Oliver Evans' shop corner of Vine and Ridge Road, 

 the levers were forged and fitted up at his blacksmith 

 shop on Cherry Street, 65 the ash wood handles were 

 turned by Hansell, 66 the wheels and running gear at a 

 carriage shop at Hestonville (I cannot recall the name) 

 and the box or body for the first engine was built in 

 the back shop on Market St. and afterwards in the 

 new building on 6th Street 67 until the advent of the 

 Market & 16th Streets shop. I must not forget the 

 painting, which was done by Woodside the sign 

 painter. 68 With all this scattered work you can form 

 some judgment of the amount of leg wear to a boy old 

 enough to run errands. Samuel Meredith and George 

 Rawlings built the first engine bodies. 



After the advent of the regular fire engine shop, 

 things were consolidated and systemized and a much 

 better character of work was turned out. To do that 

 with the character of tools then in use the highest 

 character of skilled labor had to be employed, which 

 they were very fortunate in securing. 



The only labor saving machines for wood work 

 were a small circular ripping saw driven by a hand 

 crank wheel [and] a pattern maker's lathe driven 

 by the same crank wheel. In the finishing room were 

 plenty of vises, cold chisels and files. There was one 

 hand lathe for metal which had a Maudslay slide 

 rest that belonged to father who had purchased it 

 from a workman who brought it from England. I 

 recollect that he paid $40.00 for it. It was too tall 

 for the lathe in the little home shop without blocking 

 up. There was also a small wooden shear (iron 

 slided) slide lathe for turning piston rods, etc. All 

 drilling not done in the lathe was done by a hand 

 crank with a weighted jointed overhead lever or 

 with ratchet drills. 



The blacksmith shop was the best equipped of any 

 part of these works — it had four regular fire hearths 



65 Oliver Evans's Mars Works were at gth, Vine, and Ridge 

 Road. I know of no Evans shop being on Cherry Street. 



68 Thomas Hansell, turner, next to 41 North 8th Street 

 (Philadelphia directory of 181 7). 



67 Perhaps 10 North 6th Street (Memoirs, book 4, pp. 66-67, 

 book 17). 



69 A favorite of the Philadelphia fire companies, John A. 

 Woodside is mentioned frequently in the account of fire com- 

 panies in Scharf and Westcott (Cited in note 14 above), 

 e.g., pp. 1053, 1898, 1900, 1 901, 1902; see also Joseph Jackson, 

 "John A. Woodside, Philadelphia's Glorified Sign-Painter," 

 Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (1933), vol. 57, 

 PP- 58-65. Woodside is the artist who drew the picture in 

 figure 8 (p. 10). 



and a small one for tool dressing. The bellows for the 

 large hearths were home made and as I think father 

 designed them they may be worth describing. They 

 were oblong square boxes the size of which, as near 

 as I can recollect being 3x6 feet and 1 2 or 14 inches 

 deep. There were double flap valves in its solid 

 bottom and the lower leaf, the size of the box, was 

 hinged at the travel end and leathered in the usual 

 manner. The box was the air chamber and between 

 its upper edge and a float plank was a space of about 

 6 or 8 inches leathered so slack as to allow the plank 

 to sink to within a couple of inches of the bottom of 

 the box. To keep this floating plank central there 

 were a couple of upright round rods that passed 

 loosely through holes in cross bars above the box. 

 This float was loaded to the pressure of the required 

 blast. 



The first work that I recollect in the shops was the 

 making of a number of what they called village 

 engines. These were made for sale without regard 

 to special orders. Then followed a larger class on 

 which taste was displayed in the design. They were 

 mounted on springs with galleries for goose neck and 

 branch pipes, as well as for the hose attachment at 

 the side and with suction to take water from ponds 

 or cisterns. 



Though still a school boy I was actively at work 

 on the fancy designs. I have some of these sketches 

 but do not know where to lay my hands on them. 

 Playing from the gallery and through the hose from 

 the side attachment was what made Pat Lyon dub 

 them as "D. D. Cholera Morbus Machines." I 

 think the first of these large fancy engines was built 

 for the Philadelphia Hose Company, then followed 

 the Phoenix, and at this time a first class engine was 

 being built for Providence, R.I., and another for 

 Richmond, Va., also one for Washington. D.C. I 

 think the last built by the firm was the Assistance 

 and it had father's floating piston in the air vessel, 

 and on a trial with the "Diligent" thoroughly wet 

 the ground several feet beyond the "Diligent's" last 

 drop. 69 On one of my visits to Philadelphia after 

 the burning of the Theatre opposite the Girard 

 House I was told by an old member of the Assistance 

 that after the steam fire engines had failed to ex- 

 tinguish the flames on the high cornice of the Girard 



69 It should be noted that this followed Diligent of 1820 by 

 several years, perhaps seven or eight. 



44 



