Newsham and Ragg Hand Engine, 1780

A hand-drawn fire engine built in 1780 by Newsham and Ragg of London, now in the fire brigade museum at Salem in southwestern Germany. The firm carried on Richard Newsham's design, patented in 1721, and its great advance was a continuous jet: earlier pumps squirted in spurts. A crew dragged it to the fire, then took turns at the long pumping handles until their arms gave out. Everything else in this gallery grew from that box on wheels.