Inspect carefully also the inside springs and axle boxes, specially the latter. See that the fireman oils them; if he does not, you are to blame. The ash-pan, piston rod, smoke box, etc., all need to be looked at with care, for to run right the engine must start right, and this brings us to the most important thing of all--the condition of the fire before leaving the round house, for there is no other one thing on which an engineer's good name, success and future prospects depend so much as on the condition of the fire at the beginning of the day's work. If the fire is not properly lighted at the start, no matter how good the engine or how smart the engineer, constant trouble during the trip, to say nothing of an increased consumption of coal which is bound to tell against him, will be the result. Don't get to your work late, and don't allow your fireman to be late. If the fire is to be properly built he has got to take time to it. Fires thrown together in a hurry always turn out bad. DUTIES OF A FIREMAN. As the model engineer must first have served as fireman, let us say a word on that score. Before a fireman can serve on a passenger train, he should have served awhile as freight brakeman, or in the yard shifting cars. Before going on an express train, he must have run on slow trains as fireman. All this is necessary that he may acquire a knowledge of the petty details of his work. A superintendent who puts a green hand at firing certainly exhibits a great want of good judgment, to say the least, and just this has often been the cause of serious accidents and loss of life. Here are a few things that a man must know before he can become an engineer: 1. How to make up a proper fire in a locomotive fire-box. 2. How to handle the shovel when the engine is running. 3. How to learn roads and signals. 4. How to calculate the effect of the weather on the rails. 5. How to manage an engine and train on varying grades. 6. How to have full control of an engine and train at full speed. 7. How to work the steam expansively and yet keep time. 8. How to regulate the water supply. 9. How to read the gauges at a glance and understand just what they mean. Now all these things have got to be learned while a fireman, for unless you know them you can never become an engineer. Some engineers will give no instructions. They demand certain results, and if the fireman don't do just what they expect because he does not understand what is wanted, they call him a fool, snatch the shovel out of his hand and do the work themselves. It is the engineer who is the fool in this case, and doubly so if he loses his temper and swears. Certainly it is very hard for a sensitive young man to learn of such a master, but after all it is good discipline.