Down in the fire-room of a big steamer that was lying at the
wharf in New York, a young man was told to do a certain piece of
work in connection with the pumps. There were two pumps close
together in the room--one for feeding the boiler and the other
to use in case the ship should take fire. This latter one was
capable of throwing a volume of water as large as a man’s body.
The young man, who had been employed on the ship for three
years, and who, when he concentrated his attention on it, knew
all that was necessary concerning the work in hand, went to the
wrong pump and removed the cap from the fire-pump. In a moment
he discovered his error, but the force of the water was so great
that he could not replace the cap on the pump. Without a word
he ran to the deck, left the steamer, and took the cars for his
home in another State. Before the accident was discovered the
water had filled the hold of the vessel, and in spite of every
effort the vessel sank, and many thousands of dollars of damage
was done.--LOUIS ALBERT BANKS.
(318)
See IGNORANCE.