OTOH a lot of companies were very fond of steam power and clung to it,
possibly your uncle was in one.


Maxprop wrote:
Guy owned his own tug. He contracted with one of the smaller firms in NY
Harbor. He was the same sort who protested the internal ("infernal")
combustion engine replacing the horse.

Bet he never had to shovel manure, then

... He explained the diesel as a means
of reducing the crew by one man--the fireman. The fireman was a featherbed
job, actually, because most of the steam tugs were fueled with coal oil
automatically.


Yes and no... keeping a steam boiler lit up properly is not
easily automated, even in this day & time. One of my
bread-and-butter jobs is troubleshooting, repairing, and
calibrating combustion controls. Back in those days, it
would be very easy to lose fires due to loss of fuel
pressure, gunk in the fuel, sticking blower throttle, or
even on a small boat, a wave lapping over the uptakes. But
it still beats shoveling coal!


Guy proudly stated that he'd never lost power during his years as a tugboat
captain. Then again Guy was Irish and inclined to "exaggeration."


It's possible that he never did lose power, just rather
unlikely IMHO. It would be a testament to his engineer(s) if
true. In the 17 years or so I worked in steam ships, I saw
plants drop off line by genuine accident maybe 20 times or
so, usually during warm-up.



I hope he was having fun anyway.


He never seemed to enjoy himself. I think he was only happy when he was at
the helm of his boats, or when complaining. His negative comment about my
Perkins did bring the hint of a grin to his lips, however.


We used to say "A bitchin' sailor is a happy sailor."

DSK