The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-03-24
TRAPPED LIKE A RAT
A MARINE ENGINEER RELATES AN
AWFUL EXPERIENCE.


Marine engineers have their shares Of
startling experiences. George j. Little
tells story Of being trapped in the fire
boz Of boiler. In Just such circum-
stances the hair sometimes turns gray.
81 can never forget it il live to be
100 years DID," said Mr.. Little. at CO.
CURED ON an old Buffalo tug named
after G. NJ. Farrar of the firm Of Farrar
& Trefts of this city. The tus is gone
where all good tugs go, bat the mem
DRY Of that few minutes j spent trapped
like rat in her fire box comes back to
me often, and wonder if the man who
was with me that afternoon remembers
1t as wildly as do.
lit was late In the year, along in
December. 1 think. We were laying
up for the cold. We had been break
Ing ice all the week previous. and the
old tug was leaking badly. so badly. In
fact, that we had been obliged to pump
her out with tin pump twice that
afternoon. 1t was cold. and we wanted
to get through with our Job while it
was light, so we spent very little time
on the pump, and at no time did we
pump her dry. We kept the water off
the fire hole floor so we would not be
obliged to work in the water, and that
was about all. We intended to pump
her thoroughly after we had finished
our other work. There were two jobs
we could do after dark. One was the
pumping and the other was oiling the
inside Of the fire box.
"When tug is laid up for the win
ter, you know, the boiler and every
bright part of the engine is painted over
with oil to prevent 1t rusting. The in
side Of the fire box is one of the particu-
lar places, and the owner Of the tug had
cautioned MS not to slight it. That was
ono of the reasons we had put 1t off till
the last thing. Besides, we had to use a
torch, so it made no difference if it was
dark outside.
ut is necessary that you understand
the construction Of the boiler to have a
clear idea Of the situation. The boiler
was an ordinary marine boiler. such as
we used ten years ago. It had water legs
and water bottom, with damper
opening about inches wide extending
across the front Of the boiler. The fur
mace door was such as you will see on
any tug in Buffalo today. 1t was about
| Q feet one way and Is inches the other.
The opening which it covered was
trifle smaller, but was plenty large
enough to allow man to crawl through
it. The door fastened by heavy latch
ON the outside. which dropped into place
whenever the door was shut. Inside the
fire box there was plenty Of room for two
men to sit or kneel and work. The
CRATES were removed and there was the
room from the ash pan. which was the
water bottom. 20 the crown sheet. OF
course, it was not an inviting place. nor
large enough for clubroom. but there
was room for the two of rs to work, and
as two can do more work than one we
crawled in, one after the other. The one
nearest the door, forget now whether
IL was my companion or myself, reached
out the door and handed in the oil.
brushes and the torch. eput the torch
| in the opening Of the fluo in the back of
the fire box and started TO work. The
draft through the door into the fiue was
so strong that it threatened to blow the
light out. so my companion said to me,
Shut the door.
without thinking reached ont and
| pulled the door shut. In an instant
realized the situation. l turned 10 look
at my companion and saw that he, too,
understood We were in the furnace of
L 10, NTH he nr,1x arit lnOlrnd
We had both heard the heavy latch Of
the door drop into place. The tug that
| we were on was leaking so badly that
| she would sink in a few hours unless
| some assistance came. Even then we
| could see the water slowly crawling
| over tho FIRE hole floor. II we called, it
would do no good. We could hardly be
heard on deck. and there was no one
| within half q mile of us. The damper
hole was not large enough to allow a
boy to pass through it, to say nothing of
| man. All these thoughts ran through
| our minds in second. We were per-
| fectly familiar with the situation and
| knew our chances were slim. / will
| never forget that scene. Before me sat
| my companion In half crouched posi-
tion, his face thrown into bold relief by
| the blackness Of the iron behind him.
The Pickering light Of the torch gave
the face, with the firm set jaw. an aw-
full expression. remember. as looked
into the face that looked into mine with
brave eyes. the thought came to me,
will meet it as bravely AS he?
"Tne mau with me was the son Of the
owner of the boat and my cousin. He
was game to the fullest meaning OF the
word, and / knew it. We looked at
each other for at least q minute. 1t
seemed a century. ! was waiting for
him to speal and be for me. could
not. The situation was hopeless. / saw
his eyes travel to the door. then to the
damper and then to tho flue in which
the torch flickered feebly. Then his eyes
again sough mine rs he asked in low.
distinct voice. Did the door latchp'
~ put my hand against it and
pushed. 1t did not give. nodded my
head. Icould not speak. He half lifted
himself and kicked the door with his
foot, and it swung open. The draft of
air put the light out. and in that mo-
ment of darkness / thanked God.
"To this day / cannot understand
how that latch lifted, or IL it did not
drop, why Buffalo Express.
Sitting Up Late.
There is nothing so tends TO shorten