The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1884-07-04

porter asked permission 0vlSft the low,
er regions. In company With an cil-s
stained engineer the reporter went down
there" Stairway after stairway was;
trodden with uncertain step, for ,evsey-j
thing from the rails 70 the stairs ~
slippery from vigorous polishing. Thes
engineer solved the dih1culty a esaSGi
asl speedy locomotion BY sliding down
the rails on his hands.
Forty feet down the darkness ~
made more visible by the shining mach!
inery in all directions. Before The hrd
region can be reached lantern has to'
he lighted. Then row Of stoksholsR
is seen. They are dead and dark Wills
in port, but once lighted every furnacoI
burns without cessation, being kept fun,
of fuel by relay Of score Of men
whose sole duty is to shovel the black
food into the wide glazing furnace
mouths.
"About how much coal does the Aua-
erica carry on each voyage?"
"Well," replied the c6ief engines. !.
"nearly 1850 tons, but We load in aboui
l, 400 tons, because we've generally rot
$50 tons on hand.
WA0V CV6A w yOU U00S
"When We load in Liverpool w gen:
orally put in South Wales coal, COM:
monty called Nixons navigation COAL!
On this side We take in the Eureka BIZ!
luminous COAL"
"How much coal do you burn Q day r
"About l6O tons, but the exact guam
tity depends, of course, on the kind Of
coal. Some coal burns away fast; but
never mind, we've gotto pile it on or the
furnaces would get too low"
How many furnaces has the Amer
ica?"
"Only thirty-nine. They don't SEEM
enty-two does it? Our stoheholes are
in double fows, with nine ON each end },
except the forward which has twelve. |
The coal is received from barges at the
side Of the ship and stored in three
bunkers close to the furnaces. The fore
bunker holds $50 tons, the middle -746|
and the aft 355. The three bunkerk
contain 67, 12l cubic feet"
"On the voyage are you constantly.
feeding the furnaces2" !
"Yes; they are fed in rotation, every;
thirty minutes. The stokers clean ont
the fires and supply new fuel, generally
throwing in twelve or fifteen shovelfulsI
at time. But the America, in COM
parison with the other great ships, is .
small burner of coal, considering the
speed she gets. Why, the Oregon,
who only made five hours better time
than the America, burns about 800 tons
q day. We claim that this ship will
get great speed with small power. ;.
"Why?" IS
Because of her lines. Look at her
nose-as sharp as razor. She wouldnT
bruise the water, but cut right through
it. Then look at her stern ;it's almost
as sharp as her bow. Then, her straight
model is perfect. All this helps hen
speed, which can be increased easily
without any enormous expenditure of
COAL" :.
The Oregon, originally auion|
steamship. and at present the fastest,
vessel sfloat, having made her trip IN
six days and ten hours, was transferred
to the Cunard Line. One Of the rea-:
sons for her sale was her enormous con-,
sumption of coal. On even her fastest
journey she consumes nearly 1850 tonsi
of coal, the cost of which for round trim
would amount to about $19, 600. !.
All the trans Atlantic racers cost
heavily for coal. The cost for fuel d
largely increased by the fact that all the
steamship lines wink at racing on tho
ocean. The captains of big steamers
put themselves on record as to fastpas-
ssges. The passengers take part in the
general enthusiasm of race. A go-as-;
you-please contest on the ocean between
the great steamship racers is of suf-;;
ficient interest to exclude all thought a
to the cost for fuel necessary to push
the ships at their best speed.
The America burns an. average Of,
eight tons Of coal an hour, and reckon,
ing her general speed at 43O miles . day
she consumes about q tons of coal per,
mile.
The great ocean racers are the Amer.
lea, 6,0O0 tons; the Arizona, Austral,
City of Chicago and Germania, each
5000 tons; the Aurania, Oregon, Alaska
and Servia, each 1000 tons, and the
palatial City of Rome of 5000 tons.
These flying eagles of the Atlantic CON-
sumo thousands of tons Of coal per day.
all the year round.