Reminiscences of the old fire laddies and volunteer fire departments of New York and Brooklyn. . engendered a bad feel-ing, and ultimately resultedin a free fight. Meanwhilethe flames, unsubdued, creptslowly onward, darting hitherand thither, and encirclingin their fiery embrace what-ever happened to be in theirpath. The Sands StreetM. E. Church was selectedas a place of safety for thestorage of valuables by thosewho were fortunate enoughto save any from their dwell-ings. No one dreamt for amoment that the fire wouldreach that edifice. In thisthey were mistaken, how-ever, as by a sudden freako
Reminiscences of the old fire laddies and volunteer fire departments of New York and Brooklyn. . engendered a bad feel-ing, and ultimately resultedin a free fight. Meanwhilethe flames, unsubdued, creptslowly onward, darting hitherand thither, and encirclingin their fiery embrace what-ever happened to be in theirpath. The Sands StreetM. E. Church was selectedas a place of safety for thestorage of valuables by thosewho were fortunate enoughto save any from their dwell-ings. No one dreamt for amoment that the fire wouldreach that edifice. In thisthey were mistaken, how-ever, as by a sudden freakon the part of the fire fiend,the sacred building, with theentire contents, was quicklyenveloped and totally de-stroyed. While the fire wasat its height, a fight occur-red between some of the rival companies, and, Nero-like, theyfiddled away while their city was being burned to ashes. In justice,however, to the regular members of the different organizations, itmust be said that this disgraceful fight was precipitated by a lot ofworthless hangers-on to the various companies, and not by those45. wor 706 Reminiscences of the Old Fire Laddies. entitled to wear the red shirt of a fireman. To add to theexcitement of the situation, a squad of U. S. Marines appearedupon the scene at an early hour, having been detailed from theNavy Yard in order to protect the bank building on the cornerof Fulton and Concord streets. As it was feared that the mob,which had grown very large, might take possession of the city,Mayor Stryker accepted the services of the troops, and the rioterswere soon put to flight. The officer in command subsequentlyattempted to blow up some of the buildings, but was unsuc-cessful, and the fire burnt until it had nothing more to feedupon. The Furman Street fire, which occurred July 8, 1850, causedconsiderable excitement. At about four oclock on the morning of the above date, fire wasdiscovered in the attic of the six-story brick warehouse, owned byMr. Thorne. The cause of
Size: 1144px × 2185px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidldpd63166850, bookyear1885
