San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-05-18
A MAN IN THE MANHoLE.

his roe the cases, and the ran that BLOWS
Them Away
"Hay, Cooney, look dare! De sewers
airel Dey's pumpin water into it to put
der fire outl Hip
"Ah, you blokes from Brooklyn don't know
nothin' OATS only de lectric wire hole"
A citizen who heard this conversation be-
tween two newsboys looked in the direction
Of their glance, and saw vapor coming in
thick white volumes from a subway manhole
in Broadway, opposite Wall street. Elbow
ing his way through the small crowd of
curious people around it, he noticed a man
standing in the street in the midst of the
vapor turning the handle of pump like ma
chine pipe from which led into the hole
what are you doingF' he asked the man.
I'm toornin' the wheel" answered the
freshman
"What are you doing that for7"
ITO kape the mon alive"
What mani"
1.-THE mon in the hole. Don't bother me-"
The citizen doubted whcthlr any man was
in the hole, so dense was the white vapor that
rolled out. 1t didn't seem possible that any
man could live there. But there proved to be
one, for presently a head and shoulders, fol-
lowed by stalwart body, popped out of the
steaming hole like BLACK Crook" devil
from the stage floor. 1t was rather a ghost
like figure, for the hairs of its mustache and
eyebrows were of waxy whiteness. The APP
partitions hands, too, were covered with white
waxy scales. 1t emitted very human sigh
Of relief and began to pick the scales from
hands of flesh and rub the waxy hairs into
natural vivid red
"Paraffine," said he to question. II was
pouring melted paraffine over the cable con-
nection That was paraiflne vapor you saw
coming out of the hole, and this is paraffine
Oh my hair and hands Rather greasy bust
ness this"
How do you make the connecticut" asked
the citizen
We'll, the ends of two pieces Of cable came
together in that manholc. Each cable con-
tanned thirty or forty wires, which had to be
joined with corresponding wires in the other
cable and carefully insulated each from every
other wire in the joint Then the mass is
wrapped tightly together with lampwick and
melted paraiiine poured over it. That's what
| was doing just now After the coating
hardens I'll go down again, bind it again
with lampwick, and put a second coat of par
aftine over it. Then an overcoat of lead pip
ing goes over the whole affair, it is sealed
down, and the connection is complete"
But what's that machine that the Irish
man keeps turning thereF
That's an air fan. 1t gathers the cir
from the street and sends it down the pipe
into the manhole. The pipe ends just where
| sit"
That's to drive the paraffine vapor out,
suppose"
Mot at ALL That fan is worked all the
time any one is in the manhole, whether he
is using the paraftine or not In some OF
these manholes, not six feet below the surface,
one could not live five minutes without this
supply of fresh air. This is due to the col
lection there of the poisonous gases which
literally fill the ground for many feet under
the city. You always notice a strong smell
of Illuminating gas in a manhole, or even
when pavement is taken up. 1t is stronger
at some times than at others, due probably
to different pressures which the gas compa-
MES use. This Illuminating gas is bad enough,
but it is chiefly the other kinds of gases that
makes the fans or air pumps necessary.
Death lies in the gas without smell You
don't know it's there till your head gets dizzy
and you fall senseless. So it is always
necessary to fan out every manhole be-
fore you venture into it, whether or
not you detect any odor, and keep the
fan moving all the while you're in
side These fans have been in use a year
or more. \ man named Jones was
killed in manhole year ago, and SO many
tumbled over and had to be carried to the
hospital in ambulances that it got to be a
serious matter. Even now that the fans are
used, somebody keelS over while working on
the cables every once in a while, and has to
be fixed up by the doctors. 1t was only a
few days ago that got case myself, only
did not become unconscious"
How does it feel?"
"Oh, it's impossible to describe it, You get
drowsy. Your fingers seem to drag as you
move them. You feel rather pleasant Ian
guor. You know you're going to drop off in
a minute, but you have to exert yourself
enough to stand up and climb out. When
got to that point did get out, though The
fresh air revived me, but had humping
old headache for the rest of the day."-New
York Sun.