Showing the Northern Liberties Hose Company (White Turtle) and the Lafayette Hose Company (Red Crab) racing to a bonfire near Eastern State Penitentiary on July 25, 1852 during a weekend of fires throughout the city. Men from each company run side-by-side and pull the ropes hooked to their companies' hose carriages. One man from each company stands at the front of their crew and plays a bugle or yells at the team to push forward. Dogs and pigs run beside the companies, flee the scene, and get caught under the wheel of the hose carriage. Includes a view of the buildings along the street, showing people running in the distance and a sign reading "coal." The "winning" Northern Liberties Hose Company (White Turtle) had a fire house at New Market Street above Coates Street, just a few blocks from the "losing" Lafayette Hose Company (Red Crab) at Fourth Street above Brown Street. The hose companies often fought each other including at this "race" where a Northern Liberties member was stabbed., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Not in Wainwright., "Jonas" and "Priff" are pseudonyms., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 836
Date
[ca. 1852]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *BW – Fires & Firefighting [P.2008.34.17]
