Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-03-26

into service and the open exposure Of the
tops and superstructure.
About each gun a number of rounds OF
ammunition has been gathered, and quick
footed bearers bring the fixed ammunition
from the passages to the stations of the
waiting guns. Silence reigns On all Sides
save for the quiet commands of the di-
visional officer, the rush of the water
without the steady rumble of the driving
engines and the pulsing sound of the run
ming pumps.
Men at Their Posts.
Up on their bridges, the men at the range
finders keep them bearing on the approach
ing foe. whom we near at the rate of thirty
k, OTIS an hour, and down in the coming
tower, the turrets and before the principal
gun stations the dials register the distance
OF the coming ships. Way below the pro-
tectiVe deck the men stand ready at the
ammunition hoists, the shell whips and the
passing rooms The shell rooms and ma ga
ZlreS are manned by n1mbe, naked-footed
crews, and by the torpedo tubes the men
stand ready to launch their burden fraught
with such irresistible force.
IN the engine looms the steady roar Of the
machinery fills the ears, and the air reeks
with the hot smell of Oil and ESCAPING
steam. AT the throttles stand the engi-
feers, and at every journal and crank a
Watchful assistant. Shining piston rods,
long steel arms, and lingering levers fy
back and forth, In and out with dazzling
sE6ed. The journals and bearings foam like
the bits OF champing horses. The air
Pumps pant and WheeZe; the floor swins
with oil and water spattered from the NOV
ing paris, and put for the laundering life
or the ronderouS engines one might almost
thlnk the attendants ghosts, as their long
shadows glide through that steaming mist
hacked by the CHASTITY glow of the electric
nights. Such are the conditions in each of
the engine rooms.
In the Great Fire Rooms
Forward, through a water-tight bulkhead
closing the Goor behind us, we stand in one
of the four great fire rooms Above us
tower the cumbrous boilers and before us
glare the glowing CRATES of the roaring
furnaces. In the half light of the globes the
hreinen and stokers rush back and forth.
hrlng1ng coal, tending valves and watch
ing the pressure in the shivering gauges
With averted heads, painting breasts and
hnstered eyes, they goad those seething
beds or flames, throw into those flar;np
threats the coal that must satisfy their
greed and keep the boilers puising with a
mighty pressure. The air, hot dry and of
l3o degrees, is laden with dust and CRIME
as 1t PUSHES into the flaming pits backed
by the impulse Of great blowers. and eager
~ sucked upward by the draught of those
great smokestacks towering a hundred feet
abtVe. great cloud of smoke and thin
wreath of escaping steam Way I'D aft those
Iui neis tops tell the story of the torment
far below, shut down below the protective
Geek. ignorant OF the tide of battle and
almost sure of certain death in case of a
Dlcw from either torpedo or ram.
With the first flash and momentarv
veil or smoke from the bow guns of the
enemy still quite two miles away the bat
tie is opened, and as the sharp cutting
splash flies inboard through the open ports
OF the 4-inch guns our own 12-inch rifles
beich more telling response.
r. G. SFiERRETT.