The Iron Boys on the Ore Boats; or, Roughing It on the Great Lakes

by Percy F. Westerman

  CHAPTER XV

  AT THE WHEEL

  "ISN'T she a beauty!" said Steve admiringly, as, with Jarvis and CaptainSimms, he stood on the dock at the shipyards in Detroit, gazing up atthe new steamer, the finest ship of her kind plying the lakes.

  "She is," agreed the master proudly, "but I'm not forgetting that Imight not have had her if it hadn't been for you. Let's go aboard andlook her over."

  All hands climbed the ladder to the deck. Besides the usual twodeck-houses, fore and aft, there was another house just aft of theforward house. This was the guest or passenger dining room where theguests of the line would be served with their meals. After admiring thisthe men went forward. The captain's quarters were handsomer thananything the men ever had seen before.

  "The only trouble with this outfit up here is that it's bigger and I'llbe lonesome up here," laughed the captain.

  "We'll come up and visit you," returned Jarvis.

  "I hope you will, at that," answered the skipper heartily. "I don'tknow of any men I would rather have in my cabin. I'll tell you what youdo. You both come in every evening when we are not otherwise engaged,and I will teach you navigation."

  "Thank you very much, sir," replied Rush. "That is exactly what I wishto learn. Of course, I cannot learn it all while I am on the lakes, butI shall be able to get a general idea of it."

  "You will learn it quickly enough. After you have been on these lakesone season you'll know more about these waters than a whole lot of menwho have been drilling up and down here for the greater part of theirlives. We will go back and look over your quarters now."

  The room assigned to the boys was even more attractive than had beentheir quarters on the old ship. The room was large and cosily furnished,and the Iron Boys were delighted with it.

  The next thing was the selection of a crew. Captain Simms, with theauthority of the officials of the line, decided to ship his old crew,which was done as soon as the "Wanderer" reached Detroit on thefollowing day. The new ship was under orders to proceed to Duluth for acargo of ore.

  The up trip was uneventful, the efforts of all hands being devoted toshaking the new vessel down and getting acquainted with her. The"Richmond" proved herself to be all that was expected of her. Shehandled easily and well.

  During the three days' trip up the lakes, the boys began their study ofnavigation. Their first work was to learn to box the compass; that is,name every point on the compass. Steve, with his usual aptness,committed the card to memory in one night. Bob was not very far behindhim. Then they took up the study of the theory of navigation, workingout positions by moon, stars and sun, all requiring more or lessmathematical proficiency. Rush proved himself an apt pupil, and he hadmade a good start by the time they reached the ore docks in Duluth.

  The lads found a few hours time in which to run home to see Steve'smother, and at daylight on the following morning the "Richmond" backedfrom her slip and turned her trim bow toward the waters of Lake Superioronce more.

  "I am going to put you two men on the wheel," announced the master, onthe morning of the second day out.

  "Steering the ship?" questioned Jarvis.

  "Yes. You will find it easy work, but you will have to pay strictattention to business."

  The eyes of the Iron Boys glowed with pleasure. They took a trial watchearly that forenoon under the direction of the captain, who firstexplained the operation of the wheel. Unlike the old style steeringwheels, this one was operated by crude petroleum instead of by ropes andchains running over pulleys. Turning the wheel forced the oil through alittle half-inch pipe. The pressure thus obtained opened a valve in theengine room and set the steam steering gear at work. The ship, by thismodern method, could be steered with a single finger.

  "Wonderful, wonderful!" exclaimed the boys, when they fully understoodthe operation. Their knowledge of it was not complete until they hadmade a journey back to the engine room to watch the steam steering gearwork there as the wheel was turned in the pilot-house.

  Then there was another wonder that they were instructed in, theelectrical equipment of the ship. All the running lights were lighted byelectricity from the pilot-house. Then there were three methods ofblowing the whistle situated aft of the pilot-house. First, there wasthe usual whistle cord; then there was a lever some two feet in length,that pulled the wire attached to the whistle valve. But the mostremarkable of all was an electric button whistle. A pressure on thisblew the steam whistle. A long pressure blew a long blast and a quickpressure a short blast.

  "Electricity plays an important part in the world's affairs to-day,"said Captain Simms, noting their keen interest. "You see we havewireless equipment, too."

  "Why isn't it working?"

  "It will be when we get some one to operate it. I understand that theline is going to ship an operator at the Soo. I don't know whether it isa good thing or not. Too handy for the officials to say, 'Why did you dothat?' or 'Why didn't you do this?' Well, it's always possible that thething won't work when you want it to. I guess we can see to that."

  The boys nodded. Steve was at the wheel. He soon got the knack ofkeeping the vessel on her course, but found that watching the compasscard so steadily made his head ache. Still, it was fascinating work. Thehelmsman sat on a high stool, both arms resting on the wheel between thespokes, his eyes looking over the wheel and down into the binnacle. Aglance up showed miles of sea ahead with the gently rising and fallingbow of the ship in the foreground. There was a consciousness of power asthe helmsman gently turned the wheel this way or that. The great shipobeyed his slightest pressure. Glancing back through the rear windows ofthe pilot-house the stern of the ship swung in response to the turn ofthe wheel with a crack-the-whip motion.

  The skipper, noting Steve's glance at the swinging stern, nodded.

  "That is what you must look out for when in close quarters. You see, youare so far forward here that you can scarcely believe what a wide circlethat other end will make--I should say sweep. It doesn't necessarily cutcircles. In entering harbors you must measure your distance with youreyes and know how far you can turn your wheel without having the sternof the ship smash into a breakwater, or crash in the side of some othervessel to the right or left of you."

  "There is much to learn. I can see that."

  "Sailing the lakes is done by instinct largely. If a man's cut out forthe business he makes a go of it. If he isn't, some dark night he misseshis way and lands on a hidden reef somewhere. Then, presto, he's out ofa job, and maybe worse."

  "When do we reach the Soo?" interrupted Jarvis.

  "This evening. Rush will be at the wheel about that time, and you hadbetter be up here, too, Jarvis. You can't become too familiar with theports and the lights. Do you know how to read buoys?"

  "No, sir," answered the boys.

  "It is very simple. When you are entering port red buoys, with evennumbers, are left to your right hand or starboard. Black buoys with oddnumbers are left to the left hand or port. That's the rule the worldover."

  "But," objected Jarvis, "suppose it's night and you can't see the buoys.What are you going to do then?"

  The captain laughed heartily.

  "Lights, my boy. Channels are lighted at night, so you can't go wrong;but a good navigator will take his ship through any place without alight to guide him. I want you boys to learn every one of theranges----"

  "What is a range?" interrupted Bob.

  "Guide lights," spoke up Steve quickly. "They are the lights on shore,either lighthouses or buoys, to show you how to lay your course."

  "That is the idea," agreed Captain Simms. "Let's hear you box thecompass while we are here alone, Jarvis."

  Bob went over, taking a look at the compass.

  "Why do you do that?"

  "I wanted to see whether we were at the north pole or the south pole."

  "I guess you would know it if you were--that is, you would be prettycertain that you weren't navigating the Great Lakes. Go ahead now."

  Jarvis shut his eyes and began rea
ding off the points of the compass,making only one error in his reading.

  "That is fine," announced the skipper. "I'll guarantee there isn't a manin the ship's crew, outside of the first mate, who can do it so well. Ofcourse, I am excepting Rush and myself. Rush does everything well."

  That night Steve took his regular trick at the wheel at eight o'clock.Of course, Jarvis was there, too, as were the captain and the firstmate. They were nearing the Soo, as they could see from the lights.

  "Let's see, you boys have not been through here, have you?"

  "We were below decks the other time, sir."

  "Oh, yes, I remember. We will take the Canadian locks this time. TheCanadian locks are on the left and the American locks on the right, butthe latter are too short to hold a boat as long as this one, so we areobliged to take the Canadian side."

  "Why do we have to lock through?" questioned Jarvis.

  "To get around the rapids, and for the further reason that Huron lieslower than Superior. This is Whitefish Bay. The light that we have justdropped to starboard is Whitefish Point Lighthouse. Rush, do you seethat red light yonder?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Point on it."

  "I can't see the bow of our boat so as to tell whether I am pointing onthe light or not."

  "I'll fix that."

  The captain pressed a button and a ray of dull, ghostly light appearedjust beyond and over the bow.

  The lads uttered exclamations of amazement.

  "What is it? How did you do it, sir?"

  "That, lads, is a guide light on the end of the pole that answers forthe bowsprit. The light is there for the purpose of giving you a guideto steer by in narrow places."

  Lights began to spring up ahead, until there was such a confusion ofthem that neither boy could make anything out of them, but the steadyeyes of the captain picked out the lights that he wished to find withoutthe least difficulty.

  "Do you hear the roar of the rapids in the St. Mary's River?"

  "Yes; we hear them."

  "Those green lights way over yonder are on the American locks. Now portyour helm and steer for that white light standing high above the rest.Are you on it?"

  "On the mark, sir," answered Steve.

  They continued on this course for ten or fifteen minutes, when thecaptain ordered the wheelman to starboard his wheel. This threw the bowto the left, sending the boat across the bay on a diagonal course.

  "Why don't you go straight in?" asked Jarvis.

  "We should land high and dry on the rocks if we did," answered theskipper, with a short laugh. "Others have tried that very thing. Thehulls of some of their ships are down there under the water now."

  The boys began to realize that navigating the Great Lakes required agreat deal of skill and knowledge.

  "There is a ship in the locks now," announced Captain Simms.

  Both boys gazed into the night, but they could see no ship. The mastersignaled the engine room to slow down, explaining, at the same time,that they would have to drift in slowly and stop until the other boatgot out.

  The channel began to narrow as the master directed the wheel this wayand that until they found themselves in a walled-in channel that leddirectly to the locks themselves.

  "Snub her!" commanded the captain, leaning from the pilot-house window.A ladder was shoved over the side of the moving ship, a man on eitherside of it on deck pushing it along so that it might not be dragged.Quick as a flash a sailor sprang on the ladder, and, grasping the sidepieces, shot down to the dock on that side, a distance of some twentyfeet. Following came others, all getting down in the same manner. It wasa dangerous thing to do and excited the wonder and admiration of the twoboys in the pilot-house.

  "If I were to try that I would be in the water," laughed Rush. "It is agood thing for me that I am at the wheel, for I wouldn't be able toresist trying that experiment."

  Hawsers were cast over from the deck, and these, the men who had goneover the side, twisted about snubbing posts. At the same time the ship'spropeller began reversing slowly at a signal from the captain. The shipcame to an easy stop. The skill with which it had all been done, made adeep impression on the Iron Boys.

  A few moments later the gates of the locks opened and the other steamermoved slowly out. So close did they pass the "Richmond" that some of themen reached out and shook hands across the gulf, while the two captainsheld a brief conversation. Then the "Richmond" let go her moorings andmoved slowly into the Canadian locks. The gates swung to behind them,the water began rushing from the other end of the locks and the shiprapidly settled until her decks were level with the dock beside whichshe stood. The men who had gone over the side now stepped aboard andhauled in the hawsers after them.

  "Marvelous!" breathed the Iron Boys.

  "Slow speed ahead," commanded the skipper. "We are now on the Huronlevel. Here comes your relief. I hope you boys get a good night'ssleep."

  "Thank you, sir; good night," answered the lads, starting for theircabin. It had been a most interesting evening for them.