The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-17
FIRING UP OUR WARSHIPs.
n,verorIsM BELow DECKS ON OUR
ZIG CRUISERS.

o.
es Important as the Skilled Prac-
.t.c Of Uncle Sans Gunners.
,--,,, the New York Evening Post
,,,t,i,tisua which viii endure a temper
aim. oe 1i0 degrees of heat is of some
'.,--. TO a country. Surely, those who la
.,. .r.,riiv and with never-failing re-
... ..r their duty, standing untold dis
l,--f..fs contentedly deep down in the
,.,.- rsslons Of man-o-war, In peace
.l ,c7r in battle and out, are worthy
-sf-h praise, even when we are so lost
,.,.ir-.ratton of the accuracy of our gun
nsts.
There is nothing romantic in a shovel
mi if coal as compared with the shining
h-.s-b Of 1S-lnch gun. but if we search
1i.asssouatcly and without prejudice, we
viii fnd that at the battle of Manila Bay,
,b.. a5plbardment of Santiago, and the sue
r,sseIl chase of Cervera's fleet, that SHOW
sifrl OF coal, or the man handling it, has
almost as much to do with the victory as
the s-u.
To-day speed is the most important re-
ouisiie of a war ship. Admiral CerYera
was supposed by naval tacticians to have
On advantage over Sampson because his
SQUADRON could cover more knots in the
hour il is Acknowledged that if the Span
Ssh admiral had not made the fatal mis-
take Of entering Santiago harbor he might
have caused US many uneasy hours with
his fast ships. In short, Admiral Cervera
failed because he did not take advantage
of the most valuable possession of'his COM
mand. the powerful engines and great
eteaming capacity.
This stamps at once the Importance of
keeping up the engineering department of
the navy The men composing it are I'M
heard of in dispatches, unknown to the
daily chronicler Of events, and unsung in
history. but their duty Is done as faith
fully as the duty of the men on deck and
their peril is az great in time of battle. In
addition, they labor at greater disadvan-
tage. The men on deck can see the fight,
and tbe hubbub Of war and the smoke and
excitement spur them OF, to reckless val
or, but down below, the engine and fire
room forces are working away in semi
darkness not knowing when a Shell will
pierce a boiler and bring hot death upon
them Capt. McGiftin, the American ma
val officer who commanded Chinese war
ship in the war with Japan, speaking of
this said in his characteristic way: I'D
rather be on deck any time in a fight. I
don't believe l could be induced to take
an engineers or a ffreman's trick during
an action The uncertainty of being be-
low decks under such circumstances is
entirely too wearing for me-
This can be thoroughly understood bv
any one who has, for instance, been in
fire room during target practice Down
there between the great roaring furnaces
OF course, nothing happening on deck can
be seem but what is heard makes up for
It, The discharge of the heavy guns
creates laundering echoes and raises a
din almost indescrlbable With the hiss
ing Of steam, the quick changing of fur
mace doors the rumble of machinery. and
The spectacle of half-naked perspirng fig
ures tolllng in the gSare of the flames,
there IS nothing else that more nearly ap-
proaehes the inferno of Dante. Add to
II the uncertainty in time of battle and
tne possibility Of the ships beng torpe-
doed without giving one a chance to gain
tne upper deck and you have circum-
stances under which none but a brave man
can work
And the firemen of the United States
navy are brave men, deserving of all the
VieuII ana applause we can give them. It
particularly of interest at this time.
mAen we nave nearly 200 ships at the
I'm, 10 know something about the life
VI hTeman in our navy, to learn how he
WORKS, the salary paid him and his dailv
'oulhe or labor on board ship.
On battleship of the Indiana or Oregon
class Will be found an engine room force
u ABOUT $50. and of these about e6 are
tIei I whose duty it is to shovel The
"a INTO the furnaces. Cruisers like the
n 'a,'rlIoIe carry Is in the engineers de-
"a 'nlenl' and gun boats about 80 OF these
sue AIemen on all ships stand watch four
touIS out of every twelve, which gives
o C,lAl elsht hours of duty in the stoke hole
~ ol every twenty-four, a very long
49, vi llIne when spent in such a erimy
~ ~. noe as the fire room of a war shin
li'Ie are other differences, too. between
ny u"Ay HE of the naval fireman and
cas- Aer ashore. The latter, in nine
80 OUT Of ten, has a home and family
~ Wecome him after his dailv toil ,s go
on Is nee 20 come and so as he pleases. He
roen Speud the evening at places of auuse-
izot ana enjoy all the pleasures of a cit-
M S.'''Sl thls with the picture of a fire.
or -ie On board one of our battleships
h. b,a now on Cuba. Let us say that
~ 1's lhe middle watch from - r. 4 IN
ls morning. He is called AT fen minutes
s,riI. midnight, and as the ships he'll
room, isn't ne hurrles down to the fire
la, ~ report with his watch. He has
bar,f Gamped hammock, swinging on a
the me-, ''h' made foul by tropical heat and
h. Essence Of several hundred men. and
If ~, Ms exhausted instead of invigorate,I
are ,,.. sAp IS under way and the engines
ing csI ''us at top speed there is a press
T3ns S1r .or steam. SEEING the slice bar he
labo,i,o. 't5 task of livening up the fires
thsn r7 IKE a Trojan for many minutes
g0af,r' WIN few breaths of fresh air
feed tt rom the blower, he continues TO
his oar. Great yawning fires placed under
Of oc -''' IL IS no easy work. this sboveIinr
for IL -Ito pit that is never satisfied
the r.r lures a skill and an apt turn of
ana bSl' that comes only with practice
tailed Il, 'lidount of hard physical labor en-
is mora '' Aeeping furnace well supplied
For ". nan one would imagine.
ing i1 tnng the fremen wore on leev-
overall, pvIIn-deck a suit of faded hlne
with VI, These he speedily discayds e
tr5-s.,,- e exception of a thin shirt ana
utss ,. Before he is at work fire min 1'Iu
him ia neat of the fire room has batbad
ryulet. Pc Wration, and he leaves Ittle
form Of water as he trudges hack and
black w., "9nt Of his fires. The dust ana