Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-01-13

y
louder report was heard, but so taken up
with their work that they didn't notice
that they had become the center OF attrac-
ton, and were even joking over their work.
or course the linemen were safe, mas
much as should bolt of lightning strike
some distance away 1t lost its force by
switching OF at the different connections
and going into the ground. but should q
bolt strike the wire near the office the con-
nections would not prove frequent enough
to break its force. Therein lay the danger.
Although a kid then l knew enough OF
electricity to be aware of this fact and
quickly slid over the concrete floor and
joined the awed crowd at the further end
of the reception room. just as l Joined
the group l heard one of the railroad ofh-
Gals say to Gen. Sheridan:
Those men appear to have lots Of nerve;
/ know enough of electricity to appreciate
the risk they are running
i don't call ii nerve replied the gen.
eral with shrug of his massive shoulders.
it's a piece of d foolshness.' And the
opinion was heartily Endorsed by the entire
crowd of onlookers. That incident hap
pened in 1915, but l recall 1t as clearly as
if 1t was yesterday.
Not u Happy Life.
when a storm has uprooted or snapped
the poles that line a railroad the section
hands are called to the assistance of the
linemen and a special train or work train
is sometimes called into use to convey
them to the scene of the damage. Stumps
of old poles have often to be removed and
raising new ones and stringing wires often
require a small army of men. During sleet
storms the lnemen are kept busy night
and day. The wires frequently cake with
ice an inch or two thick and snap like
reeds, often dragging the poles along with
them. The lineman's life is certainly not
happy one for the wilder the night the
more likely he is to be sent off 20 miles
to repair a break Often he Is sent out on
days when a livery man will not furnish
a horse, and the roughness OF his lie IN
a blizzard Is not equaled by any other call
ing except railroading. In other Vocations
a man naturally seeks shelter In severe
weather. but a lineman then has TO 90 the
most trying work with the vino oiOwin ~
around him he is found madly hghting MS
way up the pole and straining every nerve
to join the ruptured wires. Linemen are
frequently blown from the poles or shocKed
by wires overcharged with lightning.
II remember a case of this kind that &C.
Cured some years back when ! was man
aging a railroad office Just OUTSIDE OF NV Assn ism
and the lineman was sent out 10 nno IL.
He hailed from Baltimore. The break was
located In the vicinity OF my once. he
went over a section of the line north OF me
and then tackled the southern section.
Back and forward he went all day. the rain
coming down in, torrents. At about
O. clock in the afternoon a terrific thunder
storm broke forth and at about the same
time the poor lineman discovered the trou-
BILE to be in glass insulator at the top or
a thirty-foot pole: A train going north
ed TO catch it awfully bad. He looked
around at the clouds filled to overlooking
with zigzag lightning and then up at the
top Of the pole.
Did Not Make His Train.
"TIe was a nervy man and knew the risk
he would run IL he went up that pole, but
he was hungry and wet through and want
ed to get home on that 4:30 train. For
about two minutes 1 noticed him arguing
with himself and then start toward the
pole. Throwing down a couple of unneces-
sary traps he Rugged the pole and in q
twinkle was at the top and working away
with might and main. Every now and then
l noticed him pull back with a motion that
made the pole sway like the limb Of q
tree. The wires were evidently heavily
was about completing his work a bolt of
lightning descended with a crash and
struck pole not more than hundred
yards north of him. The shock in my office
was something terrifying and to the line
man meant almost life or death. He had
wrapped his legs around the cross arm and
with the fash threw up his arms. The
movement saved his life undoubtedly, as it
prevented connection being formed with
his body as ground. But the swaying
motion he gave his body by uplifting his
arms snapped the pole off close to the
ground. l have seen cowboys ride wild
bronchos and this is the nearest parallel
1 can draw to the mans actions for the
five minutes that followed. He Rugged the
swung hackw ard and forward as IL on
springs track walker and myself rushed
to the mans rescue and by anchoring the
broken off end OF the pole he finally crawled
down and fell limp into our arms His
hands were slightly singed and his clothes
burned in different places, but otherwise he
was unframed and soon came around all
right. But he missed his train, as he had
to work all next day putting in a new
pole.
A Cure for Rheumatism.
Il recall humorous incident that &C.
CURED In the latter part of last November
on the wires between this city and Rich
mond. Our operators were puzzled by the
action of the wires at about the same time
every day for a couple of weeks The trou-
BILE always occurred about IL o'clock In the
morning, when business is just beginning
to boom, and for about twenty-five min
utes each day the line refused to work The
linemen located the trouble near Quantico
and did everything in their science to To-
cate the exact spot After going over the
wire for several days. however and find
ing II perfect, they finally stationed SEN
tries along at intervals and then they found
the cause of the disturbance. One of the
sentries saw a farmer come out of his
house with forty feet of wire. He threw
one end of 1t over their line at a place
where 1t hung quite low. and then held
both ends of his wire for several minutes.
AS soon as they could get to him the line
men inquired the cause of this singular |
proceeding. The farmer very candidly told |
them that he was taking electricity for his |
rheumatism. He was quite profuse in his |
apologies when he was told that he had |
been delaying business while under treat
ment
Another common difficulty is from ball
ing wire, which the farmers throw up on |
the telegraph lines in order to keep it from
injuring their live stock. This makes a
cross which is very hard to locate One
of the hardest difficulties to find is what is
called a swinging pole. This is occasioned
by the breaking of tie wire at the glass
insulator allowing the line to come in con-
tact with the wire on the pole, which serves
as a lightning arrester. When the wind
blows it swings the line against the pole
with steady tick. tick, which democrat
ICES the operator and makes 1t impossible
for him to use the wire.
THE linemen frequently have some very
hard lines in construction work, and the
men hired to carry the reel, as a rule do |
not keep the job very long. The reel some
times holds between GOO and 700 pounds |
of wire Two men carry 1t between them
on little wagon, like hose cart. Under