Читать книгу Locomotive Engine Running and Management - Angus Sinclair - Страница 57

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Before starting out, the fireman ought to ascertain that all the supplies necessary for the trip are in the boxes; that the requisite flags, lanterns, and other signals are on hand, and that all the lamps are trimmed. He should also know to a certainty that all his fire-irons are on the tender, that the latter is full of water, and that the sand-box is full of sand.

These look like numerous duties as preliminary to starting, but they are all necessary; and the fireman who attends to them all with the greatest regularity, will be valued accordingly. Nearly all firemen are ambitious to become engineers. The best method they can pursue, to show that they are deserving of promotion, is to perform their own duties regularly and well. A first-class fireman will save his wages each trip over the expenditure made by the mediocre fireman: a persistently bad fireman should be sent to another calling without delay. Few railroad companies can afford the extravagance of a set of bad firemen.