St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-09-20
COvINGTON TAMMANY SATURDAY,

the Are be heavy. Too much coal d
almost as bad as mono at all The dr-
ing must be light and frequent to steam
quickly. A heavy fire would burn
slowly and the steam would rise slowly.
and this would never do
An ordinary 'Sire'' Is four or dve
scoopsful we'll thrown and evenly die.
trfbuted. and little high st the ends
and sideA
The speed Of the engine depends upon
the ability Of tho fireman to "steam
her." and thus tho fireman Is the Inn
portant factor In running . train. Some
engines 'steam" moro readily than 9th.
ers. but all Of them require skill in dr.
ing and great deal Of work. An ordi.
nary switch engine will burn about
three tons Of coal in twenty.four houra
while road engines will burn from six to
fifteen tons The heavier the load or
the greater the speed. the moro steam
and coal is required.
But tho flreman's hardest lot Is when
his run Is heavy and his engine gets to
leaking" Engines poorly packed" or
loose In their joiuts will leak steam
with astonishing rapidity and 1t re-
quires . constant effort to keep them up
to tho working notch. The working
notch or when she pops" is, on an ~.
erage. about lS5 pounds Of steam. Some
engines arc set at l40 pounds pressure
before the escape valve will raise and
tho extra steam escape. On an engine
where the gauge reaches lss pounds
thu 0nnun~v, ivv,a %n l,oov~ . ,~oe.,,-~ -
between lso and l3& pounds. Some
times. Of course. tho steam will run
down to ll0 or 100. when the work il
heavy. but good fireman will never let
her down below that
In some Eastern States the number
Of pounds Of steam which An engine may
carry 10 regulated by law, but In tho
Western States little attention has been
paid to the matter. In consequence,
some engineers who are possessed OF
more ambition than Judgment will rate
their engines - high as $50 pounds in
order 10 make . running record, and It
L. dangerous custom which Is liable 1t
any time to result in disaster. Not
long ego the writer's attention was
called to IN engine on . Missouri road
which did not pop" or blow on steam
at ITO poundA The engineer was proud
OF his reputation - runner. and was
foolishly risking his own life and tho
lives intrusted to his care for the sake
OF little notoriety. In such cases the
dreman's lot Is . slsvish one, and the
labor required to keep up his engine Il
simply tremendous
In edition to firing. the fireman 10
required to keep his machine. inside the
cab. clean, and ''bright works., must b.
kept spotlesA Such trifling duties -
ringing the bell. keeping . sharp look
out ahead. and watching for signals are
thrown In just to keep him in practice
auring the few minutes he may chance
10 spend on hisseat box.
After he has served in this capacity
from three to seven years, and he is |
successful in passing tho examination |
in which reading and writing arc tho
Easiest branches-the fireman IL placed |
on tho extra list and after six months |
Eial ho becomes an engineer. Often.
however. the fireman lacks certsin TO-
luirements or has bad luck at the start,
Ind has m accident or smashup. and be |
3 condemned 10 another long term OF |
'hoveling coal which may Be made . per-
,etual occupation.
Firemen, ~ rule. are steady class !
4 men; they must be. - IL Il from
HON that engincmcn arc made. The
iremen have . brotherhood which is
econd only to the engineers in i'm
'ortance. and the order Is doing . deal |.
t good In preparing its members to be-
ONO capable and reliable engineerA :
Kansas City Star.