Telegram-herald., 1890-09-08

~ .asr.ls oaly knes the e.rcships
., sremsr's life, said one q tae ie~~A /
-, - ths BrotbeThood q lsooo,oo-
,5,s Eirenea . Catcago EFeaiHs i'os'
,en,rger -tsey woald n0s oe - -p' .
venaer thas tse mea want l. strike 0"ss
4. a.,l.ile - better their cireafnsta1ees-
1A.sir lss - lie besE IS hard enc, and
-, nav is poor when the skill re9s'Fsa
- -, ; hrsnsn. the severity q 'Ae ~0F~
and The constant stain - ~niea the
-. 49,. sshiaeted are taken into ac-
e,.nt Nany people. probably major
fsv consider ttat the fireman ; Work ls
-, s.-illea labor. but this opinion
.-,.es trona Ignorance OF TIE eQUlre-
raep.s of tie calling. An unsAllied
eran,an could no more fire locomotive
T On The road So as 70 keep up sseam
/ steadily and enable the engineer 70
make good tire thaa he could o1lid mo
I locomotive. Take green hand and put
birn on. = passenger train, for instance,
ana the chances are that the passengers
/ viii turn out and mob the whole trains
crow before the trip Is half through.
The likelihood is that the train Viii
come ~ a dead stop half dozen times
before the trip is ended, and while the
train is running il will be making snch
/ miserable progress that ali on board
will have their patience exhausted and
be driven almost 20 distraction over the
wav in which their valuable ume
Il being .frirtered away. Fremen have
20 serve = regular apprenticeship 70
the work. They generally begin as
cleaners In the round-house, where they
are put 70 clean tho locomotives after
they come in from a long "trip. In that
way they get an acquaintance with the
several parts Of the engine and how and
where they should be oiled when run
ming. Their next step is on switch en-
CINE in the yards, where they learn now
10 fire an engine so as TO raise steam
rapidly and keep up constant supply.
This REQUIRES a good deal OF practice. IL
is the easiest thing in the world to IRE
your engine in such way that though
you have big fire in 1t IL Will not be OF
the kind TO make steam. Too much coal
is often as bad as too little. III the IRE
is too heavy and burns too slowly, tho
inevitable consequence will be the low
ering of the supply Of steam TO such an
extent that there will not be enough 10
keep the train running. III any KIND CT
a FIRE would do, the fireman's lot would
be an easy one. He could then hre up,
sit down comfortably in the cab and
take il easy until the fire burns out AS
it is. he has to keep firing steadily, add
. ing fresh fuel TO the flames at intervals
of not more than two minutes, so that
, while he is OH a run he hardly knows
! what il is to have a chance TO straighten
his back. He is constantly clambering
, half-bent from the box to the gangway
and from the gangway 10 the box,
manipulating heavy scoopful OF COAL
, and all this time he has got TO keep a
|, lookout ahead, for il is his duty 70
, watch out for danger as much as IL is
that of the engineer. In a fifteen hours
trip he will often shovel as many as ten
tons of coal Some heavy passenger To-
| comotiyes eat up about three-quarters
| of ton every hour they run.
, IAN ordinary fire is four or five scoop
: fuls, and it must be put in the fire boz
0 lust SO or there will be trouble. The
? fire box OF locomotive is peculiar
piece of workmanship and it requires t6
be thoroughly understood before it car
be fed in such a way as to keep things
running smoothly. 1t is from six to tel
feet in length, according TO the size o
> the locomotive, and four or five lee
wide. The CRATE is composed of NOV
] able bars so placed as 10 provide 10
ventilation at the sides and ends ]
YOU have ever watched fireman put
ting in coal you may have noticed tha
be hardly ever pitches 1t in straight
He turns his shovel now to this side an
then to that, now to this end and thel
to that, and it is only once in awhil
that shovelful goes straight TO tn
center. The reason for that is that b
does not want to put the coal where
will interfere with the ventilation o
the CRATE or in such a way as viii caus
it TO cake. steady burning and a
the same time roaring fire is what Is rt
h ouired. and every thing depends on tn
1t way in which the fuel is fed to It. HI
" amount OF steam required to run a
ordinary passenger engine is lS5 pounds
20 and the aim Of the expert fireman is
lp + keep It at that figure constantly fro'
as the tiIac he starts out on bis trip till b
n. is on tho last mile Of his run. when h
ly will gradually let it fall 50 that whe
he reaches the final stopping Ilac'
there will be just about enough left
run tho engine to the rouna-housc, th'
none OF it may 60 70 waste. That
another matter the fireman has 10 loo
- to, or he win get hauled over the Goa
by his superiors. lie must be
economical OF fuel as possible. The d
=. experienced fireman viii use Up +
moro fuel than hts more expert broth
and have no better results for It. ]
must keep his FIRE SO that al the he
- viii 20 70 the fues, and that no cold 4
- entering the fre-box can get TO the
unsil 10 has been thoroughly heated al
~o rendered incapable o. cooling them 0
II His FIRE IS not the only thing that 4
T. fireman has got 70 attend 70. howevc
In the short intervals between his
~ ing up he must assist the engineer
20 keeping the engine thoroughly ollie
When there Is no automatic bell
"a must keep the bell ringing while :
80 pr0schiRz al crossings and al $
tions"