CHAPTER III,

THE VOLUN THKR FIRE DEPARTMENT.
First two Decades   Under   the   Firiaiens   Cii.vritaiiee   Association—

DlSsATISF.VGTIoX WITH OlD METHODS—Org.\NIZA lIoN OF VOLUNTEER
Xo.   I  AND   THE    FlRSr     SiX    COMP.VNIEs—TllE     FiRST    REVOLT    AGAINST

City Interference—Firemen's Ch.vrit.vble .Assogi.vtion Organized—

ORIGIN.VL   Oi-'EICERS, DELE(iATES   AND   MEMBERS—Ik.VD   FERRY, THE   FiRST

Martyr—The Ferry Monument and the F'ire.men's Cemeteries—
XoTABLE Fires—ObseoUies of General Jackson—The First Engine
Built in New Orleans—A Year of Tragedies—Death ok Wood¬
ruff and McLeod—Burning of the Steamboat St. J.\mes—Origin
OF THE Fourth of ALvrgh P.vrade—First Election of Isaac N.
Marks as President—Condition and Purposes of the Firemen's
Charit.vble Association—Troui'.i.es with the City Authorities.

JOR nearl)' a decade previous to 1829, the property interests of
New Orleans had been growing rapidl)- under the impulse ot
the commercial activity that ensued upon the close of the war
with England. The development of agriculture throughout
the State multiplied the demands and opportunities of the State's princi¬
pal port, and not only were the dimensions of the city extended, but the
importance and market value of its buildings appreciated enormousl)-.
Great warehouses were built, docks were extended, banks, churches and
other public edifices were erected. Not only did the value of perishable
property increase, but the evidences of an early commercial greatness for
New Orleans so multiplied that, so soon as 1821, the erection of wooden
buildings within certain limits was prohibited.

As yet, however, notwithstanding this and other precautions against
the occurrence of fire, nothing satisfactory to the citizens was done
towards putting the establishment of the means  of extinguishing  fire on