Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1893-07-10
WHERE IT is HOT
Down In the Psnt-up Boiler
Room Of the Power House.
MEN SWEAT GROWN RIVERS
strc.n1s 81 Pesspirsstoa CoAxed Prom
Human Peres b, the s4iam4n<ier
Iosrsdify % That lnferno.

On warm. sultry Summer night the
lake electric car. On the saline kind ~
q night the hottest place this side IL
eternal perditloa Is IA the nre-room u
the Street Railway eompany's power
house
leu don't think Of that. though, when
you are speeding toward the lake at the
rate Of twenty miles an hour. the cool
breezes tanning .our forehead aud
checking the preparation which few
Ininutes before flowed from every pore.
lou see the motor man twist the lever.
and imagine that's all there IL II is.
But every time you step foot on car. a
dn-t-begrimed man whose body IL
bathed In food Of sweat. 10 Obliged to
throw another shovel-full VI coal into q
scething furnace.
Some time when you think it's hot on
the street and that the heat reflected
from the pavement and stone walks is
iniolerable. hunt Up Manager Chapman
and secure permit 10 visit the FIRE
rom II the power house. To reach il
you will have to walk between almost
interminable meshes Of throbbins dyna.
mos Then you climb up little stair.
case and walk over fragile looking
/ gang plank. on either side OF which gi-
/ gantic iiy wheels revolve. After walk
ing past the great Corliss engines you
| go down narrow. dirty staircase and
emerge into a sitting little chamber.
which IL hot enough 10 bee the ante
room OF hades- This is the pump room.
and it's an Arctic summer resort hotel
/ IN COMPARISON TO the lre-room- After
leaving the pump room You pass along "a
narrow denle. turn To the right. walk
through little alley-way between two
batteries u boilers and there you arc.
Eeeking In Precipitation.
Hot. Well. rather. You appreciate
/ II the instant you are in front Of the
great BOILERS Your collar begins 10 wilt;
little streams OF perspiration trickle
down your back. Your clothes become
/ painfully sticky. and the starch in the
bosom of your boiled shirt attempts To
ooze through the soles Of your shoes.
but you have just begun to get warm.
In "A second Cue of the stokers will throw
! open the door Of furnace, and great
/ yellow tongues Of flame will shoot
toward your face. Inside the tire box i,
a seething mass OF blue and white fire.
The stoker throws in shovelfull Of coal
and cictes the door with o bang. Then
he wipes the sweat from his blackened
face and tells you that there is 10 de
grees of heat under the boiler. You be-
lieve him for you're confident that the
temperature outside is at least LOO
Fahrenheit
Usually il requires five boilers 10 sup
~. steam enough To turn the three
massive condenslng engines which run
the dynamos- There is stoker u
every boiler. and they are kept busy
NEST OF the time. During the course OF
the day they shovel from thirty To forty
tons Of coal in the great furnaces. The
amount 81 coal used depends largely
upon the size OF the loads the ears are
carrying. The demand is greatest on
Sundays and holidays There is a
marked sympathy between the dynamo
and the boiler. The stokers can detect
almost instantly when the rush begins
on the cars. The moment the strain OF
TIA dynamos begins to increase Z. the
stoam pressure begins To decrease
when the sighiseers begin to crowd the
cars 20 return the steam pressure vii
! Nttif AIltIfsAHttiN from III fDntlia QoNI
"a 100 and even 10 81.
Here's where the strain cones on ths
stoktr. IL rs comparatively easy {,
keep tue steam at d gwen point: but II
IL difficult matter 10 raise IL after i
has dropped. They throw ia the Goa
until they are ready TO drop from ex
l,austion and heat. The sweat pours
OF them Ia streams. ard one ~ che they
run to the iiTeroosn door - get breatt
of fresh air and seconds relief from
the hery blast that shoots from unde
the arches.
The boys work in relays No mar
could stand the work continuously fol
more than i've or SIX hours. They wea
oaly shoes. oyeralls and
thin undesshirt Even that mesgr,
amount u clothing IL oppressive. aus
the undershirts ncfer have sleeves ant
are rarely buttoned. After You hay,
been IN the fire room for ten minute
you decide that your previous concep
lions Of heat were frigid la Comparison
with the fiery atmosphere OF that room
Your luugs seen baked and your cloth
Ing Is wTinging wet. breath IL air
even from the sewer contaminated sur
face 81 the river. seems a breeze from
heaven. The next time you riie on ri
open car you'll think OF the men tha
stoke the furnaces.