeeded by S. Q. Brady. Mr. Brady was succeeded in 1880 by W. W. Stewart, the present Engineer. :

The department is now divided into four companies of twelve men each, viz., the Babcock Company, No. 1; the Hook and Ladder Company, No. 2; the Steamer Company, No. 3; and the Water Brigade, No. 4, the latter being auxiliary to the Babcock Company. Hook and Ladder Company, No. 2, was organized in 1873. Samuel Saunders is the present Foreman, and John Halleck Assistant Foreman.

Steamer Company, No. 3, was organized in 1874. Its members now are George Feathers, President; August Shaubaut, Foreman; James Russey, Assistant Foreman; George Feathers, Charles Yelley, W. Brelsford and James Gray, Nozzlemen.

The members of Babcock Company, No. 1, to whom stations are assigned, are 8. A. Beardsley, Captain; J. B. Knowlton, George W. Manor and Peter Fogle, Nozzlemen; Will Youse and B. F. Bratton, Sodamen; John Kessler and Harry Richey, Acidmen; Lee Lacey, Charles Hoover and William Cray, Pumpmen.

On the 21st day of September, 1878, a fire broke out in the neigh. boring city of Winchester, and the fire departments of Muncie and Richmond were telegraphed for assistance. Both responded promptly. The Muncie Department procured an engine and cars from the LaFayette, Muncie & Bloomington Railway, and started under the care of Donovan, the engineer. He must have put on every pound of steam his engine could carry, for, in forty minutes after receiving the telegram, the Muncie Department was on the ground and in action. Persons along the line of the " Bee Line" Railway, over which the department trayeled, afterward remarked that they never saw cars move so rapidly; that "they fairly flew," etc. The Muncie Department was the first to go into action, while they were ably assisted by the Richmond companies, after the latter succeeded in getting their engine in working order. Great credit was given to both the departments, but chiefly to the Muncie boys, who were so promptly on the ground and so efficient in their labors. :