Smyrna times., 1891-01-28
STOKERS CN THE FAST SHIPS.
something About g SIer WI, Feed Coal
to The Gee II Ra.,r.

{" th" Gee II Ra~crs.
ne lot OF a fireman aboard u modern
racing steamship compared with that
Oh the ErimY toilr in tn, Iurd. unvnn-
eila ea stdke-aoie5 Of ol.!-time craft. las
ntlId suggest On Of luxury about il.
~, ~ zen at IT'S best stOFeT's life is not
iI!AeIy 20 arouse in G soul the low
liesC iaOOrer a'hcre feelings of unmiti-
gaUed envy. His homes are circun.
scribed by the stoke hoe He has No
horlz3n whereon he NAV aint drea1,
pictures OF "A better future. He NAV NOT
aspire 20 anything beyond the kindred
! occupation Oh "A lea ling StOker. The en-
Eine room Is forever c O-ed to him. II
~ ~, once fireman, ALWAYS a fireman.
me limitations of his life-devo;d of
GOhesCle intuences-have, doubtless
| neIped to brutali>e him. A man without
V1s' a i not likely to hdvea high stand
ara OF moral ty.
rev IL authority on shipboard had
% %sooo "0rd 10 say for the stOker of the
past who spent his leisure ashore in
drinking fusel oil and brawlinr n ie not
exactly so now. One British simmer
mas even declared that the stoker il a
gentleman conn ared with the cattle
man man rms Is not highly complimentarv
~ ne sucker but it tends to show that
ue IS not the most degraded of the tOilprs
o1 clVlllz }tiCn. Since the ARCHITECTS 80
Che great twin-scr W ships recognized
the fireman S existence. and made n fl. o.
room III which an ordinary man mavIive
lor time the fireman has improved
% soiheWhat. In disDe Ing the g.Oom OF
u Ghr nteroom the shipbuilder ed some
,i-llC Ihto Jle soul Of he fireman. In an
a1IupSl mere made breat ale by huge
NenIllatlnS fans and cheerful hy lectriC
W n
Ihe hleman can do more WO.k with less
fatigue tEan formerly, or course n
WASH pure phi.anthrophy that rave
MN ,aI ventilation. The b fans. making
fOC IeNoNtlOns minute, were made
Va lildTlly TO force air into the furnace
ana urn the coal, so the tblObbinD on
g nes iAight do all the work thot fbeir
al aIlDitlOus designers exp cted OF them
Inc cultivation of the lirit of brother.
nood, thr' ugh the Fireman's Union. has
also doNe much toward making better
man oil t stoker. All the big steam.
O!C conf anles practically recognize the
dnIoi' u aud ON all ships of the twin-screw
nre! only un.O men ar emnlovpd
Fl" ht,ng the union-wbose man oro
u 'tural HShters-has p.oven extensive
10 Ihe STEAMSHIP s. which not mfr
queniIy have lost two days on trim ba-
'duse green men were before the fur-
nacAs. 80 '"i-
On the steamship City 0! Piris t3era
are S'NtN tiremen, who feel IN, G.r,.
naws OF fiFly-four furnaces. that cra 10
steam In nine steel boilers. Fifty cool
pass rs Sh 'vel the fue. from the bunk-
Prs u the tdrnace dOIrs, and the fir
men toss 1t in. There Is something nor
.aah mere shOvelling in firing. The
1U"NFt y, M, must IHo" ow to put the Goals
~ SO Ihey VIII not burn too quickly or
leid9n the fire. lie must know Jov IN
sir or poke the fire 50 as TO 1T ali ~
iearly all. the calOric out OF the coal Ho
must know how to obtain the Last 70
suit from the Welsh coal he burns On
'"e voyage to this port and the Amer.
an coaI ne uses on the TRIP eastward
"a n kihd requires different haudIin.,
Jltch the RESULT OF q lace eastward boe
,eh determined by the superior kuowl
dge OF the handling of Americ IN coal
DosSesSed BY the winning SHIPS stokrrs
10 am an.who thoroughly understandsi
rlng IS easi"r than it used TO be. r
IS nevertheless, so RTduOus tha Tn.
etefans are not over fOrty-five vnars
a. Nearly all the stokers on the Citv
I us ana the City Of New Yo,k are
eV"ceh ~ and ~ y ars Of age Tncv
eceive SO a month and their boarJ Tho ,
4ading stoker gets few dollars moro
ha Goes not have to work 50 hard. He
; usually the eldest o. the crew he di. I
ects. The coal passer, the limit Of ,
nose ambition is to be .ome a iira.ia,
cts SF'.5J,a mouth. The Ieadin., ro,i I
asser, or trimmer, Lets a H,tIc =
lore than this.
Service in the fire room is divided N q
X watches Of four hours each. TbT '
reman works and sleeps every alternate
'ur hours. After tie first Ca,. ,ron,
orr Two out OF every s.x furnaces IRE
iked out 20 the bIre bars durinr tho e
rst hour Of each watch. Thus. in a vnv- i
5e, all tle furnaces are Gle IN Il once n
very twenty-feur hours. The Siam
5es down a bit in the hour while tba f
Gaming is going on. The perspirino >,
'okers shovel into the furnaces Gf,nln =
ms OF coal every hour, or $40 tons !
Nv. The ship usu1lly takes in 3OO tons +
Liverpool, and has between 5OO and ,,
tons left IN her bunkers when she ar. :.
YES here. Il
The engineers department is entireI,.
stinct and separate from the firemen's
q the City of Paris there ar, twenty.
X engineers, including hydraulic and !,
ectrical. They are educated in enpinp '
ops on shore, and cert Tin nunlber of 81
fm go on ships every year. They Yre e,
nachiuists, 50 Whenever tbn eLin
eaks down they know nOw TO r.unir
- q mage. In case the chief engineer lu
ould be disabled any assistant could r,
Ike his place.