The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-07-23

tain.
 No writer of sea stories has had occa- sion thus far to make his hero A stoker. In spite of the fact that steam naviga- ton has provided less picturesque ma terial Tor fiction than was furnished by the sailing craft of long ago, the dearth is not yet so complete that any novelist has been driven to the stokehole for a proper settin,.
 Nevertheless the stokehole and It's pre- siding genius are as essential to the suc- cess of steam navigation as was the hum- lie blower to the old fashioned pipe or gan. The human beings who delve at the very bottom of the great transat- lantic carryalls, which have been not in- aptly characterized as ''heaven above and hades below" may not be subjects fit for idealization but they are prime ne- cessities in steam navigation.
 It is on the warship, however, that A stolSer becomes person of acknowledged consequence. It depends upon him to great extent whether his vesel is to cut through the waves at the speed that was intended by her designers or wheth- CT she shall crawl along at three or four knots under that speed. Bad work or neglect in the stokehole means disap- pointment and invites disaster of many kinds. It means primarily that the fires are not going to burn properly and as a consequence the amount of steam gener- ated will be less than is required. It means also that all the plans so carefully formulated by the experts above decks are likely to miscarry through the ineffi- ciency or carelessness or the men who feed the fires.
 Battleships, cruisers or torpedo boats carrying badly trained or reckless stok- CTS become what Is termed 'swasters. In other words they eat too much drink too much and as a consequence sleep too much. The food which they consume too voraciously is coal, the drink they inbibe too freely Is water and the con- sequent somnolence Is decreased speed. Such a ship could not be depended upon in a critical moment. If the admiral oi the fleet should ask for a burst of speed she would not be ready to respond It must be rememt cred also that the speeu of a squadron IS the speed of the slow est ship. The vessels Of a squadron must not be widely separated for any great length of time, for 1t would not do to leave a straggler to the mercy of an en- emy So 1t is upon the capability of single stoker that the movements of an entire squadron sometimes depend
 From this will be seen the necessity for discrimination in the selection of the men who manage the furnaces of a war ship. This is so we'll understood by na- val officials that provision has been made by all countries possessed of navies worthy of the name to instruct men in the duties of this important calling. Rus- sia built special vessel, the Okean, for the purpose of training ner stokers. Eng land has followed her example and fitted up the old Nelson as training ship for this class of seamen. In Germany, France and Italy special instruction is given at the various navy yards.
 In the United States the matter has re- ceived proper attention. Naval firemen, as they are know in America, are recog- nized members of one of the five branches which constitute the enlisted naval force A fireman is classed as seaman and is rated with seamen, gunners and musi- clans. He is paid more for his services than any other man of his rating, receiv- ing if of the first class s35 per month While the gunner has $26 and the musi- elan $32. Any ablebodied man of gooc character between the ages of eighteen and twenty eight may enlist as fireman in the United States navy. He will not be assigned to active duty, however, until he
 
 Before he has finished his course of train ing he is quite likely to realize that he might have chosen a less exacting occu patton. It Is not an easy task to train young firemen. Many have attempted the feat but few have been notably success ful. It is reputed to be one of the most thankless offices in naval 1ife-to be de- tailed to teach young firemen how to shovel coal Every man. of course, can but shovel it to the satisfaction of naval instructor.
 A young fellow brought suddenly under naval discipline after having lived free life ashore will find most things not at all to his liking and will also find 1t re- markedly easy to get into difficulty. He is quite likely to forget that the critical individual who Is finding fault with his method of grasping a shovel handle and is no purist in his use of his mother tongue is an officer-petty, no doubt, but an officer in the navy notwithstanding. In such an environment and In sucn temperature it does not require an act or violence on the part of the novice 10 constitute actual offense. An impatient exclamation or rash movement may precipitate disaster.
 The coal must be spread over the Ire in a manner calculated to get from 1t all the heat it Is capable of giving in inc shortest space of time Not shovel must be wasted. The novice is inclined to rail at Uncle Sam's parsimony. Before re has learned how to do the trick prop erIv-long before he wins grunt or apnroval from his instructor-he discov- CTS that it is not stinginess but prudence. Knowing how to obtain maximum or steam pressure from a minimum expendi- lure of fuel has brdged many yawning chasm and turned more than one im- bending disaster into victory
 If this scientific manipulation or coal wera all the would be fireman might look forward cheerfully to the near pros nact of relief from his taskmaster, but this is only a beginning He must learn how to keen his fire clean and free from anything that will interfere with the heat making process. This seems to be q simnle matter, but one who has tried if and failed would say otherwise Like so m,eh else that must be learned, there is hut one right way to do 1t. By the t,r,e the novice has become accustomed to that way he has probably moderated his disposition to resent his teacher criticism Besides that he is very weary and hot. In time, of course, he VIII pe- come better able to work in tempera- ture of 110 degrees. but before he arrlVes at that stage of immunity he Will oltenf think of the superior quality or the air of the upper deck. ana If he Is tri1ie sentimental he may even dream or green fields and brooks.
 There is little theory about this train ing He actually hadles the tools or his trade as he will have to do when