Anamosa - A Reminiscence 1838 - 1988

Presbyterian Church
Q
.i'§5,... "
were lost. The damage was estimated at $15,000.
The Presbyterian brick church on Strawberry Hill
was consumed by fire in Oct. of 1901. In five minutes
after the ringing of the fire bell. the Hook & Ladder
company was there, ready for action; but only to find
that the church was gone. They worked to keep the
flre from spreading to surrounding buildings. In the
meantime, the fire company and people living in the
neighborhood succeeded in saving almost the entire
furnishings in the church.
The flre started when the custodian, Douglas Soper.
after raking up and cleaning the church grounds, was
burning brush and rubbish. He had made two piles
about 50 feet from the church, and set fire to them,
looking on as they burned. The pastor. Rev. Brown.
happened by, and took special care to watch out for the
leaves still hanging on the trees, in case they should
become ignited. After a period of time, satisfied there
was no danger from the leaves catching fire, he left the
scene.
The unexpected occurred, when the wind-blown.
burning embers shot over the trees and landed on the
shingles of the church roof.
In March 1926, the firemen rushed to the scene of
another fire in which the roof was ablaze. This time it
was the Catholic Church, located on the corner of
Broadway and High streets. A number of ladies were
cleaning the church in preparation for Easter services
when the fire broke out. They were not injured. The
church was consumed by fire. Faulty equipment
caused a severe failure of the men to fight the fire. and
contributed to the loss. so that the firemen could do
nothing except focus their attention on saving nearby
buildings. Fireman Ray Purcell was slightly injured
when he fell from the roof of Mrs. Lizzie Smeltzer's
residence south of the church.
Of all the volunteer organizations, the volunteer fire
fighter tops them all in the minds of many people. The
Anamosa group has never lacked members in recent
history: and local firemen. to a man. receive the
support and respect of the community.
Earlier in this article it was mentioned that the city
mayor issued an "order" to the firemen to stop playing
cards at the flre station. It appears that this should be
up to the firemen to decide. As long as they are doing no
damage — and to be a fireman one must be an "upright
citizen"— so there is little danger of desecrating the fire
station. Also, the esprit de corps is an essential
element. if the flremen of 100 years ago quit on the
strength of the mayor's directive. it wasn't in effect for
very long.
At any rate, when a young son of a fireman, (who will
not be named) was recently asked, at pre-school, what
his father did, the precocious boy responded that he
was a fireman. When asked what his father did as a
fireman, it was reported that the son promptly replied,
“He plays cards at the flre station".
Another tradition; one that plays havoc with the fire
department in performing their duties. is when a string
of autos promptly make a parade, by following the fire
trucks too closely.
This has been a practice, for years. and apparently
not confined to Anamosa or small towns. The Anamosa
Joumal editor 50 years ago wrote, "We notice
everytime there is a flre in Anamosa. 15 or 20
automobiles tag along after the fire truck." He reasoned
against this habit by explaining, “Once in Orlando.
Fla., we were arrested for following a flre truck. When
we asked why, we were told that the firemen were often
thrown off of the truck, and cars following might run
over the men. So, ifyou must follow a fire truck to a flre.
stay back a block in the rear and give the fire laddies a
chance for their lives."
This writer remembers hearing about an occasion
when the fire whistle was sounded. The firemen came
on the run, and the truck took off out of town. It then
came to a dead stop; whereupon the police made a
"killing": ticketing those who followed without heeding
the allowed legal distance. Firemen have a wonderful
sense of humor. It comes after the physical and
emotional tensions have passed. Back in 197 2, a dinner
was held at Memorial Hall. the building that then also
had the fire station. The dinner was to especially honor
all living past firemen, forty of whom were present. It
was a night to reminisce about some of their fire
fighting experiences. Guy Taylor, long-time fireman,
was the master of ceremonies. He introduced Jim
Porter, who served 22 years and was chief for 10 years.
resigning when he moved out of the city limits. Porter
said. “I can talk on flremen for years." He recalled that
it was the firemen who put the cement floor in the first
flre station, when the fire department got its first truck.
He recalled that when he operated a dray wagon, his
team often pulled the fire equipment, and sometimes
when the fire bell rang, the team took off without him.
Porter recalled that the Catholic church fire was the
only fire the department ever lost while he was on the
force. The men burned out a pump and were not able to
save the structure.
The popular story of fireman Dillon Hall and the hot
coffee was told. It happened in Olin where out-of-town
flre companies were assisting with a drug store fire.
Someone served the firemen coffee. Hall's coffee —
being served very hot — was too hot to drink. He looked
up at the heavens and exclaimed. “God, please cool my
coffee." At that moment, a stream of water from the
Stanwood firemen came over the top of the building
and into his cup. Hall, so the story goes, tasted the
coffee. looked up to the heavens and said. "Just right."
Bill Dorgeloh told of a funny situation that happened
during WWII. The fire department was on hand to put
out a lire in an oven. The fire started because the lady's
husband had hid a bottle of whisky in the oven, and
when the unsuspecting lady turned on the stove. the
bottle exploded.
Several stories were recalled about the day Don
Goodman, who was told by the assistant fire chief to
clear out the attic. threw out a trunk of Haviland china
out an attic window at the Mills house fire on Booth