Savannah morning news., 1885-10-16
A BRICR-YARD HERO.
Competitive Brick Making and a Man
Who Broke the Record.
Fron, he Baltimore gnn.

From, The Baltimore Sun.
There was a brick-makiug contest at
Union Park yesterday afternoon between
two colored men. Alfred Dennis and John
Watkins. Each man had two ''off.bear-
ers" who carried away the bricks as
fast as they were made, and a wheeler
whose duty 1t was to supply the moulder
with clay. Dennis's of-bearers were
VIM. Banks and VIM. Fountain, and
Henry Brown was his wheeler. Watkins
had George johnson and Wm. Smith as
oh-6earers and VIM. Ennels as wheeler
The team was young, Watkins
LOOKING more like mere boy than the
rapid workman ne was. The match
began at 3 O'clock. 1t was at first intend.
ed TO make thousand bricks. and toe
! men were under that impression till, near
the end, they saw the clay was giving out.
Ihe bricks. instead of being laid 67 in a
row, as Is customary in brickyards, were
lald 90 in row. Both men started prompt.
ly at the word, but it was Watkins race
| from the start. He was superior in every
way, and his ''otf bearers" were also much
mora skillfui. One of them was carving
away tn fourth brick before Dennis had
even moulded the third. Watkins bricks
were moulded better. though the irregular
shape OF Dennis bricks was ascribed by
! the Judges to the awkwardness of
one OF his off-bearers. who pulled
IL out OF shape each time be
raised the mould from it. The time Wat
ktns made was remarkable. His of-bear-
ers We're we'll on the ninth and tenth rows
at $3.50, and it was just 3:32 when one OF
them laid two bricks cFosswise at the end
OF the tenth row. Dennis had by that
time fallen an entire row behind. He
made squirt at this time, so that the
tenth row was finished about 1886, but
Watkins was too far ahead. The latter
worked like a machine. He knew Just
| how much clav to snatch from the pile
before him to fill the mo Id, and be could
snatch up the mould, till It with clay and
! plane 1t OF in the twinkling of an eye.
Nor did be ever tire, and at the
| BEGINNING of the last row he was as
| quick and agile as at the
! first. Dennis, though he must have kno wn
ten minutes after the start that he was
beaten, worked on with logged determi-
nation. At quarter to four Dennis was
WorklDg at the fifteenth and sixteenth
rows Then it was learned that the clay
/ would not hold till either man had made
| a thousand brick, so it was decided hat
whoever finished first and had the most
/ bricks was the winner. Teen the wheel
/ ers both made a rush for the CLAY pile to
| get the last load. Brown, Dennis wheeler,
| got most of the clay, but when,
\ at three minutes of four, Watkins
cut caper and then struck to show he
had finished, be had made eighteen rows
and p in the nineteenth, or 922 bricks,
/ while Dennis was at the twelfth brick in
| the seventeenth row, and still lacked
! tew OF the eighteenth. The audience,
consisting of about 200 men in the same
profession ana about 20 stylishly dressed
female sympathizers, shouted itself
hoarse. Then it made rush for the hero
of the brickyard. The men shook hands
and the girls Sugged hin. Dennis and
his crowd felt keenly that they were out
in the cold. 1t was said that to make 700
bricks an hour is considered good mans
work, but young Watkins feat of 922
well-made bottom bricks in 50 minutes
brnaER the record