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50 mutterings were heard among the men. Out in the stokehold they gath- ered and, they were loud in their con- demnation of the superior officer. That a man could be so confounded penurious as to work a whole crew Of meén the better. part of a day in search of a measly old torch: which could be bought for 15 cents seemed quite beyond belief. And the unani- mous decision was that they were not going to stand for it any more. Even the assistants were disgusted with the whole proceeding, and were not slow in informing the "chief" of the men's stand. It was then Currie assumed the role of the politician, threw caution to, the winds, and said: "That'll :do, boys; that. torch is lost!' , The Monarch was a snug berth, and the men all stood by, but things were not the same. The harmony was dis- turbed. The men gathered clannish- ly in small groups, and the topic un- der discussion was invariably the mis- erable meanness of their "chief." Of course, each man did his duty, but those little pleasantries, and _ little helpings which lighten the burdens of the labor were absent. The assistants worked under the leash of the sharp eye of the "chief." They vented their spite on the oilers, who in turn took it out on the stoke- hold force. ._ Thus matters stood at the time of the incident on Lake Superior. Now, let it be chronicled right here that at this strenuous time no man_ shirked his duty or showed signs of flinch- ing. Whatever they were, they were not men to stand back when duty called. They were steamboatmen, and this was only one phase of a steamboat- man's life. All night they kept it up, with all hands standing by, and all the next day, and all the next night. They would have kept it up for days and nights to comé; but the harbor was reached, and no man had slept fot 50 hours, and no man had: dry stitch on him. They gathered their consolation from the fact that they had driven their boat to her destina- tion without placing her in jeopardy through the stopping of the engines. Luckily for the Monarch, her ore was not in the pockets, and was slated for a night in. The cause of the trouble had been discussed liberally among the crew, and it ranged all the way from a warped cylinder to a broken crank pin. Currie immediately ordered the bot- tom head of the L. P. cylinder low- ered. As it swung down in its tackle, he reached in and picked off several TAE MarINE. REVIEW pieces of flattened steel, hammered and battered to a bright polish. He threw them viciously. on the floor with the words: "There's the torch you left in the port -boiler!" . Upon further examination it was found that the torch in passing through had caught in the ports of the H. P. and F. I. P. engines. This had slipped the set screws of the clamps holding the valves in posi- tion on the stems. Consequently the valves were dislocated, causing the engines to work very badly. It was well into the small hours of the morning ere temporary repairs "were made, and the men went to a _ brief and well-earned: rest. After breakfast they were all on hand again, and Currie received the surprise of his life to find them all lined up in the engineroom. The "sec- ond," who stood at the end of the line nearest the door, threw a pleas- ant: "A fine morning to ye, sir!" at him, with a heavy accent on the "sir." There is such a vast difference in the way. that. "sir". is tacked to the end of a sentence. In the hands of the average steamboatman it can beimade to express the whole gamut of human feelings from contempt to respect. And the one which fell. on Currie's ears certainly expressed both the height of admiration and the pro- foundest of respect.: The "second," with the assistance of several of the smartest among them had prepared a neat little speech. But now, while in the awful presence, he had completely forgotten every word, and ..could .. only stammer.,.. forth: "There's a bit we have to say to ye, sir!' and then his voice failed him again. "Oh, about: that torch: well, that's all right!" Currie answered him in an off hand way, with a motion to the men to depart, as if the incident was closed. But not a man moved, and pres- ently the "second" found his voice again and blurted out: "It is I, as have been a thinkin'; and the men as have been. a_ sayin', as how . we've been a actin'.meaner'A: a- lot 0' skunks there last two trips back." Currie cast a glance over that row of contrite faces, and then he grasped a golden opportunity. He was a-man with whom the matter of being par- ticular about the small things was al- most a hobby; and he did love to talk on the subject. This opportunity, with its practical lesson to draw on, seemed to him a bountiful compensation for the hard- ship endured. He faced that humiliated row and spoke long and eloquently. He cast one retrospective eye back to the ap- parently insignificant loss of the torch. He let another wander into the fu- ture and dwell on the large bills which would be forthcoming for ex- tra oils and grease and sundry re- pairs. He concluded with the re- mark that he felt it was all for the best, because they had paid dearly for their oversight, and he doubted not that the lesson would remain by them the rest of their lives. After the ordeal was over the men swung into the regularity of their work again, each one of them ready to swear that he worked for the best, the fairest, the ablest, the smartest "chief"? who ever drove boat to the head of the lakes. Once more all things swung along in harmony. Once more those coarse pleasantries and ri- bald jokes, which serve to lighten the labor, rang out above the machinery's din. Once more the jolly tune of "Comrades, comrades, ever since we were boys," resounded through the engine room of the Monarch. Even the "chief,' as he walked up town to sign large bills which he knew he would hear from later from the office, fell into the merry tripping step which comes from a light heart, and found himself softly humming, "There's a better day a coming." GRAPHITE IN MOTOR BOAT LUBRICATION. -A gritless graphite powder is pre- pared by the United States Graphite Co. of Saginaw, Mich., from the prod- uct of their own graphite mines in Mexico and by them combined with pure mineral oils of proper gravity in just the right proportions to make ideal . lubrication. for motor boats. The resulting grease, which is made in four consistencies (or densities) ranging from a "non-fluid oil" to a hard grease, is absolutely uniform, gritless, dripless and free from pre- cipitation. It can be used wherever oil is ordinarily used and is much more efficient. Furthermore a great Saving is at once noticeable, also total absence of drippings, and it is astonishing how far a 10-pound can of it will go. It is impossible to mix by hand and at random any dry ma- terial with oils of indifferent quality and secure the same _ satisfaction which must result from perfection in mixing by machinery and the accur- ate proportions of a carefully worked out formula. To introduce it the manufacturers will send once only a 35-cent can on receipt of 20 cents in stamps to pay postage and dealer's name.