The Democratic advocate., 1908-01-17
geleft Story.
A BREAK In THE SHAFT.
BY ALBERT W. ToLMAN

uIdsS-IlHucu teloSSFdpi-uidl Ill Tue engine
room of the Atlantic liner Trinidad pealed
imperiously, and the moving indicator
stopped at ''half speed. Donald Moore,
the heavy -shouldered Scotch engineer,
spun the starting wheel. Responsive te
the rushing steam from the boilers under
which the fires had been kindled twelve
hours before, the ponderous machinery
woke to life, and the hot, oil-heavy all
was famed by the sweep of mighty arms
of steel.
Sandy McCabe, the youngest 'sgrea.
SER" was busy here and there, trickline
oil from his long -nosed can into the brass
cups that eased the friction points of the
( laboring machinery. Glasgow-born, he
had spent the working portion of his TWEEN.
ty-one years in the shipyards of his native
city. 1t was his ambition to become an
engineer. Although he had made six
trips on the Trinidad, the novelty and fas-
cination of his duties had not worn off.
Cang Clang Again the brazen gong
pealed out. "Full speed ahead y Moore
gave the wheel another turn. The boat
was forging through the outer channel,
and already her plates were beginning to
culver under the seawalls. Her nose was
pointed toward England, three thousand
miles away.
cit s time for me to oil the bearings of
the propeller shaft, said Sandy to him
self.
Kneeling before small doorway in the
rear of the engine-room, he lighted his
lantern. Before him yawned black cav
ity.
1t was the entrance to the "tunnel, ="
five feet in diameter and about fifty feet
long, running back over the keel to the
stern of the liner, through which ran the
rapidly revolving shaft of the propeller.
Sandy closed the door behind him. He
was tall and thin, and the lowness of the
tunnel did not permit him to stand upright.
He proceeded down the narrow passage,
oiling each bearing as he came to it. The
rays from his lantern glittered on the round
of polished steel, revolving rapidly and 81
lently.
There was very little roll so far below
the surface of the water. The air was
damp and somewhat close, for the Trinidad
was an old fashioned boat with but one
screw, and her single tunnel lacked the
means of ventilation provided in more mod
ern craft Directly over the young Scot S
head, beyond the thin roof of half-inch
plates, lay hundreds of tons of cargo.
AS he approached the stern, he could
feel the increasing tremor of the screw.
Only few feet away outside the hull the
sharp blades were churning the water to
foam with sixty five revolutions to the
minute He poked the slender inquisitive
nose of his can down close to the last bear
ing, and drenched it with quick. dropping
oil.
Suddenly he was aware of strange
humming vibration behind him. Turning
quickly, he heldup his lantern so that its rays
shone back along the shafting. 1t was
oscillating irregularly; from the bearings
came shrill note of complaint. Then
before his very eyes happened strange
and fearful thing.
With a sharp rending crack the shaft
sprang asunder, and out whirled a furious
ly jumping splinter of ragged steel.
1t smote the top and side of the tunnel,
ripping and tearing through the half inch
plates. There was soft, thunderous
rushing, and down burst a yellow deluge
that filed the passage from roof to floor,
IL tIo onbIac of tho aS-
founded oiler. The broken shaft had
smashed through the floor of the lower
hold into the cargo Of grain
So quickly did the disaster take place
that Sandy had no time to think Of dart
ing out. Well that he did not, for he
would have been torn to pieces by the cir
cling steel or smothered in the rushing
wheat. Dumb with terror, he shrank back,
his eyes fixed on the wildly tossing grain
heap under which the shaft was still os-
cillating.
Gradually the movements grew slower
and slower, and at last ceased entirely.
The engine had been stopped.
McCabe's first thought had been for the
safety of the steamer. There was power
enough in that ragged steel end to shear
through the Trinidads outer shell, and
send her to the bottom. He crouched
breathless in the close atmosphere, dim
with foury dust, dreading breach in the
hull and the thrush of the sea. But all
grew quiet without that final disaster.
Sandy felt great relief. They were SC
near port that tug could soon tow the
steamer back and dock her for repairs.
Then it dawned upon him that he was
in serious position. The grain had COM
pletely choked the tunnel 1t sloped from
his ankles up to the break in the roof
plates. He held his lantern up, and saw
through the subsiding dust that there was
no crevice between the close packed ker.
nels and the curved iron sheets. How was
it possible for him to get out?
The gushing of water fell upon his ears.
He turned, and saw two or three consid
erable jets squirting through the hull round
the shaft At this point there was already
more or less leakage, which ordinarily
drained beneath the tunnel floor to the
pumps. Wheat now choked the well thai
took care of this inflow. 1t was running
in much more rapidly than usual, and was
already two inches deep on the floor.
Leaning forward in the thick air, with
the water soaking through the wheat thai
chung about his ankles, Sandy thought the
situation over.
He knew that the break must have been
discovered at once in the engineroom, and
the machinery stopped, for there was now
no tremor in the walls Of his prison. Be-
side him the section of the shaft bearing
/ the screw had also come to rest. Probabl,
even now his friends were on the othel
side of the mass Of grain, wondering if he
were still alive.
He stuck the steel wall once. twice