The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1885-12-12
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An Interesting Variety of Laborers The
Cotton Hook and Badge Hard Work
[Brookivr Efoie

Cotton Hook and Badge Hard Work.
EBrooklyn Eagle
The vast shipping business of New
York and Brooklyn makes these cities
the dwelling places of many thousands
Of slongshOremen. All along the water
front of Brooklyn, from Newborn creek
to Gowanns bay. the 'longshoreman is tn
be found either at work on vessels, or
waiting his turn for a JOB. The tene-
ment house in which he lives is not far
away, for it is a necessity of his condi-
tion that he should live near the harbor
where his work is and where he has to
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 lie dis
! tinguiShed from all other laborsrs 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 member of the
'Longshoreman union. This badge,
which is of metal, is about the ST Of q
| quarter, and is carried on the laborer's
QCL6OlA cbl w dJo ., Oh bkAAt l4O uldJ O6 Rf0-
pared to show it at any time when
called on, as a proof that he is mem-
Der of the union in good standing.
Without this he can not do longshore
work.
iLongshore work, as rule, is of q
very hard and laborious character In
some cases it involves much discomfort,
in others considerable danger. To han.
die heavy casks of sugar, or bales oi
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 q
high physical condition, for he is under
| a constant strain. But this, as every
| physician knows, is very unfavorable to
| long life and health A ship laborei
ages fast, faster than man in almost
any other employment. At 40, when
q farmer would be in his prime, long
shoreman is old and stiff; at SO, when
men in easier occupations hardly feel
the advance of age, he is 'sall broke up,
as his companions express it, and gener-
ally unfit for hard work Indeed few
longshoremen of SO are to be found
Before they reach that age they either
become wholly inoapaoitated for their
employment or drift away into other
pursuits. Exposure, hard work anG
sometimes irregularity of life com
bine to retire them at an early age.
Breaking down and coaling up" az
it is termed, is counted among the hard
est of longshore work. 1t means the
removal of coal from laden canalboai
to the bunkers of steamship. This
work requires skill as well as strons
muscles. All is done on systems
many men in the front shoveIing, Sc
many at the guy and so many at the
| WheelbarroWs. An inexperienced gang
who undertake to unload a canalboat
laden with coal would probably sink hel
one third completed. The 'longshoremaI
begins by taking perhaps fifteen tons
| out of the forward hatch: the gang ther
/ goes to the second and takSs out about
ten tons and then to the after hatch,
when the coal is removed right down tt
the bottom or ''skin,'' as the laborerI
call it. This is what is termed break
ing down." and arduous labor it is,
| especially in warm weather. Any one
who spends 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 OF
| '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 bt
handling bags Of sugar, on another
butts of jute, on the next dyestuffs,
rosin, turpentine, shingles or tar All
these and a thousand other articles
come here and all must be disposed Of.
Nor can he expect, however diligent hi
may be, to become very fluent or rist
very high. While he remains long
shoreman the most he can hope for j.
to become the boss of a gang, with ar
addition of 10 cents an hour to his pay