February 22, 1913

There are three companies, each having a captain, a lieutenant, and six firemen, except Company No. 3., which is what is known as a single company; that is has no double apparatus.  There was an examination for second lieutenant of Company No. 2, and in this all the firemen entered.  The winner was H. N. Parrish, who gets the appointment.  The full and official membership of the companies is as follows:

Company No. 1, W. Morgan Street fire house, Captain B. C. Joyner, Lieutenant H. H. Horton, firefighters J. D. Jones, W. M. Niblock, Eugene Lassiter, L. F. Hicks, W. J. Martin, and Roscoe M. Simmons.

Company No. 3, old Victor fire house, corner E. Hargett and South Blount streets, Captain P. G. Welch, and firefighters M. J. Barker, R. B. Maynard, E. E. Jones, Ernest Holland, and J. B. Gaston.

The horses which used to be in the Rescue house have been removed to No. 1 fire house.  The Rescue house is private property.  It was built in 1870, to house the first steam fire engine ever brought here.  The company has a special charter from the legislature, and had some twenty active or contributing members.  It spent over $5,000 on the engine and building, equipment, etc.  Those were the days of big parades of the firemen; and teh Rescue used to have 100 men in line, with a band on their head.  The men wore red leather hats with big brims, blue shirts, trimmed with white, black trousers, and red belts.  The water for use during the fire was then held in cisterns at various points on the streets and in two in the capital square very near the building.  It was rain water caught from roofs which filled these cisterns.

The Rescue's arrival here and first public test brought out a great crowd for those days, over 40 years ago.  The water was taken from one of the cisterns at the capital and when it was thrown clear over that building the cheering was loud indeed.  There was a tournament and firemen came from Petersburg (the Ballingbrook Company) and from Charlotte (the Hornet Company).  The two days were made days of public rejoicing.  There were three bands, no end of water throwing, a parade, a welcome by the governor and the mayor and one could almost swim in the lager beer, so liberally did the Rescue company provide it.  Later still, the latter company made a notable visit to Charlotte, and the town was theirs.