Historic Philadelphia

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Above: Volunteer firemen of the Delaware
Engine Company, in 1865, showed off their
two-horse steam-powered pumper. The
company became Engine Company Four
when the paid Philadelphia Fire
Department was formed in 1871.
COURTESY OF FIREMEN’S HALL, THE NATIONAL FIRE
HOUSE AND MUSEUM OF PHILADELPHIA.
Right: The Zoological Society of
Philadelphia, formed in 1859, the first such
organization in this country, opened
America’s first zoo on July 1, 1874. The
major attraction was three stone bear pits
inhabited by shamelessly food-begging
bears. Frank Furness designed some Zoo
buildings including the entrance gates and
an elephant house. There was a monkey
house, a bird house, a beaver dam, and
herds of deer and buffalo.
COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR.
HISTORIC PHILADELPHIA
80
new law provided for 337 firemen in 22 engine
companies and five hook and ladder companies,
using horse drawn steam pump equipment.
Many volunteers were hired to become
professionals. Base pay was $350 a year.
The disenfranchised volunteers went out in
typical style. The night before the changeover,
they dragged their hose carts and pumpers
through the streets, ringing bells, cursing,
shouting, and having races. False alarms
abounded, and there were several arsons,
extinguished by some of the better, nonriotous
companies. When the first alarm came
in for the new professional force, a barn fire
on Chelten Avenue, diehard volunteers of the
Mount Airy Hose Company pulled their hose
cart to the scene. They were arrested for
disorderly conduct.
An epizootic, the four-legged equivalent of
an epidemic, struck the horses of the area in
October 1872. Imagine the city today if nearly
every motor vehicle quit running. With few
functioning horses, street car lines stopped.
Workmen and volunteers pitched in to pull
wagons. It was spring before enough horses
were back on their feet to have the city
functioning normally. For the next half century,
old-timers who heard a friend coughing or
wheezing would joke, “He’s got the epizooty.”
The firm of Furness and Hewitt got a
commission in 1874 to nearly double the size