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AT THE FORKS OF THE GRAND By 1840, fire was an ever-present threat to the village of Paris. It continually endangered the 200oo-odd houses, taverns, shops and mills, most of which were grouped closely together and built with pine siding and cedar roofs. Its challenge was particularly great during the winter months; for then chimneys often showered sparks from wood-burning stoves and fireplaces. The owners of shops and mills were so fearful of fire that they formed insurance companies and paid very high rates. In 1833, Norman Hamilton helped to organize the Gore Mutual Fire Insur- ance Company. One of his policies, written in 1843, reads in part as follows: . . . on his Three and a Half Story grist mill, built of wood with stone basement, and its fixtures and machines containing one pair of Burr stones and a Plaster Mill occupied by himself and situated on Smith's Creek at the forks of the Grand River in the Village of Paris, the sum of One Thousand Pounds at the rate of twenty per- cent making the sum of Two Hundred Pounds premium. When one realizes that insurance rates in i843 were about ten times higher than they are today, one understands how great was the risk of fire, and why men like Hamilton encouraged the organization of fire brigades. Such men usually helped to finance a brigade, and often got themselves elected captain. Charles Whitlaw, whose grist mill was for many years the largest in Paris, led his brigade against many fires. In 1887, when he was getting well up in years, he was still active as fire-warden. Until i85o, the villagers organized themselves into bucket-brigades. A bucket-brigade was useful for putting out a small fire, or for pre- venting the spread of flames from building to building. But it was usually helpless in the face of a big fire. Sometimes the distance between the well and the flames was so great that the members were unable to form a continuous line. Sometimes the well or cistern would quickly be pumped or bailed dry. And usually the end-men, when the heat became intense, could not get close enough to throw water on the flames -and certainly they could not easily throw it from the ground to a second story. Consequently, the townsmen organized new brigades with better techniques and equipment. To begin with, in i850o they organized five volunteer fire-companies, modelled upon those that had already appeared in the larger towns of Canada. These brigades were at first independent of one another and of the village council. They had their respective club houses and distinctive uniforms. And they were equipped by the council with either a hook-and-ladder wagon or a hand-operated fire-engine. To supply the brigades with water, the council constructed a number of public water-cisterns and wells. About i85i, for instance, a big cistern was constructed at the corner of Burwell and Dundas Streets. In i856 a large well was dug in the North Ward. And in 120 , [