This is not a fancied
circumstance by any means, for it happens every day. The engineer
running an engine with a safety plug seldom stops for a load of water
until he blows out the plug. It frequently happens that a fusible plug
becomes corroded to such an extent that it will stand a heat sufficient
to burn the iron. This is my greatest objection to it. The engineer
continues to rely on it for safety, the same as if it were in perfect
order, and the ultimate result is he burns or cracks his crown sheet. I
have already stated that I have no objection to the plug, if the
engineer did not know it was there, so if you must use one, attend to
it, and every time you clean your boiler scrape the upper or water end
of the plug with a knife, and be careful to remove any corrosive matter
that may have collected on it, and then treat your boiler exactly as
though there was no such a thing as a safety plug in it. A safety plug
was not designed to let you run with any lower gauge of water. It is
placed there to prevent injury to the boiler, in case of an accident or
when, by some means, you might be deceived in your gauge of water, or if
by mistake, a fire was started without any water in the boiler.
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