Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-04-28
SODA WATER "HANDS."
MEN WHOSE WORKING MONTHS ARE
FEW BUT EXCEEDINGLY BUSY.

MEN WHOSE WORKING MONTHS ARE
FEW BUT EXCEEDINGLY BUSY.
Some Facts About the BottIing of Soda
and the Requirement. Of Those En-
Ployed In the Labor-Danger, OF the
Business on Bottles.
he soda water sea on only lasts about
siN months \ warm uay III April Is likely
to precIpltate il suddenly II does the
few flowers remaining the fields In the
warm and busy season several thousand men
hnu employ neut this city maAIng and
bOtUIlng soda water and other throat washes
with which the multitude assidu ously slarks
it, thirst on a hot day. While they work
they earn fair wages, anywhere from Sl@ to
50 week. The season over, their serN ices
are no l,nEer required and they are dis
charged Like bri kmaGers in the towns
along the hudson river, many Of them con
unue Ia spend an idle winter the saE-
lngs Of a busy summer ami whatever trust
they can get aC the corner store but the
majority a men who, in the plcntitude Of
I today, never give thought to the neeis Of
the morruw, and cold weather brings them
a hard lot This is the time of the year
when they have little di nculty in finding
employment which II they aie tclera ly
steady, will last through the hot season
Sofa water manufacturers begin prepara-
tionS early enough to meet the rush which
warm April day precipitateS
DANGER IN THE EMPLOYMENT.
! While certain proportion OF skilled la
! Dor Is required the ma GRITTY OF the hands
myloyed in soda water establishments
come, rule, from the bottom strata OF
/ the labOr.ng classes or late years machin-
cry and the general Use of siphons, so lar a.
ciIy trade Is concerned, has SO smpllfied
the work Of MANI, acture that very little eX
perlence at the work will make IA person tol-
erabIy proficient Nevertheless there is a
large element Of danger in the empio ment,
and 10 a green hand not little bodily pain.
Despite the multiplicity of fountains i'll
drug stores, retreshment shops and on the
street corners, a vast amount of the soda
water consumed every day is sent from the
factories in bottles, and it is surprising TO
learn through how many different hands a
bottle OF soda water has to pass before it
Is ready for the consumer. Whether an
empty bottle is returned or COMES out o.
the pGckng straw new from the manufac-
toy II Is carefully We she'd rlnsed, and
dried in the 50 la water eS abllshment by
men employer to do this work and nothing
el>e IL requires more practice than
novice would imagine 10 do it rapidly AM
thoroughly. The washers don't know what
IT Is to nave on dry cOthes while at work.
They rig themselves O 1t i'll ,ast OF garments
AMI splash around all day until they are as
wet many whar rats
After they are dried the bottles are
stacked in rates ami carried OFF TO the fill |
er,." If intended for lemonade or lemon
e
" no dip i'll the required amount of syrup |
with IL ladle In bottIing the aeratei water
is pumped into the Lottles Just as it conee !
from the generators with a pressure of fifty !
Ounds ami over to the square inch II a |
Iutte has flaw IN it or the man handling
it is careless the ass will burst into frag-
IL enrS and after all ov,r the room An !
ac,l ldent of this kind usually means trouule, /
sOInetiIncs quite serious, Tor others than the /
man who happens to ie handling the bottle
IN most factDrle, tn, men protect them.
selves with devices for guarding the head
and arms, but every season adds TO the list |
men dIsti cured for life through their own
or some 'ody else care essness--an eve gone
a IInger or two missing, or Scared face.
The young surgeons IN the city hospitals
are frequently CalleI upon TO attend such |
cases.
FILLING, CORKING AND WIRING"
The man who fills bottle corks il and
passes it along TO tn. "wirer, who sits close
beside him Ii is the wirer's duty to
draw a wire over the cork and fasten it S.
curely around the neck OF the bottle with
pair Of pinchers. This, also is a work re
qu ring nimble fingers and some skill 1t is
a painful process for a new hand TO learn to
wire The thin wire hcerates the flesh
badly. and it is a common thing TO see a
ads hand running with blood a. ter a brisk
day work After few weeks at the bust
ness, however, the fingers get a callous, Just
oakum-pick"rs fingers do, and the wirers
get along very comfortably. When the
wirers are through with the bottles they ar
stacked in crates again and carried away
for another washing. \ few pals of water
are thrown over them a.d they are left to
dry Lefore gOing to the labelerS After la
bcling and polishing they are put away i'll
cases ready to lie sent / in deli ery wagons
fast ordered The process of filling
siphons and patent bottles Of numel Gus
make is mu h simpler, more rapidly done,
and with less risk But they are not suited
10 all branches of the trade
A soda water manufacturer said that il
was uuquestionably true that the ma ority
of hands taken on for tn. summer trade
were men in habit of getting drunk
But it was in a degree excuSable he said
by th. extremely hard labor re iuired of
them during the busy season. In rush such
as frequ ntly Occu in the extremely hot
weather i'll July and August the men wer,.
compelled to work overtime willy nilly
often tlte and eighteen hours each day
Sometimes a manufacturer tinis himself
in core straits during rush by a whole
Of nH on ir,,t,ly for !
a day or two without giving wo OF
wa ming. They have 10 fear of not being
taken on again when thsy report for duty.
part arly If expert workmen- Quick !
men are scarce a, out that time. and the |
chanCeS are III Il another set of hands would /
do precisely the same thing sooner or later.
But the soler and steady men are marked
and they get what work there is going dur
in the winter months, though usually al
reduced wages
manutactu er said that despite the I
great competition III the business profits
" ou.d e very fair" il it were not for the
loss of Sottlrs That is tie great draw
back o. the hott!ing trade A man might
as well go out of the usineSs a. to attempt |
10 charge for his lottle> In many cases
arrang ments are made with the dealers to
get them back The average loss on bot
ties is estimated at % per cent This is in .
measure eIuulized by soda water sold in
bu X for the lou Itain trade New York
Times
Woman Who Kept ColI.
Crossing the Atlantic on e, and talking
with the surg on of my ocean steamer was ,
told by him that III lnS wide experience he
had found women, on the mhO,e, cooler than
men in case of disaster at sea He told me o