The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1890-09-25
FIRING AN ENGINE,
Some Of tho Hardships of q Loco
motive Fireman's LILO.
His Lot Is Not Easy as Many Believe.
The Amount of Fuoi Required TO Keep
an Iron Horse Going = Coal Must
30 Supplied Very Carefully.


"If people only knew tho hardships
OF a fireman's life" said ono of tho local
leaders of the Brotherhood OF Locomo-
two Firemcn to q Chicago Evening Post
4 reporter, they would not bo so apt TO
wonder that tho mon want to strike once
in awhile to better their circumstances.
Their lot at the best is hard one, and
the pay is poor when tho skill required
to be y flremen, the severity OF tho work
and the constant strain to which tho
men are subjected arc taken into ac-
count. Many people, probably major
ity, consider that the flreman's work is
not skilled labor, but this opinion
arises from ignorance of the require
ments of the calling. An unsllillcd
fireman could no moro fro locomotive
on tho road so as to keep up steam
steadily and enable the engineer to
make good timo than he could build tho
locomotive. Take n green hand and put
him on passenger train, for instance,
and the chances arc that tho passengers
will turn out and mob the whole trains
crew before tho trip is half through.
Tho likelihood is that tho train will
come to dead stop half dozen tiElcs
before tho trip is ended and while tho
train is running it will DO making such
miserable progress that all on board
will have their patience exhausted and
be driven almost to distraction over tho
way in which their valuable timo
is being .frittercd away. Firemcn have
to serve regular apprenticeship to
the work. They generally begin as
cleaners i'll the round-housc, where they
are put to clean the locomotives after
they come in from long trip. In that
way they get ali acquaintance with tho
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, whore they learn how
to fro an engine so as to raise steam
rapidly and keep up 6 constant supply.
This requires good deal of practice. It
is the easiest thing in the world to fire
your engine in such 4 way that though
you have big fire in it it will not be of
the kind to make steam. Too much coal
is often as bad as too little. If tho fire
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 to
keep the train running. III any kind CT
fire would do, tho fircman's lot would
be an easy ono. He could then fire up,
sit down comfortably in the cab and
take it easy until the fire burns out. AS
1t is, he has to keep firing steadily, add
ing fresh fuel to tho flames at intervals
of not more than two minutes, so that
while he is on run no hardly knows
what it is to have q chance to Straightcn
his back. He is constantly clambcring
half-bcnt from tho box to the gangway
and from the gangway to the box,
manipulating heavy scoopful of coal,
and all this time he has got to keep a
lookout ahead, for it is his duty to
watch out for danger as much as il is
that of tho engineer. In fifteen hours
trip he will often shovel as many as ten
tons of coal Some heavy passenger To-
comotives eat up about thrce-quartors
of ton cvery hour they run.
San ordinary fro is four or five scoop
fuls, and it must DO put in the fro box
just so or there will be trouble. The
fire box of locomotive is peculiar
piece of workmanship and it requires to
be thoroughly understood before it can
be fed in such way as to keep things
running smoothly. t is from six to ten
feet in length, according to tho size of
the locomotive, and four or five feet
wide. Tho grate is composed of NOV
able bars SO placed as to provide for
ventilation at tho sides and ends. If
you have over watched fireman put
ting in coal you may havo noticed that
he hardly ever pitches it in straight
He turns his shovel now to this side and
then to that, now to this end and then
to that, and it is only onco in awhile
that shovclful goes straight to tho
center. The reason for that is that no
does not want TO put tho coal whore it
will interfere with tho ventilation of
the crate or in such q way as will cause
it to cake. steady burning and at
the same time roaring fire is what is re-
CURED, and every thing depends on the
way in which the fuel is fed to it. Tho
amount of steam required to run an
ordinary passenger engine is 1875 pounds,
and the aim of the expert fireman is TO
keep it ut that figure constantly from
the time he starts out on his trip till he
is on the last milo of his run, when he
will gradually let it fall so that, whom
nc reaches the final stopping place,
there will be just about enough left to
fuii buc ciiS inc W VIC IOunt-nOuSt, tiltb
none of it may go to waste. That is
another matter the fireman has to look
to, or ho will get hauled over the Goals
10y his superiors. lie must DO as
economical of fuel as possible. The in
experienced fireman will use up far
more fuel than his moro expert brother
and have no better results for it. He
must keep his fire SO that all tho heat
will go to the hues, and that no cold air
entering tho 1re-box can get to them