340

Extracts from old Dutch Records.

[Book III,

prompt and excellent Director-G-eneral and their honours the Councillors ,it lias been deemed advisable and highly necessary to look into this mat-ter, and they do hereby ordain, enact, and interdict, that from this timeforth no wooden or platted chimnies shall be permitted, . . . Those alreadyStanding shall be permitted to remain during the good pleasure of the

fire wardens . As often as any chimnies shall be discovered to be

foul, the fire wardens aforesaid shall condemn them as foul, and the ownershall immediately, and without any gainsaying, pay the fine of threeguilders, for each chimney thus condemned as foul; to be appropriated tothe maintenance of fire ladders, hooks, and buckets ; which shall be pro-vided and procured [from Hollandj the first opportunity. And in case thehouse of any person shall be burned, or be on fire, either through his ownnegligence, or his own fire, he shall be mulcted in the penalty of twenty-five guilders, to be appropriated as aforesaid. Thus done, passed and pub-lished at Fort Amsterdam , this 23d day of January, 1648.”

This ordinance does not appear to have produced the desired effect,since a similar one was published in September of the same year. In Fe-bruary 1656 another was issued, by which the fire wardens were directed toestablish such penalties for chimneys or houses taken fire “ as shall befoundamong the customs of our Fatherland." At the close of the following yearthe use of squirts or engines does not appear to have occurred to the inha-bitants, a circumstance from which it may be inferred that such machineswere at that time little used in Holland, and this also appears from an al-lusion to the practice of quenching fires there, in a proclamation prohibit-ing wooden chimneys, flag roofs, &c. “ In all well regula'ted cities and

corporations, it is customary that fire buckets, ladders and hooks, are inreadiness at the Corners of the Streets, and in public houses, for the time ofneed. [Here is no mention of engines, although the instruments used inHolland are obviously alluded to.] The Director-General and the coun-cillors do ordain and authorize in these premises, the burgomasters ofthis city, either personally or by their treasurer, promptly to demand forevery house, whether small or large, one beaver , or eight guilders in sea-want, according to the established price; for the purpose of ordering fromthe revenue of the same, by the first opportunity, from Fatherland, twohundred and.fifty leather fire buckets; and out of the surplus, to have madesome^re ladders and fire hooks: and in addition to this, once a year, todemand for every chimney, one guilder for the Support and maintenanceof the same. Thus done in the Session of the director-general and coun-cillors, held in the fort of Amsterdam, in New Netherlands , this 15th dayof December, A. D. 1657.”

After New Netherlands became a British province, similar ordinancescontinued to be enacted tili the year 1731, when two of Newsham’s en-gines were ordered from London . These were probably the first fire-en-gines used on this continent. The following extracts are from the mi-nutes of the common council.

“ At a common council held the 16th day of February 1676-7,. in the28th year of Charles II . Ordered that all and every person and personsthat have any of the city’s ladders, buckets or hooks in their hands orcustody, forthwith bring the same unto the mayor, as they will answer thecontrary at their peril.” The same date some wells were ordered to bemade “for the public good of the city,” among which was “one overagainst Youleff Johnson’s the butcher; and another in Broadway againstMr. Vandike’s.” “ At a common council held the 15th day of March1683, in the 28th of the reign of Charles II . Ordered that provision bemade for hooks, ladders and buckets, to be kept in convenient places