Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1883-08-07
THE usEmAn,s WORK.

Perllous and wssri.ome Labor Of the Men
Whs Repair the wires-A Life AIoft.
I'VE have sort Of up-and-do life,"
said o bronzed.faced linemsn of the
Western Union Telegram company TO
New York Tribune reporter the other
dsy. "SOmetimes We are worked to.
death, and others We have Q dead loaf
Most OF our work comes in the nastiest
weather, too. When We have Q heavy
thunderstorm, and its raining cats and
dogs, something gets the matter with the
line and We are sent to hunt the wrong
But, Of course the hardest time of the
year is the winter. Then the wire gets
enough to find break, though. It's the
escapes that bother Us more than any.
thing else"
"What is an escape?"
"An escape is when from some cause
or other the wires come in contact with
some conducting substance and ground
connection is established. The current
ls broken then, of course, and you can't
get any communication over that wire."
"What is the most frequent cause of
escapes?"
Sometimes the wires come in contact
with wood where they are tied to the in.
sulators. This is caused frequently BY
careless tlelng on the part of the line.
men, and sometimes the tie gets loose.
This is the most frequent cause of es-
capes. Another cause is the swinging of
the wires. The span between two poles
stretches and swings, and whenever it
strikes another wire the current is lost,
and it becomes difficult matter to send
a message. Words and phrases are drop.
ped out"
"How do you go to work to hunt q
trouble?"
1--WE have to follow q wire until We
find it. Say We get word that City 3s,
or some other wire is wrong. We look
ct our diagram and find out which insu.
lator the wire is on. We have diagrams
Of every pole in the city. Then We fol-
low the wire until We discover the trouble
1t requires quick eye and long expe-
rience to hunt trouble properly, in the
city here especially, where We have some.
times as high as seventy-6ve wires on q
pole, and have to follow the wire owe,
housetops, around corners and every
other way"
"Do you have to climb every pole ?"
mot necessarily so, although the
climbing is the easiest part Of the bust.
ness. But an experienced ineman car
generally tell at q glance il anything il
the matter. Sometimes, though, when
there is an escape on account of i'm.
proper tieing, We have goad deal ol
difficulty"
"How do you learn the business
"Well, at first We are put at gang
work, that is, q gang of few men are
put under an experienced lineman to
put up new lines or make repairs. They
learn the rudiments of the business then
After they get far enough along they are
put to work in the country, and the best
of them ultimately come to the city"
"How does the country work compare
with the city?'
"Oh, it's great deal easier. You set
in the country there are only few line.
on pole, and as they run straight along
its as easy as eating pie to hunt trouble
there, though it does tell on cold win
ter night when It's showing and freezing
hard enough to paralyze brass monkey
but it tests . mans ability as q linema
to find trouble when the wires are thic
as peas IN pod. We have = good dea
of fun with the plugs when they gra
come in the city. We go ahead an
change the wire, and send plug owe
to jersey when be wants to 60 to Yonl
ers."
Doesn't that interfere with business.
"Oh, no. They practice at first o.
dead wires"
."Do you find that the fire and polio
wires interfere with your work?"
"Yes, good deal. You see these fir
and telephone fellows will change th
wires on Q pole and We very frequentl,
find our diagrams al wrong. Then Y
make new diagrams"