The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1891-09-24
els This Hot Enough for YOu?,

us This Hot Enough for YOu?o
There is pit of roaring darkness and
fire which may be found in the centre of
every steamshp-though the passengers
think little of it, seeing smoke and cinders
pouring from the crater smoke. stack, with
out realizing that volcano is raging be-
meath. 1 accepted, at one time, the invita-
ton of the chief engineer of tramp"
steamer to visit his quarters below deck.
He and l descended about forty feet by
means of the greasy steps and gratings of
the engine hold. the several floors and lad
ders OF which were made of iron rods half
all inch in diameter, with spaces between
for ventilation. At the bottom we stood
carefully one side. The rumble of the ma
chinery was almost deafening. The mighty
arms reaching down to the cranks of the
great shaft turned it with the light. hearted
ease of boys first five minutes at grind
stone. An engineer with hand lamp led
us into the shaft tunnel. 1t might have
been five feet square. but there seemed
hardly room enough to walk between the
spinning shaft which was at one side. and
the grimy wall. We stopped and gathered
the skirts of our coats away from the shaft.
which was revolving fifty four times a min
ute, and at each revolution was forcing the
ship through twenty five feet of water. At
the stern. where we were hundred feet
from the engine room. our ears were filled
with buzZing as of ten thousand swarms
of bees, so violently was the screw churn-
ing the brine in producing speed of fifteen
miles an hour. AS we emerged from the
tunnel. the engineers were helping four
teen year-old boy through a small hole in
the floor. He was naked to his waist and
smeared with rusty CRIME. He seemed to
be completely exhausted. With little oil
lamp to light the shallow cavern. he had
been cleaning the bilge space about two
feet deep over the keel and rapidly con-
tracing on the sides. His had been a curl
Gus pOsitiOn--twelve fiery furnaces above
him, and a mile or two of salt sea under
meath.
A narrow opening in the bulk head ad-
mitted us into the furnace room, where
there were two rows of fires. placed back
to back, with six fires in a row. We re
maned perhaps five minutes, or until we
were roasted out, though we were standing
under the cold air fues connecting with the
curving trumpet. t.mOuthed pipes which rise
above the deck and are made to revolve to
catch the freshest strongest breeze that
blows. Between the stirring and replenish-
ing OF the fires the room was filled with a
whitish glare. When the furnaces had been
fed the half naked stokers would stand un
der the air shaft and wipe the perspiration
from their faces and arms with a towel
hanging at the belt. In that blanchng pit
nine coal -passers and twelve stokers were
speeding their lives double quick for SIT
and SIS a month and found" as the phrase
runs. the finding consisting of the common
seamen's mess and a sinking nest in the
forecastle. A strong young fellow will
grow old at it. they said. in three years.
time. But when one breaks down. score
are ready to take his place. When the
watch changes passengers see the tiremen
shutf1ing. in wooden shoes, along the deck
between their sleeping pens and the iron
ladders. Their pale, gaunt features and
STOPPING shoulders tell tragic story.
which, however cannot be fully understood
before one has breathed the air of the fur
mace hold. When human lives are so cheap,
there is probably little incentive to give the
same attention to improving the sanitary
arrangements of the furnace hold that is
given to increasing the speed of the ship.
One of the officers told me of an educated
young American who ran short of money in
Germany, and. because too proud to send
home for remittance. worked his passage
as cOal-passer and ash-heaver. He paid
his passage with his life. for the exposure
brought on fatal illness. RAMEOUS.