, 1885-12-15
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An Interesting Variety of LAborers n
Cotton Hook and BadKe-HArd Work.
brooklyn Eaelsl
The vast shipping business of New
York and Brooklyn makes these cities
the dwelling places of many thousands
Of 'longshoremen. All along the water
front of Brooklyn, from Newborn creek
to Gowanus bay, the 'longshoreman is to
be found eithcr at work on vessels, or
waiting his turn for a job. The teno-
ment house in which no lives is not far
away, for it is a necessity of his condi-
ton that he should live near the harbor
where his work is and whore he has 10
look for it, and wait for it, for the long
shoreman, when not actually at work,
is waiting for it and a good many hours
of his life are expended in this rather
dull and not always profitable task.
The longshoreman is easily to be dis
tinguished from all other laborers by his
cotton hook, which is stuck in his belt,
but he carries under his belt another
means of Identification in the badge,
which shows that he is a member Of the
'Longshoreman's union. This badge,
which is of metal, is about the size of a
quarter, and is carried on the laborer's
RCloOn aimalbt oO tuhb DO may 10 PlOT
pared to show it at any time when
called on, as a proof that he is a mem
Der Of the union in good standing.
Without this he can not do longshore
work.
Iongshore work, as a rule, is OF a
very hard and laborious character. In
some cases it involves much discomfort,
in others considerable danger. To han
Ala haaxru oaoko of cnnar or ka1aa If
cotton, or many of the thousand and
one articles which come to this
port in ships requires much strength
and would speedily exhaust any
one not Injured to such work.
A 'longshoreman must therefore be in a
high physical condition, for he is under
a constant strain. But this, as every
physician knows, is very u~nfavorable to
long life and health. A ship laborer
ages fast, faster than a man in almost
any other employment. At 40, when
n farmer would be in his prime, a long
shoreman is old and stiff; at so, when
men in easier occupations hardly feel
the advance of age, he is all broke up,
as his companions express it, and gener-
ally unfit for hard work. Indeed few
'l~ongshoremen of 80 are to be found.
Before they reach that age they either
become wholly incapacitated for their
employment or drift away into other
pursuits. Exposure, hard work and
sometimes irregularity of life COM
bine to retire them at an early age.
Breaking down and coaling up" as
il is termed, is counted among the hard
est of 'longshore work. 1t means the
removal of coal from a laden canalboat
TO the bunkers@ Of n steamship. This
work requires skill as we'll as strong
muscles. All is done on a system-so
many men in the front shoveling, so
many at the guy and so many at the
wheelbarrows. An inexperienced gang
who undertake to unload n eanalboat
laden with coal would probably sink her
before they had their Job more than
one third completed. The 'longshoreman
begins by taking perhaps fifteen tons
out of the forward hatch: the gang then
goes to the second and takes out about
ten tons and then to the after hatch,
when the coal is removed right down ia
the bottom or skim as the laborers
call it. This is what is termed break
ing down." and arduous labor it is,
especially in warm weather. Any one
who spends a day in this kind Of toll
can truly say that he has earned his
bread by the sweat of his brow.
Unloading soda ash and bleaching
powder is counted among the worst oil
'longshore work and sometimes it be-
comes so insupportable as to drive the
the laborers out of the hold. In some
cases extra rates have been charged fol
handling this kind of stuff, but this Is
not general. But whether heavy OF
light the labor involved, the 'longshore-
man must face it. One day he may b
handling bags of sugar, on another
butts of jute, on the next dyestuifs.
rosin, turpentine, shingles or tar. All
these and a thousand other article.
come here and all must be disposed Of.
Nor car he expect, however diligent he
may be, to become very fluent or ris'
very high. While he remains a long
shoreman the most he can hope for j,
to become the boss of q gang, with an
addition Of 10 cents IN hour to his pay