of the new steamer. The rapid growth of the city necessitated the
frequent purchase of new fire apparatus, and at the present time the
St. Paul fire department has 211 paid men, 15 steamers, 4 chemicals, 8
hook and ladder companies and 122 horses.

* * * * *

The volunteer fire department had no better friend than the late Mrs.
Bartlett Presley. She was the guardian angel of the fire department.
No night so cold or storm so great that Mrs. Presley was not present
and with her own hands provide coffee and sandwiches for the tired and
hungry firemen who had been heroically battling with the flames. She
was an honored guest at all entertainments with which the firemen
were connected, and was always toasted and feasted by the boys at the
brakes. She will ever be remembered, not only by the firemen, but by
all old settlers, as one of the many noble women in St. Paul whose
unostentatious deeds of charity have caused a ray of sunshine in many
sad homes.

Mrs. Presley's death was deeply regretted, not only by the fire
department, but by every resident of the city.

* * * * *

Among the many brilliant members of the legal fraternity in St. Paul
in early times no one possessed a more enviable reputation than
the Hon. Michael E. Ames. He was the very personification of
punctiliousness and always displayed sublime imperturbability in
exigencies of great moment. One dreary winter night his sleeping
apartment in uppertown was discovered to be on fire, and in a short