Reminiscences of the old fire laddies and volunteer fire departments of New York and Brooklyn. . which then lay in Liberty Street. To converse with thisoctogenarian, one cannot but admire the well-preserved intellectualfaculties of the old gentleman, who, physically speaking, lookstwenty years younger than he actually is. When you hear him,as I have, talk about catching killies in Pearl, Centre and Elm better facilities in the event of large fires, Mr. Degrauw suc-ceeded in having two new hose-carriages added to the Depart-ment. Mr. Degrauw was an assessor from the third ward at thetime, and i
Reminiscences of the old fire laddies and volunteer fire departments of New York and Brooklyn. . which then lay in Liberty Street. To converse with thisoctogenarian, one cannot but admire the well-preserved intellectualfaculties of the old gentleman, who, physically speaking, lookstwenty years younger than he actually is. When you hear him,as I have, talk about catching killies in Pearl, Centre and Elm better facilities in the event of large fires, Mr. Degrauw suc-ceeded in having two new hose-carriages added to the Depart-ment. Mr. Degrauw was an assessor from the third ward at thetime, and in about five hours he raised the amount—$1700—topurchase the apparatuses. They were housed on the site ofold St. Pauls Church, corner of Church and Vesey streets. Itwas Mr. Degrauw who rung the alarm, in 1811, for the fire, whichoccurring in a carriage factory in Chatham Street, rapidly advancedto other sections, and before it could be controlled had consumedover one hundred buildings. When Lafayette visited this city a ballwas tendered to him, and its success was principally due to John W. Degrs streets, and skating alongChambers, Centre and Canalstreets to the North River,and; across to Jersey City, itis like reading of New Yorkduring the last remembers TommyFranklin when that gentle-man was chief engineer, andhe recollects the time whenthe city fathers proposedmaking the Collect, a pondof fresh water, on the siteof which the Tombs nowstands, do for a reservoir ofwater. At a meeting inBurns Hotel in Washing-ton Street, to take steps for Short Biographies. Degrauws exertions. With Mr. John P. Bailey, the sugar refiner,Mr. Degrauw succeeded in getting up balls in aid of the Fire Depart-ment. He is justly called the father of the Fire Department Fund,as it was principally through his efforts that the fund was launchedand kept floating in its younger days. In 1833 the old vamp waselected to the Assembly, there being but fifteen delegates at that timesent from
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