The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-10-12


taking Minuteness in the Work and
Reports of Engineers and Their AS
sistants.
The passenger on transatlantic steam
ship who seeks relief from the monotony
OF the voyage in visit to the engine ana
fire rooms must be prepar ed for an ordeal
| somewhat different from that which is ex-
pected usually. Tho impression seems TO
| exist that down in the engine room OF one
OF the large recordmaking ocean flyers
one must be prepared for Ia foretaste OF
stay in an undesirable part Of the future
| world, and that it is necessary TO dooge
pieces of ponderous machinery that go
! flying here and there if one would escape
with his life. The coming visitor knows
| that the machinery is pounding and roar
ing at most astonishing rate, and he is
inclined to think that it Is an act OF hero
ism to go down. even under the guidance
OF the chief engineer.
I The preparations are a little alarming.
After one has secured the good offices OF
the Captain, and after the chief engineer,
with a proper show OF reluctance, has
looked with favor upon the request as
suranoes being given that the passenger
is not an emissary of a rival line, and
really knows no more about marine
engine than he does about the topography
of the moon, the visitor is told to go to
his stateroom and to put on his Oldest
Iclothing, and to be sure especially to take
off the tan shoes he has been wearing and
substitute black ones in their stead.
When he returns to the chief engineer s
room he finds that he must stow himself
away in pair of oyeralls, the property of
some subordinate engineer, and usually
three times too large for him. After he
gets inside of these, and has wrapped the
extra fitness several times around him,
he puts on jumper over his waistcoat,
his coat being left behind, and pulls a
greasy cap down over his ears. Then
the chief produces from some locker a
neck handkerchief that has done duty in
the engine room and wraps it around the
visitors neck to keep the hot oil and fly
ing coal dust from dropping down his
back, and, when all is ready, this ques-
tion in asked
SCOT a watch with your"
The visitor almost always says he has
and wonders if there is danger of q hold.
up anywhere in the dark caverns below
from coal passengers or stokers, as he is
requested to leave 1t behind in the care of
the chiefs clerk. He is relieved on this
| +b1 otoI,
/ probably would be ruined if it were taken
! into the dynamo room, and this adds
considerably to his timidity as he starts
on his trip. He is now in a garb in
which his own family would fail to reeug
nize him. Even if by chance any of his
relatives should know him, he is confident
that they would not speak to him, and
SO he is prepared for the worst.
A Sun reporter passed through this ex-
perience on one of the recent trips Of the
| St. Louis. The engines of that ship have
been declared repeatedly to be the best
and most perfect in their workings of all
engines afloat and he desired to see them
in operation in mid ocean~-and under full
pressure. Chief Engineer Walls led the
way to the engine room. The first i'm
preston that one receives as he steps on
the gratings above the engines is that the
machinery is Of enormous height. Four
or five stories below may be seen electric
in mysterious passages.
| The roar is so great that one must put
| his ear close to the chief engineers
mouth to hear him shout
| "Here is where we do some work. !"
| Down narrow fight of steps the vsi-
tor picks his. way and finds himself at the
first landing on his journey. He is stand
ing almost on top of four of the immense
cylinders of one Of the engines, and as yet
| sees little motion anywhere. The two
high-pressure CYL nders are on this land
ing, but they are over on the other nside
of the passageway, and their piston rods
are working underneath and the cylinder
seems to be simply imm ense boxes OF
steel with rounded corners. 1t Is on the
second landing that the fun begins. The
heat has been sitting on the landing
above, but as one descends he notices
that the air grows cooler instead of hot
ter. The top of the working parts of the
engine is now in sight. Between the
massive yellow uprights that slope away
like the flying buttresses Of cathedral,
the glinting steel rods are seen churning
up and down. and at the top of all the
four ''link motions" that part of the
machinery that resembles the walking
beam of ferryboat, are playing see saw,
tipping up first this end and now that in
way to send confusion to the head Of
the inexperienced watcher. The passage
ways run close to them, and the visitor
could touch them with his hand or even
with his head if he should want to COM
nit suicide. The proximity of danger
now impresses itself on the visitor, and,
although the passageways are rallied OF,
there is feeling of insecurity as one goes
from landing Ito landing. Winding here
and there past enormous pipes and gauges
and pumps. the reporter reached what
might be called the ground floor The
chief stopped to point out this or that