thus holding the driver brake applied. If both trains were absolutely tight the same results would be noticed in each case. Q.-374. Why should the driver brake release while the rest of the brakes remained applied? A.-Because possibly the driver brake has a longer piston travel than the rest. Or, with equal piston travel, it is the nearest to the brake valve, and would thus be the first to be affected. If allowed to remain long enough all brakes would eventually release, everything else being in good order. Q.-375. How can it be definitely ascertained whether the rotary valve is leaking or not? A.-The surest method is to place the brake valve handle in service stop position, draining the train pipe and equalizing reservoir. Then open the release valves and drain the auxiliary reservoirs, after which cut out the driver and tender brakes and move the handle to lap position, maintaining full main drum pressure. Next open the angle cock on the rear of the tender and immerse the hose in a bucket of water. If any bubbles appear, the number and size indicate the extent of the leakage past the rotary valve. Q.-376. In facing a leaky rotary valve, how should it be done? A.-The valve and seat should be turned up in a lathe, if possible, using very light cuts on a steady running lathe. If this kind of a lathe is not accessible, the seat should be scraped to as near a perfect bearing as possible, after which it shoulá be rubbed down with ground glass, float emery or other suitable material, avoiding the use of the coarser grades of emery, as they bed into the brass and cut too much, Q.-377. With a Plate E 6 brake valve the engineer notices when the brake valve is in running position, that the black pointer gradually creeps up until main drum and train pipe pressure are equalized at 90 pounds, or whatever the pump governor is adjusted to. This occurs with a light engine or short train only, and upon test we find the rotary valve to be tight. Where could such a trouble be? A.-It may be dirt on the feed valve, preventing its seating properly, or it may be the feed valve gasket being broken between the feed ports. Q.-378. How could it be distinguished from the leaky rotary valve? A. By the fact that with a leaky rotary valve the trouble would also exist on lap position, while with the trouble mentioned it only occurs in running position. Q.-379. How should the feed valve be cleaned of dirt and gum! A. By heating it sufficiently to soften the gum. It may also be removed by the use of benzine, lye or some other agent that will cut the grease. The valve should not be scraped, however, as having a soft metal seat, it is very easy to injure the joint that the valve makes on the seat. [TO BE CONTINUED.] *Noble Heroes of Samar. Major Ray, the paymaster, who has been on a trip to the Southern Islands paying the American soldiers, returned to Manila the day before yesterday, after an absence of seven weeks, during which time he visited the islands of Cebu, Levte and Samar, was on the latter island when the massacres at Balangiga *The Manila (P. I.) Freedom. and the Lower Gandara took place. The Major was at Balangiga a few hours. after the massacre of the men of Company C, of the Ninth Infantry, and passed through the country of the Lower Gandara a few hours before the fight on the banks of that river and is in a position to speak authoritatively of all Major Ray is Brother B. B. Ray of Division No. 1. that occurred during that time in Sa mar. In speaking to a representative of the Freedom yesterday regarding the events of the massacre at Balangiga, Major Ray said: "The fortitude shown by each and every man who took part in that fight was, to say the least, the most remarkable heroism that I have ever heard of. I was at Catbalogan when the news of the massacre at Balangiga came in, and a few hours after the wounded men who had succeeded in escaping the murderous bolos of the insurrectos were brought in. "The attack was to commence upon the ringing of the church bell, but before that time the priest and a few of his followers made their way to the convent where the officers were quartered, through the adjoining church, and murdered the officers while they were in their beds, after killing the sentry who was on guard at the door. "Captain Connell had succeeded in getting out of the convent and was cut down by the natives within a few yards of the mess hall while trying to make his way to his command, who were at that time fighting with the natives. After he was killed the infuriated natives horribly mutilated his body, as in fact, they did the bodies of all the soldiers who were unable to make their escape. "Sergeant Marckley, of Company C, is deserving of the highest credit and praise for the manner in which he took command of the small detachment who were able to make their escape and in handling them while going to Catbalo gan. "When the fight was in its height and the men had secured their rifles, Sergeant Marckley took command of the little band of men, after first seeing that those who were left and the officers had not a spark of life left in them, and taking the wounded who could not walk, started toward the shore. The band would go a little distance, and then, while the men who were carrying the wounded were replaced by others, the few soldiers left would stand up shoulder to shoulder and fire into the horde of savages who were trying to capture them. When the natives would rush this little band the soldiers would stand even when the natives had almost reached them and it looked as if they were to be cut to pieces the next moment. The natives, who were not accustomed to this kind of fighting, could not stand before the rapid and steady fire that the band of American soldiers poured into them, even at a few yards distance, and they would break and seek cover, only to renew the attack when joined by others who were following. Time after time the natives almost reached the Americans, but were as often repulsed by the deadly fire of the troops, and most conspicuous in all the fighting was Sergeant Marckley, who handled his men in a manner that has won for himself the praise of every officer and man who has heard of the retreat of that little band of American soldiers who were able to escape from the mess hall at Balangiga, and who brought their wounded comrades to a place of safety under the fiercest bolo charge that has ever been known in that part of the islands, and so far as I know, anywhere in the Philippines. "I was on the scene of the battle a few hours after the butchery, and the sights were too horrible to describe. Anyone could see by the broken pieces of furniture and other articles, which were covered with blood, what an awful struggle there had been in the mess hall when the soldiers were surprised. And how a single man got out of that room seemed, from the scene after, an impossibility. "The natives who had been killed by the soldiers after securing their guns, lay in the streets where they fell, and the path of the retreat of the Americans was marked by a bloody trail, and at the places where the soldiers had stopped and the insurgents tried to rush them, the bodies of natives told only too well of the desperate fighting that had taken place. "As I said before the priest killed the officers first and then led the attack upon the soldiers at the ringing of the |