PREFACE 



This handbook is intended as a reference volume 

 for persons engaged in the actual management and 

 care of steam engines, steam boilers, and the auxil- 

 iary appliances to be found in the average steam- 

 power plant. The aim of the publishers has been 

 to select data of general interest from the vast store 

 of available material, and to combine therewith 

 information relating to the problems and difficulties 

 likely to be encountered in the daily work of the 

 engineer and the fireman. 



In order to keep the book of such size as to be 

 carried conveniently in the pocket, the treatment 

 of many of the subjects has necessarily been brief; 

 but subjects of greater importance, as, for example, 

 the care and operation of boilers and engines, have 

 been dealt with more fully. The various tables have 

 been selected with great care, and only those 

 have been included which are likely to be consulted 

 most frequently. The numerous rules and form- 

 ulas are stated as simply and concisely as possible, 

 and their applications are clearly illustrated by the 

 full solution of many examples. 



Another important feature is the inclusion of 

 abstracts from the license laws of the various cities 



