The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1875-02-18

door-bell' struck; the hooks fell with
clNng on the arm before mentioned, and
the machine became self-acting again,
with all its respiratory organs in full
vigor. p.
HEAVY RESPONSIBILITY.
There" he said, after glancing at the
vacuum gugea a moment, that's the best
answer | can give you to one OF your
questions. You see we don't sit down all
the while; not much. Sometimes these
coasters are SO thick in the channel that
we have TO slow down and stop pretty
often; that's no great things; it's the least
of our duties; there's always something
going on that Keeps a man wide awake,
or ought to. Did you ever think that the
real responsibility for the safety Of the
ship and passengers rests right here with
usP Web, it's so. The captain is all
right, to be sure, and when it's a clear
night, and he is once well out of the mar
row channel he don't worry mite, but
right in here and down below, we have a
magazine of force that is all the time un-
der iron bonds to behave itself; trying
hard to get out; a big Samson that would
pull down the house if you didn't keep
him in good trim. We are never sure,
absolutely sure, that everything is all
right; how can we be? We can't look
inside of beam strap-what you call the
walking Neam-and see if it is all sound.
We kno well enough when she is
packed risnt, or takes steam right through
her valves, top and bottom, and how far
the steam follows the piston, but these
are all matters of economy, not safety
We keep close look out for all flaws aid
cracks in the shaft or parts that are un-
der heavy strain, and we look out for all
the fastenings to see if none of them
work loose, but for all that accidents will
happen. Only the other night was up
on deck looking around, and what should
| see but one of the keys just ready to
drop out of the starboard front link on
the beam end. The links are those two
rods that take hold of the beam and con-
meet with the piston through the cross
head. It hadn't a'seen it might have
had trouble, for all the strain would have
come on one side of the cross-head and
broke it off; and that just means all the
way from $4,000 damage up, with an en-
CINE Of this size. | got copper ham
mer and every time she came down |
hit her clip, and got it back again all
right without stopping her. Sometimes
the bearings get hot and bother us, par
ticularly if the boat works a good deal
and throws us out of line; then we are
apt to heat more than at other times"
ATTENTION TO BUSINESS.
Smoking and reading newspapers
not much, Iguess, on watch. | wouldn't
read a newspaper on duty no more than
| wouldgo to sleep; nor smoke neither;
it don't look Just right to see Il man with
a cigar stuck in his mouth on duty,
Drink not aboard ship; what | do out
side is nobody's business but my own, so
long as l don't interfere with nobody, but
on duty, no sir!
"Then there's the boiler; that takes
heap of watching all the time. We have
steam enough ordinarily, might say,
when we don't want it; but there is times
when we can't get it to save our souls;
no more than enough to get along with,
She fires hard. | never saw boat yet
that had too much boiler; nor no other
man. You tell the owners that, or the
makers of the engines, and they will lsay,
oh, big boilers take up too much room;'
and then they go and put ina little ket-
tie with not enough fire surface in it, and
burn coal enough in year to pay for a
decent boiler The best made boilers in
the world will bear heap of watching.
You know the engine pumps water into
them all the while to keepup the supply,
Well, the pumps will work all right for
months at time; first thing you know,
sometimes when you are in trouble about
other things, the pumps will stop work
ing, and you can't get drop of water in
her to save you; then you have got to
look sharp. What makes it act so?
What makes anything 60 wrong in this
world; that's what | want to know,
when it's once set right it ought to 90
right, but it don't. Sometimes the check
valves get held up, and the water don't
60 into the boiler at all, but just surges
back and forth from the pump pressure
and boiler pressure alternately; some
times dirt gets under them, chips and
things; then again joints will blow out
in the bandhole plates and make heap
of trouble. No matter how trihing a
thing is to us, tissure to make a disturb
ance with the passengers, and THAT'S what
we have to avoid as much as possible,
for they are easily scared. +
THE FIREMEN.
"The fremen and coal passers make a
heap of trouble, too, at times. They're
a hard set, and get queer notions in their
heads. You better believe they amt
particular about their mess, nor nothing !
Men that never knew anything but
corned beef and cabbage, and poor at
that, turn up their ses at what they get
here, which is the most oft just the same
as cabin passengers pay dollar head
for without grumbling. One day last
L Al. I