by Barbara Rimkunas
This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, July 16, 2021.
In 1888, Charles Bell wrote, “the fire department of the town is highly efficient, and its members have shown their pluck and endurance on many a hard-fought field. And now that abundant hydrants have been added to all other safeguards, the risk of any wide conflagration seems reduced to a minimum.” The need for water had always seemed to be the greatest problem when fighting fires in town, but another issue had begun to be noted: the need to speed up sounding the alarm.
It was usually the smell of smoke that alerted people, followed by loud cries of “FIRE! FIRE!” The men of the various fire companies would then race to the station to bring equipment while neighbors would attempt to rescue as much personal property as possible from the burning building. The fire that took the life of Abby Glover in 1874 spread throughout the Railroad Avenue house during the delay taken before the fire department arrived. At the inquest, David Blake testified: “I reside in Exeter, on Railroad Avenue, about ten or fifteen rods from Glover’s house. The fire at Glover’s house broke out between one and two o’clock. I was alarmed by what seemed to be a knocking on the Glover house and loud talking in the house, without there being any cry of fire. I went out as soon as I heard the alarm and cried fire, and ran downtown.” There were no call boxes, no house phones, no cell service to summon the fire department. It was up to one neighbor, running as fast as he could, to bring out the hoses.
Other cities were beginning to install call boxes – Boston had a telegraphic system as early as 1851. Exeter began to install call boxes – paid initially by subscription – in 1891. Red Gamewell system call boxes became a fixture around town. Chief Engineer George Gooch reported in 1893 that, “six new boxes have been added to the fire alarm from the amount, $500, appropriated at the last town meeting. New poles have been set and painted, wires changed from trees to poles and line thoroughly overhauled. The whole system is in good working condition; still improvements could be made which would also increase expense.” By 1897, there were twelve locations that could be used by the general population. The instructions were somewhat complex: “To ring in an alarm, first unlock the box, having obtained a key from one of the places designated on a card near the box. Then having opened the box pull down the hook and release it at once. The box will then sound four rounds. Having given the alarm stay by the box to notify the apparatus where the fire is.”
To notify the general public, Exeter still leaned on the town bell and a steam-driven gong. Originally located at the Exeter Manufacturing Company, it was moved to the Gas Works on Green Street after a fire. Chief Gooch had hoped to return the gong to the mill but, he records, “the agent does not wish to have it there.”
The call box system was run by electricity. Although the town began to electrify in the 1890s, the alarm system depended on battery power. Chief Flanigan explained the system in his 1901 report:
“There are about 16 miles of wire, taking in all parts of the town, which feeds 14 Gamewell fire boxes, one steam gong, six relays, 4 tappers and about 35 vibrating bells. The main circuit battery, which is a gravity battery, is situated in the steamer house basement, and consists of 64 cups. The open circuit battery consists of 20 cups of open circuit batteries at the same place; at house No.3 there are 32 cups of open circuit batteries, and at hose house No. 1, nine cups of open circuit batteries. The main circuit batteries have to be renewed about every six weeks. The open circuit batteries have to be renewed once a year barring accidents.” The ‘cups’ he mentions were quite literally glass cups containing liquid zinc and copper sulfate. Sometimes a layer of oil would be added to prevent evaporation – it was a system that required a great deal of specialize maintenance. The town hired a designated electrician for the job. Although it was a tremendous improvement, the box system was only as good as its ability to stay online.
A fire at the box factory in 1899 illustrated how the system worked when it worked well. The Exeter Gazette reported, “Clarence Warner, employed at the box factory, went to feed the horses at the stable adjoining, at 4:50am, when he saw smoke issuing from the old part, or wooden box factory. He ran over to the depot, and C.E. Hanson, telegraph operator turned in the alarm. The hose companies turned out promptly and soon had their lines attached to the hydrants.” However, even though the alarm box had worked as it was supposed to work, the Gazette still noted, “the alarm was from the depot. It would have saved time had it been from the shoe factory.”
The 1906 Perkins Block fire found the system somewhat wanting. “Shortly before one,” reported the Exeter News-Letter, “Officer Howe in his patrol of Water Street thought he noted the smell of fresh smoke, so to speak, but saw nothing amiss. At the station he informed Officer McGaughey, and both started out to investigate. The glare of the fire startled them. Mr. Howe rushed to the scene of the fire and Mr. McGaughey to box 36 at the house of C.E.Warren hose company, it would not sound the proper alarm, nor would box 45 at the steamer house, to which Mr. McGaughey ran with all speed. Special Officer Maurice J. Dwyer had meanwhile been aroused and essayed an alarm from the box at Cincinnati Memorial Hall. That, too, failed to work properly, and Mr. Dwyer sent his son, Frank, to the gas works, where alarm was sounded by the gong. Chief Engineer Carter also ordered an old-time alarm by the bell of the First Church. The condition of the fire alarm system seems inexplicable by any theory save that it had been tampered with. A test Saturday noon proved it in perfect condition. A rigid investigation is being made.”
After some sparring over funding, the Gamewell system was upgraded in 1950. A 1949 Portsmouth Herald article discussed the problem of phone calls. “If the informant cries frantically, ‘My house is on fire,’ and then hangs up, the chances are it will keep burning unless he calls back to tell the firemen the proper location.” Exeter residents probably still recall the days when the location of a fire could be determined by listening to the fire horn blasting out a sequence of numbers. Annually, poster sized call cards were printed to decode the horn blasts. The same system announced snow days to eager school children. But all systems eventually have their day. The old call boxes were rarely used once the 9-1-1 system and cell phones made reporting a fire quicker and more accurate. The handsome old red call boxes are now museum pieces.
Barbara Rimkunas is curator at the Exeter Historical Society. Support the Exeter Historical Society by becoming a member! Join online at www.exeterhistory.org
Image: An early call card for the Exeter Fire Department. Note that to use a call box one first had to find the location of a key.