The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-08-09
Human Salamanders.


ed Hawaii 1t was discovered that one
Of her stokers had gone insane. Dur
ing the long trip across the Pacific he
had been frequently prostrated by the
tremendous heat in the boiler room.
His hands and arms were a mass of
blisters: his constitution had been
wrecked. and, ultimately. his mind
gave way. When the antecedents of
this unfortunate man were inquired
into, it was found that he had followed
a professional career at San Francisco,
when, at the outbreak of the war, he
volunteered his services for the navy.
This was the work for which he was
thought suitable, and which he accept
ed without a murmur. This is only
one out of hundreds of similar instan-
ces which might be adduced. They
are an index to the American charac-
ter in small as in great affairs. 1t
was by the accomplishing endurance
of these heroes that our great victories
in the war have been gathered. The
achievements of a Dewey. a Hobson
or a Schley are known to all men. But
without the cooperation and instru-
mentality of the human salamanders
in the stoke hole and the engine room,
the victories could not have been Won
1t will be remembered that before Ger
vera made his bold dash out of Santi-
ago harbor, he supplied his firemen
with unlimited quantities or drink.
Even with this false stimulus of evan
escent courage, the officers found it
necessary to stand with their firemen
and coal passers at their posts of duty
with loaded revolvers in their hands.
The firemen in our ships were not in
position more favorable. In fact when
the battle became a rout ard most
of our battleships were steaming under
forced draught the temperature at the
boilers mouth must have been infer
nal in its intensity. But the American
stokers needed neither grog nor CO.
ercion to do their duty.
During the battle the Amphitrite re-
corded a temperature of 120 degrees
fahrenheit in the engine room and 14S
degrees i'm the fire room. The Terror
reports 140 degrees in the engine room
and 155 in the fire room, while in the
case of Cincinnati the tremendous tenn
perature of POS degrees had been sus-
tained, only seven degrees actually less
than the boiling point. These figures
will give a faint idea of the tempera-
ture at which our fremen sometimes
work below. In tropical latitudes the
air pumped into the fire room is often
itself 100 degrees fahrenheit. so that
the current of fresh air waited into
the stoke hole reaches a high temper
ature itself To be at ease on an elder
down couch in such heat would be a
tremendous strain, more enervating
than an ordinary man could endure
for any length of time. But the poor
fireman must endure it and work labor
iously as well. The iron plates of the
freroom are burning hot: the coal rake
with which he draws and backs his
fire would be uncomfortable in hands
that were not calloused by long usage
and sustained by brawny muscles His
pay is not more than that of an ordi-
| nary laborer, and his watches run to
| four hours on and eight hours off: that
| is. he has an eight-hour day of slavish
work in a temperature in contrast to
which the air in a summer kitchen dur
| ing dinner preparations is refreshing
| and buOyant.
1t is marvellous what a man is cana
BILE of enduring when put to the su-
| preme test. How adaptable he is to
extremes of heat and cold, while as a
| normal living animal he is susceptible
| to the slightest barometric variations
| in his environment. Stranger still is
| the fact that a man coming from a
temperate zone, after a short proba-
tion, is less likely to succumb to in
tense heat or cold than natives of re-
| gions where perpetual sunshine or cold
reigns. The engineers on steamships
sailing through the Red sea find it nec-
essary to place wire netting over the
entrance to the stoke hole to prevent
Lascars from jumping overheard. while
a European professional fireman never
thinks of committing suicide. Yet the
Lascars are recruited from the Arab
ian shores of the Red sea.
We are glad to note that the work OF
the stokers will not be forgotten by
the administration. Their work is nc
less dangerous than that of the mer
on deck, If it is not more so. The
most vital part of the ship is in the
boiler and engine rooms. Naturally
they are the bulls eye of the enemy
There is little or no chance of escape
for the firemen. These human sala.
manders, when their ship. is goinl
through defeat, are either roasted alive
scalded alive, or held like rats ir
a trap until the waters of a mercifu
oblivion put an end to their suspenst
and suffering.