Omaha daily bee., 1907-04-07

ular practice to pump the boiler as fun
as it..would. -hold-on approaching hill.
and then shut on the pump until well over
the grade. AS soon as II was assured that
the grade would be surmounted. the left
hand pump would be put on, as well as the
engineers on the right hand side, and by
the time steam was shut Off the boiler
would be well filled with water again
Sometimes the engineer would forget that
the pump was on and would hll the boiler
too full. This would always delight the
fireman, for It simply meant that he would
have ia clean the engine from end to end.
I'll get a water gauge on the smokestack
for YOU, was the customary comment for
the fireman on such occasions. The injec-
tor has solved all these difficulties for the
water is now under the firemRns control,
and he has due notice always when he is
about to replenish the boiler supply. The
water is sent into the boiler at almost the
boiling point, too, and is delivered al such
a spot as has the least effect on tho steam
ing Of the boiler.
OiIinE the Valves Thirty Years Ago.
"'The sight-feed oiler is another great
innovation When l went to firing the
Dreyfus cups were being experimental
with. but had not yet been generally
adopted. Outside oilers were still in use
on most Of the engines. These were a cup
on the top OF the valve chest, so arranged
as to be opened or closed readily by hand.
When the engineer shut off steam II was
the duty Of the fireman to grab a tallow
pot off the boiler head and skate out over
the running board to the front end, where
he hung on By his toes while he used both
hands in opening the oilers, pouring a COB
OF tallow down into the cylinder and clos
ing the oiler. In good weather this wasn't
so bad but when the weather was stormy
or cold 1t was anything but a pleasant
proposition. Every now and then some
fireman lost his hold and fell Off This
never happened to me, but d!d drop sew
eral taliow pots and a.lantern or two as
result OF being shaken around on the front
end. In cold weather two trips were nee.
essary as a rule, for a tailow pot would
freeze up by the time one valve was Oiled
and the fireman had to return to the cab
for a second. The Dreyfus cup brought the
first relief from this this was big oil
cup, holding about two pounds of tallow,
with graduated feed, which could be
filed at one end of the run. and was good
for fifty to seventy-five miles of ordinary
running 1 fired for one fellow who was
crank on the subject and insisted on my
treating the Dreyfus cup the same as the
outside oiler. l had to carry a wrench
along to open the cup, and this made it
all the more unpleasant. Another Of the
delightful features of the outside oller was
that now and then the engineer would
forget that the fireman was out there and
would turn on steam just as the fireman
opened the cup. Several firemen 1 knew
were badly burned this way, and I mar
rowly escaped dose of it myself on one
occasion. After the Dreyfus cup came the
inside oiler which was merely the outside
oiler brought into the cab and connected
by pipes running to the valve chest. After
the tallow was poured into the oiler II
was closed and steam admitted which
blew the oil into the cylinder. The sight
feed oiler is an outgrowth of this method
and is very nearly perfection for it's pur-
poses. -,..t