CHAPTER XIV.
PRACTICAL WORKING.*
Duties to Machinery when in Harbour and Getting up Steam- Starting the Engines-Under Steam-Fires-Bearings-Engines in Port-Lap on Slide Valves-How to Set the Slides.
229. 1. Duties to Machinery when in Harbour before Getting under Steam.-When an engineer takes charge of the machinery of a boat, his first attention ought to be directed to his boilers; for, being the source of power, they may become the source of great danger if not properly looked after. In inspecting the boilers three things require especial notice: (1) The thickness of the plates above the fires and other places of importance; (2) the state of the stays; (3) the position of the gauges, viz., the water gauge, cocks, and glass water gauges. (1) Respecting the first, a general plan is to drill a small hole through the plate, and thus find its real thickness, for it is often the case that a boiler plate may bo far thicker at the seams than in the middle. At the seams the proper thickness cannot always be correctly ascertained on account of the way in which they are caulked, by which a plate may appear considerably thicker than it really is. After the hole has served its purpose, it is tapped and plugged tightly up again. (2) As regards the stays, they require a great amount of attention; for they are very apt to get eaten through near the plates by oxidation. (3) The gauge cocks are often placed just above the highest row of tubes. Now this is a very dangerous practice, for it is possible for an engineer to lose his water, let him be
- Written by a Working Man.
