to support an engine.

The oldest record of a fire engine in Paris was one used in the king's
library in 1684, which, having but one cylinder, threw water to a
great height, a result obtained by the use of an air chamber. Leather
hose was introduced into Amsterdam in 1670, by two Dutchmen, and they
also invented the suction pipe at about the same period. About the
close of the seventeenth century an improved engine was patented in
England. It was a strong cistern of oak placed upon wheels, furnished
with a pump, an air chamber and a suction pipe of strong leather,
through which run a spiral piece of metal. This engine was little
improved until the early part of the last century.

In the United States bucket fire departments were organized in most of
the cities in the early part of the last century, and hand engines,
used by the old volunteer firemen, did not come into general use until
about fifty years later. The New York volunteer fire department was
for a long time one of the institutions of the country. When they had
their annual parade the people of the surrounding towns would flock
to the city and the streets would be as impassible as they are to-day
when a representative of one of the royal families of Europe is placed
on exhibition. At the New York state fairs during the early '50s the
tournaments of the volunteer fire department of the various cities
throughout the state formed one of the principal attractions. Many
a melee occurred between the different organizations because they
considered that they had not been properly recognized in the line of
march or had not been awarded a medal for throwing a stream of water
farther than other competitors.

A Berlin correspondent of the Pioneer Press many years ago, said that