The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-07-08


OF the Puritan at Natanzas-a but
eye at two and a half mileS-wou-'
never have plowed its fateful furrov
in the Spanish earthwcrks had but =
of the machines concerned-frOm til
main engine which placed the ship Z
that which trained the gun-failed o.
power at the critical moment.
The commander in the coming Joys
er, the officers and men at the Su-.s
and the engineers at their posts, worio
be helpless should the various m.
chimes not respond TO the touch of tn.
levers.
To furnish this power, to have til
steam, compressed air. electric cure 4
or hydraulic liquid always ready ar
waiting at the required pressure, these
broad-backed. muscular fellows tcu
increasingly in their miniature intern
And they work under difficulties. The
4 rigid economy of space required to &C
| commodate the ships mechanism
causes boiler capacity to be reduce
to its utmost limits. Then, with the IN
| familiar fuel which the exigencies OF
war force them to pick up in out-of-
the-way ports, the firemen's task fire.
! quently assumes the character of a
conundrum.
But they are firemen, and are eX-
/ pected to know how to overcome the
insurmOuntable. They have been train
/ ed to the business, and there is no eX-
| cuse. On the successful result of their
labor depends the safety of the ship,
and, very largely, the result of the bat
tie, if not, indeed. the life of the ma
| ton itself. This is no time TO be shor'
of steam; there is no occasion for il.
And so. while officers and sailors are
fighting like heroes in turrets ana tOp.s
enthused by the sights and sounca. O.
conflict, their nostrils breathing the
of the tire-room labor and slave in lS-
norance of the history-making that is
going on about them.
They have no knowledge of how the
fight is going. They are driven to death
to keep the Indicator of the steam
gauge up to working pressure. 1t is
the last five pounds that counts. both
in effectiveness at the throttle and in
the killing labor of the fire-roOm. Hun
dreds of machines are in operation-all
are there. The engineers department
is pushed to the limit The men hand
ling these machines have-as they sup
pose-more important things to con-
slider than the economical use of steam
If the boilers and engines may prop
erly be called the heart and lungs of
the ship. then the steam is the blood
and breath, without which the entire
mass would become but a dead and
inert body.
To keep an abundant supply of this
vital circulating medium is the prov
ince of the hero of the fire-roOm.
The word filters down to him-some
way-that an enemys ship has struck
her colOrs or battery has been 81
fenced. He is vaguely glad of it, but
wishes they would shut off some of the,
engines long enough to give him
chance to clean his fires. The number
less open throttles about the ship are
equivalent to a big hole knocked in
the steam space of his boilers. A feed
pump forces a continual stream of
water into them, and this he must
plash instantly not merely into steam.
but steam of $50 pounds pressure per
square inch.
She hardly has that now, and bitter
experience teaches him that she is more
likely to lose than she is to gain. He
expects an angry voice from the en-
CINE room door to ask embarrassing
questions at any moment. He is tired
and half dead with the heat. 1t is no
use to heave in coal; the fires are dirty.
At last he dares put it no longer.
yet he fears his efforts will be crowned
with disaster. He is not feeling well
today; he has drunk more water than
usual since coming or watch. but
needs must when the devil drives"
He pulls the furnace door open and
goes for it.
The fire never seemed so hot before. |
Strange that such consuming heat is !
yet not enough. He jabs the heavy |
slice-bar into and surges savagely on |
it to drive it through the clinkered I
mass. 1t takes all his strength, and /
his body throbs with the intense heat |
and accelerated action of the heart.
Again and again-not daring to steal /
a glance at the gauge-he stirs the /
glowing mass.
Suddenly the fire looks black. Some !
thing snaps with a loud report in his !
head: he is sensible of a sudden chill /
replacing the fervent heat, and-a fire.
man has dropped at the furnace door.
The water tender reports TO the en-
gineer: Pat Murphy is overheated,
sir
Another ireroom hero takes his place
and Pat is carried out, victim of the
sea fight, though he has not an honor
able wound to show.
Meanwhile the noble ship. a nations
pride and hope, steams CALAMITY up TO
the muzZles of the enemy's guns, giving
and taking titanic blows for the right.
Her decks are streWn with the bodies
and fragments of as heroic men as ever
wore the blue shirt. Their names viii
De inscribed on the roll of the hOncTed
lead who died for their country. After
he first pangs of grief have passed
relatives will speak their names with .
glow of honest pride and scarcely re-
sret the loss of ore WHO died 50 SlOr-
ously at-Nanila.
And it is WELL for all the world = d
hires a hero. Vet few Of these killed
n action met the painful fate of Pat
Murphy, the fireman, Who gasDed his
ife out at the furnace door, literally
'Oasted alive.
But who shall eulOgize his memory?
What relative will boast that he fell in
,attle? He was only q fireman-a Ia
,orer
Why do these men do such things?
Why work themselves to death? There
s plenty of help. Is it enthusiasm?
An overweening pride in
heir ability 70 stand up to their work?
Or only a commonplace dread of the
,oss?" Who shall say?
Eliminating the latter supposition,
Ioes it not require the same heroic
mold to sacrifice life for one duty as
or another?
Nay. does it not require a greater
nd finer degree of herOism to follow
uty even unto death amid the dinSy
nd unromantic surroundings of a fire
DOM than on deck amid all the ''pomp
nd circumstances of glorious WARP"
The heroes of the freroom, while
etter protected than the men on deck Z
rom missiles and flying sDlinters, are
Forse off otherwise.
1t is universally conceded that the
Ultimate destination of the modern
nan-of-war is the bottom of the sea.
When her hour strikes and, like a
tone. she plunges to the coral beds, ~ .
natter who escapes. the freroom he :
oes are pretty sure to go with her.
hrrr Il