Evening star., 1898-08-06


cipal organs that reg
ulate vitality.
There are no secret recesses in the get-up
of modern war craft that can be allowed to
go neglected-each cell of these great me-
tallic honeycombs must be carefully watch
ed, and the navy regulations specify just
how often these awkwardly Inaccessible
places must be examined and their condi-
tions sedulously reported. Duty in the
double bottoms and in the boilers is not
an agreeable service, yet too much en-
phasis cannot be laid upon the work and
its intimate relation to the health
md to the efficiency of these pres
ent fabrications of steel. A leak
means rust; rust means weakened plates
and parts; and sapped strength may mean
dangerous consequences either in the stress
Of storm or at the crucial moment of con-
fict. A persistent leak may cause the
iooding of compartment and the injury
Of provisions or other stores. and, at any
lime, means much energy spent in pump
ing that might otherwise be saved for bet
ter application.
The Inner Bottom.
The double-or inner-bottom is that ex-
ira skin given all fighting ships by way of
added security against damage to the outer
plating. 1t is really as though smaller
craft had been placed inside the larger ves-
sci. and this inner plating or skin reaches
rom the bottom up to a short distance
above the water line and extends, fore and
aft, for the greater part of the ship. The
space between the outer bottom and the
nner bottom varies from two and a half
10 three feet. The frames or ribs of the
ship cut this intervening space into small
compartments while the longitudinals and
siaj jrna Laa of,,sd ida int
or pockets, to the numb ber, perhaps, of six
Or seven hundred separate divisions-suc-
eessive access being had through narrow
opening or lengthening holes scarcely wider
than eighteen inches. In between these
skins lie many Of the pipes that drain the
various compartments, and the presence OF
his arterial system only adds greater dis
comfort and compiexity to work in these
eramped passages: 7.-4
Every fourth frame. as rule, Is the di-
vision for water-tisht bulkhead between
the two bottoms, and the space between
two of these bulkheads forms one of the
major divisions of this intramural region
Access to each water-tight division is OBJ
5ained through two manholes, these being
closed tightly by sma}l doors or manhole
plates at all other times. The manholes
ara of an elliptieaiS shape and are only
just large enough to allow man of aver
age size to pass through; and even with
such men entry Is effected only by the ex-
ercise of a deal of effort and a fair amount
of wriggling. r.'
The Paint Used.
All surfaces within this region are paint
ed with mixture of red lead and white
zinc, and the greatest care is taken to see
that no infiammable or gas-yielding con-
stituents enter into the paint. The fright
full record of a number of marine explo-
sions directly attributable to just such
paints has shown the danger of compost
tions of that kind, and today we avoid all
risk by using the simple. protective mix
ture just mentioned. The action of air and
moisture in this double-bottom space is to
eat away the paint or to cause 1t to scale.
and the work of the detail of men to the
double bottom is to scrape away this loose
scale and to repaint the barred surfaces be-
fore serious pitting or metallic scaling
takes place. The work is divided up among
the various divisions OF details of the crew,
the engineering force being especially as
signed TO the compartments lying under
and adjacent to the engines and boilers
The regulations require that the double
bottom shall be thoroughly inspected once
every three months, and experience has
shown thar it requires quite that time to
go over carefully the whole of the space
during such of that interval it is posi-
BILE to have the men working there. The
last division is usually just done when it
becomes necessary to start again on .Eat
long, trying round. and thus the wo:k is
kept up the year through, matter
whether in the frost-bound reaches of our
own coast or down in the tropics. The
work must be done despite heat or cold,
and physical discomfort, of necessity, be-
comes matter of minor consideration, off,
cially.
On opening compartment the first thing
needful is to find out whether or not the
air Is sufficiently pure for the examining
officers or the working crew to enter with
safety, and to determine this 1t Is CUSTOM
airy to lower a lighted candle into the new
ly-opened compartment. If the light burn
pr,ghtiy the air is all right, but If 1t burn
dimly or go out the atmosphere Is stagnant
and foul, and it becomes necessary to en-
tilate the space. With us. to accomplish
this, we take a leather bag and fit it over
one manhole, and at the bottom of the bag
we insert hose already coupled to the ex-
haust OF one Of the ventilator fans or
blowers
Crawling and Smelling.
The regulations require that the inspec-
ton board shall be composed of one engi-
neer and two line officers. With the line
officers. the work falls among those junior
to the navigator. while the engineer detail
| Is from those below the chief engineer of
| the ship. The assignment is made anew
Tor each quarter, and, as far as possible, a
fair distribution of the duty is aimed at,
but physical development makes 1t impoS-
sible for some men to get into the spaces,
and, as rule, the junior officers of the
| ship have the bulk of such work to do.
me Doard Is termed, on shipDoard the
| crawling board, and ITS members eagerly
| welcome the relaxing. assignment to the
smelling board. whose worst duties are only
the examination of y barrels Of spoiled
| pickles and other, PROVISIONS.
| When the compartments are ready. the
| officers don regular seaman's working
suit of white duck, ,and followed by n
| couple of jackies esqueeze themselves into
their several spaces. Each must literally
crawl along en- hands and knees with one
| hand burdened with lighted taper and
the other with a note book in which to
| check the condition OF each of these 2x4
| pockets. The air at the best is stuffy, and
/ in the tropics and near the boiler and en-
| gine spaces it is hot Jammed in this metal
labyrinth between two layers of steel plat
| ing, the water without and the massive
| weights of the ship above, the feeling is
not a comfortable one as one crowds ones
| self through each succeeding Tightening
| hole, and 1t is not pleasant TO reflect upon
| the consequences of a sudden shortness of
| breath or the failure of even that badly
] taxed air at the best Men have died in
| there, and, that such shall not happen
| while the ship is in service, If possible, the
1 greatest care Is taken to pull out faint
Ing man at once, but even this precaution
| has been of no avail in some instances of
Sudden heart failure. Spick and span, the