" I would
have no objection to the safety plug if the engineer did not know it was
there. I am aware that some states require that all engines be fitted
with a fusible plug. I do not question their good intentions, but I do
question their good judgment. It seems to me the are granting a license
to carelessness. For instance, an engineer is running with a low gauge
of water, owing possibly to the tank being delayed longer than usual, he
knows the water is getting low, but he says to himself, "well, if the
water gets too low I will only blow out the plug," and so he continues
to run until the tank arrives. If the plug holds, he at once begins to
pump in cold water, and most likely does it on a very hot sheet, which
of itself, is something he never should do; and if the plug does blow
out he is delayed a couple of hours, at least, before he can put in a
new plug and get up steam again. Now suppose he had not had a soft plug
(as they are sometimes called). He would have stopped before he had low
water. He would not even have had a hot crown sheet, and would only
have lost the time he waited on the tank.
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