The Springfield herald., 1912-08-02

TREIGHT on sailing ship from
New York to London used to be
IA shillings quarter of wheat;
now 1t is just over a shilling
quarter by steamer from New
York to Liverpool. Not all OF the en-
cheering 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
.ook the raw inventions out to sea,
struggled with their crudittes and put
he needful improvements into the
minds OF the designers ashore. In big
ships and little the process Is going on
and 1t is a stern one still In spite OF
modern refinements. In the old days.
when boiler pressures were 80 low
hat steamer had to slow down to
raise enough steam to whistle with.
IN upholstered settee was often pro-
yided in the engine room for the use
II the man on watch. SO that he need
1ot stand more than was absolutely
necessary. Today 1t Is probable that
lot one seagoing vessel could show
such thing. A man who cannot walk
ibout for four hours in the tempera-
.ure OF Turkish bath is not wanted
low.
While the ship is at sea all the en-
yineers except the chief keep two
watches of four hours each in the
.wenty-four. The same man always
aas the same hours. The third engi-
aeer takes the IL to a. m. and p. m.
watch, the second takes the 4 to and
The chiefs watch, s to -. is taken by
he 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
md 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
hat have been noted down as necss-
sary while the ship was steaming,
and these entail the handling Of tire
nendous weights with hand tackle on
". Such work does not seem very for
nidable, perhaps. but seagoing engi-
leers know that Commander Willetts,
q. s. N, spoke truly OF their work
when he told the American Institute
Of Naval Engineers that st requires
The most strenuous and exacting atten-
lion Of any known pursuit. and. while
requiring skill and intelligence to &C
complish well, It has to be performed
under such severe stresses and In such
dirt and heat as to rob It 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 bucket to consider
the novelty OF his surroundings and re-
vile the heat and woke up from a few
seconds OF troubled sleep to find the
chief engineer vigorously kicking the
bucket away from under him. In a
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 a 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
exhuusting labor, such as Is conse-
Juent on breakdowns, and usually 1t
only lasts until he walks into the boil
er-room bulkhead and wakes, feeling
foolish and uncanny, after, perhaps,
fifteen seconds Of jerky somnambula-
uon. Then he learns to keep bucket
Of cold water handy to dip his head In
to- and the same intelligence that con-
Lrtves this antidote warns~ him that 1t
we're uuwise to mention the circum-
Jp N
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, It is not by any means an
overpowering smell-just burning oil
but to the 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 tumbling
down the ladders, while he is franu-
cally searching for the source OF the
smell he would give five years Of his
life to undo the oversight OF the last
fve minutes.
Discipline in the merchant service
begins well enough at the top, but 1t
does not work all the way down. 1t
stops at the lowest grade Of man who
has a certificate to lose, the junior en-
gineer. In the evidence at recent
nautical inquiry one read OF a man
smllingly informing the court that he
was ashore having a last drink while
he should have been on board joining
in boat drill A junior officer OF en-
gtneer dare not do such thing. Tho