Philadelphia Inquirer, July 2, 1893View transcription
OLD-TIME FIRE LADDIES.
They Ran With a New Machine and Revived Memories of Former Service.
The old-time volunteer firemen of Camden renewed their youth last night, when they donned their uniforms, and amidst the clanging of bells and cheers and fireworks, dragged proudly through the streets a handsome new hose carriage.
Although the volunteers have been out of active service since 1869 they keep up their organization, and have headquarters at Broadway and Mount Vernon streets, where they meet to swap stories of the halcyon days when they were young and ran with the machine.
The new carriage was built in Reading and brought to Philadelphia last evening. A committee from the Philadelphia Volunteer Firemen's Association escorted it to the Market Street Ferry. On the Camden side a parade was formed.
First came Marshal Charles M. Baldwin, with Abraham E. Jackson and Alfred Matlack as his aids. Then the line was made up of Woodbury and Friendship Companies, from Woodbury; Haddon Fire Company, of Haddonfield, with a handsome hose carriage; William Penn Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1, of Stockton, bearing a handsome banner, and finally, the escort of Philadelphia volunteers and the Camden firemen dragging their new carriage, which bore the date "1815" and was decorated with flowers.
The police authorities had suspended the order against fireworks, and the volunteers were greeted with pyrotechnics all along the line of march. The decorations and display at No. 2 Engine House, the headquarters of the Camden Fire Department, were especially lavish.
After the carriage was paraded and housed the visiting firemen were entertained at the headquarters of the Camden Volunteers.
They Ran With a New Machine and Revived Memories of Former Service.
The old-time volunteer firemen of Camden renewed their youth last night, when they donned their uniforms, and amidst the clanging of bells and cheers and fireworks, dragged proudly through the streets a handsome new hose carriage.
Although the volunteers have been out of active service since 1869 they keep up their organization, and have headquarters at Broadway and Mount Vernon streets, where they meet to swap stories of the halcyon days when they were young and ran with the machine.
The new carriage was built in Reading and brought to Philadelphia last evening. A committee from the Philadelphia Volunteer Firemen's Association escorted it to the Market Street Ferry. On the Camden side a parade was formed.
First came Marshal Charles M. Baldwin, with Abraham E. Jackson and Alfred Matlack as his aids. Then the line was made up of Woodbury and Friendship Companies, from Woodbury; Haddon Fire Company, of Haddonfield, with a handsome hose carriage; William Penn Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1, of Stockton, bearing a handsome banner, and finally, the escort of Philadelphia volunteers and the Camden firemen dragging their new carriage, which bore the date "1815" and was decorated with flowers.
The police authorities had suspended the order against fireworks, and the volunteers were greeted with pyrotechnics all along the line of march. The decorations and display at No. 2 Engine House, the headquarters of the Camden Fire Department, were especially lavish.
After the carriage was paraded and housed the visiting firemen were entertained at the headquarters of the Camden Volunteers.
