A home geography of New York city . oking and for heating the houses. Matches hadnot been invented; flintand steel and the tinderbox were used to start afire. People knew noth-ing of the use of keroseneoil, and lamps in which itcould be burned had notbeen invented. CuATiiAiM Square (181:2) /^ ti t p ^ Candles were used tor light. Many families burned them only on Sundays, holidays, andwhen they had comioany. They saved the pine knots to burn onother nights for light as well as for heat. When some of our greatmen were boys they studied their lessons by the light of pine knotsbecause their paren
A home geography of New York city . oking and for heating the houses. Matches hadnot been invented; flintand steel and the tinderbox were used to start afire. People knew noth-ing of the use of keroseneoil, and lamps in which itcould be burned had notbeen invented. CuATiiAiM Square (181:2) /^ ti t p ^ Candles were used tor light. Many families burned them only on Sundays, holidays, andwhen they had comioany. They saved the pine knots to burn onother nights for light as well as for heat. When some of our greatmen were boys they studied their lessons by the light of pine knotsbecause their parents could not afford to burn candles. During Peter Coopers life he saw great changes in the way ofliving. He saw kerosene-oil lamps take the place of candles, andgaslight replace the lamps. When men found out how to use hardcoal for fuel he saw grates, stoves, and furnaces introduced. PeterCooper saw coal used for cooking and heating instead of wood,and, in later years, in heating houses he saw steam heaters takethe place of PETER COOPER 209 When Peter Cooper was a young man the people of Manhattandepended on springs and wells for the citys water supply. The citywas guarded by watchmen. Each watchman served four hours everynight. The hours for the watch were from nine oclock untildawn. The protection against fire was also primitive. When the firebell rang people hurried to the fire and formed a bucket brigade stretched from a pumpor well to a small fire engine. Theseengines were a kind of force pump,and were drawn by hand. While thebucket brigade passed the water tothe tank other men worked the han-dle of the pump, and so a stream ofwater was thrown on the burninghouse. Peter Cooper not only lived tosee the beginning of our Crotonwater supply, our police force, andour fire department, but as an alder-man, or as a member of a committee,he helped to form these departments. He was also a trustee of the FreeSchool Society and later a memberof the Board of Educa
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