Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1893-08-26
THE LOCOMOTIVE FIREMAN.
One OF the Hardest Worked and Least APP
preciatsd of Employees.

prectafsd OF Employees.
1t is doubtful If there is man on the
train who Is less appreciated than the
fireman. The public shakes hands with
the conductor who has charge OF the
train, thanks the brakeman for many 1T
tie courtesies, bows TO the baggage mas
ter who looks after it, luggage IN transit
perhaps, If il is a masculine pubic,
swears nj hiln-trusts its valuables with |
the express messenger and talks long aad
loud Of the "brave engineer but the
fireman--he who bends to his work asld
feeds the fire that makes the steam-ls
never mentioned. Sometimes purse is
made up for the engineer. No one ever
heard of the fireman getting apurse, but
the records show that he has performed
as many deeds Of yalor rs the engineer.
Again, If the train leaves the track or
goes into another train, the fireman has
fewer chances to escape than any man
on the train, except perhaps the mail
clerk, shut up like a rat in cage.
When the fireman is at work, and that
Is nearly all the time when the wheels
are turning, he stands stopped over,
shoveling in the fuel or raking the Goals
in the firebox. His view ahead is OBJ
| structed and he cannot SEQ the danger
| that may be dashing upon him. The rat
| tie and roar Of the machinery may drown
the engineers warning Gala crash-the
i tender pins him to the boiler head, and he
dies a horrible death. Standing III the
narrow gangway peering ahead, sudden
| lurch around curve may throw him off.
| Instances hive been known when the
| coupling between the engine and tho
tank parted, and the fireman dropped be-
| tween them to be ground topieces. The
records show that more firemen than en-
| gineers are killed in railroad wrecks
About the only time the fremcn has a
/ little leisure is when the train is running
! down grade. Then "she is shut of, "
steam is saved, and the knight Of the
shovel climbs mp TO a cushion seat aud
takes breathing spell. But even then
one eye is ahead, his hand on the bell
cord and the other eye fastened ON the
steam gauge, whose little black hands,
fluctuating back and forth, guage his
labor as wen rs the steam. There is a
science in feeding" an engine that isnot
understood by one not III the business.
There is way TO throw in the coal and
to empty the shovel and close the fur.
mace door at the same time. Ii requires
nice calculation that tells how many
"scooploads" are needed to send this
hands on the gauge TO the proper figure
deft handling to keep the deck of the
cab clean. and hundred other littl,
things that go 10 make slillful fire
man--one that saves money for the com
pany by outstanding the coal.
In the old days the fireman on ''wooC
burners" had hard time of it and Ger
tainly earned the small money he re
ceived for his services, but he had a sine
cure compared with the man in blu,
oyeralls and jumper who stokes up
one of the huge ''moguls" or hogs o
the present day These engines hau
freights and eat up coal as if it wer'
creased paper. The fireman is at worl
continuously, and about the only tim
no has to rest is when his train takes
siding" to let "a more aristocratic passen
ger train pass. indianapolis News.