By Richard Baker
The West Newbury Veteran Firefighters Association is holding its first Hand Tub Muster in decades from noon until late afternoon on Saturday, July 18th at Burnham Field / Cammett Park on Bachelor Street in West Newbury. Food will be provided by the West Newbury Fire Company.
A Hand Tub is an antique fire engine operated by human power. Teams of ten to forty men lift and lower long, parallel wooden rails called brakes. They rock the brakes up and down in a rapid, synchronized motion to power the pistons operating hand-powered water pumps.
The Muster is a sporting competition between towns to see who can pump water the farthest with the antique fire engine. Hand Tub Musters have been held in New England for over 175 years.
In the competition, each team gets a 15-minute window on a pumping platform. Within that timeframe, they can attempt multiple “shoots” or “plays”. Each shot usually lasts about 30 to 45 seconds of actual pumping in an intense burst of pumping. Judges measure the exact horizontal distance of the water stream from the nozzle tip to the furthest dime-sized drop of water hitting the ground.
On July 18th, teams from Ashburnham (Hancock #128), Newbury (Protection #1), Bath, ME (General Bates and the Quansigamog)), West Newbury (Gardner 4), Mystic, CT (T.W.Lane), Newmarket, NH (Tiger #1), and Southborough (Union #1) have signed up to compete.
The public is invited to see this unusual competition. Many teams allow the public to help pump; West Newbury’s Gardner 4 is looking for help with pumping. Parking for the public will be by the Bandstand. ♦
