Document text
rancis Donovan
Thomasto n, Conn
Mond ay ,Jan 30 39
There is no one in the Fire House today,and ough I wait hopefully
for more than an hour,none of the members,acti e or honorary,appears.
Though the weather is inclement,which may ace unt for the absence
of some of thelptit takes nothing leas than Act of God to keep the
rugged Mr.MacCurrie indoors and his deiect •n is something of a puzzle.
I can only conclude that he has pressing siness of some kind this
afternoonor that he has decided to sp d a few hours wtgleitx at the
home of one of his less active cronie
The little circle which earlier in the fall numbered a good half
dozen has bee me sadly depleted. d Ed,who in the ten years since his
retirement,rarely failed- come 11 or high water -to spend each afternoon
at the Fire House was the fi t to go --his demise having been duly
chronicled in these dispatch a me weeks ago. Kr. Odenwald has been
in poor health for s crne t e and is und ef orders of his physic an to
"take it easy. His vii a are brief and infrequent. Mr Armstrong has
but recently returned f n the hospital aril is not yet permitted to
corn e "down t cvn." Mr Richmond who because of his ntwilleminErK penc 'Iant
for disagreement wi virtually any given statement finds hie popularity
on our side at an 11 time low,frequents "the other side" almost
6rtrr
speft exclusivel
A few words about the other side" may be in order. limp of the
older members hose memory goes back to the early days of the olegantzatta
organization of our Fire Department tell4 me that tiWeittatlectxtrrAtokailli-
kiriciatlasifitiox a spirit of bitter rivalry
marked th relations of tigaL "Crescent Hose NuMber One" and "Hook and
Lad Sr 1ber Two" fif ty or more years ago. So intense was the feeling
W 15104
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between the two companies that members were forbidden to enter the
quarters of t ir rivals. Friendships of years stand ing were ruptured
and in one or two notable instances blood relationship was woad:it no
bar to bitter quarrels. Old recor da of the two companies pawisixbeweemettx
Iddigffler provide an interesting sidelight on this curious feud.
These are replete with sardonic comment on the eirlif/Pettaingmffillax
tardiness of "the otter side" in answering alarms,the slopnineas of
their vo rk once they arrived at the scene of action and the ir general
ineptitud Illairanialettebsaltegeletx In their prof iciency at more or
less polite name calling the zastsamszukciantiractmermiersecretaries of
both oomnanies in these early days yielded the palm to no man.zseilosi-
Faint traces of the ancient feud remain,apparently a heritage.
Though tioNeirx±sitimr.------tkizatimmerie "the otb.ers1 e" is no longer
verboten
Viseishitie, there is a sort of tacit understanding among members that the
faciliti es of Crescent Hors Number One belong exclusively to OM the
members of that denartme it, and vice versatand that it is not exactly
cricket for a Ladder man to go over and turn on the Crescents' radio.
By this same token a member of the Crescents who came over to use
the new shower would be in line for outspoken criticism.
The Crescents to this day retain the reputation of being "hard to
get into," and the exceeding g.u
deliberation
with whic h they go about f illing a vacancy in their membership list
would sem Mae to !ustify popular belief. They are also said (but
this may be a canard propagated by some disappointed smoismisit "joiner")
to be more than a little "close" in money matters. Be tD.t aa it may./
they are much less active than the Ladder Comiany in sponsoring social.
even to tand the ir financ ial situation is a do soly guarded mystery,while
it is ccomon IMOMMIIIK knowledge that set our side tiessimitssismsTxfiememmx
lex operates blithely on the treasury defic it principle.
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Our Fire House itself is of a style of architecture which iseiatuar-
no doubt has been outmoded these many years It recently became necessary
to reinforce the wooden floors,which were seen to "give" in alarming
exterior
fashion when the heavy apparatus was driven in and out. The*Witmig.
of the building however is of sturdy red brick,impervious to the
advance of time,and -together with the town hall next door- a matter of
WW1% community pride. The building is set on a-* ramp down which our
two pieces of modern fire filopOidainoppx fighting apparatus thunder in
imposing fashion at the sound of the factOry whistles --or as soon tisanes&
thereafter as sundry volunteers can reach -Ow teadquarters in their
fast cars.
Lower floor interiors,of course,house the trucks,but there is
room in the rear for a few card tables and atraight backed wooden
chairs. The chairs which we occupy in our daily forums are towards
the front,facing the windows and from them we pilaw conmand a view
of Main st-eet and the adlacent town hall. Thus we are often furni_shed
with conversational fuel by tin passersby when we have become talked
out on topics of
Upstairs are
Masonic salerrala'
renovated,furnis
at the Pembitmew further end,with a
table. But this is a sear sanctum
venture except under
pliMMIUM% tolerated
the community. It is
periodic intervals daily to amemsommisiu
the radio. Being an honorary member,the old
77? e Te D
of the entire "side" and is losimilx4gaialiree by younger
the day.
the parlors,where company meetings are held in
seclusion. Those on our side have been recently
hed with deep-set upholstered chairs and couch and
pistropstinuotitiAttp3e/E-x ping -p ng
sanctorum into whizgh I dare not
the protecting wing of snme memter,though I
downstairs by sant virtue of long residence
retires at
here that Mr.MacCurrie raitmemix
get his news proerams over
gentleman has the run
mem.Irrs with
am
in
a rough,bantering affection.
Mr.MacCurrie has confessed more than once that he would be "lcst"
if he cculdn't come "doon to the Fire House." He boards with relatives
who have a '.iouse full of children and he fAlleimxttxemPeditandorac must seek
elsewhere the peace and quiet that his nerves demand. Hence,his lengthy
walks,his almost unalterable routine. For though he is fond of children,
there is a certain point,he cteclares,beyond which his patience will bear
him no limegibcptratxtkeimktommamweehrta longer.
Teliigg=mgd=1;verse to conversation by any means,
the is not so lonuacious as some of his mid cronies,
and mammtx*Im his opinions on matters other than politics are obtained
only after adroit mmemexamsadammummeemx maneuvering. Politically,however,
he edWalpxriincrentftelimeimpordeftix will take the field at any time and
with any adversary,his ifeastgadekaemspeerx frosty blue eyes snapping
with excitement and the 211012kxft7 Rxxrientsgmettr%ftWienglemiKx broad Scots
rollim off his tongue like butter.
In his national and state sympathies he is uncompromisingly Republic-
an. Lifelong conviction has been diemilawk unseated where town politics
are concernedthowever,for Mr MacCurrie bears a grudge against our Ftrst
Selectman which will never be satisfied until that gentleman is defeated
for office. This is the result of what he declares was a triftigicsgm delib
orate misapTiropri,tion of eiliipmen-x "compensation mo ey" rightfully belong
ing to him. Mr MacCurrie carries in his pocket and will produce with
little or no urging especially when he has had a few ittUe=able
"uT:
To the the
evidence of the wrong which has been done him.
evidence might seem lacking ilwrritieemegtx the c ohe iveness which
is demanded by the more of the ludiciary,but Mr. MacCurriele
explanation sWielizaxastalere% is convinc g.
'4461-1/ days when Mr MacCurrie has a few atheelemer,one ccncludes,
Igidialltegr"loeiiiigterillowx Rem
are much fewer than he wucld like them to be.
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and his lusty marlf(lodd,
iniscences of ilmOdigisx his early youtt_mare apt to be prefaced,or
concluded ,with the remark,'Of coorse I was aboot half seas over
at the time."
His slender purse these days will not meet the demands of
ton heavy a thirst,and Mr. MacCurrie finds solace more often in his
snuff box. He has recourse to it,indeed,yesftentr/mmOirmame whenever twarr
cnntemplation of the shifting scene NW furnishes puzzles too complex
to be easily solved. The British foreign polimpOONwmc pAicy,the
Sino-Japanese warothe gold standard,Messrs Mussolini and Hitler,
and Osiiitaxamsersezdettagbaffimw economic and social bogi-s of all descript-
ions have been vanquished by he MacCurrie snuffbox time and again.
The keen,alert Matiwww*rx mentality of Mr MacCurrie is excellent-
ly complemented by his sturdy physique. Though he is meson in his
seventy-fifth year,he never has an "ache or a pain," and he firmly
believes that his inflexible habit of taking fair or five mile walks
daily is responsible in lar e measure for his slAlendid health. He his
taken the winter in his stride,and bids fair to come through without
so much as a co171.
He has been made the central figgre in these little sketches beowasis*
largely because the daily f,vums on "our side" revolve around him and
because VOW he has been during all these weeks as immutable a Wilisigto*
fixture at the ire House as the h -nor roll containirg tto names of
t*Wastiter the members who saw service during the great war.
Of the others who frcm time to time appear,Mr. Coburn is perhaps
most worthy of note. He is typical,if anyone may be said to be typical,
of the younger membership on "our sB e." In his early thirties,unma-ried,
plEasure cr loving,Mr.goburn is igircxxvPa"witax vitally interested in
little except what he describes as a "good time," though he will talk
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at length upon any ccmceivable subject. His political opinions are in a
state of flux,for he is one day right and one day left,and he is often
contradictory, though never uninteresting. Temporarily employed,Mr.Coburn
will kk not be with us except possibly on Tuesday afternorms when the
stores are do ,for some time.
Our Fire House,imum incidentally,is palm* probably the last outpost
of the old way of lifetand it is tereoll if anywhere,that one may catch
brief glimpses of the fusion of two eras. The illigagragrithwmgclailierskrigkx few
remainirg old timers --rugged Mr. MacCurrie as an outstanding nmegm—%xamok
example-- belong to an age obviously regarded by
their yflung sucilessnrs as prehistoric. They were born and raised and
spent their y outh in a worli incomprehensible,,Adliato MD Coburn
though it is doubtful whether that gentleman has ever given the matter.
thought. their
He meets Mr.MacCurrie here on a ccmmon ground,andlhba conversations
are of subjects purely ccntemporary. Mix On the other hand,wOmmxtiasa
on the occasions when there are other oldsters present,tte diessiseeK
discussion will eventually xsisaa become reminiscent in caracter,and
on the days when sufficient numbers of both old and young have gathered,
there will be a formation of two distinct groups,oftentimes at opposite
ends of taero,-m.
In our tcwn,the cracker barrel discussinns in ,Asst grocery stores are
resemble those of the
a thing of tie pastgand anista the barber shops
city --impersonal places shining with ctromium fittings
mirrors wher,- conversations are muted, and tWK business
tiditinatle"Puraadt. utmost efficiency. We have a
ity and
vintage 1938 —which is the last word in modern,
young swains billpt linger at the church doors on Sunday
for the girls.
and too many
Droc,sds with
po gt off ice
no longer
do the
evenings waiting