Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-08-15
A LlNEMAN'S LIFE.
ALWAYS AT WORK AND ALWAYS
READY TO GO.

Mcnding Wires In Thunderstorm-A
Man Killed by Lightning Twenty Miles
Iineman's Control.
"Wcli, that's about the worst trip ever
Ind. Mr Stephens" said Smith Bryce, the
Western Union lincman, Us he threw his Kit
Of tools upon the floor.
"How's that, SMITH asked Mr.. Stephens,
the Western Union manager.
"Oh, the lightning was bad. 1t was ter
rible 1t beat anything | ever saw 1t
knocked my plyers out of my hands, and one
time threw them fifty feet. 1t knocked me
down twice, and made me dance three
minute jig. Ii took my tools away from me
and laughed at me when made the second
attempt to Join the ends Of the wire. tell
you | hnve been i'll many storms. l have
spliced wirrs in the dark, with lightning run
ming by 90 rapidly that could not have seen
the wires but for the bright current on them.
have been thrown from the top Of high
pole and | have been made bold my hands
wide open 10y the current ON tim wire, despite
nv effort to shut Them but never had such
an experience as had this MOI ming just he
fore day, four miles this side of Macon. Ihe
lightning played along the wir.>s III streams
and flashes: it rolled in balls. it jumped III
Jumps. it cut all kinds Of funny tricks, and 1t
resisted nearly every attempt made to splice
the broken place."
"You see," said Mr.. stephens, interrupting
the lincman, that the Macon wire was
broken yesterday, and Smith went down the
road to fix il, and when ne reached the
broken wire he was in a thunder storm ard
had some trouble fixing it.
SHe didn't fix it while it was hghtningT
"Oh, yes: they don't mind little hight
ming. 1t knocks them silly sometimes, ana
once in a while kills n man. But line
man gets used TO that sort o thing, and finally
plays with lightning as the bird with snake
that is charming it.
Then linemans life is interesting"
1T Is Now there's Smith. He has been
here during twenty years, and during that
time has had more electricity pass through
him than would be necessary to tear Atlanta
I into splinters Since he has been here two
| linemen have been seriously hurt and two
! have been killed About four years ago we
| had one killed up the Air Line road a out
| twenty miles. You see, the wire was IN two,
and after we had located the trouble the line
| man took Il helper and went up. They found
the broken wire and began splicing it, but
| while they were at work lightning struck the
wire and killed the lineman and knocked his
| helper ss.nseless. Why, the poor fellow was
! as black as could be Then, since then, Smith
4 went out ON the State road with another line
man. and while they were at work lightning
! hit the wire and killed the lineman, and Smith
came home badly used up. Why, just wheit
the men were working that time 1t was u:
clear as crystal There was not cloud to bt
seen, and the lightning which killed the mar
was twenty miles away"
TWENTY MILES AWAY"
Yes twenty miles away. The men wert
working near Big Shanty, and way up abov,
CarterSville big storm was raging. Th'
| lightning struck the line and followed it fol
twenty miles. when it came to the end of th'
wire, which the lineman was holding in hi
hand and killed him.
YES said Smith. Il had hold of the wire
too He had it at the end, and the shocl
passed over the wire through my hands be
fore it reached him. Why, the instant fel
it my hands sprung wide open, and before
could look around the poor fellow was on tn
ground dead, and was whirling like whirl
wind"
Then a lineman's life is in danger!n
Constantly. He is always at work and al
ways ready to go. You see, we measure tn
telegraph wires by ohms-not inches, feet o
miles. For instance, the wire from here Z
any point is so many ohms- Now, If we hav
any trouble in securing connection, say wit
Chattanooga or Macon, an operator goes Z
the instrument and tries the pressure
it shows half the number OF ohms tn
wire is entitled to We know the wir
Is down. broken, OF out of order hal
way to Chattanooga. The linenIan is calle
up and told where the trouble is. II
takes a dozen glass irsulators, a coil of 10
feet of wire, a saw, hatchet, and other tool
and board the first train Maybe he was jus
returned from three or four days trip, an
is tired and hungry. This makes no differ
ence The wire must be fixed, and, withou
seeing his family, he jumps on the first trai
and goes As he nears the place where th
trouble is located, he pulls the bell cord, th
train stops and he jumps off. 1t may be a
the dead hour of night, or it may be at nooI
II may be clear or il hay be raining hard.
NAV be warm or it NAV be cold 1t may 3
in an open field or 1t may be in the wood!
These things the linemen can't control, an
after he hits the ground he hunts the broke
place mends the wire and sits down on tn
cross tie until a train comes along. He don
care which way that train is going. He want
to get out Of the woods, and, without Ger,
mony, flags the train down and gets on
But don't the railroad company objectT
@Oh, no. You see we have a contract wit
all the railroads which allows US this righ
and it is the secret of the Western Union
SUCCESS"
sDo the linamen nav their farer
"No, they have ANNALS. Now, there
Smith-the only colored man in the south wh
has ANIMALS over all the roads in Georgia
with pocketful of ANIMALS Coz
stitution.