The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1866-12-05
An Engine-ROOm Story.

years ago, was a pasSenSc1c VI TpDoA
the fine steamer Queen" from Lon
don to -. The voyage is not very
long one; but we were several days
at sea, and during that time i struck
up pretty much of an acquaintance
with the second engineer of the ship.
i have always had taste, rather i'm
aginative than scientific, for watching
the working of powerful machinery;
the evenings were too cold to allow Of
my remaining long on deck; and /
was often glad to exchange for time
the saloon stove for the bright glow
of the boiler furnaces, and the com
pany of the passengers for a chat in
the engine room with my friend the
engineer. Ten o'clock In the evening,
when it was his watch, generally
found me seated by his side on the
platform that ran around the tops OF
the cylinders, whence he could in a
moment hear any word passed from
the deck, lad immediate access to the
handles of the engines, could see the
fre-doors and stoke-hole, with the
guages in front of the boilers; and
even whilst chatting with me, could
be constantly alive to the smallest
escape of steam, or the least Earring or
chipping sound which told to his prac-
tised eyes or ears that something
about the machinery required luDrica-
tion or adjustment. *, saa
There was nothing very remarka-
BILE about my acquaintance, Angove:
he was simply an honest, straighttor-
ward, intelligent, self-educated me-
chanic; one, in short, of a class very
numerous among our steamboat en-
gineers. He was about forty years of
age, and had spent nearly half that
time at sea, in many services and In
all parts of the world. He had been
in action on bord of a Brazilian
steamsloop; had nearly died from the
intense heat i'm the engine-room of
Peninsular and Oriental boat in the
Red Sea; had been wrecked in
West India mail-steamer, and after
wards discharged from the service for
a smuggling transaction, with which
he vowed that he himself had really
nothing to do;' was at the time the
late war broke out serving on board
. Russian owar-steamer, which of
course he left as soon as possible;
Mad served on board a river-boat on
the Mississippi, and another on the
Hooghly; and had seen many
strange event in these and other SER.
vices. from the plain matter-of- fact
point of view natural to his tempera-
ment and education.
One evening we were slipping along
fast under steam and canvas, with the
wind and sea on the beam; and the
ship, though not pitching much, was
rolling a good deal. / came SILVER
ing off the deck, where I had been
smoking a cigar in the moonlight,
and seated myself in my accustomed
place on the engine room platform,
enjoying the warm glow from the fur
naces. Angove had just lit a cigar
which [ gave him, when a slight es-
cape of steam from one of the valve
stufing boxes arrested his attention.
The platform on which we had our
seat was on level with the tops Of
the cylinders with railing nearly
breast high between it and the en-
gines; and to get at the stuffing box
IN question it was necessary, in order
to avoid being struck by the bars of
the parallel motion, to wait until the
engine took her down stroke, and
then vault in over the rail to the top
of the cylinder cover, before she came
up again. Taking a spanner, to
screw down the gland, Angove
awaited the proper moment, and
vaulted over the rail; but at that In
slant the ship took heavier roll than
ordinary, his foot slipped on the
greasy, sloping surface of the false
cover, and he had thenarrowest escape
possible from being precipitated head
long among the working parts of the
machinery. He saved himself Just in
time by catching hold of the cylinder
cross-head; but this cross head worked |
mp to within half an inch of one off |
the deek-beams, and before he could |
withdraw his hand the two were nearly
close together; the smallest geometry,
able space of time longer. and his
hand would have been crushed be-
tween them: such close work was #
indeed, that he actually felt the
squeeze, and the skin was red with
the pressure.
know was terribly frightened
and started up pale and horror-strncE
but Angove finished his work coollv
vaulted out again over the rail, and
seated himself at my side, a little
pale, but perfectly calm and self-pos-
sessed, and smoked away his cigar as
if nothing had happened.
My dear fellow" / cried, what a
narrow escape / thought it was all
over with you" s6
"Yes, indeed" he Isaid, 1T was
close work But, thank God, it is
all right. A very small fraction of
second longer" looking at his
hand -" and my power of using ham,
mer and caisel wouldn't have been of
much account. g.l y i.'l9"
We sat for some minutes without
speaking both, no doubt, medita-
ting on what had occurred and then,