August 15, 1860 – The Chicago Press and Tribune provides its
annual review of the city’s fire department, introducing its inventory with a
homage to “the gallant wearers of red shirts and fire hats, that on the
occasion of a jingling of wild bells in an alarm of fire, used to start up from
all corners and nooks, and come dashing up areas and round corners …” [Chicago
Press and Tribune, August 14, 1860] The fire department took a leap forward
in 1858 when it purchased the first steam-powered fire engine, dubbed the “Long
John” after the nickname of the mayor, “Long John” Wentworth. In the two years that followed, “… hand
machines have been sold to other cities, costly hose carts have sought the
rural districts to be the wonder of the smaller communities, the steam machines
with a few hand engines and hose carts located in different remote sections of
the city …” constitute the fire department, manned by paid professionals. With just a few strokes of a bell, the paper
reports, “… in less than two minutes steam engines with attendant hose
carriages … all drawn by over thirty powerful horses are in the streets moving
at a hard gallop toward the scene of conflagration.” A partial inventory of the department
includes: (1) The Long John, drawn by
four horses and housed on LaSalle Street near Washington. The engine has a force of eleven men,
including an engineer, a fireman, two drivers, five pipemen, and an engine
house watchman. (2) The Enterprise, a Seneca Falls machine
housed on State Street near Harrison, drawn by four horses with the same
complement of personnel as the Long John. (3) The Atlantic,
a Seneca Falls machine housed on Michigan Avenue near the river with four
horses and a force of eleven. (4) The Island Queen, a third Seneca Falls
machine, housed on West Lake Street with four horses and a crew of eleven. (5) The U.
P. Harris, a Philadelphia machine, housed on Jackson Street near Clinton on
the west side with four horses and eleven crew members. (6) The Little
Giant, a moskeag machine, housed on Dearborn Street near Washington with
two horses and eleven crew members. The Long John, with forty pounds of stem
pressure, could produce four streams of water through 100 feet of hose
horizontally 150 feet; with sixty pounds of steam pressure two streams of water
could be thrown 160 feet horizontally. The machine weighed five tons and cost
about $5,000. The Long John is shown in the above photo.
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