The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1877-01-28

l. "o.sj6ps patronzed their bars toe
r,ay. The local option question Ii
'at likely to agitate the community Of
p,,r. Ends for some time to come, bul
'..he, il ,.ups, you may bet that the
ami License advocates VIII lie routed
,,tooth and toe nail"
TREATMENT OF LABORERs.
Duripg the fail OF 1875 great many
J,hly.colored accounts were publish.
KIN the New Orleans papers OF the
L.mpfnl treatment TO which the men
omnloyed on the works were subjected.
Ghase accoUnts in the main were false.
,r,na the work was none Of the
EASIEST and the fare none of the best;
ret can say from experience that II
wos bettpr than that generally received
Ly lobOrers on thelevees and railroads.
The trouble was not so much in the
treatment received as in the class Of
mon who attempted to do the work.
Tha nborers who had been accustom-
Oh 10 work on railroads and canals
wore satisfied, and considered it one of
,he hest Jobs they ever had. At "The
unur thrgs were different. There
be men were compelled to work hard,
wadipg in mud and water up to their
Knees. poorly fed, their diet consisting
wholly of salt meat, rye bread and
nototGes, and compelled to sleep on the
bare floor, with stick of wood for a
inflow. and a blanket alive with YER
min for covering, unprotected from
the mosquitoes. This | also know
from experience. Many the poor devil
who trndged the hundred miles to New
O,pans, through swanips and marshes,
begging for food on the road, rather
Than nut up with such inhuman
treatment. This work, however, was
not under the immediate supervision
ofthe ietties company, but had been
suhLet, and the contractors alone can
be held responsible.
The next morning we again crossed
tine river, and loafed till nearly ten
O'Clock, when we were put to work uu-
loading a schooner of lumber. The
lumber required in the construction of
the iettes is mostly brought from Pen
sacola, Florida. Two men were placed
in the hold of the vessel, who handed
up the plank, which were laid In piles
on barge We marched in single file,
each { king his turn in carrying "A
blank, This was easy enough, and
congratulated myself on being able to
get along so well.
AT WORK AND LATER USED UT.
About5 o'clock that evening we were
ordered aboard the tow-boat "City of
Grafton and, in company with several
barges loaded with lumber, taken some
twelve miles up the river. Here we
partoOk Of very good supper in an
other hat-boat boarding house, after
which we proceeded to unload the
lumber. The barges were brought
alongside shore, and plank run out.
As the uank was very low, the PASSAGE
way thus formed was quite precipltate.
Down this declivity the lumber was
carried, the men working in pairs, one
at each end of heavy scantling or
plank. ! met with several mishaps |
during the evening, falling off the
plank into the water twice, besides Sc.
verely mjuring two IrishmeD by drop
ping my end of the load before my |
partner was It ady. retired to bed at
q late hour that night, but not to sleep.
! was so thoroughly used up and
bruised that could only roll in agony
the entire night, besides the mos.
quitOes would not give me any rest,
but persstently sung their little songs
of daboical glee, as if elated at my
misery. In the morning | got up stiff
in every Joint, and with face the APP
pearanCe Of hash house steak, or the
"pli2o of Mike McCoole after a set-to
with Tom Allen.
After breakfast we again boarded the
"City Of Grafton" and were ia
ken back to Port Eads. On the
way consultation was held
by the two Dutchmen and my
self, and it was unanimously re-
solved that we could stand no more OF
this SORT of work, and that | should
make application to Mr.. Cothrell, the
assistant superintendent in charge, for
a lighter JOB / did so, and was in
formed 10y him that we had been en-
gagged IN the lightest work to be done;
that he had instructed his agent in the
city to feel of mems hands before send.
ing them down there Ia Ia Judge
Cullen, the "Terrible," of st, Louis;
that he would, however, see what he
could do for us. Shortly afterwards
he sent me after some brush scythes,
a couple of whitewash brushes, some
c0rpontcPs pencils, and we embarked
OIL the City of Grafton and eturned
to the scene OF our previous nights
exploits. Mr.. Cothrell accompanied
us aud felt sure that our party my
self and the other two Dutchman--
were to be promoted to the position OF
Willie washers or assistant carpenters
Imagine my surprise when he ordered
us to take hold of them brush scythes
aud GO to clearing In fifteen min
uieF time every spot IN my hands, free
OF Splinters from my experience win
the lumber, was covered with Ollsters.
MY arms soon began to ache ana my
haDda to bleed, but the vigilant eye 81
the "h0ss of the gang was ever upon
us, and we were compelled to hold up
our end
HEARTILY DIsGUsTED AND rINING For A
CHANGE.
At noon another consultation was
held, and was once more deputized
to wait upon Mr.. Cothrell. | this time
made him the proposition that il he
would row US across the fork OF the
river intervening between us and terra
Jrmd, we would donate to him the la.
Dor we had already performed, ana
make our way back to New Orleans on
foot. He refused to entertain the
proposition, saying we were over one
hundred miles from the city; that the
country was well.nigh iITpassable,
aud that, If we could stand it no
longer, we might rest half day. we
aSented to the truth of his assertions,
and resumed our labors.
We were kept at this work OF clear
ing two days. After working hours IN
The evening the men would congregate