The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-01-06
A WORK THAT KILLS.
HOW LIVES ARE SOUANDERED IN
THE LAKE TRAFFIC.

How strong Men Work Hard, Drink
Heavily and Die Long Before They
should-Longshoremcn Loading . Yes.
I'm Fearful Physical Results
Men are the cheapest animals on earth, anu
their lives are squandered in conducting the
lake as In battle; indeed, competi-
ton is warfare, and men die in labor's ranks
as they do on battlefields where bullets
thicsly swarm. The longshoremen who toll
in the lake traffic work hard and drink heav-
ily. saw the men who work on the coal
aud iron docks at Buffalo and on the coal
docks at Toledo. Almost without exception
they were broad shouldered, thick necked
Irishmen. At Buffalo my steamer drew up
TO the iron dock just a. another steamer
moved away.
How many tons Of rails do you want.
captain the foreman OF tho iongsnoreInen
asked. -.
Five hundred, and a hundred tons Of
| spikes and fishplates," the captain replied.
"We have just finished loading 2,0oo tons
In that steamer" nodding his head to indi-
cate the departing vessel, land the men are
| tired. It is supper time, captain" he added,
land YOU will have to wait until the men
eat and rest a little while; then We will load
you"
The sturdy Irishmen had been working
| continuously for twenty hours. Their flannel
! shirts were wringing wet with the sweat OF
toll. They were almost exhausted. They
walked slowly toward their boarding house,
| stopping on the way at a saloon to get a
drink OF whisky. At s o'clock they returned
and began to run steel rails that weighed 5p
| pounds each into the hold OF the snip. There
| were thousands of tons Of rails piled on the
docks. Two men laid q rail on a heavy a
truck. and one man wheeled 1t up an incline
into the ship Al the men were bareheaded-
All were clad in flannel. The work was ex-
ceedinrly heavy. and the truckmen strained
painfully every time they wheeled their
heavily laden trucks up the incline. sat on
the rail Of the ship watching the work and
admiring the muscular development OF the
men who labored below Inc. Take them all
in all, they were the most powerful men l
have ever seen. Presently 1t became dark.
4 colo wave blew off the lake and over the
wharf Fires to give light ~ Work 10y were
built ON the dock.
AllcI W VI PtSoea
hard work. | saw the oyerStrained muscles Oh
the Irish trucklDen twitch aud jerk under
their white skins ~ though turbulent creeks
flowed there. They were almost exhausted
But not a man llinched from his work. The
foreman seut fOr d bucket Of beer. When II
WIS brought the tired men drank deeply.
Sweat, laden with iron dust, rolled down
their hodies IA tiny iills. The beer AID not
seem 10 meet the hyperion. demands their
systems made Tor stilnulants. Presently u
broad shouldered, bullet headed, black eyed
trucknan slammed his truck down on the
dock and said, loudly: Curse the beer. There
Is no strength IN II al all Then, turning 10
the foreman, he said. Get u palltul VI
whisky, or We will never get this iron
loaded \ pailful Of raw whisky was
brought onto the dock. Man after man
raised the bucket to his lips, and drank freely
of the fiery spirits. Then they worked with
renewed energy. | noticed that their muscles
ceased to twitch. They worked rapidly, and
though they drank high proof spirits at short
intervals, the only apparent effect it had on
them was to cause their naturally nery TEN
pers to blaze a little higher. Occasionally
men dropped the handle, Of their trucks pre-
paratory to lighting, but their foreman had
them well in hand and controlled them with
a few sharp spoken words OF command, on
hearing which they grasped the handles OF
their trucks and resumed work, with many
surly shakes Of their head.
The mate OF the vessel saw that | was III
terested in the work, and that ] admired the
physical perfection Of the 'longshoremen.
He sat silently by my side for u short time
looking at the busy scene. Finally he said:
III have seen hundreds, yes thousands Of these
men buried. That gang" pointing 10 the
busy workers over whom pickering bars Of
light played, SIS a prime gang. They are
powerful Young men. Not one of them will
be on this dock in five years from tonight
The work is too hard for men 10 DO aud live.
These men work by the ton. They earn from
"a to s. per day. Night work is double pay
usually. Instead Of quitting work when they
are tired, they stimulate with whisky. have
known them TO work for thirty six hours con
tinuously, and eight hours Of that heavy labor
Is sufficient to kill the devil. These men,"
he continued, 'wiu finish loading the steel at
about / o'clock to night. After they quit
work every one Of them VIII drink half u
pint OF raw whisky before going to his board
ing house. They will fling themselves on
their beds, clad in their wet clothing, and let
the heat Of their bodies dry them while they
lie in drunken slumber. At 81 years, ii ono
by chance lives to be so old, the 'longshoreman
is a broken down old man. They consume
Themselves with hard work and hard liquor.
Americans never do this work, and it Is not
a job that beer and cabbage stuffed Dutch
men banker after. Yes" he said carelesAy
as he looked the gang over again, ''they are
powerful men, but they will all be dead In
five years" He clambered down from the
rail and walked to his quarters whistling
gayly.
At Toledo, Ohio, where We stopped to take
on 2,G09 tons Of coal, there was another gang
of sturdy Irishmen who shoveled coal from
railroad cars into large iron buckets which
held a ton each. A wire rope which termi-
mated In a strong hook passed through a pull
ley suspended from the arm OF a derrick, and
the lower end passed around the drum Of a
| steam winch. When the buckets were filed
they were attached 10 the hook and elevated