hose into the muddy water or lower side of tank as on the upper side,
where it is clear. See that he keeps his tank clean. We have seen
tanks with one-half inch of mud in the bottom. We know that there are
times when you are compelled to use muddy water, but as soon as it is
possible to get clear water make him wash out his tank, and don't let
him haul it around till the boiler gets it all.

Allow me just here to tell you how to construct a good tank for a
traction engine. You can make the dimensions to suit yourself, but
across the front end and about two feet back fit a partition or second
head; in the center of this head and about an inch from the bottom bore
a two inch hole. Place a screen over this hole on the side next the
rear, and on the other side, or side next front end, put a valve. You
can construct the valve in this way: Take a piece of thick leather,
about four inches long, and two and a half inches wide; fit a block of
wood (a large bung answers the purpose nicely) on one end, trimming the
leather around one side of the wood, then nail the long part of the
valve just above the hole, so that the valve will fit nicely over the
hole in partition. When properly constructed, this valve will allow the
water to flow into the front end of tank, but will prevent its running
back. So, when you are on the road with part of a tank of water, and
start down hill, this front part fills full of water, and when you start
up hill, it can not get back, and your pumps will work as well as if you
had a full tank of water, without this arrangement you cannot get your
pumps to work well in going up a steep hill with anything less than a
full tank. Now, this may be considered a little out of the engineer's
duty, but it will save lots of annoyance if he has his tank supplied
with this little appliance, which is simple but does the business.

A boiler should be washed out and not blown out, I believe I am safe in