The Carillon Park engine is shown above during its period of active service. Sidney firemen pose in the foreground.
The Carillon Park engine is shown above during its period of active service. Sidney firemen pose in the foreground.
During its long span of service, the Henry Young compiled an admirable record of dependability. In operation, the engine was first fired with wood which in turn ignited coal. Usually by the time the engine arrived at a blaze it had already developed a head of steam and was ready for use. As with most steamers, constant attention to the flues was required if the engine was to operate at peak efficiency.
The earliest aerial ladders were made of wood and mounted on horse-drawn trucks, with ladders being raised or lowered by hand-operated cranks. Today’s aerial ladder truck, as shown above, embodies tremendous improvements in safety and efficiency.
The earliest aerial ladders were made of wood and mounted on horse-drawn trucks, with ladders being raised or lowered by hand-operated cranks. Today’s aerial ladder truck, as shown above, embodies tremendous improvements in safety and efficiency.
The modern pumper pictured above has an output of 1,500 gallons of water per minute, more than four times the pumping capacity of the Carillon Park steam fire engine. In addition, it carries 1,600 feet of hose.A 275-horsepower motor provides instant and dependable power.
The modern pumper pictured above has an output of 1,500 gallons of water per minute, more than four times the pumping capacity of the Carillon Park steam fire engine. In addition, it carries 1,600 feet of hose.
A 275-horsepower motor provides instant and dependable power.
Another problem recalled by old-time residents of Sidney was the shower of sparks emitted when the engine was in use. Its operators were subjected to this fiery barrage at frequent intervals, with the result that coats and other items of clothing were often perforated by the red-hot cinders.
An anecdote which has survived along with the Henry Young concerns one hectic fire run during which the engine was almost wrecked. With the horses plunging ahead at full speed and the engine rounding a turn, one of its wheels hit a severe bump. For several long seconds, the engine careened wildly on two wheels. The thoroughly frightened driver sat paralyzed, even after the engine had righted, but the veteran fire horses headed unerringly toward the scene of the blaze. Proof that the horses really did find the fire, old-timers say, is that the driver was still immobilized at the end of the run, and had to be helped from his seat.
The Ahrens Manufacturing Company of Cincinnati, which built the Henry Young, was at one time the largest producer of steam fire engines in the Midwest. The ancestry of the Ahrens engines can be traced all the way back to Moses Latta, who accomplished what the world’s mechanical geniuses had hitherto failed to do by devising a boiler which not only generated a lot of steam but in addition produced the steam quickly. Once this milestone had been passed, the road to widespread and successful usage of steam fire engines broadened, and progress became correspondingly rapid.
The Ahrens firm had its start in 1868, having succeeded Lane & Bodley, the company that had bought Latta’s works. Ahrens was quick to make significant improvements. Whereas Lane & Bodley had built only seven or eight machines, depending on Latta’s patterns, Ahrens immediately introduced new designs which greatly increased the efficiency of the engines.
Ahrens engines were made in several sizes. The larger models had two cylinders and two pumps and were known as “double” engines. The smaller types had a single cylinder and a single pump. The Henry Young is a single-pump Ahrens, Size No. 2. Its steam cylinder has a diameter of nine inches and a stroke of nine inches; its pump cylinder has a five-and-a-half-inch bore and a nine-inch stroke. The engine weighs 5,800 pounds and can pump 350 gallons of water a minute.
The fire bell is shown when it served as a decoration at the Main and Monument firehouse.
The fire bell is shown when it served as a decoration at the Main and Monument firehouse.
The tower of the old firehouse at Fifth and Brown where the bell was first used.
The tower of the old firehouse at Fifth and Brown where the bell was first used.
The bell as it appears today.
The bell as it appears today.
Once the pride of Dayton firemen, the large fire bell which today is housed in Carillon Park alongside the steam fire engine is almost a century old. It was cast in 1858 by the Meneely Bell Company, the same concern which several generations later produced the bells used in Deeds Carillon.
For more than a decade after its purchase, the $700 bell tolled out fire alarms from the tower of the firehouse at Fifth and Brown Streets. It was considered the loudest and finest fire bell in the Dayton area. During an extended tolling, however, the bell suddenly cracked. Although attempts were made to repair the fissure, the bell’s tonal qualities were lost and it was subsequently replaced.
In 1914, the bell seemed headed for the junkyard until a group of citizens learned of plans for its disposal. The city manager of that period was advised that a committee opposed to destruction of the bell would call on him to register their protest. When the committee arrived, however, the city manager showed them the bell ... which had been quickly converted into a giant flower urn at the Main and Monument Firehouse. “Gentlemen, there is your bell,” he said. “You can see that it is perfectly safe and sound.”
The committee’s fears were thus alleviated, although it is doubtful that they expected the bell to remain in that location for more than forty years. It was finally transferred to Carillon Park in 1955.
CARILLON PARKDAYTON, OHIO
One of a series of Carillon Park booklets.Price ten cents.
AS-8575I15XXPRINTED IN U.S.A.