Associates in this scheme were presently found, amounting to thirty.
Our articles of agreement oblig'd every member to keep always in
good order, and fit for use, a certain number of leather buckets,
with strong bags and baskets (for packing and transporting of goods),
which were to be brought to every fire; and we agreed to meet once
a month and spend a social evening together, in discoursing and
communicating such ideas as occurred to us upon the subject of fires,
as might be useful in our conduct on such occasions.
The utility of this institution soon appeared, and many more desiring
to be admitted than we thought convenient for one company, they were
advised to form another, which was accordingly done; and this went on,
one new company being formed after another, till they became so numerous
as to include most of the inhabitants who were men of property;
and now, at the time of my writing this, tho' upward of fifty years
since its establishment, that which I first formed, called the Union
Fire Company, still subsists and flourishes, tho' the first members
are all deceas'd but myself and one, who is older by a year than I am.
The small fines that have been paid by members for absence at the monthly
meetings have been apply'd to the purchase of fire-engines, ladders,
fire-hooks, and other useful implements for each company, so that I
question whether there is a city in the world better provided with
the means of putting a stop to beginning conflagrations; and, in fact,
since these institutions, the city has never lost by fire more
than one or two houses at a time, and the flames have often been
extinguished before the house in which they began has been half consumed.
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