Part 77 (1/2)

E. Witwer, H. Hale, Geo. Ha.s.se, John Bryan, Walter L. Clark, L. L.

Cone, Chas. L. Morehead, A. S. Mershon, Ely E. Weare, James Snyder, John Shearer, Baxter McQuinn, W. J. Wood, Richard Moorhead, Don Harris, Lowell Bressler, N. Rudolph, Ira Taft, and twenty-seven others.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MONTROSE HOTEL, CEDAR RAPIDS]

Early in April a hook and ladder company was organized and on April 16, 1869, was confirmed by the council as a part of the fire department of Cedar Rapids. The officers of the company were as follows:

Foreman--S. D. Fleck.

First a.s.sistant--J. S. d.i.c.kinson.

Secretary--Geo. A. Gault.

Recorder and Treasurer--J. G. Krebs.

Samuel A. Lilly. H. C. Morehead, James Fowler, P. C. Garrett, J. C.

Adams, Samuel Spalding, J. A. Hart, Joseph Lilly, J. M. Chambers, T.

Snook, J. J. Calder, G. M. Howlett, C. D. Pettibone and six others const.i.tuted the active members.h.i.+p of this organization.

The official life of Chief Engineer Lusk was very brief and was marked by continued strife and dissension among the members of the department.

He became _persona non grata_ to the council and charges were preferred against him. July 13, 1869, Alderman Hill introduced a resolution reciting that while the chief engineer could not be declared guilty of intentional fraud he was indiscreet in many things and his influence for good in the department had been so impaired that his resignation was demanded. This did the business, and on July 23 he resigned. W. B.

Leach was appointed chief engineer for the remainder of the term, and peace and good feeling prevailed in the department.

In March, 1870, after the inauguration of the new council of which W.

B. Leach was mayor, a pet.i.tion of the fire department was presented in which they asked the council to appoint Geo. A. Lincoln as chief engineer of the department. Another pet.i.tion was also presented, signed by many citizens, asking that W. D. Watrous be appointed chief engineer of the department. On the 25th of March, a ballot being ordered, Geo.

A. Lincoln received three votes and W. D. Watrous three votes, whereupon the mayor voted for Lincoln and declared him elected to the position of chief engineer, and on the 26th day of March he was duly qualified and took the oath of office.

Shortly after Mr. Lincoln a.s.sumed the authority vested in the office of chief engineer of the fire department, an element of discord arose in the council and an effort was made to secure by legislation and diplomacy what they had failed to accomplish when the vote was taken in March.

It was thought the original ordinance pa.s.sed in January, 1869, was faulty and should be amended and the ordinance committee was directed to make such amendments as were necessary or to prepare an entirely new ordinance.

During the summer of 1870 the committee had prepared an ordinance which was practically the same as the old one. The only radical change was in the manner of electing a chief engineer. The new ordinance placed the election of the officer with the electors after the year 1870 and a new section was added which read as follows:

”No person shall be eligible to the office of chief engineer unless he be a resident of said city at least one year and shall have attained the age of twenty-five years.”

To understand the force of this last clause in the ordinance it will be necessary to remark that at this time Mr. Lincoln was only twenty-three years old. This ordinance, the records say, was pa.s.sed July 29, 1870, but it was found necessary to amend it and it was not until ordinance No. 98 was pa.s.sed on September 30, 1870, that the council felt safe in electing a new chief engineer to take the place of the one so skilfully legislated out of office. On the 15th of October, 1870, A. R. West became the chief engineer of the fire department by the vote of the council. After the election of Mr. Lincoln during the spring and summer of 1870 it was uncertain whether the city of Cedar Rapids had a fire department or not, and it was also a question as to the authority possessed by the chief. There was much discord and bitterness among some of the members of the fire organizations. The city council was far from being harmonious and rarely acted in unison in legislating for the well being of the fire department. The citizens who had labored long and earnestly in this work of procuring fire apparatus felt that they had a right to demand that this bickering and personal contention between the organized fire department and the duly elected city council should be ended, but the strife continued. Early in the administration of Mr. Lincoln as chief of the department a communication was presented to the city council in which the pet.i.tioners, after recounting their many grievances, made the claim that the election of Mr. Lincoln was unparliamentary, unfair and contrary to the wishes of the department and to a great majority of the property holders, and that while the pet.i.tioners were willing to obey all ordinances of the city and the ruling of any legally appointed officer as chief of the fire department, they did not consider themselves lawfully bound to give any heed or attention to the said Geo. A. Lincoln. That they as members of the fire department would pay no attention to the said unlawfully elected chief engineer nor to any order coming from him. This pet.i.tion was signed by Sam Neidig, C. W. Eaton, G. M. Howlett, Sam Lilly, Chas.

Hubbard, J. C. Adams, Thos. Snook, and fifteen others.

Some time later the chief engineer made a report to the city council as the ordinance directed he should do, giving the necessary information in regard to the efficiency of the department and its probable needs for the future, but the council refused to accept it as the report of the chief engineer, making the broad claim that there was no fire department or a legally elected chief engineer and this was backed up by the opinion of the city attorney. Mr. Lincoln, not to be thwarted by the city council in refusing to listen to his report, was obliged to have it published in the city papers and some extracts are made here, showing the friendly feeling existing between him and some members of the city council. He reported that the steam engine was in good shape excepting that the grate had burned out and the committee on the fire department had refused to get it repaired. The hose was poor and not in condition to stand the pressure necessary in case of a large fire. This was owing to the committee on fire refusing to have the tower on the city hall arranged so the hose could be hung up to dry after having been used. Many small bills for supplies used by the department, and which were necessary for the running of the steamer, were hung up and not allowed, and in speaking of the cistern which the city had built he reports that one of the aldermen had the keys of the same and refused to turn them over to him and as to the amount of water in same he could make no report.

After the election of Mr. A. R. West to the position of chief engineer, the old original No. 1 Fire Engine Company, or a large proportion of its members, at one of its meetings pa.s.sed the following resolution:

”Whereas, The city council has seen proper to persecute and finally to declare us not an organized fire company, and

”Whereas, We who compose the Fire Engine Company No. 1 have since organization labored faithfully to make the department as efficient as possible and have in all cases discharged our duties as firemen, therefore

”Resolved, That we turn over to the city council all the fire apparatus in our possession. That we refuse to offer our services as firemen so long as any member of the city council who has been persistent in our persecution shall remain in said council.

”Resolved, That we condemn the city council in thus deliberately and intentionally using their power to cripple and destroy the efficiency of the fire department.

”Resolved, That we preserve our company organization and that each and every one refuse to touch, use or handle any of the fire apparatus belonging to the city of Cedar Rapids.”