The Ordway new era., 1912-08-02

II SnllunSb quarter vi WhS"s'
now It Is Just over shilling
quarter by steamer from New
York to Liverpool. Not all Of the en-
gineerinK which has brought about
this result has been done in the draw
Ing office and the factory. Much OF 1t
has been done by workingmen who
took the raw inventions but to sea,
struggled with their crudities and put
the needful improvements Into the
minds OF the designers ashore. In big
ships and little the process Is going on
and It Is a stern one still In spite OF
modern refinements. In the old days.
when boiler pressures were 80 low
that a steamer had to slow down to
raise enough steam to whistle with,
an upholstered settee was often pro-
vided In the engine room for the use
of the man on watch. SO that he need
not stand more than was absolutely
necessary. Today 1t Is probable that
not one seagoing vessel could show
such q thing. A man who cannot walk
about for four hours in the tempera-
ture of a Turkish bath IL not wanted
now.
While the ship is at sea all the en-
gineers except tho chief keep two
watches OF four hours each In the
twenty.four. The same man always
has the same hours. The third engi-
neer takes the 12 to q. m. and p. m.
watch, the second takes the to and
the chiefs watch. s to IL. is taken by
The fourth engineer. or by the donkey
man, II there are only three engineers
carried. In this case the chief Is al.
ways within call. The duties Of watch
keeping largely lie in seeing that this
Or that does not happen. As well as
he main engines there are the pumps
and other auxiliary machinery and the
boilers always seeking to go wrong II
given a chance. Then In port all
hands are busy with the adjustments
that have been noted down as necss-
sary while the ship was steaming.
and these entail the handling Of tre-
mendous weights with hand tackle on
ly. Such work does not seem very for
midable. perhaps. but seagoing engi.
neers know that Commander Willetta.
U. 8. N. spoke truly Of their work
when he told the American Institute
of Naval Engineers that ut requires
the most strenuous and exacting atten.
tion Of any known pursuit. and. while
requiring skill and intelligence 10 ac-
complish well. 1t has to be performed
under such severe stresses and in such
dirt and heat as to rob 1t Of all interest
except in its speedy completion.
In the Silent Hours.
An engineer does not readily forget
his first voyage or that first night In
the graveyard" watch (12 to 4 a. m.)
when he sat on n bucket to consider
the novelty OF his surroundings and re-
vile the heat, and woke up from few
seconds OF troubled sleep to find the
chief engineer vigorously kicking the
bucket away from under him. In
few weeks he becomes ashamed of
wanting to sit. even In the tropics;
but he has not conquered human weak
ness even then. for after few voy-
ages nature will have provided him
with the trick Of sleeping while he
solemnly PAGES the engine room. Usu-
ally this only happens after a spell Of
exhausting labor. such as is conse.
quent on breakdowns. and usually It
only lasts until he walks into the boil.
er-room bulkhead and wakes, feeling
foolish and uncanny. after, perhaps.
fifteen seconds of jerky somnambula.
tion. Then he learns to keep n bucket
OF cold water handy to dip his head in.
to, and the same intelligence that con.
trives this antidote warns him that It
were unwise TO mention the circum.
stance in the messroom. Indeed.
hint of even feeling sleepy Is as hor.
rifying to the ear as the smell OF a
heated bearing Is to the nostril. A
hot bearing once smelt Is never for
gotten. II is not by any means an
overpowering smell-just burning oil
but to tho man on whose watch 1t
occurs It reeks Of certain disgrace.
When he has eased the engines and
hears the other engineers warned by
the change of speed. coming tumblinR