Fig. 2.
[Fig. 2] represents a very frequent method of feeding furnaces; charging the front half as high, and as near the door, as possible, leaving the bridge end comparatively bare. The result necessarily is that more air obtains access through the uncovered bars than is required, which causes imperfect combustion and consequent waste.
The duties of the fireman in the routine of the day may thus be summed up:
1st.—Begin to charge the furnace at the bridge end and keep firing to within a few inches of the dead plate.
2d.—Never allow the fire to be so low before a fresh charge is thrown in, that there shall not be at least three to five inches deep of clean, incandescent fuel on the bars, and equally spread over the whole.
3d.—Keep the bars constantly and equally covered, particularly at the sides and the bridge end, where the fuel burns away most rapidly.
4th.—If the fuel burns unequally or into holes, it must be leveled, and the vacant spaces must be filled.
5th.—The large coals must be broken into pieces not bigger than a man’s fist.
6th.—When the ash pit is shallow, it must be the more frequently cleared out. A body of hot cinders, beneath them, overheats and burns the bars.
7th.—The fire must not be hurried too much, but should be left to increase in intensity gradually. When fired properly the fuel is consumed in the best possible way, no more being burned than is needed for producing a sufficient quantity of steam and keeping the steam pressure even.