Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-03-28
TRAPPED LIKE A RAT
A MARINE ENGINEER RELATES AN
AWFUL EXPERIENCE.

Dcl;veEance That Promises to Remain
Forever = Mystery.
Marine engineers have their shares of
startling experiences. George ]. Little
tells story Of being trapped in the fire
box of boiler. In just such circum-
stances the hair sometimes turns gray.
81 can never forget it if 1 live to be
100 years DID," said Mr. Little. "It &C.
surred ON an old Buffalo tug named
after c. NJ. Farrar of the firm Of Farrar
d Trefts of this city. The ting is gone
where all good tugs go, but the mem
CRY 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
it as wildly as 90.
at was late in the year, along in
December, I 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 timo 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. Ono 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, tho boiler and every
bright part Of tho engine is painted over
with oil to prevent it rusting. The in
sido of the fire box is che Of the particu-
lar places, and the owner of the tug had
cautioned as not to slight it. That wa.
enc Of the reasons we had Put it off till
the last thing. Besides, we had TO use q
torch, so it made 10 difference if it was
dark outside.
lit is necessary that You understand
the construction Of the boiler to have q
clear idea Of the situation. The boiler
was al ordinary marine boiler, such as
we used ten yeaTs ago. 1t had water legs
and water bottom, with a damper
opening about 8 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
feet one way and IS inches the other.
The opening which it covered was a
trifle smaller, but was plenty large
enough to allow man to crawl through
1t. 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 Eneel and work. The
room from the ash pan, which was the
water bottom, to tho crown sheet. OF
course, it was not an inviting place, nor
large enough for clubroom, but there
was room for the two of us to work, and
as two can DO more work than one we
crawled in, ono after the other. The one
nearest tho door, l forget now whether
itwas my companion or myself, reached
ont the door and handed in the oil,
brushes and the torch. Weput the torch
in the opening of the fiue in the back Of
the fire box and started to work. The
draft through the door into the f!ue 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. turned to look
at my companion and saw that he, too,
understood. We were in the furnace of
the 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 so badly that
she would sink in few hours unless
some assistance came. Even then we
could see the water slowly crawling
over the fire hole floor. If we called, it
would do no good. We could hardly be
heard on deck, and there was no enc
within half mile of Us. The damper
hole was not large enough to allow a
boy to pass through it, tosay nothing of
man. All these thoughts ran through
cur minds in q second. We were per-
fectly familiar with the situation and
knew Our chances were slim. l will
never forget that scene. Before mo sat
my companion in half crouched posi-
ton, his face thrown into bold relief by
the blackness Of tie iron behind him.
The Pickering light Of the torch gave
tho face, with the firm set jaw, an aw-
full expression. remember, as I looked
into the face that looked into mine with
bravo eyes, the thought came to me,
VIII meet it as bravely as ho:'
"Tne man 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 minute. It
seemed a century. l was waiting for
him to speak and he for ne. could
not. The situation was hopeless. saw
his eyes travel to the door, then to the
damper ard then to the fue in which
the torch fiickered feebly. Then his eyes
again sought mine as he asked il low,
distinct voice, Did the door latch:'
Il 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,. .Sroft ~