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Page 28, Whltby Free Press, Wednesday, Augst23,.1995 Steamlengine use'd fýor haifa centuiry By Briau Wlnter Town Of Whttby Arohivia One ofWiiitby' moot interesting- Msng treasures is the Mezyweatiier st.am ire engn whic1- s.rved the. town from 1872 to 1926. It spent its last days as a boiler for cooking hot doge aithtei Canadianý National Exhibition in 1930 and was display.d at Fort York, but after the. 1980s it appears te have totallyr disappeared. 1Peniiaps it was sold for scrap for, the. Second World War. Efforts by, the. Wiitby ire department ove' the. past 25 years to locate it have- failed. Wiien ^the.Merryweatiier ire engin, came te townM in November 1872, the. citizens of Whitby were as eag.r te tiy it out ais kids witii a new toy. .Altiiougii the.Merryweatiier, manufactured in England, was primitive by today's standards, it was no .tey. It could- do tbings firefiiting .quipment-nearly 100 y.ars later could not., Within an iiour of its arrival ini Whitby by train on Nov. 2, 1872, the, Merzyweatiier was being put tiirougii its paces. The. steam ire engin. was placed in front of Mi Saints' Anglican Ciiurch and a lime ofiiose 800 feet long was laid te a weil at the, four corners (Brock and Dundas streets). With ease, the. fireflgiiters were able te send a str.amn of water over the. roof of the cliurcii. Urged on by the. excited crowd, tiiey aimed the. iiose at the. steeple and siiot a stream of water to its top, a iieigiit of 123 feet. This feat was conid.red r.markable, as the. 800 feet ofiiose was laid uipbiil mand the, water had to pass tirougii an additional 20 feet of suction hose. Tiirougii a siiorter hose length of. 200 feet, the. WHITBY'S Merryweather tireVgIine in 1934 at the corner of Brook and Dunlop streets. The driver is John Sawdon. 1 Whitby Archives photo water was sent over the vane at the, top of the steeple. mhe firefigiiters were so excited by thus accomplishment that tiiey continued pumping water until the. well ran dry., Ini 1969 wiien ligiitning started a fire at the. top of AUilSaints' steeple, the. ir. department's puinper could not shoot water higii .nougii te r.acii the blaze. It was, not until the. Town acquired an aerial truck four years later that the. problem was solved. Elated witli tiiir succris ai Ail Saints' ciurch, the. Towi's ire and water committee took the Merryweatiier to the. harbour. to see if it could ihoo1i water over the. top of ti.lagstaff, on Ciiester Drap.'sgri elevator, P. heigiit of 156 feet. Two 40-foot l.ngtiis ofiiose were dipp.d into the. bay. At the. sound of two whistles, the. irefigiiters succeeded in sending a* stream of water at least 25 feet over the. flagstaff.Th. grain elevator was as higii as a six-storey building, not counting the. ilagstaff. .h Town's previous fire engins hsad nover been able te, reacii sucii h-3ighte. Tii. Town council did not take long to agrée. te pay the. $2,600 price fo r the. Merryweatiier,- altiiougii making the. payment proved to b. more difficuit tiian. the. councillors realized. The Merryweatiier soon proved its wortii by. saving downtown Oshawa from destruction. On the. night of Dec. 8, 1872, an arsoini named Fitzmaurice set fre to his store for ineurance money and nearly burned, out thie entirè' downtown. .A cmii was èent to Wiiitby for the, Meriyweather. A t.am of horses galloped with the. ieavy 1 ire engins -iialfway' to the, neglibouring community, wiiere a fresii t.am was waiting té complete the journ.y. Tiie Merryweather was credited witii prev.ntingl the fire from sjpreadi.ug to neigiibouring residentialàreas. mhe Menywveatiier was kept k ia she.d at the. Town hall. Wiienever the, ire bell rang, citizens would unhitceh their teame ofiiorses from their wagons and, race to the, Town hall. Tii. first team to get to the fire hall puiled the. Merryweatiier to the. ire and was paid $5. Ithe. 1870s, that amounted to about tiiree days' wages. The Merryweatiier was specially built to witiistand Canad' cold limate. Its works did not freez. up in winter weather, althougii sometimes the. water froze ini the hoses. For 64 years the Merkyweatii.r faithfuily served Whitby's fire protection needs. SEE PAGE 27 Presripion Deliere 36th AnniversalY 668-2179 104 Byron St. S., Whtby Ontarlo, Il N 4P4 666-9395 Fairview Lodge Thanks The Advertisers Whose Support Has Madi W- V .LofOAL1 So rnuclimore t/ian proc(uce 3570 Brook St. NK Whitby - 427-4311i inuf 4 Whltby Branches to serve you Whitby Town Square 3050OGardon St. Morgage &Loan Centre 15 Thîcksan Rd. N. 107 Dundas St E. 601 Dundas St.W. 151R Hometown y-tl Pringle Creek IGA 728 Anderson St. ë This Ad Possible. orsp rt MEDICHAIkR OWN * Weelchairs & Seafrng SYstems SERVICE-hih Scooters, Walkers & RolaosSilgWlb for over25 years " Bathroom and Sale!>' Products " Aids ta Dal> Living Poducts 110 DUNLOP ST. E. WHITBY - 666-5001 ToI-Free 1-800-465-5028 400 Mary St E:-, Whftby 77111 ',77-7-7-7-7 7--7 7-777771 -7777, -.,, - TOWN [WFU£RAL CHAPEL EST 1927 m Ilý - -Mmodpqmm-