The Mighty Maxim, by Steve Rideout

I’m always a little embarrassed when procrastination pays off. I probably shouldn’t be, since I do it enough that the odds ought to provide a positive result once in a while. This time they did.

I discussed this proposed topic with Star editors almost a year ago. The title, “The Mighty Maxim,” has a clear subtext of “What Goes Around Comes Around.” Those of you who are members of the East Hampton Historical Society now know that’s the title of this year’s Winter Lecture Series. When the society’s announcement postcard arrived, my procrastination had to end.

Visitors to the Emergency Services Building who have gone upstairs into the large meeting room have seen the East Hampton Fire Department’s memorabilia displayed in cases and on the walls. One large wall has pictures of all previous department chiefs. Only Judson Banister is proudly shown next to a department fire engine, a 1928 Maxim hook and ladder truck. 

Jud joined the department’s Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 in 1919 and within a few years was elected captain, a post he held until 1930. As life and politics go, inevitably there comes a time when the younger generation decides to take on the established elders, and by the late 1920s this evolution had arrived at the Fire Department. Through a variety of team-building events, especially summer cookouts at his camp on Three Mile Harbor, Jud developed a large following from the members of his company, the department’s largest. 

In 1923 he ran against a longtime member and former chief, Felix Dominy, when the chief at the time, George Davis, a close friend, chose not to seek re-election and nominated Jud. Felix won by a vote of 51 to 49 and continued to be re-elected through 1927, a year when he again defeated Jud, 26 to 21.

The changing of the guard happened in 1928. Jud nominated Frank Conklin, known to have a large following of younger members. Chief Dominy was also nominated, and the final tally was 64 to 61 in favor of Conklin in a large turnout. Re-elected as captain of Hook and Ladder 1, Jud proceeded to work with the new chief to convince the village board that getting a new hook and ladder truck should be a priority. Funding would need voter approval. 

In June, village board members standing for election were re-elected, but the hottest issue turned out to be a proposal to allow movies to be shown on Sundays. It went down in defeat, while a proposal to raise $18,000 to buy two new fire trucks passed 157 to 125 despite predictions of failure. 

The Star’s Nov. 30, 1928, edition printed a picture of the new Maxim a week before it was delivered. In early December the 17-year-old Fulton truck of Company No. 1 was replaced by the impressive new hook and ladder engine soon to come under the charge of Captain Banister.

Less than two months later, on the first Sunday of February, it would be put to its first test during the Gregory Company Store fire. The four-hour battle was described in great detail headlining The Star’s Feb. 8, 1929, front page. The new truck was prominently displayed in a three-column photograph showing ladders taking firemen to the top of adjacent buildings. “The new ladder equipment,” the article said, “a part of the Maxim hook and ladder recently purchased, was used to very good advantage and every ladder but one was pressed into service.” 

As seems always the case, though, the significant and expensive purchase was controversial before the surprising town vote. In that same issue, Welby Boughton, The Star’s editor at the time, noted the controversy over the truck’s purchase, with many citizens believing it would become a “white elephant.” But he also pointed out that others thought its capabilities indispensable and offered, “From our viewpoint the ladders proved quite necessary and essential.”

Jud was elected chief in 1930 and was re-elected three more times before choosing not to run in 1934, when he was succeeded by Steve Marley. During his years as chief, the department organized a very successful competition team, winning a number of county and statewide trophies still displayed in the large meeting room. The Maxim was prominently exhibited during many of those competitions as well as in local parades.

Jud, encouraged to run for village mayor in 1936, won that election and went on to serve eight two-year terms. It was now his board’s turn to review and approve Fire Department elections, oversee budgets, and hear appeals for new equipment. Pending village elections during Jud’s last term, scheduled for mid-June 1953, brought up the prospect of a ballot issue to raise money for a new truck for Company No. 1. A brief front-page report in The Star just before the election reported “No Fire Truck Vote.” What happened?

Replacing the 24-year-old Maxim first came before the board at the November 1952 meeting. Berkley Bennett, captain of Hook and Ladder No. 1, explained some of the deficiencies of the aging Maxim, noting the company was in touch with the American LaFrance Corporation and recommended that a new aerial ladder truck be purchased. Board minutes reflect that Chief Walter Mansir and Captain Bennett were advised to gather sufficient information to bring the matter before the board as it developed the 1954 budget.

Harold Chapman, representing the department at the May village board meeting, told them the company, through either misunderstanding or misrepresentation, he was unsure which, had tried to get support for the new aerial ladder truck by direct petition. He was advised to proceed in the regular manner, getting approval first from the Fire Council and then presenting the request to the board. Further discussion revealed that while Company No. 1 was strongly in favor of the purchase, the department generally was not.

By late May 1953 the department secretary, Harry Parsons, wrote the board reporting a Fire Council vote of 7 to 4 in favor of purchase. Chief W. Adair Orr advised the board at its June meeting that this new truck, while having impressive capabilities and time-saving efficiencies, weighed 101/2 tons and would be prohibited from several roads and small bridges in the district. He recommended that the board contact the National Board of Fire Underwriters seeking advice as to the adequacy of the Maxim versus a new aerial ladder truck. 

A June 8 letter from the fire underwriters explained that based on discussions with Chief Orr on the Maxim’s condition and the nature of East Hampton’s buildings requiring protection, they could not “recommend any replacement at this time.” Parts of this letter were included in The Star’s report that the fire truck issue would not be on the June ballot. Nor did it come up in 1954 during Jud’s final campaign, which he lost.

What had gone around in the original purchase was to come around again while Jud was mayor — the desired purchase of a new ladder truck. It remained unresolved before he left office. A year later, a June 9, 1955, Star headline asked, “Is A 1927 [sic] Fire Truck Old Enough To Retire?” Answering its own question, the paper thought yes, saying, “For the safety of East Hampton’s firemen and the protection of property this 1927 truck should be retired from fire-chasing, according to talk among men up and down Main Street and Newtown Lane.” 

The Nov. 3, 1955, issue reported that the department got the new truck by direct action of the board and mayor. That new mayor? Steve Marley, who two decades earlier, in 1934, had followed Jud as chief when the mighty Maxim was very much in its prime. 

Do these issues ever stop coming around?

Steve Rideout regularly visits East Hampton to research family history. He lives in Shutesbury, Mass., with his wife, Carol Stanley Rideout. Jud Banister was her great-uncle.