This article clipping courtesy of Harry Barry.

Horn and whistle collector Harry Barry sits atop a Chrysler Air Raid Siren which he recently purchased. The siren, manufactured by the Marine and Industrial Engine Division during World War ll, is still mounted on the roof of Barry's former junior high school in the Pittsburgh area.

The year was 1952, and the advertisement's banner headline read, "First Choice for Defense Warning Systems! Chrysler Air Raid Siren Sounds the Loudest Warning Ever Produced." And, according to a Pennsylvania man who just bought one of the sirens, the Chrysler is still more powerful than any other siren, horn or whistle made to this date.

"I remember the mighty roar of the siren as a kid growing up," said Harry Barry, a collector and restorer of horns, whistles and now sirens. The Pittsburgh-area native first recalls hearing the siren during grade school, and he returned to the roof of his old school recently to purchase the Chrysler-produced siren that dates to the early 1950s.

Manufactured by the Marine and Industrial Engine Division of Acustar, hundreds of the air raid warning devices were produced for military and civilian protection during, and after, World War II.

"The sound is unique and unmistakable - a deep, rotating roar," Barry said. Powered by a 180 horsepower industrial V-8 engine, the sound wave produced by the revolving, mammoth howler is at least twice as powerful as the loudest siren offered today, according to Barry.

A three-stage air compressor perfected by company engineers is the primary factor in producing the sustained ear-shattering blast which has been measured as high as 170 decibels and heard over 50 miles away. A chopper, 22 3/4 inches in diameter, revolves behind six throats leading to the horn. As compressed air is sent into the throats at the rate of 2,610 cubic feet per minute, it is sliced off by the blades of the chopper at a speed in excess of 400 miles per hour and creates a high-frequency air disturbance.

Despite constant exposure to the elements for the last three decades atop the school, the siren appeared to be in surprisingly good condition when Barry inspected it earlier this year. "Now the challenge is to bring it down, either by crane or helicopter," he said. "I'd like to bring it home, restore it and then mount it on a trailer for moving around. It weighs 5,543 pounds."

Barry contacted Acustar's Marine and Industrial Engine Division and received a copy of the original siren operating and owner's manual. Invaluable for restoration of the device, it had everything about the siren in it, ... even all the part numbers," Barry said.

"The siren had sentimental value for me, and I am delighted to have the most , powerful sound signal ever made." In addition to the siren, Barry also has restored many steamship whistles and is a member of the Horns and Whistles Collectors Club.