The sprinkler system was introduced in 1874, and an automatic alarm device used in conjunction with sprinklers has proved to be one of the most effective fire-fighting aids ever devised. The same year, Rochester, New York, became the first city to install a high pressure water system, which delivered water at fireplugs under such great pressure that pumpers were not required, but the high cost resulted in a delay of twenty-five years until other cities began adopting similar systems. Although the steam fire engine brought great gains in fire-fighting efficiency and ended many of the evils inherent in the old volunteer system, it was not a panacea for all the fire-fighting problems of the time. In most cities, politicians recognized a good thing when they saw it, and were quick to take an interest in the newly created paid departments. One historian wrote that Dayton’s paid fire department from 1864 to 1880 was under the “mismanagement of council” and largely subject to “the caprice, partisan aims and hunger of the politicians.” But in 1880, disgusted with the estate to which the department had fallen, the citizens of Dayton obtained passage in the Legislature of a bill which created a non-partisan board of fire commissioners. The board immediately appointed Daniel C. Larkin as fire chief, and with this appointment the more modern era in Dayton fire-fighting history began. The department was reorganized after adoption of the commission-manager form of government in 1913, and has continued at a high level of efficiency. The Steamers’ Last Stand [Illustration: The above diagram shows how the Carillon Park engine operates. Heat from the firebox (A) converts the water in the boiler (B) to steam. The steam enters the cylinder (C), causing the piston to move up and down. This motion is transmitted to the piston of the water pump (D), which draws water up through the suction hose and pumps it in the direction of the arrows. The air chamber (E) maintains constant pressure on the water, causing it to be fed to the nozzle smoothly instead of in spurts.] The demise of the steam fire engine was not an overnight occurrence. Most of the time-tested machines survived well into the 20th Century, despite the coming of the automobile and the accompanying mechanization of most forms of transportation. At first, in the early 1900’s, gasoline tractors were attached to many of the steamers, retiring the luckier fire horses to pasture and the others to a more strenuous life. As gasoline engines increased in reliability, however, the next logical step was to use the gasoline power plant to run the pumps as well as to pull the vehicle. By the advent of World War I, most large cities had partially converted their fire-fighting equipment to gasoline, and by the mid-twenties the steamers were making their last stand, even in the smaller towns.