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.