Successfully meeting the tests of the Illinois Inspection Bureau, fire insurance underwriters’ agency, the new Marion fire truck was ready for service Tuesday. Tests were made Monday afternoon at the Marion Water Company reservoir on North Madison Street. The pump was run continuously for three hours, drawing water from the lake and sending it through a fire hose at the rate of 500 gallons a minute. After the test the pumper was serviced in the Davis Brothers garage where the Ford motor and chassis underwent an inspection and some adjustments. Meanwhile, the city looked forward to the first payment on the new truck in 1942. Exclusive of the truck which was traded in on the new apparatus, the new truck cost the city $4092. A thousand dollars worth of new fire hose raised the total price to $5092. Deduction of the price for the chassis which the city bought from Davis Brothers in Marion left a balance of $4272 for hose and truck to be paid in three annual payments.

(Extracted from local newspapers and compiled by Harry Boyd, posted at http://www.marionfire.us )