Rum used to entice Firefighters

If November 11, 1850 was a bleak day for Fredericton, it was a black day for its fire department. The Fire of 1850 demanded heroic measures, and at least one company of city firemen fell far short of the mark.

As The Daily Gleaner put it more than 40 years later, "the extent of the demoralization of the whole fire department, and the citizens as well, will be better understood when it is known that after the Methodist steeple fell, the men in charge of No. 1 engine ran off and left it standing on King Street, and did not return, and had it not been for the then Governor of the Province, Sir Edmund Head, together with some citizens he had called to his assistance, the engine itself would have been destroyed by the fire."

The firemen's desertion of not only their post, but their equipment, pointed out one of the difficulties inherent in the totally volunteer contingents of a century ago. Sometimes, the urban firemen of the past century sometimes needed a little extra incentive. The need to increase efficiency led to the development of a rum idea.

Referred to as "Rum for First Water", the concept was beautifully simple, and to some of the firemen, simply beautiful. The men of the first hose company to reach a fire and get water on it became entitled to rum money as a reward.

The plan worked wonders; never had fire calls in Fredericton received such prompt attention. The practice apparently remained in vogue for several years in the mid-nineteenth century, until it got to be too much of a good thing. After 17 old sheds burned on 17 consecutive Saturday nights and No. 1 Hose Company made every single "score", the authorities decided that fire, water, and firewater just didn't mix.