The Irish standard., 1886-09-25
IRIsH'sTANDARI sATURI &,
II THE CAIss ssoN g RE s.
a Ksmarksble Story Told to verssioas
si Quaker City Reporter.
[Philadelpfha Timea.1

[Philadelpfha Times1
Were you ever troubled with asthma r.
( gasped benevolent-looking old gentle
man, as he took seat beside reporter
and mopped the perspiration from his
brow in Fairmount Park yesterday. "No2
/ Well, = ou're fortunate. n15ght have cured
myself several years ago, but / had not
| the grit to take the caisson cusre." sWhat
! is that?" was asked ssWelL It'll relate q
little incident which came under my per-
sonal observation" said he, (Which will
explain what mean- When the big rail
road bridge of the Hannibal & st. Joe rail-
road was constructed over the Missouri
river, owing to the muddy bottom, the
cuissons used in the construction OF the
piers had to be sunk from seventy to one
hundred and twenty-five feet belowthe bed
of the river to reach rock bottom The gas:
which accumulated in the caissons was
of the foulest character and it was almost
impossible to get men to go down in them.
''FoUr dollars an hour was ofered'for the
work., with few takers. 1t was almost i'm.
possible to live in one of them longer than
am hour; and dead man was brought up
nearly every day. Well one day, as the
chief engineer was sadly contemplating
the slowness of the work and wondering if
it would ever be completed, miserable,
haggard being, more dead than alive ap-.
preached him and asked fora job. See
here, my man. said the engineer, this
isn't a nprgue. You've struck the wrong.
funeral.' Amt you offering four dollars,
an hour here for caisson men?' said the
shadow. Yes, rm Offering four dollars,
an hour for men, but not forr walking
stiffs,' said the engineer well, I'm 'starv-~
ing anu Pnn booked for the other world.
anyhow; and I might just as well die try
ing to live as to starve to death. Give mo
a job and. Pn take my chances OMIT
''Well, the engineer gave hin1 a. job,
bade him goodbye and expected to see
him brought up corpse. The skeleton
stayed down that caisson three straight
hours, and when he came UP he walked up
to the engineer asked for some money to
buy something 10 drink and said he hadn's
felt so good for three months The next
day he worked six hours andsaid: he felt
bully; thenext day eight hours, and kicked
like a, steer because the boss wan ted to,
chase HIM up q quarter of an ho1r before
his time ywes up.
WE'LL. he worked in the cAissous eight
hours aday until tho bridge was finished.
When he went down in the caissons the
first day he weighed eighty pounds and
hadn!t.a cent. When he got through with.
the job IKE weighed one hundred and sew.
enty five pounds, had full beard was the
strongest man in the gang and had saved
up. over one thousand dollars: You see,
he had the asthma. The bracing at,nos-
phere.of Missouri was too much for him.
The contfning atmosphere of the caissons;
was just what he needed, andreally saved
his;life. He invested his savings in a farm:
near Kansas City, speculated successfully
and is Row the owner of one OF the largest;
cattle ranches in Texas.
@Tt was certainly a remarkable cure, but
have always regretted that did not pos
sess sufficient courage to take it myself, as
In my capacity of lecturer and local
preacher l an. often seriously inconveni~
enced by my lack OF breath"
Then the old gentleman slowly gathered
himself together, borrowed u chew Of to-
hacco and nlournfully made Decline for
the pump.