Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1882-05-13
LIFE IN the FIRE ROOM.

"Its hotter'n tophet down in the fire.
room. And it's pretty dirty, too. But
you can go down there il you want"
The speaker was an assistant engineer
on the New Orleans steamship Lo,lisi-
ana. He stood on the iron grating of the
top engine room, looking down ut be-
beams, shafts and rods. From some
unknown region of darkness below came
the sound of shovels scraping against
coal, for it was Saturday afternoon and
the Louisiana was getting up steam pre-
paratory to leaving port. Look out
for grease" said the engineer as tho
visitor descended d an iron ladder. Here
another tier of machinery, the work
ing platform" WAS reached. On one side
wns durk hole in which appeared
second ladder, running almost perpen-
dicularly down. This led to the CLOVER
engine room." All around the strange
shapes of the powerful machinery stood
outlined III the mi-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 in their rernorseless grasp. Every
thing WIS quiet, quiet sugg, sting ter
rihle power, for the muscles and sipews
of the imprisoned giant waited the life
giving breath of steam to waken into
resistless action.
"You are looking ut the new oiler,
are you ?" said the engineer. ~ don't
think much OF it myself"
"Where is the flre-room2"
"I'll show you. Here, Jack, give us
lamp. Take this packing in your
hands, sir, and look out for your clothes"
Then he disappeared, apparently into
a 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-room. A
the darkness. The furnace doors were
closed, but bright light came from un-
der the CRATES. As the eye became ac-
customed 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
roof. In the center it was possible to
stand upright--approaching the sides it
was necessary to stoop. The hot sitting
air increased the feeling of compression;
one seemed imprisoned in a scorching
tomb. A speck of blue sky seen through
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
a heap of ashes. Coal and ashes were
scattered over the wet and slippery iron
floor. Something stirred i'll corner,
and a pallid man, stripped to his shirt
and trousers, came forward. STOPPING,
with the pcrspiration streaming down
his face, he threw open n furnace door,
nnd binding glare of light shdne out.
1t scorched the very eyehalls Of one try
ing to peer i'll, and nearing the open
door ones flesh seemed burning. But
the fireman, bending almost double, un-
protected from the blaze, continued rak-
ing the fire, regardless of the sparks
and sheets of flame that leaped ont to.
ward him. Then he brought shovel
full after shovelful of coal and fed tho
fire anew. Closing the door, he drew
his grimy hand across his forehead an1
then literally wrung the water from the
sleeve of his shirt.
"'Tisn't hot ut all here now," re-
marked tie engineer, much to the visit
or's surprise. "They're only making
up the fires here to-day, and this is
nothing to what it is when wa're out.
There are eight boilers here, four on n
side, and the large furnace under each
has two doors. Above the boilers"
pointing to the sloping sheet-iron sides,
"the hot water circulates around sets OF
tubes"