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FRAMED EPHEMERA FROM THE SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT - Ephemera from the San Francisco Fire Department

Title: Ephemera from the San Francisco Fire Department
Description: San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Fire Department, 1914. Hardcover. B&W Illustrations; This is a large framed group of ephemera - with information to be used by firemen in the course of their duties. The latest date on this material is July 1914. The frame is in very nice clean, condition and is somewhat unusual in it's makeup - with screws and slats on the rear so it can be opened (basically, this frame is in the manor of a bulletin board which can be updated without too much difficulty) . Inside the frame are five sheets of paper which have been notated with different tables, including: SFFD Preliminary Comp. Calls & S. G. Signals, Tapping & Clearance Drills for Various Taps, Diameters of Drills, Powers & Roots of Numbers, SFFD Names and Locations of Apparatuses, Standard Telegraph Code information and two sheets underneath which aren't really visible. "On July 11, 1912, a unique contest was conducted in the presence of Chief Murphy, the Fire Commissioners, the Fire Committee of the Board of Supervisors, and a large attending crowd. A newly designed motor drawn apparatus, the Nott Motor Engine, was to be pitted against the finest horse drawn rig in the Department. The object of the contest was to determine the swiftest and most efficient of the two. The start of the race was from Second Avenue & Clement Street, the old house of Twenty-six Engine. At the sound of the gong the horses leaped into their collars and charged out the door, smoke already belching from the steamer. The driver of the Nott Motor Engine cranked his machine and was quickly in pursuit. His objective was the hydrant at Thirteenth and Lake Streets. He made it in 2 minutes and 20 seconds and the crew had water out the nozzle in a total elapsed time of 3 minutes and 40 seconds. The foam flecked horses drew up to their hydrant at Eleventh and Lake in 3 minutes and 55 seconds, with water flowing in 5 minutes and 6 seconds. Everyone knew what the results meant. The days of the horses had passed, and after this time none were purchased for Fire Department use. In 1903, the first electric auto had been purchased for the Chief and three more were bought in 1905, but they proved unreliable and none were in service at the time of the Fire. The first motor driven apparatus was installed in Chemical Company No. 3 on Bush Street in 1912. In March of the next year the first auto-driven steam engine was installed at Engine Company Twenty-eight, Stockton and Greenwich Streets." (from the SFFD historical page). Very Good+ .

Keywords: Ephemera San Francisco Fire Department Californiana California History San Francisco History Ephemera

Price: US$ 250.00 Seller: S. Howlett-West Books
- Book number: 38792

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