

THE ART OF STOKING 143 



as they are novices in the art of stoking, have to 

 await the arrival of a second-year student who 

 comes to criticise their work. Meanwhile, they 

 occupy themselves with tending some oil lamps 

 that, on extra cold nights, are put in the houses 

 which have not a regular heating arrangement. 

 Soon the elder student arrives, whose office it is 

 to initiate the others in their work so that they are 

 competent to attend to stoking for a fortnight 

 without guidance. She is in a hurry, and so is the 

 man who holds the red lantern and only comes to 

 see that all goes well, ready to lend a hand should 

 any emergency arise. Both these know their 

 business and become quickly worried by the 

 dilatory habits of beginners. 



" Hurry up ! Mid-winter ! And finish the lamps 

 quickly! It is cold waiting here." Saying which, 

 the leader of the party walks quickly towards that 

 somewhat unromantic-looking wooden hut which 

 is called the " Stoke Hole." 



Here we all stand watching whilst one of the 

 novices is shown how to extract hard clinkers that 

 have formed within the furnace. When these have 

 been skilfully removed, the next thing to be done 

 is to pat down a firm foundation of coke and add 

 more and more, so that the fire keeps steady all 

 night. The man, who, like myself, is a mere 

 onlooker, takes the deepest interest in seeing that 

 the work is correctly done. He is an ex-limepit 

 worker and therefore expert at throwing lime into 

 the yawning mouth of the lime furnace and when 

 one of the young women, shovel in hand, places 

 herself rather awkwardly sideways in order to 

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