Omaha daily bee., 1889-02-24
MEN OF BRAIN AND MUSCLE
How They Leave Work Bench and
Office at Evening.
VETERANS SEEKING THEIR REST.
Sportive Youths Who GamboI Like
Lambkina anu the Domestic
Laborcr by His Fire
side.


the volumes of smoke from the great Chin
neys of the Union Pacific shops and the
smelling works, swirltng through the bot.
toms, besmuttiug the lines Of freight cars,
begrimming the squatty dwellings and filling
with SCOT the eyes and nostrils of a reporter,
as he ploddcd down the railroad tracks in the
direction Of the Cass street entrance to the
Union Pacific shops.
1t was nearly . o'clock and the sun slowly
declining towards the horizon shed an UNI
canny light over the landscape and had long
ceased by its warming rays to lessen the
cold.
The wind whistled through the open doors
of the freight cars and played about the long
rambling buildings. The yards were de-
serted save for an occasional attache OF the
works, the nature of whose employment per-
mittcd his leaving the place in advance of
his less fortunate co-laborcrs.
AS the sedate and steady going timcpiece
in the tower of the high school building
began to chime . o'clock, the ~deep-toncd
whistles were opened, their discordant
shrieks sending a release from the labors of
one more day TO the hundreds of tired arti-
sans whose brawny arms enable a great rail
way system TO pursue its business, and send
long trains daily far away to the shores of
the Pacific.
II aus NNClc lllolhllNlN lluuSlbIllltu lllO
a scene of busting activity. The coal heav-
ers, who had been unloading cars along the
tracks, shouldere ed their shovels and started
for home; doors were thrown open and a
throng of dust. begrimmed humanity poured
forth forth from the numerous workshops.
Stained and soiled from the days labor
amidst smoke and CRIME, the mechanics en-
ployed in the Union Pacific shops trudgcd
wcarlcdly homeward.
They came from every nook and corner of
the wards, but nearly all wended their way
TO the Cass street gate, where they make
their exit.
AS they passed the reporter could not but
note the varying expressions of countenance.
The maiOrity-the men of middle age and
be~yond-seemed stolidly Indifferent. They
had the expression about them of men
whose highest ambition was to reach home.
They seemed to have continually with them
the feeling that all that is left is to labor
that it may be repaid by food and slumbcr.
In direct contrast to these were the happy,
though sadly dirty, faces of the younger
tollers. Conscious of a days work behind
them. these youngsters were as merry AS
crickets, and as they skipped along found
amusemcnts in playing pranks upon each
other. No thought had they of the morrow's
toll; no cloud of family cares, debt, pow
erty and despair hanging over them; they
were happy in the possession of their youth
and health and had few thoughts of the
future. r..
And still there was another class distlnc-
tive from the others that passed through the
narrow red gate. These were the dapper
clerks, hurrylng to their comfortable homes
and lodgings and the dainty lady c~opyists,
carefully picking their way amongst the
cinders and dirt.
They all passed through the gate in an
Heterogeneous throng and hurried on into
the city.
A few went up Cass street, but the ma
jority passed along up Eleventh towards
Farnam. AS they hurried along more than
fnlIT bpn1raI Grrpnn thnir hrinht linn,
pals glistened in the fading sunlight. Along
past the dilapitated rows of wooden shocks
that line the thoroughfere, they went singly or
in parties of twos or threes, until they
merged into the crowd on tarnam street.
The youngsters tiirted with the pretty
girls, while the older ones forged ahead
silently.
At the same hour the crowds of clerks
from the Union Pacific and b. 81 NJ. head
quarters passed forth from the buildings in
which they are employed. There are fully
500 Of these. Well dressed young men and
women they are for the most part, as neat
and fresh as when they left home in the
morning. No dust begrimes their ~spotless
| linen or dainty complexion. In place of the
homely tin pail of their brethren of the
shops they carry neatly painted lunch boxes.
| They do not hurry but walk slowly along,
chatting merrily as they goa careless,
| happy crowd.
An hour later, when the sun has set and
the air scenes colder and everything more
desolate, from the big smelling works
a crew greatly similar to the one
that emerged an hour previously
from the shops, leave the blazing
furnaces for their homes. AS they como up
through the bottoms they pass the night men
hurrying on towards the works there to labor
until morning. These men from the smelt-
ing works seem more tired perhaps
han their neigbors of the railroad shops.
No boyish sport e~nlivens their way and they
talk with each other only in monosyllables.
Coming into Ninth street from under the
wagon bridge the majority go to the south
west while others turn towards the north,
from the main entrance.
AS all these pass by, one cannot but Won
der to what manner of home they go to. If
you should follow the majority you would
see them hasten along Farnain to Thirteenth
and down that thoroughfare to the railroad
tracks. This point reached there is a gen
eral scatter, some of the men going west
along the tracks, dropping off one by one,
and disappearing into the many little dwell
ings that snugglc under the high embank-
ments.
These habitations are in nowise typical of
luxury, but for the most part they are cosy
and tidy looking, and constitute a most ac-
ccptable haven of rest to the tired men be-
hind whom the hospitable doors have Just
closed.
Inside Of an hour, from the blowing of the
whistle, this vast army of laborers, clerks,
mechanics, weary after the days work, is at
the frugal or luxurious board for its even
ing'S meal. In many cases, the tolls of the
days are forgotten in the pleasures of family
life. beside grateful tiresides and in that
realm where love is king. Evening gradually
deepens into night and with the change
comes luxurious rest, but only to prepare the
weary head or arm for the daily grind which