Maneuvering, International, Professional Firefighters, Men

There were four different demonstration events of firefighting at the 1900 Paris Exposition, which were really only exhibitions by firefighting crews. Of the four, this is the one about which we know the most, because it was well-described in the 1900 US Report by Albert Spalding, Report of the Director of Sports. Spalding noted, “Kansas City sent its famous engine and hook and ladder company No. 1, the necessary funds, $15,000, having been raised through the personal efforts of the patriotic mayor of that city. The rapid and perfect manner in which this company, under the command of its captain, George C. Hale, performed its maneuvers and thrilling life-saving drills excited the admiration and the repeated and prolonged applause of the great crowds assembled to witness this, one of the most interesting features of the exhibition’s sports.”

Spalding also noted the following report, from the 15 August 1900 issue of La Vie Illustrée, “One of the features of this never-to-be-forgotten day was the passing of the American engine and firemen of Kansas City, whose reputation is universal and whose photographs we are happy to produce here, thanks to the kindness of our American correspondent, Mr. Fitz-Morris.”

The report also mentioned that firefighting crews from England, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Bohemia, Hungary, Canada, Algeria, France, Russia, Luxembourg, Holland, Romania, and the United States were present, although it may be that this included the crews competing in all four of the events, as we know that Great Britain, Hungary, and Portugal had crews in the volunteer event.

Spalding concluded by noting, “Besides the superiority of the équipe or personnel of the Kansas City brigade, their American engine was also superior, throwing two streams of water at the same time of greater volume and 50 feet farther or higher than its nearest competitor, which only threw one. The horses were styled ‘trick or circus’ horses, especially trained for the occasion, and it was impossible to make people believe that every fire engine, hose carriage, and hook and ladder company in the United States has teams as well or similarly instructed. Kansas City was awarded the grand prix de l’Exposition and excluded from further competitions, as it was preeminently first.”

In addition to the names of the Kansas City firefighters we have found the names of the two horses that pulled their fire engine - Buck and Mack.