Steam

The end of the line for the old Addressograph machines, cast-iron sausage kettles and brass steam whistles is 1415 Key Highway.That is the address of the Baltimore Museum of Industry, the city's sprawling repository of workplace artifacts. Here the floors creak, the lines of leather belting circulate through machine shops and the lunch wagon always has a ham sandwich for sale.Located roughly between Harborplace and Fort McHenry, the museum is housed in a former cannery built in the mid-1860s.

When Syracuse opened the season with a 16-15 double-overtime loss to Albany, the outlook looked bleak for the NCAA's all-time leader in national championships. But the No. 12 Orange re-asserted themselves into the national conversation with back-to-back wins, including a 9-8 overtime decision against then-No. 11 Virginia last Friday night. The joy from that victory may be evaporating in the wake of Thursday's announcement by the school that sophomore defenseman Brandon Mullins will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a right knee injury in that win against the Cavaliers.

One on One is a weekly feature offering excerpts of interviews conducted by The Evening Sun with newsworthy business leaders. Morris O. Hill was named president last month of Baltimore Thermal Energy Corp., the company that has owned and operated Baltimore's downtown steam company since 1985. The Baltimore operation is owned by United Thermal Corp. of New York. Hill, who has been with the parent company since 1985, was named general manager of Baltimore Thermal in 1987.Q. For people who might not be familiar with the company other than the steam they see rising from the city streets, can you tell me a little bit about what you do?

The Baltimore Thermal Energy Corp. has selected a four-story warehouse at 641 W. Mulberry St. as the proposed site for an $18.8 million steam generating plant that would replace one that was demolished to become right field in the Camden Yards baseball stadium.Company representatives unveiled plans for the proposed plant yesterday at a meeting of Baltimore's Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals, which must give its approval before construction can begin. A decision is expected in seven to 10 days.

Richard B. Fischer Sr., a master mechanic who enjoyed building intricate operating models of stationary steam engines, died of melanoma and bone cancer Sunday at Joseph Richey Hospice. The Violetville resident was 78. Mr. Fischer was born and raised in his family's Pulaski Street home and attended City College. He drove a delivery truck for his brother's oil company, County Fuel, for several years until completing an apprenticeship program at Maryland Drydock Co. He was a master mechanic for many years at Tate Andale Inc. in Lansdowne, maker of specialty valves, filtration and straining equipment.

The Mason Dixon Historical Society Inc. will hold its 40th annual Steam & Gas Round-Up from 7 a.m. to dusk Friday, Saturday and next Sunday at the Carroll County Farm Museum in Westminster. The event will include antique steam and gas engines, farm machinery, antique cars, and working demonstrations of old-time farm activities. Featured this year will be Sheppard Diesel equipment. The schedule of activities is: Friday, Saturday and Sunday: 10 a.m.: Raising of the flag and opening ceremony.

First there was the steam. For two years, it hissed out of pipes under the street, squeezed into the basement of Cameron Northouse's shop, Clayton Fine Books, condensed on the ceiling and dripped onto the floor, buckling and staining the wood. Then there was the repair job. After Northouse and several other business owners along the 300 block of N. Charles Street complained, Trigen, a private company that supplies steam to 250 locations in Baltimore, sent out crews to repair the pipes.

Steam belches forth from the smokestack on Guilford Avenue in downtown Baltimore as if some locomotive were buried at full throttle under the pavement.Motorists must dodge metal plates surrounding the stack erected along the 200 block of Guilford months ago. The vapor itself can be a distraction, so fierce is the hot steam that shoots upward.Intrepid Commuter recently heard from a reader puzzled by this imposing structure. What is it? Why is it there? Will you please make it go away?For an answer, we turned to the folks at Trigen-Baltimore Energy Corp.

From steam machines, flea markets and flowers, to music and the arts, there's no lack of things to see and do this weekend around the county.*So what if you have to work and the kids are back in school, the Mason Dixon Historical Society's 31st annual Steam and Gas Round-Up is open today until dusk at the Carroll County Farm Museum, so stop in for a quick visit and maybe supper.The event opens at 10 a.m. today, tomorrow and Sunday and features antique farm machinery, children's activities and farm demonstrations.

Hard to believe, but Maryland and Virginia are on the verge of doing something historic, heroic and long overdue. Elected officials and regulators in both states, with guidance from scientists, appear ready to save Chesapeake Bay blue crabs. Population studies warn the bay crab stock is on the brink of collapse. If the number drops below 86 million, there may not be enough crabs to rebuild. Without intervention, pictures like the one accompanying this column might be all that's left of the Chesapeake's most popular resident.