George Ingram shook his head, and his heart ached as he witnessed the
stokers, and resolved to do his utmost to mitigate the hardships of
labor. "What are the duties of the stokers?" inquired George.
"Our stokers," replied Siemens, "must be men of strength and skill, for
they both feed and rake the fires. The ashes and slag must be hoisted and
dumped into the ocean, and twice an hour, as the gauges indicate, fresh
water is let into the boilers. Daily the boilers convert into steam over
a hundred tons of water, which, condensed, is used over and over again."
"What quantity of coal do you use?"
"About three hundred tons per day, or an average of nearly two thousand
tons per voyage. The coal carrying capacity of the "Campania," however,
when needed as an armed cruiser, can be greatly increased."
Siemens led Ingram to see the gigantic cranks, and propeller shafts. Each
of the several cranks is twenty-six inches in diameter and weighs 110
tons; the shafts made of toughest steel are each twenty-four inches in
diameter, and each weighs over 150 tons. The propellers are made of steel
and bronze, and each of the six blades of the two screws weighs eight
tons. It was now past two o'clock and George thanked Mr.
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