Fairhaven's First Chemical Fire Engine
Without a municipal water system for fire protection, local business leaders are importing a chemical hand engine to prevent city-wide disaster.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Thursday last T. W. Gillette received a letter from Z. T. Wright of Portland, who is the agent for the Lindgren Chemical Engine Company, in which he said he hoped to be in the city by the 17th inst. He has already shipped an engine, and a test will be made on Mr. Wright's arrival. Mr. Gillette stated that he had at the solicitation of several business men of Fairhaven written for a price list, as all were anxious for some kind of fire protection. The engine on the way is a hand engine, light enough to be hauled to any part of the city. Several hand grenades will also be shipped for private buildings. The engine will have to be purchased by private subscription, as no other course is open at present, but there is little doubt that the necessary money can be raised. An engine of this kind is not only needed now, while the city is without a water supply for fire purposes, but will also be of great value to the city after the water system is completed. Very often when a fire is in its infancy it can be extinguished with chemicals without doing much, if any, damage to the property.
“An engine of this kind is not only needed now, while the city is without a water supply for fire purposes, but will also be of great value.”
The transition from private 'bucket brigades' and chemical engines to public water systems was the most critical infrastructure hurdle for Washington's early boomtowns, marking the shift from frontier camp to established city.
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