The Pioche record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1908-1925, 1911-10-14

Iu6 6lOh6TS. Inc sucker is b
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 furnace gang
is during torpedo destroyer trial a
routrance. 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 ito the death" the boilers
and engines have more merciless
time than they would undergo in nor
NAL service.
1t is spectacle well worth the trou-
BILE to watch furnace gang during
one of these trials. One must descend
backward by the narrow trap which
opens on the bridge and go 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 1t seems at first that there is no
room to move, so narrow Is the space /;
before and behind the two furnaces
limit 1t; between them are two pumps,
the quarter deck ladder, the ventila-
tor and all the apparatus OF pipes, le-
vers, chains and implements. But ii
Is nevertheless true that these men
supply great need. All the appar-
emily homogeneous apparatus which
surrounds them forms a whole so har-
monious that no one part can be out
of order without upsetting the rest
The pumps force cold water back In
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
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 It's energy and is
transformed anew into water in the
condenser so that the pumps can take
1t again. and then again commences
without cessation the same cycle
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 a
prison completely shut in by sheet
iron. The ventilator drives in large
waves OF air which it sucks in from
without, air which cannot escape until
II has passed the, grating where the
coal is burning
| The flames from the furnaces unex.
pectedly throw out burning splinters,
the boilers rumble and vibrate as II
possessed with desire to revolt Be
hiud their black and closed fronts. al
the edges of the doors, at almost i'm
perceptible chinks. the fire shows IL
self In lines of lightning or in lumi
nous spots; the water and the cinders
below resemble stream OF lava varie
gated by gold.
II the pumps drive back the water
regularly, II the fresh water replaces
exactly and without cessation the
wastage In steam. no part of the sheet
iron or the mass of tubes can get red
hot. and every one feels secure. But
It is necessary that nothing gets out OF
gear In all this complex assent bling
Of boilers. pipes. engines, condensers
and pumps. Unfortunately, water is
capricious Sometimes. without ap
parent cause, when everything seems
In order, 1t slowly lowers below the
water level Immediately this is OBJ