Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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What Kind of a Fire Alarm System should IV Installed In a City of 10,000 Population, or Lees. t Taper read by Harry A. barKan, Secretary of the Greenville Fire De? partment, before the State Firemen's Association.) Everything concerning the modern Fire-alarm Telegraph System should be of especial Interest to this Associa? tion, for Its introduction and subse? quent development was largely due to the late John N. Gamewell, born and educated In South Carolina. The first fire-alarm telegraph sys? tem was installed in Hoste n, Mass. n 1S55 Mr. Gamewell, then living it. Camden. South Carolina, r;ad the ac count of this invention. His pro? phetic vision, imagination gad hope? fulness sent him North to negotiate with Messrs. Channing and Farmer, the owners of the patents, for the right to Introduce the system in the Southern States. He soon secured a contract to equip New Orleans, and a little later acquired a controlling Interest in the patents for the entire United States. At the outbreak of the Civil war he ws* about to close a contract with St. Louis but abandoned his business at once, returned to the South, his home, and entered the service of the Confederacy, serving faithfully In the manufacture <>f military supplies un? til the close of the war. During the war Mr. Gamewell's patents were confiscated by the Uni? ted States Government and sold at auction. When peace was restored Mr. Gamewell at once made ar? rangements with the new owners of the patents to exploit them and soon made enough money to enable him to acquire their full ownership. He remained actively In the busi? ness until his death about ten years ago. Fully ninety-five per cent, 'of the municipal fire-alarm telegraph apparatus used In the United States was furnished by John N. Gamewell and Company and by their successors. This history Is probably known to all who are here present but it is well I believe, that It should be repeated and made a part of the record of the proceedings of the South Carolina Firemen's Association. Now, you ask. "what kind of a fire alarm system should be Installed in a city of 10,000 population, or less?" I answer. The Gamewell. Mr. N. T. Pierce. of Xenia. 111., in speaking on this subject says: It Is Just as im? portant for a city or town to have perfect fire-alarm service, as it Is for them to have a perfect system of water works, a first-class engine, or any other suitable piece of apparatus. There are about 1100 communities In the United States which have fire alarm telegraph systems. Included In this number are 55 with a popu? lation of from 1000 to 2000; 129 from 2,000 to 4,000, and 252 with ap? proximately 5000 population. These figures show that the fire alarm system Is successfully supplied end maintained at a cost within the means of towns with a population of 1000 and upwards,* to the largest cities. In this State there are eleven places, I believe which have a tire alarm telegraph system, but there are about eighteen cities and towns with a population of from 2000 to 10.000 wht -h are still unsupplled and which* need this service as much as those which now have this protection for the lives and property of their ctttaena. Whatever may be the else of a community, whether 1.000 popula? tion or 20.000. If It has a public water supply and an organised tire depart? ment It needs a fire-alarm telegraph system and cannot afford to be with? out It. In speti'-.hiK of the telephone as a means of transmitting an alarm of fire. Mr. Pierce further states: That the telephone system has some ad vantages over the ordinary fire it 1 or whistle, as It Is sometimes rearer for the person who wishes to trans? mit the alarm to reach the telephone than to run down town to the tlr?? bell; but this being the case, per? haps this person I.mes ? x< dted and after reaching the phone may direct the fire department t> an entrbh different locality from that In which the fire Is situated. Or p? rhaps they may not know the location of the nearest telephone, or it sometimes happens that there Is no telephone in that Immediate \hlnlty. In that ease the only thing for them to do Is |0 search until they have found the phoro and then transmit the alarm All this takes very valuable time and you all know that the first few min? utes of a lire are the most valuable of any during Its existence. Mativ large and d?structo Ifen might haw been gjektlhd 'n their Infancy had tie town In which they occuried been equipped with proper fire-alarm fa? cilities. \V?? all know ?h.nfu.-d ?n and KsM of time whl- h must occur at es? iM fire when there is no suitable alarm system. We all know that the de? partment and the v.,ihr supply an of no value whatever until the hit ? men know that there Is a fire and where It Is and until tie - nr .. if the -erne. If froni lack of knowledge of the fire and its location the arrival of the I fremen is greatly delayed then the. consequences are sure to he serious. Xo one can deny that the fire-alarm telegraph adds Immeasurably to the efficiency of any fire department and to the value of any system of water supply. The purpose of a fire-alarm tele? graph, is first to inform the firemen that there is a fire in progress, and second, to advise them as to its lo? cation. The alarm must arouse all concern?d and simultaneously tell them where the fire is. This is ac? complished by sounding signal num hers, each of which defies a certain location. A street box when operated by opening its door and pulling a lOVOf automatically sounds its own particular number and repeats it four times by strokes on tower or church hell, or by blast from a steam or com pressed air whistle. Sometimes both bells and whistles are operated in the same system. Simultaneously the signal number of the street box which has been pull? ed Is visually displayed in every en? gine and hose house in the town and is also sounded on small gongs in the residence of the Chief and other offi? cers of the department. In small cities where the fire-alarm system is installed all of the appara? tus is connected on one or two elec? tric circuits and Is operated by a chemical or storage battery. Boxes and other apparatus can be added from year to year without the re? construction of the original system. All of the apparatus is so well con? structed that it can he depended upon to last a life time with the proper care and attention. Original fire-alarm boxes made over fifty years ago, although lacking In many lmportunt modern improve? ments, are still in use in many city systems today. There is nothing about the care and maintenance of a fire-alarm tele? graph system which cannot be readily learned and easily attended to by any Chief in places where the system is not large enough to require the ser? vices of a "man for this special pur? pose. In hundreds of cities where there is no fire-alarm Superintendent the Chief of the department maintains the system. What little line work rnd pole climbing may be required is always readily arranged for with local people. In reference to the cost of this sys? tem I will only state that, the first cost of a system for a City of from 1.000 to 10,000 population will range from $1.000 to $5,000 or $6,000. de? pendent upon the type and amount of apparatus and the length of the lines. In the method of fire insurance ra? ting now in general use it is found that the Installation of an approved fire-alarm telegraph system leads to a reduction of insurance rates which means a sum much larger than pays the interest on the first cost and the maintenance of the entire system. It has frequently happened that the Installation of a fire-alarm telegraph system has in its first year been the means of saving many times Its cost. I think that we will all agree that any City or town which continues to Ignore this great protection to life and property Is acting unwisely, and that it is our duty as c itizens and lire department officials to use our in? fluence in every possible way to se cure the extension of present sytems. and the installation of new systems In places where they do not now exist in e\ery city which has a fire department and a water supply. I.efore the National Firemen's As? sociation, Mr. Frank C. Stover said: When a city reaches five (or more) thousand population it should invest in the t>. >a p. rf'ect non-interfering su t essi ?n alarm boxes; have auto m itlc non Interfering lire-alarm re [M iters, eomblned gongs and Indica? tors for the engine houses, together with either a tower bell or whistle for H .unding a general alarm. Buch plants WOOld cost from three thous? and dollars tip. according to the amount of apparatus and Witt circuits installed. With thanks to those who assisted me In pre Poring thll paper. 1 respec fully submit same. I. U BI AS l lltl M\\ INJURED. High Hob Cnnaea Mr, T. M. Dftver, To I all. While .on practising Tuesday, Mr. T. M. Ihvver. of the Lnurotti lire ?b portment foil beneath hti wagon, ?ttSl lining several slight injuries. The Lnureni wagon was considered too hn avy for the race, s<> ? lighter wagon was borrowed from one of the Sumter companies, The step on this wagoa was much higher than on the one he \\;is Used to, ftttd whell .Ml'. Dlvveft who, i* bfokeman, Jumped of! thS wagon, being unused to the c hanged steps, he I. II, the wagon rolling over his left hand. iIs s i Immediately taken to tie Rumter Hospital, where he was given treatment, Two bones In Mr, Dlv ver*i left b ind were broken, and the physician w as forced to amputate halt of one finger. Mr. Dlwer was rest? ing romfortahly this morning. MASSACRE AT LONG CANE AND Tili: CALHOUN FAMILY. .Fames ClUboUll, IrMi Immigrant, First Lived in <>iii Waxhaw settlement. Then In Abbeville?Cruel Murder Of MtMi and Women at Long Cane in 1700?Monument to Brave Wo? man. (By Mrs. Oze Van Wyck, Cateeehee Chapter, I). A. Ii., Anderson, S. C. ! In 1733 James Calhoun and his wife Cartherine left Douglas, Ireland. ; to find a home in the new country. They chose this home in the state of Pennsylvania, and after living there a while they decided to move [ to Virginia, hut they had lived in Vir- ' ginia only a short time they were j driven from this home by hordes of ruthless savages let loose upon the frontier settlement In consequence of Braddoek's defeat. The family then moved to Waxhaw, Lancaster county, South Carolina. James Calhoun had four sons. John, William, Ezekiel and Patrick. The father and sons were all planters.' At Waxhaw his sons were Immediately associated with such men as William Richardson Davie, the dis? tinguished partisian leader of the Rev? olution, Andrew Jackson and Gen. Andrew Plckens, and from this peo? ple came four of the greatest men of their times: Jackson, Calhoun, Craw? ford and Plckens. They were all Scotch-Irish and Presbyterians of the Strictest set, and around old Waxhaw church was formed the settlement Which gave tone and thought to the Whole upper country Of this state. Old Waxhaw church is thus describ? ed by McCrady . ' Unpalnted, unceiled, uneushloned in the straight-back pews and rough Sunday school bench? es, it looked grimly wooden and des? olate. In this settlement children week taught to read the Bible every day. and were familiar with the word of God in the family and in the school, as well as in the church. The children and youth recited the As? sembly's Shorter Catechism once a week." "Children were taught to speak the truth and defend it, to keep a good conscience and fear God?the founda? tion of great men." Moved to Abbeville. The Calhouns decided to make an? other move and pushed on to the county which Is now Abbeville. They had been living there but a short while when the horrible massacres of Long Cane was enacted. William Calhoun (born 1723) had married Agnes Long (born 1733) In 1749, and at the time of the massacre they had the following children: Joseph, Cath? arine, Mary and Ann. The settlers at Long Cane, number? ing 250 souls, mostly women and chil? dren, had heard of the uprising of the Cherokee Indians, and on the morn? ing of February 1, 1760, the entire colony was busy packing wagons and getting ready to fly to Toblus Fort, near Augusta, when the blood-curd? ling and savage war-whoop of the Cherokees was heard. The ammuni? tion and guns of the men were most? ly packed in the wagons and the horses hitched or partly hitched to the vehicles. Quicker than it takes to tell It William Calhoun saw his moth? er, 76 years old, killed by the savages, and his little daughters. Catharine and Mary, scalped and dying, and lit-' tie Ann, a baby of two and one-half years, seized and borne off by the savages. Panic-stricken and almost paralyzed with horror, he cut a horse loose from a wagon and placed upon his back his wife and only remaining child, Joseph, a boy 5 years old ,and bade them flee towards Augusta. The bereaved mother rode all day and at nightfall, coming to a vacant house which had been left by some family running away from the Indians, she took refuge In It. During the night, in her desolation and bereavement, with no eye to see, no ear to hear, no hand to help, save God, she gave birth to a son and called him Pat? rick. A Valiant Soul. With her husband and murdered children behind her, and danger all around her. fearing to stay where she was. and not physically able to go forward, hers was a situation seldom equalled In life, but hers was also a stern pioneer character, and, realiz? ing that she must move on. even if I she lost her own life, try to reach | Toblus Fort and save the lives of her I two sons/at dawn, mounting her horse with the little Joseph ul the new baby, she rode forth and arrived safely at the fort. Where she was carefully nursed back to health and strength, i will say just here that Pat? rick (of the wonderful birth) grew to be a fair youth and fought in the war of the Revolution .and was killed In the last year of the war at the a?;< of L'o. Nothing ion dauntless bravery saved the men ai l?ong Cane. The Calhoun brothers, with thirteen other white men. maintained a desperate tight with the Cherokees, until, over? whelmed by superior forces, 'hey na:1 to retreat. In Ihe massacre they were fifty persons killed mostlj women and children. Patrick Calhoun returned to Long 1 ',uir three daj n lab r to bury hl ; mother and little nieces, Catharine and Mary, who had been killed, and besides his own kin found twenty dead bodies inhumanely mangled. McCrady says: "Another man found nine little fugitive children wander? ing in the woods; some had been cut and left for dead, others had been found in the bloody fields scalped." There was no trace of little Ann, the baby child who was carried off in the arms of an Indian on the day of the battle. After consulting togeth? er, and realizing their unprotected condition, the Scotch-Irish settlers de? cided to go back to Waxhaw, where they found protection. After his return to Waxhaw Patrick Calhoun met and married the daugh? ter of the Rev. Alexander Craighcad. and after her death and his return to Waxhaw he met and married Miss Maude Oaldwell, the mother of Caro? lina's great statesman, John C. Cal? houn. Five years after the massacre of Long Cane, a treaty having been made with the Indians, all the prisoners were gievn up. Upon the day appoint? ed William Calhoun attended the meeting with a faint hope that he might find his little Ann, who was not over 7 years old. He was told by her mother that the child had a scar on the hack of her neck caused by a burn. Watching wdth eagerness each prisoner that was brought for? ward, he at last saw a dainty little girl led out and Instantly recognized his lost child, and readily identified her by the scar. She could not speak a word of English and just a little Indian. When little Ann was taken captive she was the baby, but on her return home she found that the stork had visited the Calhoun nest and left her sveral little sisters and bothers. The young Calhoun children were: Patrick, Rachel, (who afterwards be? came my great-grandmother.) Esther, William, Ezekiel, Nancy, and Alexan? der, so this worthy couple, William and Agnes Calhoun, had five sons and six daughters. Little Ann grew up and married Isaac Matthews. History says that Patrick Calhoun and the other settlers returned to Long Cane, and that the move to Waxhaw was only a temporary one, until they could secure protection from the state, and that settlement was afterwards protected by the Ran? gers, who were paid by the state, and that Patrick Calhoun was made their captain and served wdthout pay. Patrick Calhoun erected a stone to the memory of his mother on the spot where she was so brutally murdered. The inscription reads: In memory of Mrs. Catharine Calhoun. Aged 76 years, who with 22 others was here murdered by Indians the first day of Feb. 1760." For the incident related in this paper I am Indebted to my aunt, Mrs. Engenia Norris Anderson, of this city. She kindly allowed me access to an old manuscript in her possession. This manuscript came to the family from Rachel Calhoun, my great-grandmoth? er, and she had It orally from her mother, Agnes Long Calhoun. I found the facts corroborated by Mc? Crady in his History of South Caro? lina. ?Lame shoulder is almost invarjably caused by rheumatism of the muscles and yields quickly to the free appli? cation of Chamberlain's Liniment. This liniment is not only prompt and effectual, but in no way disagreeable to use. Sold by W. W. Sibert. The game of draw poker suffered a blow to its reputation when the term "jackpot" was employed to des? cribe a fund applied by corruptionists to the purchase of Illinois politicians. Louisville Courier-Journal. *'Tt cured me," or "It saved the life of my child," are the expressions you hear every day about Chamber? lain's Colic, Cholera and Diarrhoea Remedy. This is true the world over where this valuable remedy has been introduced. No other medicine in use for diarrhoea or bowel complaints has received such general approval. The secret of the success of Chamberlain's Colic, Cholera and Diarrhoea Remedy is that it cures. Sold by W. W. Sibert. The superlative Is the only word to describe our FINE FURNITURE. it's of artistic originality?made In the best veneers and solid woods and our stock gives every buyer the enhaoe to tit tIi? ir pock* t book with the kind ot furniture they want. Tay US a shopping Visit today. Witherspoon Bros. Furniture Co. COLUMBIA BOND ISSUE, Bids Opened Today But Not All Were j Taken at Par. Columbia, June 21.?The Comlum bia city council today opened bids for $8 50,000 worth of thirty year, 4 per cent, bonds, which are to refund on ! July 1st, that amount of maturing bonds, which were inherited from the reconstruction regime, and for which the city never received any benefit. The meeting was secret and coun? cil declined to reveal the names and amounts of bids, but said that none below par would be accepted. Not enough at or above par were filed to take up the Issue. ?Chamberlain's Stomach and Liver Tablets will brace up the nerves, ban? ish sick headache, prevent despond? ency and invigorate the whole sys? tem. Sold by W. W. Sibert. Or in other words, Champ Clark would like to have the house rules changed to suit his special abilities as a presiding officer.?Indianapolis News. ?Chamberlain's Cough Remedy Is sold on a guarantee that if you are not satisfied after using two-thirds of a bottle according to directions, your money will be refunded. It Is up to you to try. Sold by W. W. Si? bert. *If you are not satisfied after using? according to directions two-thirds of a bottle of Chamberlain's Stomach and Liver Tablets, you can have your money back. The tablets cleanse and invigorate the stomach, improve the digestion, regulate the bowels. Give them a trial and get well. Solu by W. W. Slbert._ Don't Neglect Your Eyes? call and have our optician examine your eyes if they are troubling you; by having this done you may not have to wear them long. But to continue straining them may necessitate you wearing them your lifetime. Our optical parlor is fitted with every device for thoroughly examin? ing the eye. We have installed a lense grinding plant and do our own lense grinding and driling; carry a stock of compound lense frame mountings and optical goods. We can fill your prescriptions at once properly; all work guaranteed. Graduate optician in charge. W. A. Thompson, Jeweler and Optician, Phone 333. ? - No. 6 S. Main St. Bank of Sumter Sumter, S. C. Capital Stock, - Surplus and Undivided Profits, $75,000.00 $67,945.00 Over Fifteen Hundred Depositors. The Farmers' Bank and Trust Go. Is the people's bank, it gives careful attention and absolute protectionjto all business^entrust ed to its care. If you are not a patron- we want you to become one. Sumter, South Carolina. spcspcsaogacsocsacsp DEPOSIT With First National Bank THAT'S ALL. ELEGANCE AND COMFORT. are features of our Buggies. They have all the style, all the beauty of trimming and the comfort as well. The comfort is both mental and bodily. You can sit back at your ease and feel confident that no one has a finer looking buggy than yours. Come and see such a buggy. Our prices won't scare you, but will make you wonder how such vehicles can be made for so little money. THE S. M. PIERSON CO. Headquarters 5Mror Hay, Grain, Rice Flour, Ship Stuff, Mixed Cow Feed and Chicken Feed. We Sell ^ Lime, Cement, Shingles, Laths, FireJ Rrick, Acme Wall Plaster, Drain Pipe, Etc. Our usual assortment of Horses and Mules. And a full stock of Buggies, Wagons and Harness to select S? from. 3 Bootli-Harbv Live Stock Co. r Sumter, - - - South Carolina.