He who strictly observes them wins; he who don't, loses. With the latter all is uncertainty; the hand trembles upon the regulator, the eye watches with painful anxiety the needle of the pressure gauge, and gazes into the fire to find out its deficiencies, but gains nothing but blindness by the attempt.
With the engineer who has a reason for every act performed, either by himself or his fireman, all is different. He works by rules and principles that have proved themselves a thousand times over to be safe, practical and certain in their results.
Sound rules and principles are absolutely sure in the effects of their application—not right to-day and wrong to-morrow; not right in a short trip and all astray on a long one; not right on one particular engine and wrong on another; not right on the first part of the run and wrong at the end; not right with one kind of coal and wrong with another, but always right, every time.
Under the guidance of sound rules and principles, the mind of the driver is full, and he is enabled, under all circumstances, to handle the regulator with confidence, to travel with a boiler full of steam, and to finish with success.
In a word, these are rules and principles which lead up to and make the success of an engineer.
[CHAPTER IV.]
DUTIES OF AN ENGINEER.
Let us now consider in detail some of the more important duties of an engineer.
The Notice Board.