power to prevent it. This preventative work is along three 

 lines: (1) To prevent the escape of sparks from the loco- 

 motives; (2) to prevent fires from being started by the sparks 

 which do escape; (3) to prevent the spread of fires which do 

 start in this way. 



(1) It was interesting to note that some of the railroads 

 asserted that their modern engines, equipped with the stand- 

 ard master mechanics front end and the attachment for flood- 

 ing the ash pan by means df the injector, were practically 

 fire-proof. It was also quite as interesting to note that many 

 asserted soire cf them, by the way, the same ones who 

 claimed their engines to be fire-proof that practically all the 

 fires originated from sparks from the ash pan and almost 

 never from the stack. There were many contradictory state- 

 ments on this point. The same men who said that nothing 

 ever came out of these ash pans except ashes flushed out in 

 the form of slush, said all the fires originated from the ash 

 pan and never from the stack; those who said no sparks 

 ever came from the stack admitted having tried inumerable 

 spark arresting devices. Why try them on stacks already 

 sparkless? 



This all sounds like a hopeless tangle, but the explanation 

 is simple enough. Even the railroad men must admit that 

 their locomotives do start fires in dry seasons. If then it 

 must be admitted that sparks do come from, the engine some- 

 where, by all means let it be from the ash pan for the loco- 

 motive engineer mortally dreads any tampering with the 

 stack which may possibly interfere with his draft. He must 

 make steam. Hence his suspicion of any contrivance which 

 even hints at a choking of the stack, and all the rest comes 

 naturally enough. 



It is a pity that the ash pan is not relatively a more im- 

 portant source of the fires because it can, by a little care on 

 the part of the engineer, he made absolutely safe. Unfor- 

 tunately- the stack plays a more important part than is gen- 

 erally admitted. Everyone who is familiar with locomotives 

 and has observed the fires along rights of way knows that 

 the stack does throw sparks which do set fires and that some 

 improved device is absolutely necessary. However every one 



