The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-02-24


bucketful of the incoming sea water
| against the steel bulkhead. which was
| already so hot that it sent back clouds
| of steam.
SPONTANEOUS CONFESSION.
| Spontaneous combustion in the cCal
bunkers of men-of-war is something
that has always to be guarded against
There is good deal of coal dug out
| of the ground in many parts Of the
world that is practically perfect for
steam-making purposes, but is not
used by men-Of-War on account of its
| known liability TO ignite Of itself in
hot coal bunkers abuttinE upon fire
and boiler rooms. In all man-o war
| bunkers there is an apparatus that
! gives the alarm when the temperature
| of the bunker rises above a certain set
| figure. The bunkers are all numbered.
If the temperature of bunker No. l. for
| instance. rises beyond the set rsark,
the alarm is given by means of a ring
| ing registering machine, placed just
! outside the shippers cabin. The mar
| inc orderly for the commanding officer,
whose station outside the cabin door
enables him to keep his eye on and
]
! bunker fire alarm, is always the man
| to make the rush to the officer of the
deck with the news that there is some
thing wrong in one of the bunkers.
Then the ships bugler sounds fire quar-
ters, and all hands Gallop to their fire
! stations. Steam is turned into the
! bunker, the coal in which is ignited,
and the fire thus nut out. Such fires
are not at all uncommon, but accounts
of them rarely get into print
mo coal passer or any other MEM
Der of the engineers gang is permitted
to carry an open light into the bunkers,
but the coal passers often do this all
the same. Coal DunSers on modern
| ships of war are all fitted with q couple
of standing electric lights each, hut in
coaling ship the glass castings around
| these lights are generally smashed for
the most part, leaving the bunkers
/ unlighted. The coal passers can't see
to get out coal in bunkers as dark as
midnight, and so they carry their open
| lights into the bunkers, orders or no
orders.
| "On one of the big cruisers of the
| Pacific station a few years ago the
| bunker fire alarm outside the shippers
| door set up steady ringing and the
| marine orderly rushed forward with
| the announcement that there was fire
| in coal bunker No. s. The ship was
| at sea ct the time, but this coal bunk
| er was as yet unorOached, or at least
the chief engineer had not. been notified,
| as is required, that the coal passers
had started to haul coal out of that
| bunker. Clearly, then, in the minds of
| the Chief Engineer and the officer of
| the deck, there was Spontaneous COM
| buStion in No. bunker, and a minute
after the alarm was given the fire.
| men were at the bunker door with the
steam hose. They found the bunker
door open, which the chief engineer
couldn't understand, but they let
enough steam into :he bunker to push
| the cruiser five knots before a steady
| bawline of sea eXpletiVes from within
the bunker caused them to shut the
steam hose off. Then the voice within
was heard. growing:
What the bloomin devil are youse
flat-foot paint-scrubbers a-trying to do,
drowned me an choke me to death, sye
blasted ---' And the rest of it was
simply a torrent Of Jolly Roger talk.
MANNED MAN-O'-WARsME
THE voice within the bunker be-
longed to a cOal-passer who, without
| the knowledge of the chief engineer,
had broached No bunker because it
was close TO the firerooms. and there
fore easy to work. The coal-passer had
taken an open light into the bunker,
and he had set this light down on a fiat
lump of coal directly beneath the fire.
alarm apparatus. 1t didn't take the
tire-alarm apparatus two minutes to
become heated sufficiently to make its
automatic report on deck. The coal
passer was given a chance to think the
thing over while doing a ten-day trick
in the brig in double irons,
"A week rarely passes by that some
man or other on a man-of-war doesn't
get more or less grievously hurt II
there Is not an unguarded open hatch
for him to step into, the man-o wars
man has a chance to mash a couple of
toes or fingers in the mechanical man
euver drill of overhauling batteries. on
hn Nl.t