Arizona weekly enterprise., 1882-06-03
LIFE ia TIE FIRE -RGOFa.

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 "It's hotter'n tophet down in the fire room. And it's pretty dirty, too. But you can go down there if you want. The speaker was an assistant engineer on the New Orleans steamship Louisi- ana. He stood on the iron grating of the top engine room, looking down at be- wildering labyrinth of glistening steel beams, shafts and rods. From some unknown region of darkness below came the sound of shovels scraping against coal, for 1t was Saturday afternoon and the Louisiana was getting up steam pre- paratory to leaving port. Look out for grease" said the engineer as the visitor descended an iron ladder. Here another tier of machinery, the 'work- ing platform, " was reached. On one side was a dark hole in which appeared second ladder, running almost perpen- dicularly down. This led to the "lower engine room." All around the strange shapes of the powerful machinery stood outlined in the semi-twilight. Massive arms of steel reached across overhead or were stretched up from below steel fin gers were thrust out, and jaws of metal gaped as though to seize the incautious visitor i'll their renorseless grasp. Every thing was quiet, quiet suggesting ter rible power, for the muscles and slDews of the imprisoned giant waited the life giving breath of steam to waken into resistless action.
 "You are looking at the new oiler, are you?" said the engineer. 1T don't think much of 1t myself"
 "Where Is the fire-room?
 "Tll show you. Here, Jack, give us lamp. Take this packing in your hands, sir, aud look out for your clothes 5
 Then he disappeared, apparently into coal bunker, through @ little iron door at the foot of the ladder. The visitor followed, scrambling over heap of coal, and found himself in the fire-rcom. A line Of fiery eyes on each side shone into the darkness. The furnace doors were closed, but bright light came from un- der the grates. As the eye became ac- cGstomed to the gloom it could be seen that the walls, perpendicular at the bot tom, slanted toward each other on each side, meeting above like the pitch of a roof. In the center 1t was possible to stand upright-approaching the sides ii was necessary to stoop. The hot stifing air increased the feeling of compression one seemed imprisoned in a scorchine tomb. A speck of blue sky seen through 1 the ventilating shaft overhead was only an aggravation, for no fresh air entered In the middle Of this dungeon, which was perhaps thirty feet long, was piled i heap of ashes. Coal and ashes were scattered over the wet and slippery iror foor. Something stirred in q corner and palid man, stripped to lis shir and trousers, came forward. Stepping with the precipitation streaming dowr his face, he threw open a furnace door and bliBding glare of light shone out It scorched the very eyeballs of one try ing to peer in, and nearing the opel door ones flesh seemed burning. Blu the fireman, bending almost double, m protected from the blaze, continued rak ing the fire, regardless of the sparkl and sheets of flame that leaped out to ward him. Then he brought shovel ful after shovolful of coal and fed tn, fire anew. Closing the door, he drev his grimy hand across his forehead an then literally wrung the water from th, sleeve of his shirt.
 | AoAA AAOO AV oA1 AiOAO 4O", At marked the engineer, much to the visit or's surprise. s'Ihey're only makin; up the fires here to-day, and this i nothing to what it is when we're out There are eight boilers here, four on
 side, and the large furnace under eacl has two doors. Above the boilers, pointing to the sloping sheet-iron sides "the hot water circulates around sets C tubes-"
 "Then the sides of this little room are all of heated iron, and there is fire boiling water or hot air on every side, remarked the visitor.
 "Oh yes, except on the bottom This iron floor is about four feet abov the keelson. There is room enough fo man to pass underneath. How ho does it get here? Oh 130 deg. to 16 deg when we're down by Florida or il the gulf. Pretty rough on the fremen Yes, but you see the fremen ain't mucl account on board ship. The hardest worked men get the fewest thanks an the most abuse Yes, they play ou once in a while, get used up by thei work and drop down by the furnaces Then they hoist them lip and lay then out on deck. If they come to they hay to go back to work. If they don't som other fireman has got to do double work They go on for four hours, off for eight then back for four, and so on day in an out. There are four in a watch here- coal-passer who shovels from the shoots and three fremen. Boats that hay twelve or sixteen boilers of course carr more men. One of the thirteen freme has to look out for the steam and kee an eye on the water. They've got to b on the jump every minute.
 "Isn't the air pretty bad? Well,
 should say 1t was, with an air of candi reflection "You see the ventilatin J shafts don't do any good unless the win is just right, and then this hot air i ] filled with dust and ashes, which proba ply isn't exactly healthy as a regula thing"
 Then bell rang overhead and tn engineer started back. ':Look ou there," as the visitor stumbled over
 heap of ashes in the darkness "you' be as bad off as the firemen are whel they are thrown against the red-hot fui mace door by the pitching of the ship Q high sea-"
 9o Ten minutes later the visitor to tn 9 Louisiana was seated in a little bac SS room in Albany street among a grou 2 of iremen. How old would you thin | r T. Al