Turner County herald. (Hurley, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1884-04-10
THE FIREMAN's STORY.

Coal dust, .cinders, oil and smoke
usually make fremen on duty rather
grimy looking personages. Perhaps few
among The thousands Of passengers who
ride IN the railroad cars behind us would
care for our acquaintance. But We are
useful-as useful, perhaps, as any other
class OF men; and certainly we have our
full share. of the hard, disagreeable
things in life, including frequent peril
and much exposure,to weather,
Working up from fireman to engine
driver, or engineer, We are usually
called IN this country-is often slow
process. There are men on our line
the Hudson River Railroad-who have
been firing eleven years with no pro.
motion yet, though they are no doubt
fully competent to run an engine. For
promotion dependssaimost wholly upon
vacancies occurring, or some Especial in
huence at headquarters.
a man ought to become thoroughly
familiar with locomotive in eleven
years. / thought that ] knew every
screw IN mine after firing two years.
sYet.it takes asgood deal OF time to learn
to fire well, 30 as to get the most steam
out OF the least fuel, and to have the
highest pressure at the grades where it
is most needed. To do this man should
know the road, every rod of it, as well as
the engine.
Then comes the oilipg. An engine
requires a great deal of oil, as we'll MS
coal and water. The fireman has to keep
in mind all those SCORES of bearings
where oil has stosbe applieds Between
oiling, shoveling in coal, shaking and
stirring up.-his fre--to keep it steady
3and lliot zaana looking to shis stock Of
coal and water, he is kept busy, and
must needs watch sharply. But man
gets these duties well fixed in his head
in time.
It is while "fring" that athe practi-
cal kn0wlsdge q ranaipg e engine is
speak, of the Hiron horse". He must,
morning and syening, haveS the engine
polished, fired up, and ready for his
superior, the engineer, to step into the
cab and start of. Usually the engineer
does not make his appearance till the
moment OF connection with the train.
Between the engineer and his fireman
there generally exists an easy going and
manly sort of friendship, though have
known cases wi,ere, thet NO men detested
eacn OGnef. 49, - - a ?
When / began to fire under, 'tDoc"
Simmons, / scarcely knew enough to
build good fire in cook-stove, and
could not have found quarter of the
i oil caps- Fmust have been "a trial to
hims The first tEweek or two.S But he
never gave me a sharp word, though he
often had to tell me things over and over
again. ~ -.
"Doc"-as the railway men all called
him-was superior engineer. He knew
every pound of metal in locomotive !;
Just where it lay, and how much it was
good for. He was one of those men who
seem to feel just what there is in a To-
connective the moment he takes hold of the
leyerssanda starts, up. He was good
heaftedsfel slow, and always had pleas
AIT Bard. or "a Joke, ,salI along the line;
1 and itt' 'fM generally The case that such
mon do not fail the company, or the pub
lie, at critical moment.
& Iwenk home ands scri d;llke q baby the
day ~sDocs' was killed. II it had been
my own father could not have felt half
as badly. Iaetually. wished :thatH had
gone to the potoa Oil heiaivef with
him.
It was the night of the 9th of Februa-
ry, and fearfully cold. WeSbad "No.
117' then, and took oute thesP Paoifc En-
press, as it WAS called, from New York
CITY, up the line, to- A Albany It was q
bitter night ana tile line was frosty and
slippery.
The express was always heavy train.
atsnight we had three baggage and
snprsss eeers and sefght passenger g N,
COACHES; and We were late ont OF New
York to begin withabout fifteen MN
utes, think. G. ifIfE III
Such cold weather iss always demor-
alizipg to railroad. 1t is much
harder to make time; oil metal works
bad; and though the fire appears to
burn brighter, it takes more coal to
make steam. The train seems ito hang
to the line. Then, too, the.cutting wind
isenough to freeze the marrow IN mans
0ons dsssishs balasbees a9stly .fsnsy p
nysn thdt II Qaashs sDoasahSd IN
odd look In his face that night as he goi
into the cab. He was more serious thar
usual. for VIC hothsk knew that: we had g
sehard rnu before ,is and o. colds one.
Both of us were muffied up IN fur caps
ana s.sbos sta SsSiffs tss ssas Niok, aad SHAKE
her down smart. We want every ounce NJ
sf stesfh to.higf,t, says Doc. Fifteen
minutes behind and eleven cars on
Those aleeping coaches are as heavy Of
ID whol6 Block, too. I'm glad this y :,