Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1893-07-08
The LOCOMOTIVE FIREMAN.
One OF the Hardest Worked and Lesst
Appreciated of Employees

Ii is doubtful If there il a 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 little c0uitesieS. bows TO the
ggage-master who looks after its
luggage en- tranSit-perhaps. If il is a
masculine public, swears at him
trusts its valuables with the express
messenger aud talks long and loud of
the brave engineer" But the fire
man he who bends to his work and
feeds the ire that makes the steam
is never mentioned. Sometimes a
purse is msde up for the engineer. No
one ever heard of the fireman getting
a purse. but the records show that he
he performed as many deeds Of valor
as 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 rat in a cage.
When the fireman is at work, and
that is nearly all the time when the
wheels are turning, he stands stopped
over, shoyeling in the fuel or raking
the Goals in the tre-box; his view
ahead is INSTRUCTED, and he cannot see
the danger that may be dashing upon
him. The rattle and roar OF the ma
chinery may drown the engineers
warning Gala crash-ihe tender pins
him to the boiler-head and he dies
horrible death. Standing in the mar
row gangway peering ahead, a sudden
lurch around curve may throw him
of. Instances have been known when
the coupling between the engine and
the tank parted, and the fireman
dropped between them to be ground
to pieces. The records show that
more iiremen than engineers are killed
in railroad wrecks.
About the only time the fireman has
a little leisure is when the train is
running down grade. Then "she is
shut off," steam is saved and the
knight of the shovel climbs up to a
cushioned seat and takes breathing
spell But even then one eye is
ahead, his hand on the bell-cord and
the other eve fastened on the steam
gauge, whose little black hands, 1uct-
uating back and forth, gauge his labor
as well rs the steam. There is a
science in feeding" an engine that is
not understood by one not in the BUSH
ness There is a way TO throw in the
coal and to empty the shovel and
close the furnace door at the same
time. 1t requires nice calculation that
tells how many "scoop-loads' are
needed to send the hands on the gauge
to the proper figure; def handling TO
keep the deck of the cab clean, and a
hundred other little things that go TO
make skillful tiremau--one that saves
money for the company by husband
ing the coal
In the old days the fireman on wood
burners had a hard time OF ii and
certainly earned tho small money he
received for his services, but he had a
sinecure compared with the man in
blue oyeralls and jumper who stokes
up one Of the huge "moguls" or "hogs"
of the present day. These engines
haul freights and eat up coal as if it
were greased paper. The fireman is
at work continuously, and about the
only time he has to rest is when his
train takes a siding to let a more
passenger train pass. On
the "ten-wheeIers" that pull the Big
Four fast trains, or the engines chat
haul the express trains Of the Wanda
lia, Pennsylvania, Cincinnati, Hamil-
ton and Dayton, and the New Monon,
the fireman has a hard time Of it. The
machinery needs large amount Of
steam, and it takes a great deal Of
coal to make it. and tile scoop is
ringing all the time. Indianapolis
Aelrs.