Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-09-01
THE MAN BELOW THE DECK.
He Is as Enthusiastic as the Man Behind
the Gun."

Southern waters, where they carried
the nag to glorious victory, the ships
of the North Atlantic Squadron have
attracted much attention, and thou
sands of men and women have made
the journey to Staten Island for the
purpose OF seeing the victorious fight
ing machines in their war paint. and
before the Slight bruises which they
had sustained had been obliterated.
says the New York Tribune. Thou
sands of people were content to see the
ships from the decks of excursion
boats. became enthusiastic over the
sight at long range, and returned to
their homes with glowing accounts of
the great masses of metal, with their
decorations of polished guns and decks
populOus with officers in spotless white.
Others, who We're anxious to make
closer inves tigation, went aboard and
swarmed over the ships and saw 1.-The
wheels go round" The adventures Of
the squadron We're told and retold by
officers and men, and, between seeing
and hearing. the general public knows
more about a T'odera battleship. it's
construction. efficiency and manage
ment that it knew before the victori-
The part which the various members
of the ships company take in engage
mcnts was explained to men and
women over and over again, and many
of those who heard the story We're
filed with pity for the men below
decks. The fremen, engineers. coal
passers and machnists had the SYM
pathy of the visitors, and stories were
told about those men being locked into
compartments where the heat was I'M
bearable. and from which there could
be no escape in case the vessel went
down: of armed marines standing over
the poor firemen threatening to blow
their brains out if they left their posts,
and of one continuous strain from
work and prostrating heat. with never
a chance to see what was going on
above or knowing Which way the bait
tie was turning.
The commander of one of the ships.
When he heard one of these stories
said that the woes of the fireman and
coal passer existed chiefly in the ina
gination of the story writer. "Of
course, he said, the fireman has to
fire and the coal passer has to shovel
coal. and they know very WELL when
they enlist for these posts. that they
VIII be able to do the work without
providing themselves with extra fur
overcoats, just as the man who takes
job to cut ice in the Northern lakes
knows that he can worry through the
season without linen buster. Work.
ing at the fires is a hot job, but the
men who enlist for that service know
all about it, and one hears no com
plant from them any more than from
men in less warm parts of the ship"
The temperature varies in the shios.
Some are SO constructed that the ther
mometer rarely rises above 12O degrees.
while IN others a temperature of 200
degrees is nothing unusual when the
ship is in action.
When the weather gets too hot for
vs. SAID member of the New York's
crew who Is one of the 207 men whose
posts Of duty are away below the
water-line, we turn on the fans, and
get a change"
The men have four hours duty and
eight hours rest. While on duty thay
nave many chances to come aloft +,
eaten 4 Whit of fresh air and ia $50
what It's taking place, and when OF
duty they rest in their quarters or an
deck. and make themselves as com.
Portable as possible
AS to being cut off from escape tha
officers say that there is no such condi-
ton. When the ship goes into action
trapdoors i'm the shape OF monster ira,
crates are closed to protect the boilers
from possible splinters or protectiles
These CRATES cut off all retreat nv thn
regular stairways that leads to TIA
decks. but there are ladders inside the
ventilator pipes which are always ac-
oessible. and other iron ladders which |
lead from the boiler-rooms to the nm
per deck.
IF you had been with u.s." said an
oliicer. you would have seen how
these ladders We're made use Of durny
our fight with the Spaniards. Men
having fired their boilers and having
Few minutes to spare clambered nm !
ana popped out, heard the condition ~
aHalrs, and went below and carried tho
news TO their mates. But even If thes
mad not come aloft they would havs
known what was going on, because the
captain sent an orderly with tidings OF