Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1895-03-28
a CRUISERS TRIAL TRIP.

Ahe engines roar, the pumps move
back and forth with a sharp click
at each stroke, the airpumps shrek
and puff and the engineers force rush
ABOUT In what seems at first hopeless
CONFUSION, but which soon takes on the
look OF system. Every man has his
duty to do, and does it well. The en-
.glnes require close and careful atten-
ton, as enough might happen in a mo-
.ment to ruin all. The slightest care
lessness or inattention might have the
most serious results. Occasionally,
though no amount of care can prevent
"a bearing or cross-head from heating
particularly if the machinery is new,
has not sufficiently worn itself to per-
form its duties, and is being run at
a high rate of speed. To provide
Tor this contingency there is al
ways arranged convenient system of
pipes, from which cold water can be
directed at a moments notice upon
whichever part of the machinery shows
signs of heating. In addition to this,
there are many couplings where those
can be connected for use in reaching
the more inaccessible and rapidly
moving parts. At such a time excite
ment runs high in the engine-rooms.
almost full power and moving rapidly,
so If the heating part can not be cooled
sufficiently they will have to be shut
down and the run be lost. The rush
and roar of the machinery, the tremble
of the ship as she is forced ahead by
the immense horsepower transmitted
by each shaft, the hurry of the engi-
neers force, each one of whom
has constant and important du-
ties to perform. all add to the
excitement. Water pours in torrents on
the heated parts, and as it strikes the
flying engines is thrown in all direc-
lions. The engine-roOm floor swims
with Oil and water, and the oil thus
thrown upon the cold-water pipes con-
geals and completely covers them.
looking like snow upon the trees after
a heavy storm. Lucky now are the men
who wear oil-skin suits, for nothing
else will keep out the flying water;
those who are not so prepared are
drenched in an instant, and though by
the thermometer the temperature may
be FIR from cool, there is chill in the
icy water and soaked garments and
discomfort in the oil and salt in ones
eyes that are far from pleasant. But
let US step into the fire-room a moment
and note the difference.
AS we go through the air-loclS with
its double doors, one of which must be
closed before the other is opened to
prevent loss of air pressure in the fire
room, the roar of the engines
changes to rhythemic and steady
beat, muffled and deadened into an
almost soothing sound. The fireroom,
as we step in from the light outside,
seems dark and shadowy, and dusky
figures of men pass here and there
across the light from the open ash pits
In the bulkhead opposite US is small
door, and through this shovelful after
:shovelful of coal is thrown by men in
the bunkers beyond; from there it is
thrown in pile against the bulkhead
directly in front of the boilers. from
whence il is passed into the furnaces
as occasion requires. The freman's
task is no easy one, and it requires
considerable skill to fire boiler prop
"erly. keeping the fuel well and evenly
distributed over the CRATES. The wa
ter tenders" have to keep a watchful
eye upon the water gauges, for fear of
allowing the water in the boilers to
get too low, thereby causing an ex-
plosion. The huge furnaces fairly de-
YOUR coal, and when, for the purpose
of feeding in more, the furnace
doors are opened Throwing a red
glare through the ROOM we can see the
white hot fuel heaped clear to the
crown of the furnace. and the flames
that leap half way up the smokestack
rush wildly out, impeled by the ten
thousand cubic feet of air per minute
furnished by the blowers, which we
hear spinning away overhead with a
steady whir. The amount of coal
burned by large vessel running at
full speed is almost incredible. Some
of the great Atlantic liners burn from
three hundred and fifty to four hum
-dred tons day, and some of our large
cruisers. where they run constantly at
full speed, would burn nearly as much
While the blowers are running the
frerooms are generally comparatively
cool, though there is a great difference
in ships in this respect. some being
very comfortable, while the tempera-
ture in others gets very high, up to
-one hundred and twenty to one hun
~dred and twenty-five degrees. say-too
warm for comfort-Harper's Magazine.
A Gray Rabbits Nest.
Just as small boats always keep neal
found far from a hiding-place of some
sort. Nature gave the gray rabbit
coat with a color that is a very great
protection to him; and when he furls
his ears and lies close to the ground,
.one can sometimes actually step over
him without seeing that he is there.
The why's of this little creature have
surprised me many times; but he never
actually paralyzed me with astonish-
ment until one fine spring day when
the mowers in the Smithsonian
grounds were cutting the grass on the
lawn, not over a hundred feet from
the national museum building. And
there, on a bit of ground utterly with
ont shrubs. bushes, or even flowers,
covered with nothing but lawn grass,
at that time only four inches in height.
with busy roadway and walk circling
round on three sides, with the office of
the curator of mammals in easy stones
throw on the other. q shop full of dead
ly saxidermists and PSYCHOLOGISTS loom
ing up on the east, and dogs and bad
bows literally swarming all about
there, on that naked lawn, was the
nest of gray rabbit, containing four
Young ones already SO large that they
filed the nest as full as it would hold |
w. r, Hornaday, in st. Nicholas. |