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"Ben Franklin"
Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography: Page 90
of 154
charge the levying a tax that should be proportion'd to the property. This idea,
being approv'd by the Junto, was communicated to the other clubs, but as arising
in each of them; and though the plan was not immediately carried into execution,
yet, by preparing the minds of people for the change, it paved the way for the
law obtained a few years after, when the members of our clubs were grown into
more influence.
About this time I wrote a paper (first to be read in Junto, but it was afterward
publish'd) on the different accidents and carelessnesses by which houses were
set on fire, with cautions against them, and means proposed of avoiding them.
This was much spoken of as a useful piece, and gave rise to a project, which
soon followed it, of forming a company for the more ready extinguishing of
fires, and mutual assistance in removing and securing the goods when in danger.
Associates in this scheme were presently found, amounting to thirty. Our
articles of agreement oblig'd every member to keep always in good order, and fit
for use, a certain number of leather buckets, with strong bags and baskets (for
packing and transporting of goods), which were to be brought to every fire; and
we agreed to meet once a month and spend a social evening together, in
discoursing and communicating such ideas as occurred to us upon the subject of
fires, as might be useful in our conduct on such occasions.
The utility of this institution soon appeared, and many more desiring to be
admitted than we thought convenient for one company, they were advised to form
another, which was accordingly done; and this went on, one new company being
formed after another, till they became so numerous as to include most of the
inhabitants who were men of property; and now, at the time of my writing this,
tho' upward of fifty years since its establishment, that which I first formed,
called the Union Fire Company, still subsists and flourishes, tho' the first
members are all deceas'd but myself and one, who is older by a year than I am.
The small fines that have been paid by members for absence at the monthly
meetings have been apply'd to the purchase of fire-engines, ladders, fire-hooks,
and other useful implements for each company, so that I question whether there
is a city in the world better provided with the means of putting a stop to
beginning conflagrations; and, in fact, since these institutions, the city has
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