The Osceola times., 1882-11-11
LABORS OF LINEMEN.
The Miles of Telegraph and Tele-
phone Wire Kept in Order.
Repairing the wires-The Number OF Men
Empioycd-samples of Complaints.
st. Louis Post Dispatch.

LINZ IlpSt vi tllS istIpt till'S VI tht
present, st. Louis stands beneath a per
feet web of wires. While these wires
are of the greatest public benefit, per
haps the idea most prevalent in regard
to them is that they are an unsightly
nuisance, but as it would be impossible
to dispense with them, property holders
have, according to the statistics Of the
various telegraph and telephone com
panies, made up their minds to let them
90 around their buildings whenever and
wherever occasion may require. Some
are doubtless Of the opinion that SER
viceable wires might be run underground,
and experiments of this kind have been
made in various places, in Chicago, and
New York, for instances While it costs
but little to lay cable under ground
the plan is generally opposed on account
of the necessity of the constant changes
which would make it necessary to tear
up again and again. Few people have
any idea how much it costs to take care
of the house-top and pole wires of a city,
and to satisfy and inform the public on
this subject a Post-Dispatch reporter
made some inquiries among the proper
authorities yesterday. The first person
encountered was John f. Cooke, super
intendent Of repairs for the Western
Union Telegraph Company, In the
work of
STRETCHING NEW WIRES
and repairing the old twenty men are
employed. These consists of two gangs,
A part of each gang digs holes. Others
climb the poles and stretch the wires
and all assist in lifting the poles into
position. 1--WE have" said Mr. Cooke,
between 900 and thousand miles of wire
in use. | can't tell exactly how much at
the time but am engaged upon series
of calculations from which | intend to
make an estimate for the superintendent
before long. We are constantly putting
up wires even where the system is not
being extended You see wires wear out
very soon in st. Louis-sooner helieve,
than anywhere else in the country ex-
cept Pittsburg. The coal smoke causes
them to rust and wear very fast Chem
lists state, believe, that the SCOT from
the smoke contains large proportion
of sulphur. This eats the wire right up.
They last on the average only about five
years" ,
"You stretch great many wires over
house tops, don't your"
"Yes the most of them"
"Do the property owners ever COM
plain?'
sometimes When they do we sim
ply take another route. We do not Of
ten have to pay anything for the privi-
lege There is no good reason why
they should raise any objection Some
times they pretend to be afraid of light
ming This you know is ridiculous. The
wires connect with the ground, and al
WAYS conduct the bolt safely"
The reporter also called upon Vice
President Durant Of the Telephone Com
pany, who was able to add something
about the experiences of thirty mon
kept at work by this company.
"The reason why we keep a larger
force than the Western Union" said he
is that our wires, being smaller, wear
out sooner, and besides, we have more
of them. guess we have about ~a-
700 NILES OF WIRE III r.
in use in connection with our 1000 tele-
phones" .#..t..
when do you have most trouble with
the wires ?"
"The sleet season is bad. When the
ice and snow stick to the wires the
weight breaks them down very readily.
Sometimes there is difficulty when they
are not broken"
"In what way?"
"well, the weight sometimes brings
the telephone wire too near Western
Union wire, when the clicking Of the
telegraph instrument interferes with the
working of the telephone. We always
take care TO stretch our wires good
way from the Western Union wire, but
sometimes their men come after us and
their interests do not demand the same
caution. As we stretch the greatest
number ofwires ! guess we pave the
way for the Western Union so that they
can put up their wires without trouble
"Do you employ man to do the talk.
ing for your"
q "Not specially F: but YOU would find oul