The Locomotive - Lighthouse Survival Blog

78 THE LOCOMOTIVE. [May,
laugh. Two men went into the boiler to release him, but their combined efforts only
brought shrieks of pain from the unfortunate. Some one telephoned to Dr. Mandeville
Thuiu. A machinist was also sent for, and both arrived about the same time. All sorts
of schemes were concocted by the physician, the machinist, and the now thoroughly
frightened workmen. To cut through the boiler would take several hours, so that had
to be given up as impracticable. With the most pitiful groans Parker insisted that the
flue pipes were slowly closing in on him and squeezing out his breath. Dr. Thum hit
upon a plan. He sent the machinist into the boiler with a knife. By tearing and cut-
ting the machinist succeeded in removing most of Parker's clothing. A box of axle
grease was then brought into use, and Parker's body was thoroughly greased where the
pipes did not hold it. A rope was then tied just below his shoulders. All the men
outside then caught the end of the rope and pulled. The hips appeared to be the principal
place of resistance. A shriek came from Parker as the rope began to tighten, and
then his body suddenly shot forward. All of his clothes were left behind and the man
was pulled out of his prison as naked as the day he was born, his whole body glistening
with grease. Parker's hips and one leg were a mass of bruises, and he had to be carried
to his home in a neighboring alley. It will be two weeks before he is able to work
again.— Louisville Courier-Journal.
A Boiler that Needed Repairs.
Once upon a time there was a man who had a knife. The blades of the knife, one
by one, got so badly nicked and otherwise injured that new blades were substituted for
them as occasion required. Finally the handle went to pieces, and a new one was provided.
The question was then discussed at the grocery store whether this was the same
old original knife or not. Some of the Solons of the village held that as it contained
no portion of the original knife, it must be a different one. Others held that it was
certainly the same knife, in spite of the repairs; and these men supported their claims
by referring to several instances in which churches and other structures had been re-
paired in a similar manner, and pointing out that in cases in Avhich the lease of the land
on which they stood was to terminate with the life of the building, the courts had de-
cided that the individuality of the building had not been destroyed by the repairing
process. Whatever the merits of the case may have been, the story goes that the second
of these arguments prevailed, and that it came to be universally admitted that the re-
paired knife was the same old knife, sure enough. But when this decision had been
reached, the owner of the knife produced all the old blades and rivets and bits of
handle, which he had saved up, and assembled them into a new knife. Then the question
arose, if the repaired knife was the same knife as the original, then what knife was
this patched-up affair that contained all the identical parts of the first one?
About this time, we imagine, the reader will be wondering what all this has to do
with the heading of this article. Well, let him read what follows, and we fancy he will
see the connection. " The Department of Workshops and Factories," says the Coh/.mlns
(Ohio) Dispatch, " has received frequent complaints from citizens of Gahanna as to the
condition of the boiler used at the Gahanna mill, owned by Frank E. Morguer. While
the department does not claim to have jurisdiction over such matters, yet the complaints
became so numerous that an inspection was made by Deputy Inspector J. H. Ellis,
a>sisted by an expert boiler inspector. The flues and other parts of the boiler were
found to be thoroughly demoralized, and several holes were punched in the boiler, as a