Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-11-14

HemrEeI in Between Two Long Lines OF
Furnaces-A Stoker at Work - What
One Of the Men say, of the Vocation.
What They Lat.
"How long do stobers live asked n report
er of an engineer Of one Of the swiftcst ocean
racers that ply between this country and
England.
As long as anybody was the unexpected
reply.
How do they like their work.
If they drrt like their wot K they get out;
there are plenty willing 10 take their laces,'
was the answer But il l. bard to Tsr.uade
the average laudsman that the stCk-rs life is
not shortened by constant exposure To the ex-
tTeInes Of temperature. Transatlantic pas
sengers gho have brayed the intense heat Of
the furnaces and visited the fire room Won
der how men can endure such life even for
a voyage The stOkers work four Eours at
stretch, hcmmcd in between two long lines
Of furnaces that keep the temperature Crdiua-
rily at I2D degrees, sometimes sending it as
high as lGJ. The space between the furnaces
is 50 narrow that when the men throw in coal
they must take car. when they swing back
their shovcls lest they should burn their arms
means Of ventilation is one hr-r air pip" that
reaches down into the centre Of the Ntokers'
quarters, and on a big steamer the men have
to take the air in bat hes. On great ocean
steamer like tn" Umb,it, the men come on in
gangs Of eight ru stn1"r- AMI twelve coal
passers, and the watch" ia-t- four hours.
Tho Umbria has sevruty-tWo furnaces, which
require nearly 80 tons Of coal day, at a cost
,,F, Irrn.lrnl
and four men are employed 10 man tie fur
naces and they have enough TO do. They in
clude the chief engineer, his three assistants
and ninety stoierS and coal pas-sTs.
TENDING TIE FURNACES.
The stoker comes on To- work wearing only
a thin undcrshirt, light trousers and wooden
shoes. On the Umbria each stoEcr tends four
furnaces He first ruses open the furnaces,
tosses in the coal, and then cleans the fire
that IS prizes the Goals apart with Il heavy
iron bar in ORDER that the fire may burn
freely He ru,hcS from one furnace 70 an
other. spending perhaps two Or three min
utes at each Then he dashcs to the air pipe,
takes his turn at cooling of, and waits for
another call 10 his furnaces. which comes
speedily. When the watch is over the men
shuttle otF. dripping with -wea: from head to
foot, through long COLI galleries to the fore
castle, where they turn IN for eight hours.
Four hours of scorrhiug and eight hours
sleep mako up the routine Of stOkor's life
on a voyage
The reporter ran across a group oi stokers
in West street and had a chat with one of
them. Il went 10 sea a. "A cual Tdsser when |
was IA years old he said Then got TO
lie a stoker. and lam now y" The speaker
was about six feet in height and weighed $50
pounds or more. His face was ruddy with
health and his eyes ucaIed with good nature.
His robust appearance was in strong con-
trast to that Of Some of his mates who mad
just landed from voyaEe-a pale, streaked-
out listlcSs looking ST II neH-
How do we stand the work. Well enough
if we get plenty to eat. But the work is ter
ribly hard ~ the same II comes hardest. Of
course, on those who don't follow it regu-
larry. They are the fellows who get played
out 80 badly. | heard once of young Eng
lish doctor who came over here on visit.
lie got out Of money, and was that proud
that he wouldn't send home for some. So he
worked his way back IA a stoker, and got
sickness that he could never get rid of. But
if We get plenty TO eat and take care OF our
selves we are all right. Here's a mate Of
mine nearly 10 years old, who has been
stoker all his life, and can do as good work
as can. StOsers never have the consump-
ton and rarely catch cold"
THAT sTREAKED-OUT LOOK
why do you appear more healthy than
the other men here's" asked the reporter.
well, have been ON land now about two
weeks, and these men just came of the ship.
You see, when We finish our watch at the
furnaces we are just covered with sweat, dirt
and oil, and We have to wash the stuff off
with warm water. Washing so much with
warm water gives US that streaked-Out look
that makes people think We are being killed
with consumption But after we have been
On land three or four days that look disappears
and the men look natural again We get
more ventilation than the old timers used to
get, hut We don't have any too much. l tell
you, when | used to go down into the tropics
I wanted ~ keep under the air pipe all l
could. Now | go TO England and back, and
have four furnaces to tend. -Four hours is
just about much as we can stand before
ths fires. 1t uses some of the men up 50
badly that when the watch is over they can
last crawl to the foreCaStle and throw them
selves on their b5Inks without washing a bit
But others of us don't mind it SO much. We
heat our water. take a wash, and then have
pipe or two before turning in-'
What do YOU cat and drink!7
"We have hash, all the oatmeal we want,
coffee and other good things"
How about the grogF
We'll, the fact is that the grng was knocked
of about eight years ago on the English and
and American lines. The truth is that the
men got drunk too much, and grog did them
much harm When l used to take my grog
I'd work Just like lion while the effects
lnsted. I'd throw in coal like giant and
net mind the heat bit; but when it worked
Oft. as it did in very few minutes, | was
that weak that child could upset me. New
York Tribune.