The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-11-25
THE MEN In THE TENDER.
LONG ACCUSTOMED TO DANGER
THEY Stow NO FEAR OF DEATH.

LONG ACCUSTOMED TO DANGER
THEY Stow NO FEAR OF DEATH.
The Locomotive Fireman and His
Bravery and Dspger-A Sad Tale
Told at the Bound Eouse-aow
crave Jim" Collins Saved a Train.
The Wreck at Big shanty-Ihe Pas
sengers saved.
From the Washington Star.
With but one exception the locomotive
fireman has less chance for his life. when a
derailment or run-in occurs, than any other
railroad employee or passenger. The one
exception is the railway mail clerk. The
fireman, while at work making steam by
shoveling in coal or raking over the i'm
rnense bed of flaming Goals, has his view in
front entirely blocked and, like the govern
ment employe directly In his rear, know
nothing Of q sudden run-in until the crash
comes.
It strange circumstance, but neverthe-
Less true, that in almost every wreck
wherein life is lost or the victims forever
crippled the sufferers will be found to be
fremen.
As be stands at his work, braced against
one end Of the tender the train flying over
the road at terrific rate OF speed, the
hazardous part of his labor is quickly
dlscernible. Should the links part between
the locomotive and tender a terrible death
is his. One false step will precipitate him
head foremost from the narrow opening at
the side and, as the engine strikes sharp
curve, this result Is not easily guarded
against. He has to be continually on the
alert against curves, and to the green fire.
man the swerving swing Of the engine is
,r.I.x a. i
under.
About the only time the fireman has of
leisureis when the train is going down grade.
Then the engine Is shut off the steam saved
and the fireman climbs up onto his little
leather covered seat in the cab opposite the
engineer and enjoys few minutes we'll
earned rest
THE FREIGHT LOCOMOTIVE FIREMAN,
since the adoption of the "modoc" and
hog" engines by the big corporations, has
a task before him in keeping up steam
almost the equal OF the iron puddler in the
rolling mill. His chief relief comes in the
way of long ''lsyoversn or side tracking of
his,train for the more arstocratic or swiftly
moving passenger. In olden days the fire
box of locomotive, both freight and pas
senger, was about five or six feet square,
while at the present time the fire box Of
''hog" engine is fully twelve feet long and
the big passenger flyers about two feet less.
Into these boxes coal must be shoveled
almost continuously on fast run, as the
engine eats it upin way that almost makes
the grain elevator jealous as it devours the
grain in the hold Of vessel alongside.
PLUCK AND ENDURANCE REQUIRED.
Although the work Of fireman is exceed
ingy arduous and the risk to life and limb
very high, his labors develop the man. If
be does not possess the proper amount of
stamina a vacancy soon occurs. but if the
necessary amount of pluck and endurance
is forthcoming years experience will put
him on the road to promotion as master OF the
engine AS tine fireman earn, on an average.
about 500 a month and the engineers about
SllO, it can be readily seen that the promo
ton IS eagerly looked forward to.
a reporter of the EUentng Star, while max
ing his rounds one day recently, accosted
one of these knights Of the coal shovel" as
he was about donning his suit of blue jeans
down at the round house on Virginia
avenue. A major part Of the above
facts were CLEANED from him.
THE FIREMEN HANDICAPPED.
In addition ne said:
The great handicap we have when a
mishap is about to occur is the noise occa-
stoned by the EARRING of the locomotive
The engineer has time, perhaps, to reverse
his engine and give warning call, but it
has frequently happened that the first
animation of danger is the reversing of the
engine, which throws the fireman TO his
knees or on his face and before he can re-
cover himself and make the leap for life
he is buried under the coal in the tender
and pushed up against the fire box 10 be
slowly roasted to death. Then again the
space through which the fireman is COM
PEELED to leap for safety is so narrow that
1t reminds one of an attempt to jump
through doorway while the door is com
ing to. If caught it's case of Kitty bar
the door, because the victim will have the
life crushed out of him in an instant, as the
tender invariably mounts the locomotive
III a collision"
"Why don't you leave the railroad and
take up some other occupation! inquired
the reporter.
'WelW replied the fireman, 81 can make
more money at firing than any otter
business, as my education is not of the best,
and then perhaps may become an engineer
some day. As to being killed, that never
worries me. When my time comes pll
have 10 go, and Pm taking the chance of
that time being away off.
Have | ever been caught in a wreck
Not OF any consequence, but l was wit
ness of poor Jim Given's untimely take.oR.
and I'll never forget it. Tell you about it!
Well don't mind. It's a sad but short
tale.
JIM OWENS FATE.
Given was firing on the Richmond ami
Danville road and was in the wreck
that occurred about thirty miles down
The road two years back. Ny train
was on @ siding not a hundred
yards away. Death did not come
to him like flash. Unconscious of his
Impending fate he was caught at his post,
hurled with great force against boiler head,
left enveioped in scalding steam, and,
powerless to escape from the horrible tort
IRE, he was compelled TO remain where he
was found until his eyes were boiled out
and his flesh almost cooked by the surround
ing heat. Inconsistencies first came to
his relief, but life remained few hours.
THE circumstances of Given's death are
cad enough to bring tears to the eyes of the
strongest even though told as bare facts.
At the time of the collision he was shoveling
IN coal, and no doubt his engineer called to
him, but on account Of the noise the warn
ing was lost. The force Of the unexpected
COLLISION threw him with great force against
the fire box and then out on TO the north
side of the railroad track, his body striking
finally against the head of one of the burst
locomotive boilers. Stunned by the shock,
he was left where he was thrown. When
the locomotives came together the boilers
hnf arori htYrcf