Firefighters Race for Pride and Prize Money
Two local volunteer hose companies compete in a drill to prove their speed and efficiency before the Fourth of July contests.
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.
The two hose companies were out on drill Friday evening and both made a satisfactory appearance, proving they were well up in their work. Company No. 2 was stationed at F street, No. 1 at I street, and a race was run to see which could put a stream of water over the Dabney building occupied by C. W. Purnell's tailoring establishment first. The east side company, No. 2, came out winner by three seconds. The time from the start until all the couplings were made and the stream was put over the building was one minute and twenty-three seconds. Both companies will enter the hose contest on the Fourth, and each confidently expects to win the $75 purse.
“The east side company, No. 2, came out winner by three seconds.”
In 1891, the speed of local fire crews was a matter of extreme civic pride and literal survival in a wooden town. While the equipment has modernized, the underlying reliance on volunteers and the pressure for rapid response remains a critical component of community safety today.
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