ere some one in the running crowd seized them and carried them
on. On reaching the fire, a double line called lanes of persons was made
from the fire to the river or pond, or a well. A very good
representation of these lanes is given in this fireman's certificate of
the year 1800.

The buckets, filled with water, were passed from hand to hand, up one
line of persons to the fire, while the empty ones went down the other
line. Boys were stationed on the _dry lane_. Thus a constant supply of
water was carried to the fire. If any person attempted to pass through
the line, or hinder the work, he promptly got a bucketful or two of
water poured over him. When the fire was over, the fire-warden took
charge of the buckets; some hours later the owners appeared, each picked
out his own buckets from the pile, carried them home, and hung them up
by the front door, ready to be seized again for use at the next alarm of
fire.

Many of these old fire-buckets are still preserved, and deservedly are
cherished heirlooms, for they represent the dignity and importance due
a house-holding ancestor. They were a valued possession at the time of
their use, and a costly one, being, made of the best leather. They were
often painted not only with the name of the owner, but with family
mottoes, crests, or appropriate inscriptions, sometimes in Latin. The
leather hand-buckets of the Donnison family of Boston are here shown;
those of the Quincy family bear the legend _Impavadi Flammarium_; those
of the Oliver family, _Friend and Public_. In these fire-buckets were
often kept, tightly rolled, strong canvas bags, in which valuables
could be thrust and carried from the burning building.

The first fire-engine made in this country was for the town of Boston,
and was made about 1650 by Joseph Jencks, the famous old iron-worker in
Lynn. It was doubtless very simple in shape, as were its successors
until well into this century. The first fire-engine used in Brooklyn,
New York, is here shown. It was made in 1785 by Jacob Boome. Relays of
men at both handles worked the clumsy pump. The water supply for this
engine was still only through the lanes of fire-buckets, except in rare
cases.

By the year 1670 wooden chimneys and log houses of the Plymouth and Bay
colonies were replaced by more sightly houses of two stories, which were
frequently built with the second story jutting out a foot or two over
the first, and sometimes with the attic story still further