Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1894-11-03
IN THE STOKE HOLE.
OF Those Who Work In the Hold
OF an Ocean steamer.

navdships Of Those Who Work In tho Noid
OF an Ocean steamer.
No person who has not visited the
held of an ocean steamer, where the
greedy furnaces are fed and the pom.
derous machinery that drives the
vessel works with clock like pre-.
cision, can have an adequate idea Of
the intense heat Of the place and the
dreadful hardships experienced by
those who there work. A correspon.
dent who visited the hold OF the
steamship, NOrmannia thus tells Of
her experience:
After two or three minutes we
landed on a narrow long bridge.
Semi darkness now held us In its
embraces the heat seemed to increase
and the noise was deafening. All
around US parts Of the towering EN-.
gines moved necessarily, some OF
chem slowly, others so quickly that
the eye could not follow them. The
Normannia Mt that moment was run.
ming "full steam ahead" ut the rate
OF nineteen to twenty miles per hour.
Her screw measures twenty-five feet
tatiOns per minute, or 5, 100 per hour.
Each rotation drives the vessel
twcnty.cight feet ahead She covers
In one minute ,4Os.
Then we proceeded further along
the bridge, and, suddenly, through
an opening In the transverse wall,
found ourselves opposite the sister
engine, which was In full motion.
There We had reached the most In.
teresting spot In the whole ship.
The pale man at the switchboard, II
he choose to disObey the orders Jele.
graphed tO him from the Command.
er's bridge, could hurl US (there we're
l., 800 on board) into eternity almost
ut any moment.
Further down into the belly Of the
mighty ocean monster! Is 1t posi-.
bic that the heat could still increase?
One hundred and ten degrees We
now count on the thermometer As
we proceed the engine men become
more numerous aud more herculean
In build. The greater the heat the
greater the power Of resistance and
endurance required OF those forced to
stand IL.
"At the present time ninety.seven
steam cylinders are active" said the
guide. We crawlcd down another
story. I'VE are In helrs mouth"
Darkness all around us; only here
and there u small electric flame to
show US the wav "You are just
twenty-five feet below tho water
line," said the second engineer;
"the officers on the bridge are ninety
feet above US"
Presently VIC reached the very bot.
tom Of the ship, and faced the fiery
eyes of the long lines OF furnaces,
each ''eyc" three feet In diameter
and emitting unbearable heat. Tho
small space between the iron wall
and the mouths of the furnaces 10
enlivcncd by u hundred mcn or more
swinging mighty shovels and irons.
They are the stokers and trimmers
Clad only In fragments OF trousers
and q wooden shit, ihesc Pariahs OF
the steamship world worked with
clcc!.like precision. Their faces
breasts, hands, and arms were Gov.
cred with SCOT u quarter OF an inch
thick, SO thick that the perspiratiOn,
running from their heads In streams,
left no marks Every half minute
each furnace must be fed, which
means temporary increase OF the
prevailing heat by about 80 degrees,
and the normal temperature IN
which these poor Eeings breathe Il
l22 degrees sometimes more; less
only under extraordinary circum'
stances!
When p furnace Is opened tho cur
rent Of air finding an outlet ap
prOaches 200 d grees In temperature.
still the stokers have to stand II and
work In this internal atmosphere
eight hours per day, II not longer.
Heat strokes are very frequent Ia
the furnace rooms and many a stow
away, discovered after the ship left
harbor. has died after undergoing
coal shoveler's duties only q few
days or hours. The Normannia EN-
ploys seventy stoSers, tifty-hvt
trimmers, and three s0.called b0ile
| hn., In 1aeS v,ptn m