The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-07-11
COAL, THE NAVAL BUGB[AR.
VARIED TROl nile IT MAKES fOM
ALL HANDS On BOARD SHIP.
Constant OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
Fuel and yoreiy Tried Chief I'm
gfneers-Irips Through Bankers

poses Sfs2I D- ABANDONED. great sldppl-
ness viii abound in the worlds navies-
Coal is the blsgbeSr OF modern ships OF
war. 1t Is the cause OF ceaseiess bother
fore and aft Coal gets the nerves or fleet
commanders. ship commanders. chief and
assistant engineers on edge for long
cruises at 4 stretch. Coal has served 70
widen the old time breach between hne
and STAN. Coal-w siich also means eoaling
causes more deserttons from the navy
than any other feature Of the service. The
growls over coal and coating aboard n1el-
of-war OF today are never ending. When
the potency of coal for rendering chief en-
g:neers half insane is considered, IL il no
wonder that 90 many OF them 60 10 pieces
physically and are forced TO retire when
they ouga, TO be in their prime Of useful
ness. The landsman always has difficulty
in understanding why this question Of coal
on naval vessels saouid be so hateful q
subject TO men-o'war's men, commissioned
and enlisted. The Iandsmaa inquiries,
What's all this row over coal about?"
Why can't they load the boats up. burn
the coal and then load EN- UP again? They
don't have any trouble 10 speak Of on mer-
chant steamers, do they?''
They do not, in fact. have much trouble
with the coal question In the merchant
steamer service. for the simple reason that
steamers in q merchant service follow a
well settled course. and know to T just
repeated cruises. Moreover. merchant
steamers are longer on bunker space than
men-of-war, and most OF them are able TO
carry about twice as much coal In their
bunkers as they need for their voyages.
Finally. merchant steamship lines don't
experiment with coal with anything like
the same persistency as navies. Ever since
men-of-war were first driven by steam the
worlds navies have been experimenting
with coal. The result of their experiments
Up to the present time. as most OF Their
chief engineers confess. may be repre-
sented by naught. The steaming radius OF
ton OF coal. the weight OF a ton Of Goals
smoke. the weight of a ton of Goals re-
fuse. the propor;ionate amount OF clinker
in each and all OF the worlds brands OF
steaming coal. the number of pounds OF
steam made in given time by each and
ali the worlds brands OF steaming coal
these and about forty others Of similar
character are the minor problems that
come in for solution after the chief prob
lem of getting aboard enough coal to drive
ahe ship specified distance is solved.
These are the pencil and pad puzzles that
conduce so to the conversion Of naval en-
gtneers into nsurasthenic wrecks.
The big problem. of course, is the con-
sumption of coaI-the getting Of enough
coal aboard a man-of-war TO drive her
through certain number OF leagues OF
water. The chief engineer OF the monitor
Monterey, which Is going out to Manila to
stay alongside Dewey in case OF further
trouble, has got some fine pencil and pad
work cut out for him He will have TO
nurse coal like q Kiond!ke miner nursing
provisions. and he will heave sigh of re-
lief when he finally hauls his low free
boarder into Manila harbor. Coal Is de-
ceiving and treacherous. II has an utterly
mex plscabae fashion of working It's way
into the furnaces. OF sneaking out Of bunk
ers. and Of smashing the calculation States
OF shippers and engineers 10 s-i!thereens.
Many an innocent coal passer on board a
man-of-war gets himself dragged UP to the
mast TO explain 10 thls skipper and chief
engineer the absence of a certain amount
OF coal that ought still to remain In the
bunkers the coal HEAVIER has been working
In. but that isn't there. all the same.
Coal passers have been worried into say
ing Il didn't eat the COAL" under these
cross-examlnstions. When coal consu.np-
ton calculations are spoiled in this way,
the recrimina,ion that follows all along the
line is natural. The skipper says the chief
engineer hasn't properly developed bsAnp
q economy. The chief says the men have
sneaked the coal into the furnaces. The
men say the coal is no good and burns like
dry hemp. And the coal goes r.gsl. on
using itself up as II bcwitched.
disappearing gun carriages" exclaim
y
fccrs, Come down to the bunkers and
les me show YOU my disappearing coal,'
The trouble is said an old chief 10 the
writer while back. when this coal prob
lem was under discussion. ''the bureau OF
steam engineering Of the navy department
expects too much OF a ton of coal. The
bureau exhibits a tendency 10 overwork q
ton Of coal. The bureau has It's beautifully
figured standards, and we've got 20 align
ourselves with these standards. We've got
70 propsl the ships according 10 their fig
ures-at least. we're supposed II 10 this
But We never do. I've been overburning
coal, according 20 the bureaus idea of II.
fer matter or thirty years now If rad
paid any attention To their c,sbic bunker
SPACE figures ard Ia their amending call
downs Ia have been a dead man years
ago. | just burn coal. ana when the coal
runs out, figures or no figures. | work my
way into the cabin. have a more or Jess
stormy talk with the skipper on account
oc my veil for more coal. get the coal. burn
II I'D. and there yoI are. You can't figure
on coal any more than You can figure on
racehorse. Coal was made 10 burn. any
how, not 10 figure on
This was an 0d-tirne chief engineer. who
came in through tire hawsep.pe and was
therefore a philosopher Few Of mis- en-
gin~er comrades take the coal problem 50
easily. III truth. the coal problem darkens
their days. There can be no more touch
ing picture Of grief than a dsgnified chief
engineer Of a raaa-0f-wsr logged out in a
coal passer's suit Of blue duBgarees crawl
ing through not bu1kgrs. Cozumerian In
their darkness. with II pencA and pad in
! his grimy' hands. and trying 20 figure out
y here tie dessce all the coal has gone. Hs
taxes the cubic method for this figuring.
ard Eter Il IL FL over. and his calculations
ara snt IN form FOR presentation 70 the
skipper. ne talks d-ea-iiy in the ward
ron: ~ contracting and 'expa -ding"
bIukers-ucS that ne believes in any 81 Il
t1ing. oi course. but he's got 10 say Some
thing.
chief engineers know. Of course. issst
Hoa much coal TIE bUDkers II their ships
VIZ bod, 10 round-ln cubic measure
u9~2t Bat figures lie VITA reference ~
C>,al When catf:. midway on "a crIIsa.
san:s % know heH InRch coal ha has usssl
ard hov much he Sill has - hand b..
never simply Ss39tractS she amount ts.d
ac1SgGlTE 20 tae iog, from ths. amount
: kf.Ti i board ~ me o,.tSet &c the cruise
tie knows thsi & hs- does ;hjs hen gvoha-
by set h}s ship 81 TIE ;rat3Sh 90 fh.. sea