The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-15
FIREMEN IN THE NAVY
LITTLE-APPRECIAT BRAVERY
AND SUFFERING OF FAITHFUL MEN.
How They Work in the Terrible Heat
Other Duties Besides Those of
the Fire RoOm-Heat CataIepsy.

IdtIlOUSm Wnlcn Will endure a temporal
ture of 40 degrees of heat is of some value
to country. Surely those who labor
cheerily and with a never-failing regard for
their duty, standing untold discomfcrts con-
tentedly. deep down in the lower regions CT
a. man-of-war, in peace and war, in battle
and out, are worthy of high praise, even
when we are so lost in admiration of the ac-
curacy of our gunners.
There is nothing romantic in shovelful
of coal as compared with the shining breech
of thirteen-inch gun, but if we search dis
passionately and without prejudice, we will
lind that at the battle of Manila bay, the
bombardment of Santiago and the successful
chase of Cervera's fleet that shovelful of
coal, or the man handling it, had almost as
much to do with the victory as the gun.
To-day speed is the most important requi-
site of a war ship. Admiral Cervera was
supposed by naval tactcians to have an ad-
vantage over Sampson because his squadron
could cover more knots in the hour 1t is
acknowledged that if the Spanish admiral
had not made the fatal mistake of entering
Santiago harbor, he might have caused us
many uneasy hours with his fast ships. In
short, Admiral Cervera failed because he did
not take advantage of the most valuable
engines and great steaming capacity.
This stamps at once the Importance of
keeping up the engineering department of
the navy. The men composing it are un-
heard Of in dispatches, unknown to the daily
chronicler Of events. and unsung in his
tory, but their duty is done as faithfully as
the duty of the men on deck, and their peril
is as great in time of battle. In addition,
1ah Or ut
men on deck can see the fight, and the hub
bub of war and the smoke and excitement
spur them on to reckless valor, but down
working away in semi-darkness, not know
ing when shell will pierce boiler and
bring hot death upon them. Captain Nc
Glftin, the American naval officer who COM
manded Chinese war ship in the war with
Japan, speaking of this. said in his charac-
t ttal way: I'd rather be on deck any
Tune in fight. l don't believe l could be
induced to take an engineers or a fireman's
trick curing an action. The uncertainty of
being below decks under such circumstances
is entirely too wearing for me-"
InlS can be thoroughly understood by any
one who has, for instance. been in a fire.
room during target practice. Down there
between the great roaring furnaces of course
nothing happening on deck can be seen,
but what is heard makes up for it, The
dering echoes and raises a din almost indie
scribable. With the kissing of steam the
quick changing of furnace doors, the rum
bic Of machinery. and the spectacle of half
naked, prespiring figures toiling in the glare
Of the flames, there is nothing else that
more nearly approaches the inferno of
of battle and the possibility of the ships
being tOrpedoed without giving one a chance
to gain the upper deck, and you have cir
cumstances under which none but brave
man can work.
THEY ARE BRAVE MEN.
And the firemen of the United States
navy are brave men. deserving all the credit
and applause we can give them. 1t is par
ticularly of interest at this time, when we
have nearly 200 ships at the front to know
something about the life of a fireman in
our navy, to learn how he works, the sal
ary paid him, and his daily routine of labor
on board ship.
On battle ship of the Indiana or Ore
gon class will be found an entire engine
room force of about 100, and of these about
sixty-six are fire nen-men whose duty it is
to shovel coal into the furnaces. Cruisers
like the Baltimore carry seventy-five in the
engineers department, and gupboats about
thirty OF these the firemen on all ships
stand watch four hours out of every twelve
which gives them eight hours of duty in the
stoke-hole out of every tWenty-four, Il very
long space of time when spent in such
grimy, hot hole as the firerOom of a war
ship There are other differences, too be-
tween the daily life of the naval fireman
and the worker ashore. The latter, in nine
cases out of ten, has a home and family to
welcome him after his daily toll Is over.
He is free to come and go as he pleases. He
can spend the evening at places of
amusement, and enjoy all the pleasures of a
citizen.
Contrast with this the picture of fire.
mans life on board one of our battle ships
or cruisers now off Cuba. Let us say that
he has the middle watch from IL to in the
morning He is called at 10 minutes before
midnight and as the. ships bell strikes
ha n 10 fro n re-
port with his watch. He has left a cramped
hammock swinging on berth deck, made
several hundred men, and he feels exhaust
ed instead of invgorated. If the ship is I'M
der way. and the engines working at
top speed, there is a pressing call for steam.
Selling the slice bar he falls to the task of
livening up the fires, laboring like a Trojan
for many minutes, then with q few breaths
of fresh air snatched from the blower he
continues to feed the great, yaWning fires
placed under his care 1t is no easy work,
this shoveling of coal into pit, that is
apt turn of the wrist that comes only with
practice, and the amount of hard physical
labor entailed in keeping a furnace we'll
supplied is more than one would imagine
For clothing the fireman wore on leaving
the berth-deck a suit of faded blue overalis.
ton of q thin shirt and trousers. Before
he is at work five minutes the heat of the
tirerom has bathed him in perspration, and
he leaves little riVuletS of water as he
trudges back and forth in front of his fires.
The dust and black of the coal grimes his
face and body. and it is difficult to distin-
gulsh him from negro coal-passer. For
four long hours he works-hours during
which his back Is bent increasingly over the
shovel and slice-bar, for steam rises and
falls steadily in the gauge, and the machin-
list on watch in the engineroom is a mar
tinet who has no such word as rest in his
lexicon.
SUFFERING OF NEW MEN.
Perhaps before the time is up coal-pass-
er is dragged out Of the dark and sitting
bunkers and laid under the blower. His
face is white and drawn, and his clinched
teeth show that he is in an agony of suffer
ing. AS he is laid down upon a. heap of
waste it is noticed that mis- limbs are as
rigid as iron bars. A slight froth gathers
about the mouth, and the wide-open eyes
stare with no hint of consciousness in
them.
It's the new fellow that shipped in Key
West" mutters water-tender TO the near
est fireman. Il thought he didn't look much
like worker"
''Ain't used to it, suppose" is the reply.
with a touch OF sympathy. Them bunkers
are pretty tough on greenhorns. We had
joined us at Hampton Roads. We LEFT them
in the hospital. It's the heat that does it,"
"And the smell of the oil and steam
remember my first dose of it. / was glad
enough to spend few days in the sick
bay"
engines, looks at the coal passer then or
ders several of his mates to carry him on
deck. He is lifted up the ladder with more
tenderness than one would expect to find
under such circumstances and ultimately
reaches the open air, where the surgeon