Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1911-11-25

really owe them TO the arms OF
the stokers. The stoker is a
III soldier who fights every day |
he has TO be ceaselessly watch |
ing and on the alert, he Is the only
witness OF his obstinate heroism.
The hardest time for a furnace gang |
is during a torpedo destroyer trial
ioutrance Before a vessel is admit
ted for service 1t is forced to submit
to a series OF engagements that are
called trials and that are particularly
laborious. In these trials OF full
force" or TO the death" the boilers
and engines have a more merciless
time than they would undergo in nor
NAL service.
1t is a spectacle well worth the trou-
die to watch furnace gang during
one of these trials One must descend
backward by the narrow trap which
opens on the bridge and 90 down the
quarter deck ladder, which penetrates
swiftly below. Then one is in the
stokehold.
Besides the chief of the gang there
are eight men. When every one is be-
low It seems at first that there is no
room to move, so narrow Is the space;
before and behind the two furnaces
limit It; between them are two pumps,
the quarter deck ladder, the ventila-
tor and all the apparatus OF pipes. le-
vers, chains and implements. But 1t
is nevertheless true that these men
supply a great need All the appar-
emily incongruous apparatus which
surrounds them forms a whole so mar
monious that no one part can be out
of order without upsetting the rest.
! The pumps force cold water back into
the boilers; this circulates in a clus-
ter OF innumerable pipes-thousands
encircle the boiler-licked all over by
the flames. All these pipes open into
a great cylindrical reservoir, the chest
or storehouse for steam. From the
reservoir comes the system OF pipes
which conduct the steam beyond the
boiler to the engines; in the engines
the steam parts with its energy and is
transformed anew into water in the
condenser so that the pumps can take
It again. and then again commences
CCcb0lAOh NAC cohO ~ ~AC
Some cylinders containing several
tons OF water constitute a reserve
which is only used to repair the
wastage.
Imprisoned by Sheet Iron.
At the command Of the chief the
sheetiron door is closed and the stoke
hold is henceforth isolated; It is g
prison completely shut in by sheet
iron. The ventilator drives in large
waves OF air which II sucks in from
without, air which cannot escape unit
It has passed the grating where ths
coal is burning.
The flames from the furnaces unex
pectedly throw out burning splinters
the boilers rumble and vibrate as 4
possessed with a desire to revolt. Be
hind their black and closed fronts, a
the edges OF the doors. at almost i'm
perceptible chinks, the fire shows II
self in lines OF lightning or in lumi
nous spots; the water and the cinder
below resemble a stream OF lava varie
gated by gold.
If the pumps drive back the waite
regularly, II the fresh water replace
, exactly and without cessation tn
l wastage in steam, no part of the sheet
= iron or the mass OF tubes can get re-
hot, and every one feels secure. Blu
D 1t is necessary that nothing gets out Q
r gear In all this complex assemblin
3 of boilers, pipes, engines. condenser
+ and pumps. Unfortunately. water /
r capricious. Sometimes, without al
? parent cause, when everything seem
D In order. It slowly lowers below tn
8 water level. Immediately this Is oil