him the
light and the tools and waste, and he is into the fireplace in a jiffy;
down the side flues, under the boiler, giving a whack with the hammer
now and then, and scraping off any suspicious scale, etc.; and when he
comes out, as black as any sweep, he slips out of the overalls, gives
them a whack against the wall, folds them up tight, and crams them into
the black bag; has a dive in the pail, and is soon ready to go off
somewhere else. But he tells me something about the boiler before he
goes--not to my discredit.

13. _Question._--How do you proceed to get her to work again, and what
materials do you use?

_Answer._--I first proceed to build the bridge and flue-ports, put in
the firebars, the thin bars at the sides; then I replace the
safety-valve, taking care not to damage it or its seat, fill the boiler
with clean water, put in the boiler the usual quantity of Naenaires
Anti-Corrosion liquid, or the powder, make the manhole joint with
plaited three-strand spun yarn and stiff putty (red lead and white lead)
and lay the fire, which is done in this way: throw a dozen shovelfuls of
coals towards the bridge, and to left and right of it till they reach
near to the dead-plate, leaving the centre clear for the firewood; then
throw in three or four shovelfuls of coals over the wood, with oily
waste or paper in front, and she is ready for lighting, and the "fire
is laid." The material for the bridge and the flue ports are firebricks
and fireclay; these are rather expensive, but I learnt a wrinkle in the
building up of bridge and flues. Through the frequent removals of these
for boiler inspection and the hitting of the end of the long poker,
several bricks were broken every three months, and I came to the
decision to try stock bricks faced with fireclay as mortar; and I was
more than satisfied with the result, and ever since then I used stock
bricks and fireclay only.

14. _Question._--How high should the top of the bridge be from the crown
of the boiler or from the fire-tube?

_Answer._--The bridge should be about nine inches from the crown of the
fire-tube, if it were eight the draught would be curtailed, if it were
ten the draught under the bars would be diminished, through much air
passing over the bridge instead of under the firebars. As I had
permission from my employers to build the bridge to the best advantage
for myself in keeping up the steam, and having tried different heights
for many years, I found t