The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1886-01-06
LIFE UNDER, WATER. (.
An Old Engineer Relates Some Of HIS En-
periences,

Life under water monetonous, eh7 Well,
i guess not At least, don't find it so. Pve
been there fourteen years. off and on, and
have always managed TO find enough to Oe-
eupy my time and attention" The speaker
was an engineer on one of the great ocean
steamers, and as be made that remark 70 a
on the pier before his vessel, he readjusted
his loose blouse with an akward Jerk and
gave his head a confident twitch.
"A fellow needn't let time lag on him
anywhere if be only has his eyes open," he
added. Now, 10 some it would seem a.
most unbearable TO watch the continuous
thrOb of the machinery OF large steamer
and hear nothing but the everlasting click,
click of the piston rods and levers, bat 20
me they sound like music. I've become
partly dulled and insensible TO them, bat
even now / often sit still and watch and
listen TO their never-varying beats with that
sort of satisfaction which a musician feels
when be runs mis- fingers mechanically yet
skillfully over the keys of his instrument.
His satisfaction arises from the fact that be
has the instrument entirely under his con-
troll, and mine comes from a similar cause.
With a touch of my finger j could prOpel
thousands of tons at almost any speed
through the water, or send a hundred lives
into eternity. Indeed, l feel that ! am the
sole responsible party on board for the lives
OF the passengers, as it remains with me 10
keep my machinery in such perfect cOndi-
ton as to withstand any ordinary sea or
rough storm.
And again. take pride in keeping every
thing around me shining like FURNISHED gold.
If a spot of grease or dirt gets on the rods Or
handles of any part of the machinery it can
not escape my notice long. / go over every
part of the engine room twice a day, and
rub the brass and steel rods with as much
pleasure as though ] owned the steamer N.Y.
self. ] sometimes amuse myself in keen
a record of the number of miles we rl' .t
hour and comparing II with the recJs..> -.
previous trips. have on book in the en-
CINE room a curious table of dates and fig
ures which shows 10 me the exact time for
every mile made by different steamers
have engineered across the ocean for the last
fourteen years. If anything more than usual
occurs J lOt IL down opposite the date and so
make a sort of diary of it. 1t speaks vol
umes TO rue, and recalls many interesting
memoirs. For instance, ] was looking
through it the other day, and l found
opposite November 10, 1919, ref
erence TO visit from China
men, The incident was recalled to nv
mind in moment, and | laughed heartily
over it to myself. This is what II meant:
One day while lying in port we were visited
by several Cinnamon who were anxious TO
inspect the shin. They were an ignorant
set, and had never seen any machinery
worked by steam. The Captain was a good
natured fellow and allowed them to come
below, although they experienced some
doubts as to the ACCESSIBILITY of so doing
They were very timid. and il took some
time for me to convince them that the ma
chinery was harmless. Finally got two of
them 10 come close to the heavy driving
rod, which you know on a large vessel is
an enormous piece of iron. Suddenly,
without warming it gave start forward.
and, accompanied by loud puff of steam,
leaped fully ten feet above our heads. Angry
at my assistant for letting OH steam without
my knowledge, turned TO speak To him,
when my attention was attracted toward the
stairway. The last two Cinnamon OF the
party were making frantic endeavors to Jump
up half dozen steps at a time. The rest had
disappeared, and before could get on deck
the Whole crowd had got into their boat and
started for the shore. No amount of persu-
aston could ever get them to return TO that
ship, which they claimed was alive. IL was
a mean trick, but it has afforded me many a
good laugh since"