This file portion of www.watertownhistory.org website
Also part of
History of Watertown Fire Dept
Phoenix Fire Company
Organized 1876
Phoenix Fire Co, No. 2,
Chickens Come Home to Roost
Written and
contributed by Ben Feld
Based on news stories of 09 28
and 11 02 of 1887
1876, Phoenix Fire Co Formed
Ever since the Phoenix Fire
Company was organized in 1876 and they moved into the new firehouse on the west
side, we knew those dumb Irishmen thought they were a better fire company than
we, the Pioneer Company, the original Watertown fire company was.
The Phoenix guys were always
bragging about how their pumper, a Silsby machine using a rotary pump, could
get up steam and throw water before our piston-pump Ahrens. They always made of point of letting the
people know that the first one at the scene of a fire was the Phoenix Company
(many times they were not, but they said nothing about that), and we, the
Pioneer Company, being composed of fine, modest men, never bragged about our
expertise.
Charles Kerr, charter member, fire engine
driver.
1887, Portage Fire Co
But even with the intense rivalry
between us, we never allowed that to interfere with our work and when the State
Firemen’s Tournament took place in Watertown, we cooperated wonderfully,
functioning, usually, as one team. In
fact, all the fire companies participating got along beautifully; all except
those backwoods rubes from Portage.
They were especially obnoxious
during that tournament in 1887. Their
newspaper, the Portage Daily Register
was made available to us and we laughed among ourselves when we read the
excuses the Portage paper offered for their “fire laddies” not doing better in
the contests, especially one of the first contests in which Portage came in
fourth. Although other contestants
protested vigorously about the officiating, protested almost to the point of
fisticuffs, the “Silsby boys” (as the Portage paper referred to their fire
company), the Portage laddies, according to the Daily Register, “displayed gentlemanly behavior, as was their
nature.” There was, the newspaper
reported, not a more polite, congenial, cooperative group than those Portage
boys.
When a rung on their ladder broke
during a hook and ladder contest, and they came in fourth, being bested by Fort
Atkinson, they were reported to have been the very essence of good
sportsmanship. They “did not a word of
kicking”. A nicer group could not be
found. But, the Daily Register said, it should be noted that the Portage boys would
have done better in all contests had
they worn “gauze shirts, canvas shoes and other light-weight clothing as the competition did.” They were clearly the most deserving of any
group in the tournament. Had trophies
been awarded for niceness, gentlemanliness, civility and/or similar traits,
clearly, the boys from Portage would have won them all. It literally made us sick to read about them.
1887, Rough & Ready Mill Fire
Everything went along smoothly
until about noon the first day when we found ourselves in an embarrassing
situation. At 11:30, in the midst of the
contests and festivities, the fire alarm was sounded indicating that the Rough
& Ready Mill at the upper dam about two miles from the tournament grounds,
was on fire and needed help. Our Pioneer
Company along with the Phoenix Company immediately sprang to the rescue and
rushed the Silsby and Ahrens pumpers to the blazing mill, and proceeded to pump
water on the blazing wood -- I should say we tried to pump water. Almost immediately the leather hose on one
pumper burst and then the hose on the other pumper burst leaving the Watertown
boys standing there helplessly watching the fire consume the mill, and hearing
the caustic comments of our fellow-firemen.
The Beaver Dam hook and ladder company, which had responded to the alarm
with their equipment, set up their pumper and rendered a great service in
saving adjoining property. It was all
highly embarrassing for us. Those
leather hoses were known for their propensity to burst at critical times; why
couldn’t they have waited for just one more fire?
And did the boys from Portage
gather around the Watertown boys, slap them knowingly on their backs while
uttering words of help or at least condolences?
Not on your life! Instead, those
peace-loving, uncomplaining Portage boys, not wanting to cause any trouble, not
kicking about anything, loudly offered the observation that, on their arrival
at the site of the fire, only the third floor was ablaze and it was because of
ill-directed work and poorly maintained equipment that the mill was a total
loss. They let it be known that with
their fire chief and their single steamer they could have “discounted the two
Watertown squirt-guns and the whole department”. Rather
harsh words, to be sure, but
well-meant because they were, as the Portage paper had pointed out,
peace-loving, congenial men, not prone to kicking or taking part in any
“rumpus”.
When the day was over and we had
a chance to reflect on the day’s happenings, we found it difficult to forget
the cutting remarks and behavior of the Portage crews. We tried to put the memories behind us and
concentrate on improving our performance based on what we had learned in the
course of the various contests, but it rankled to recall that we had essentially
been called incompetent, and our pumpers had been called squirt guns, a epithet
especially disconcerting since one of their pumpers was a Silsby, almost
identical to ours. It was very
disconcerting to recall that they bragged that their single Silsby pumper could
have outperformed our two machines had the hoses not burst.
So it was with a great feeling of
satisfaction that the firemen as well as a great many citizens of Watertown
read in the Watertown Republican a
lengthy report of a fire which had destroyed the only flouring mill in Portage. Every Watertown fireman as well as many, many
residents of our city read or had read to them, the paragraph from the Portage Daily Register which said:
Upon arriving on the scene of the
fire, the Silsby took water at the
platform on the river bank nearby, and was red hot -- prepared to pump the
Wisconsin River dry, if need be -- but there was a delay of half an hour before
the hose was gotten into position so that the stream of water could be
thrown. For some reason the Silsby boys
did not turn out with their usual alacrity, and as there were very few other
men present because of the stinging cold, the hose was not handled with
customary rapidity and effect. This
company has received severe censure from the local newspaper for not turning
out more men.
Although we couldn’t see them, in
our mind’s eye we firemen knew the entire population of Watertown was nodding
their collective head in agreement with the editor of the Watertown Republican who had entitled the above article: Chickens Come Home To Roost
___________________________________________
Contribution from Garden Guy:
The Phoenix Fire Company was
before my time, but I remember the station on Water Street. Used to go there
and look through the windows. It was
like a museum. The horse harnesses were
suspended on the ceiling and dropped on the horses when they hooked up on the
engines. They kept the horses down below
the station. I remember one of the
drivers, Bill Spear. Later he had a team
of horses for the sprinkling wagon to wash the streets. We used to go to the corner of Jones and
Dewey Avenue where he filled the tank from the fire hydrant. It always overflowed. There was a gas engine on the back of the
water wagon for pressure to the sprinklers. Sure brings back memories.
1908
07 10 D. & H. Kusel secured contract for
placing the new roof on the Phoenix engine house. WG
1909
03 19 John Glaser, a member of the Phoenix
Fire Co. for over 20 years, elected Chief, Fire Department WG
Cross References:
Letter from Ernst Wood, 1909
Charles
Cech, proprietor of tannery, dealer in leather, shoe-findings, hides, pelts,
etc., was a member of Pioneer Fire
Company, No. 1.
Watertown
Fire Department file
