Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1903-10-01
HEROES OF THE
ENGINE ROOM

"nNE OF the real heroes Oh the sea,
said the manager of transat-
lantic line, as he nodded at the retreat
ing figure of his visitor. zone OF our
engineers, and he and his kind save
many a ship many a time at great per-
sonal risk, and are not even thanked for
their efforts by the passengers.
But that's because the latter don't
know when or where or how the en-
gineers preserve their lives, for their
deeds are unheralded outside the en-
gineers' mess and the captains room.
Yes, sir it's true that
They've words for every one but me
shake hands with half the crew,
Except the dour Scots engineer, the men
they never knew"
The Manager apondered a moment
"I'u prove to you that these men are
the real heroes Of the ocean" he said,
and these are the stories that he offered
in proof.
A certain steamship in the Pacific
trade had been sent out from her home
port with the majority OF her boilers
out of commission. In midocean one
of the few boilers capable of being fired
got leaky tubes. and it became neces-
sary, in order to keep the ship under
Roadway in a hurrieane-swept sea, to
repair the boiler Immediately.
The fire was pulled out from under 1t,
the manhole lid was unscrewed and re-
moved, and the first engineer wrapped
from head to foot in a thick coating OF
asbestos. crawled into the hot boiler,
and with chisel and hammer began tear
ing out the defective tubes
For two minutes he worked, and as he
worked held his breath, for a single gasp
of the fiery air in his lungs would have
killed him. Then he crawled to the
manhole and was pulled out by stok-
ers.
Five minutes later he again went into
the boiler. This time, after nearly two
minutes work, he succeeded in cutting
away two tubes. On the third entry he
removed three, and after that he spent
another five minutes resting.
tubes, and to do this he was compelled
to enter the boiler five times, In each
case he stayed inside nearly two min
utes, and as he crawled out the last time
he barely had breath and strength
enough to say to his chief before he
tainted dead away:
It's done, sir"
As a result of his experience in that
hell of heat, the man was laid up in the
ships hospital for over a week. And
to this day his sleep is constantly dis
turbed by dreams in which he is roasted
in red-hot furnaces.
This same engineer was in the boiler
room one day when suddenly valve, in
among a great coil OF pipes above the
boilers, began leaking badly and filling
the room with scaling steam. Instant
ly, and regardless Of his own safety, he
scrambled upon the pipes and breath
lessly began making repairs.
He had almost finished when, as I'M
expectedly as the valve had got out Of
order, a pipe joint, below the one on
which he was standing. broke, and a
stream of kissing steam enveloped his
foot When he endeayored to pull it
away, he found it to be tightly wedged
in the joint.
He had on low shoes, and before his
cries brought aid his shoe and sock
were burned off and his foot and lower
leg were parboiled. He was unable to
resume work for three months. and to-
day he walks with a perceptible limp.
Yet he looked upon 1t all as a part of the
days work, apd uttered no complaint
Ten years ago. just around Christmas
time, the Umbria broke her thrust shaft
and foundered helplessly in midocean.
The part that broke was % feet longs and
weighed tons.
Under the direction of the chief en-
gineer, the pieces were secured and sus-
pended by chains from the top of the
shaft tunnel. and then, although the
shaft threatened to fall on him at any
moment he erawled into the tunnel.
found that the shaft was broken of
square, so that it could not be riveted
together, and spent hours in taking
measurements for a collar to be fastened
over the break.
He spent other hours in making and
putting on the collar. all the time either
lying on the fiat of his bach or working
in squatting position, so small was
the space All told, he labored unceas-
ingly for two full days.
After that he slept two hours. and the
p hours following he worked without
pause until at last he had bolted the
| Jacket in place
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