St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-08-13
LIFE OF A LINEMAN.

gay and sad, as borne by the telegraph.
Some we use in our mad attempts to get
some sense out of the fellow at the other
end of telephone line, while the hello
girl sits placidly in the exchange room
and smiles while we swear our most
emphatic swears. Other wires there
are which bring the doleful intelligence
that the dread fire fend is playing havoc
with property or endangerlng the lives
of our neIghbors.
And amid these hundreds Of wires
and upon the frail support afforded by
the cross-arms which are reaching into
space from these tall poles. the pedes-
TRAN, If he chooses to look up to these
dizzy heights, will often see human
being busiIy engaged in working. That
is the lineman. a much-needed and i'm
pOrtant parsonage in this age of rapid
communication
The ilneman has no easy time of it,
nor is his life without its dangers. For
some of these wires carry death-dealing
matter, and many time will find their
victim, when he least expects il. A
careless movement; an accidental con-
tact with some live wire, and the terrible
fluid Of electricity will SEND its fatal
dart through the body of the lineman.
But withal he is an individual who
possesses vast amount Of good humoT,
and who knows how to use it. He I'M
derStandS his WORK, and often knows
how to make good use OF the powers
which he controls for the purpose Of
perpetratlng little practical joke.
Peter is lineman in st. Paul who
can have more fun oat of his work than
any other man in his line. He is first
class man, and has been IN the service
of the city for long time. On one oc-
casion he was furnished with helper.
That helper was Il colored "gemman"
of pronounced opinions about electricity
and the dangers arising theretrom. He
was possessed of the historic name of
Jackson, and. while industrious in
his own way, and proud to
wear blue uniform and brass
shield on his cap, was a little
shy of electrical wires. jackson kept
carefully out of harms way whenever
bad break occurred. No amount of
coaXing could get jackson to pick up
the end of wire. He was willing
enough to carry needed materials and
| tools and even climb up pole, but pick
| up wire, dangling from a crosS-arm,
| never. His chief had made up his mind
| to cure jackson, even if necessary to
| give him bad scare, and he bided his
! time for doing so. The opportunity
came one day while the twain were
working on the fire alarm wires on Uni
verslty avenue. On the same line of poles
the Western Union Telegraph company
carries its wires towards Minneapolis,
| which, as rule, are pretty hot. Peter
| was w on the pole and Jackson was
q nf y1rTr %
| slung around his shoulder. They were
stringing new line, and Jackson APP
| pretended 10 danger. He walked along
proudly in his checkered suit, paying
out wire as 1t was needed, while his
chief, high above hin, was placing it
in position. Then thought occurred to
Peter. He gently laid the new wire
across the heavily charged lines of the
telegraph company's wires. This sent
fairly good current down towards
Jackson, then the circus commenced.
Jackson, with the wire strung around
him. tried III vain to ge. rid of it. He
hoWled aud screamed and danced few
steps which would have made the most
WarlIhe Sioux turn green with envy. To
cap it all the sidewalk was a tritie
| wet from a good shower, and Jack
| son had the full benefit of the cleo
tricity. 1t was not heavy enough TO
| do him any harm, but 1t was warm
enough to give him a scare that lasted
him all his life. After rolling around
the walk for short time his chief shut
of the current by taking away the
wire. No sooner was this done than
| jackson made mad rush to town and
| forthwith gave up his job. To this day
he sWearS that Peter tried to kill him,
| and will not speak to him. No amount
| OF cOaXlDg can get him back into the
service.
1t is well-knowE fact tina. horses are
the most sensitive animals about cleo
tricity under the sun. and no one knows
1t better than the lineman. Occasionally
he takes advantage of this knowledge
to have his fun out of it. Peter has a
horse which is very fond of nibbling at
everything that is dangling loose. Some
times when he is up pole ana leaves a
guy line hanging loosely down, Billy,
hlshorse, would take fiendiSh delight
to chew up the end and make trouble
for the man above. Peter de-
cided to break the animal from
this habit. While working one
day he drove the horse directly up
to the pole and gave it an opportunity
| to enjoy itself. Pretty soon Billy was
chewing away on the rope. and pretty
soon mild current of the fluid found its
| way down fine wire and touched
! Bllly's head. No sooner had the wire
| touched the horse than down it went
| sprawling on all tours. Billy got up
| after awhile and seemed to wonder
what struck. But, unmindful of the
! first experience, the horse again got
hold OF the rope. And again the same
experiment took place. Since then
| Billy won't stop under pole, no matter
now mnph M in
| dulge in.
This peculiar Sensitiveness of horses
| furnished lot Of sport not long ago out
| on Rice street. Peter was working up
| on pole when German farmer drove
| up to grocery store 10 do some bust
ness. The stout frau was sitting con-
tentedly in the wagon Peter called
down to the pair to drive from under
the pole, as there was danger of
something dropping down. But the
stole German paid no heed to the
warning. He entered the corner gro
| Gerry and perhaps enjoyed glass or two
of schnaps. Peter wanted the team out
of the way, but the woman would not
move. Then he let down a fine wire
and brought it in contact with a live
one. The woman was lost in her own
reflections. Suddenly the near horse
went SPRAYING IN the mud. The woman
gave yell and jumped from the wagon
to the sidewalk. Everybody came rush
Ing out of the grocery. and soon the
animal was put back on its feet Then
began a critical examination, mixed
with a liberal flow of German talk
| and swearing. Gradually the crowd
thinned out and the frau entered the
vehicle, while her liege lord re-entered
the store. But there was no attempt to
get the wagon out of the way of the
lineman. few minutes had passed
when second time the wire came down.
This time both horses got the bene-
| fit of the fluid, and both fell trembling
into the street. The former scenes were
repeated. No one could discover any-
thing wrong with the animals. They
did not apnear to be sick mud nnrn Snnn