1. FIRE FIGHTING—THE FIRE OF 1765—“THE CASE OF THE CANADIANS OF MONTREAL”—THE EXTENT OF THE FIRE—FIRE PRECAUTIONS SUGGESTED—OTHER HISTORICAL FORCES—THE MONTREAL FIRE FORCES OF THE PAST AND PRESENT.
2. THE LIGHTING OF MONTREAL—OIL LAMPS, 1815—GAS, 1836—ELECTRICITY—FIRST EXPERIMENTS IN THE STREETS, 1879—THE ELECTRIC LIGHTING COMPANIES—NOTES ON INTRODUCTION OF THE TELEGRAPH—FIRE ALARM—ELECTRIC RAILWAY.
3. FLOODS, EARLY AND MODERN, 1848, 1857, 1861, 1865, 1886—THE PRACTICAL CESSATION IN 1888.
4. THE CITY WATER SUPPLY—THE MONTREAL WATER WORKS—PRIVATE COMPANIES—THE MUNICIPAL WATER WORKS—THE PUMPING PLANTS—THE WATER FAMINE OF 1913.
FIGHTING FIRE
Hardly had the English rule started in Montreal when on Saturday, May 18, 1765, a great fire raged for three hours, nearly endangering the safety of the whole city. There is in the McGill University Library bound up with sermons and essays, the first being an essay concerning the human rational soul, a rare pamphlet bearing the title, “The case of the Canadians of Montreal, distressed by fire.” There is no date of publication or publisher’s name. It is marked “Second Edition” and a postscript in it shows that this second edition was printed after March 20, 1766; probably in London. The second page has the following sub-title:
“Motives
for a
Subscription
Towards the relief of the sufferers at
Montreal in Canada
“by a dreadful fire on the 18th of May, 1765, in which 108 houses
(containing 125 families, chiefly Canadians)
were destroyed; and the greater part of the inhabitants
exposed to all the miseries attending such misfortunes.
The whole loss in buildings, merchandise,
furniture and apparel
amounted to £87,580 8. 10d.
sterling; no part of which could be insured.”
Underneath there is a wood cut of Canada kneeling before Britannia pointing with her left hand to the burning blocks and appealing for relief. Underneath are the words: MONTREAL MAY MDCCLXV. By consulting the concluding pages of “The case for the Canadians” we see that the pamphlet is the appeal of a committee of trustees in London “who meet at the New York Coffee House every Thursday at 11 o’clock and will be glad to be favored with the assistance of any subscriber.” The treasurer was John Thornton, Esq., and there were twenty-three members, of whom Edward Green, secretary, concludes the list. There follows a list of firms of merchants and others in the city to the number of twenty who would take subscriptions.