The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1885-10-11
WORKING FOR THE PUBLIC.
:fsw the Average Street Laborer Man
ages to Kill Time i'm the City.

brooklyn Eagle
The effete aristocrat5 of the east, about
whom we have read so much and who take
such ordinary pains to kill time, should take
lessons from eny of the workers in
the public department of New York.
The average street labOrer kills time
with less effort and more success
than the most accomplished of the
effete monarcls of the east. One day | sat
near front window and observed tho ac-
tions of n gang Of four mon who came to
open up portion of the street 1t was
day that was alternately sultry and
rainy-iu,t the sort of day
to stay in doors-and | had an ex-
tended opportunity of observing the actions
of the gang. 1t about O'Clock when 1
first went to the window. They were all
four sitting in row on tho curb stone like
so many blackbirds on tho bough of a tree.
They wore overalls, flannel shirts and
various head-gear, AMI, they chewed
tobacco, the four jaws rose and fell in
unison. A picturesque as ,ortment of picks
and shovels was piled in front of them.
When / glanced out an hour later they
were still staring thOughtfully at the pave
ment and moving their jaws mechanically.
Then the boss, after much effort, succeeded
in getting Il jointed foot measure, about the
size of penllnife, out of his overall pocket
and began to measure off a section of the
street about ten feet long and six wide The
others looked at him with the casual interes
of men who were about to go to work.
Presently tho foreman flew into great pas
sion, scowled and be gan to blow up the mon.
He swore like a canal boat captain, black
guarded the men rOundly and then abruptly
went over and sat down besides them, and
then the others paid not the slightest atten-
ton to him. At this point it began to
sprinkle, and the quartette journeyed heavily
to q neighbOring area, where they sat down
comfortably OH the stones and lighted their
pipes. 1t rained about fifteen minutes
Two hours later the men were again at
"work." They had by this time, amid
perfect whirlwind of words, succeeded in
mapping out their work, and they We're
yanking up the stones by means of crowbars
and pickaxes The boss sat Oh neig Dor
boring flrepiug AMI yelled at them oncour-
agingiy. After IL mighty effort they sue
ceeded in loosoning the stones, and then
they all journeyeI to the area again ana
spent an hour eating their dinners. After
this they came out slowly one after an
other, looked at tho stones, looked up and
down the street, stretched, yawneI AMI be
gan to pile up the stones in the middle of
the street This designed to protect
horses from stumbling into the hole.
1t also served to almost entirely blockade
the street.
There was now a rectangular piece OF
about six by ten feet from which the stones
had boon removed, and which gained
thereby n depth of about six inches. Hay-
ing cleared all tine stones out of the space,
the gang sat down again on the gutter t
admire it, and suddenly it began once moro
to rain. They all retreated into the area
and presently the boss sent two of the m
forth armed with hailers. One had an
old tomato can and tho other a sauce
pan. 1t was raining hard and the hole was
full of water One of the laborers took
up u position at either oni of the sx-inch
excavation and began to bail it out. The
rain beat down upon their broad backs,
but they baled faithfully for nearly
two hours, not tho fainteSt effect Resulting
from their efforts; they might rs we'll have
tried to bail out tho Atlantic ocean with a
couple of thimbles. Whom the rain stopped
they stopped, too, and went back to the
area, leaving the space completely filed
with water. Later on they succeeded in
Ioosening the earth n little and then they
shouldered their picks and shovels and went
stolidly away.