The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1883-12-29
THE FIRE ENGINE.
Account of the Invention OF the First
Steam Fire Engine
The Work OF Moses Latin. a stunte
Being with n wondrous Head -
---Incidents OF Its First
Appearance

ing to wait awhile 20 see Mr.. Greenwood, |
was allowed the privilege, then seldom
granted, to go into the work-room where the
inventor Of the steam fire engine was at work.
1t was a long, high room, the walls on the
east side being hung with drawings OF the
engine. Beneath the drawing ran a long
work bench, and at this stood a very dimin-
utive specimen of a man, short and spare,
stoop-sbouldered even TO deformity. He had
a square white paper cap on his head, and
was busy measuring something, while /
looked at him. l saw that his head redeemed
his poor body, for it was massive, and the
eyes had In them the light OF genius. In q
moment he turned to me and asked: Did
Mr.. Greenwood give you permission to come
in hereP'
"He, did, sir; he told mo to como and SEQ
how the steam fire engine wa getting on, 50
I could report Its progress to Mr.. Probasco'
(of the great hardware house of Tyler David
son & Col.
"Ah, very we'll, /" said the inventor, Every
we'll My name is Latta, Moses Latta, and
Mr.. robasco knows me well, and, as you
come from him, you shall see hat few see.
Can you In any way, or to any extent, un-
derstand drawing on the wallT' / confessed
that l could not. "Well, it Is very simple.
Let me explain. The engine Is intended to
throw at any time eight streams of water
tour from each side-and whenever the
water can be obtained In sufficient quantity
for the eight streams there will be no trouble
In supplying them to the eight lines Of hose.
It is intended Of course, to take tbs engine to
the scene of the fire with horses-four horses.
As the engine starts out the furnace
Is fired up, and ordinarily by the time
we shall arrive at the fire steam VIII
be up and the engine ready for service.
Eight Of these largo streams forced out on %
a ire with the pressure we shall be able TO
command will dro IN any DIRE even four Of
hem, well directed, will be of wonderful
value. But" added Mr.. Latta, ''the trouble
is that there is no certainty that this or any
other steam fire engine will ever run to a fire.
You are not aware probably how bitter the
feeling Of the volunteer hremen Is against
this engine. They say 1t shall never threw n
stream on a fire In this city. The recent riots
nero show what a mob can do In our city,
aud 1 fear sometimes that l shsll never live
to sac this grand idea brought into tine service
Of the world. My STEPS are logged; spies
are continually OF my track; 1 an worried
with all sorts of anonymous communications,
threatening me with all sorts of ills and evils
unless 1 drop work on this engine and pro
nounce myself a failure"
The old mans eyes flashed as he said: 'I1l
never give it upl IN build 1t, and there are
men enough in this city to see that it has a
tair trial, and it shall have it When it Is
finished it will be heard from at the first fire
and woe 10 those who stand in its way
With that we separated. As the time APP
preached for the public trial of the engine
tho volunteer flremen were in a ferment. 1t
would never do to destroy the engine before
it had a trial, and to destroy it after a
successful exhibit Of its powers was made
equally useless, so 1t was understood that no
demonstration, pro or con, would be made on
1t until it should como to a fire. Then 1t was
to be rendered useless, and all who had a
hand In its working were to be rendered use
less, too. The public trial came off. The
engine far exceeded in efficiency anything
that had been claimed for it by its inventor,
or by his hackers, and a feeling OF ~satisfac-
tion swept over the city at the
knowledge that such a great auxiliary
power was with them to light fire. Still it
was known, or believed generally, that
its first appearance at a fire would be the
signal for as bloody n riot as had ever dis
graced the city. The volunteer fire depart
ment was there, as everywhere else, a politi-
cal ring far more efficient under ordinary cir
cumstances at the polls than at a fire, and
its members were to u man selected for their
''inflooence" at the voting precincts and for
their ability to make tho contents OF the bal
lot-box when it was emptied show 'by a
large majority their man ahead no matter
1 " LAhb AIN vi III AllAA koAlC IlbO ~
II this steamer" was Of any account It
would ruin and break up not only the com
panies but their friends and hackers, and
the manufacturers who built them.
One night an alarm rang out from some
great warehouse IN Third street, near Main.
A minute or two elapsed to the listeners on
Main street above Fourth, and then down
came the great steam fire engine, four NAM
moth gray horses in front of It, at a gallop,
the smoke streaming from its stack, the fire
flashing from it's CRATES, its ponderous wheels
grinding the cobble stones into powder as
they struck them, and, as the great monster
went down the bill, people woke as out of a
trance and started after 1t.
The engine was brought in front of the
block, and soon stream after stream shot from
II. The warehouses were among the most
valuable in the city, and were stored with
costly goods. The time had come, the engine
was there, four streams had been gotten on,
when the cry, "The hose is cutl' rang out
Then the melee began, but the citizens were
stronger than the volunteer firemen, and after
a struggle the steamer drowned the Gre
and was taken home.
The next morning Moses Latta awohe 10
find himself famous, and the action Of the ap
preciative citizens OF Cincinnati soon put him
in q position where his genius was made more
available TO the world. The steamer of
to-day has little in 1t outside Of the fact that
it Is built to effect the same purpose as was
LAtta's engine, but that was the germ Of all
those which now at the tap OF the electric
bell seem to hitch themselves to the horses
and tear down our streets when an alarm Is
gfrftrE