Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1896-03-20
TRAPPED LIKE A RAT
A MARINE ENGINEER RELATES AN
AWFUL ExPE RlENCE.


Forever y Mystery.
Marine engineers have their shares Of
startling experiences. George J. Little
tells Il story Of being trapped IN the fire
box Of boiler. In Just such circum-
stances the hair sometimes turns gray.
II Gun never forget 1t IL live to DO
100 years old, said Mr.. Little ut 90
Cured on an old Buffalo tug named
after @. NJ. Farrar Of the firm Of Farrar
u Trefts Of this city. The tug is gone
where all good tugs go, but the mem
DRY Of that few minutes spent trapped
like rat in her fire box comes back To
me often, and ! wonder If the man who
was with mo that afternoon remembers
1t as wildly as do.
1t was late In the year, along in
December, 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 ont with tin pump twice that
afternoon. It was cold, and we wanted
to get through with our job while it
was light, SO we spent very little time
VII tIo DuLhPt uIlu uh nv tiHuo ulu W.
pump her dry. We kept the water oil
the fire holo floor 10 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 tho fire box.
when tug il laid up for the win
ter. you know, the boiler and every
bright part of the engine is painted over
with oil to prevent It rusting Tho in
side Of the fire box IL one of the partieu-
lar places, and the owner of the tug hnd
cautioned us not to slight it. That was
ono Of the reasons We had put IL off till
the last thing. Besides, we had to use
torch, so il made no difference IL IL was
dark outside.
1T il necessary that you understand
the construction Of the boiler to have "a
clear idea of tho situation. The boiler
was AN ordinary marine boiler, such az
we used ten years ago. IL had water legs
and water bottom, with damper
opening about 8 inches wide extending
across the front of the boiler. The fur
mace door was such IN you will see on
any tug in Buffalo today. II was about
, feet one way and IL inches tho other.
Tho opening which IT covered was
trihe smaller, but WIS plenty large
enough to allow a man 20 crawl through
it. The door fastened by heavy latch
on tho outside, which dropped into place
whenever the door was shut. Inside the
fire box here 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. to the crown sheet OF
course, it WAS not I'M inviting place. nor
large enough for Il clubroom, but there
was room for tho two of M to work, and
NJ two can do more work than one We
crawled in, one after the other. The one
nearest the door, I forget now whether
il was my companion or myself. reached
ont the door and handed in the oil,
brushes and the torch. We put the torch
in the opening OF the fiue in the back Of
tho fro 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 out and
pulled the door shut. In an instant
realized the situation. l turned to look
at my companion and saw that he, too,
understood. We were in the furnace Of
tho boiler, with the only exit locked
We had both heard the heavy latch Of
the door drop into place, The tug that
we were On was leaking 80 badly that
she would sink in q few hours unless
some assistance came. Even then we
could 500 the water slowly crawling
over the fire hole floor. II we called. it
would do 10 good. We could hardly be
heard on deck. and there WAS no one
within half mile Of US. The damper
hole was not large enough TO allow
boy TO pass through 1t, tosay nothing Of
man. A II 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-.
ton. 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 ret jaw, an aw-
full expression. / remember, IN looked
into the face that looked into mine with
brave eyes, the thought came to me,
VIII i meet 1t as brayely an beY
1.-THE man with me was the son Of tho
owner Of the boat and my cousin. lie
was game to the fullest meaning Of the
word, and ] knew 1t. We looked at
"a ,.A IL
seemed century. ! was waiting for
him to speak and he for me. l could
not. The 81 suation was hopeless saw
bis eyes travel to the door, then to the
damper and then TO the fluo IN which
tho torch tlickered feebly. Then his eyes
again sought mine as he askei in n low,
distinct voice. Did the door latch?'
put my hand against it and
pushed. II did not give. | nodded my
head. could not speak lie half lifted
himself and kicked the door with his
foot, and it swung open. The draft Of
air put the light out, nuH III that mo-
ment Of darkness / thanked God.
"To this day cannot understand
how that latch lifted, or If it did not
drop, Buffalo Express.
What Put 1t out.
"Accidents?" said tho old sea captain
mo, we never have any TO speak of on
this line. Why, one trip about n year
ago the ship caught fire down in the
hold, and we never discovered it till we
got into port and began to discharge "
That's strange. What put the fire
outY'
why, it burned down through to the
sea and the water put it out. Couldn't
burn the water, you know. -
And the captain walked away smil
ing, while the interlocutor was so as
tonished that he never thought of asking
why the ship did not sink. London
Speaker.
Literary Information.