The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-08-02
THEY LOAD COTTON
The Work Of Negroes on the
Steamships Down South.
Great Sfin Required IN the Handling q
tho Heavy Bales-The Men Always
Cheerful And Singing While
ut Labor.

Z
cotton ship-to fill every cubic foot o.
freight room with the awkward roc
tangular bales-and some men are *
much more skilled than others in thi.
science that 1t often makes difference
of 400 or 500 bales in a 2.0oO-ton shir
and that amou,,t of loss in tie profit Of
the voyage. Therefore, the stevedores
and screwmen receive big wages, per
haps the largest that are paid tc
negroes anywhere in the world, TO,
most Of the longshoremen in the South
Atlantic are of that race, says the Chi
cago Record.
Ia New Orleans they are nearly all
white men-1talians, Swedes and Irish.
men-and the riots that we read abou,
| in the papers were due to the introduc.
ton of negro packers and screwmen
from Galveston to take the place of the
whites.
| The screwmen are divided into gangs
of five, with foreman, and the whole
are under the direction Of chief
stevedore, who is usually white man,
and acts as superintendent of the dock.
/ Each gang occupies hatchway of the
| steamer, and five men are all that can
conveniently work in such a narrow
space.
The cotton comes from the planta-
| ton on the cars or upon fatboats. The
bales as they leave the plantation are
! loosely packed generally four feet
highland the first thing when they
reach the dock is to tumble them into
a hydraulic press, which reduces their
bulk by one-half and makes 1t possible
to pack twice as many in the hold of =
steamer.
The truckmen pass back and forth
between the pile of bales and the ship
in procession, rapidly and in perfect
time, and it is an awkward and 'wuth.
less niger" as the foreman said, who
ever touches bale with his hands.
Some Of them put on jaunty airs,
strike attitudes, and introduce fancy
steps as if they were at a cake walk.
particularly when spectators are watch
ing. but that is unprOfessional, and the
serious and self-respecting truckman
''totes his bales" without trying to at
tract attention. They sing as they go,
but for the life Of me / could not catch
the words, and when in an interval I
asked one to repeat the verses he re.
piled:
"Dey amt none. Dat wua jes' de
truckers song"
The refrain sounded like "Oh rio rily
oh. oh rio rily OH" and it was evidently
nothing but gibberish. 1t appears that
the several gangs have their own par
ticular songs. and judged from what
the foreman told mo that the words
were usually without meaning, or SIM
ply a series Of rhythmical sounds with
examinations that rhy1ned, invented by
some one of their number and sung tn
familiar airs.
The truckman drops the bale at the
edge of the dock, or losses 1t by jerk
of the handles of his truck over the
gupwales of the vessel: then a man adj
jus.s the grapplingiron and shouts sig.
nal to the engineer at the windlass,
who turns his lever, and, hosting the
bale into the air, lets it swiftly down
into the hold, where the five artists are
waiting to pack it away.
1t is hot work below, and the packers
and screwmcn are usually barefooted
and naked above the waists, while per-
spiration rolls down their massive
muscles. Each has hook in his hand,
and they seize and toss the 0O-pound
bales as Japanese juggler plays with
plates.
Five hooks are in the cotton the in
slant it touches bottom, and they seem
to work like slot machine, for one
does not pull one way and another an
other, but by united, simultaneous eff
fort the great package is lifted, and
drops into the very place where the
boss wants it to 60.
Then at intervals they get out big
jackscrew that must weigh 500 pounds
and crowd the bales together until the
hold of the ship is one solid mass. One
end of the jackscrew is placed against |
a bale and the other end against
piece of heavy oak timber four or five |.
inches square. which is notched to keep |
the screw from slipping, and can be in |
clined against the side Of the ship or |
one of its stanchions, SO that good |
purchase may be obtained The screw |
Is worked by double crank, and one |
man holds it in position while the other |
four turn. That operation is called |
''nosing up"
All this is done TO musical accom- |
paniment-I suppose a negro always |
sings when he works-but the songs of |
the screwmen are different from those |
of the truckmen, and the air that goes
with the jacl1screw is not the same that |
is sung when the screwnen are placing |
the bale in position.
These stevedores have work only |
about six months in the year, but while |
they are at il they receive good pay. |
They work by the piece-that is, so |
much money for storing away so many |
bales, and the foreman. who gets the |
Job and selects his own associates, gets |
one-haf more than they.
During the cotton season. for IL or Is |
hours work. he will average $50 a dav
and they s.. if they are skillful and en-
srCetic. The truckers are paid bv the |
hour. and make from 1925 To $3.50.
Between seasons the screw1non en-
gage in other occupations. cuitivatinc |!
gardens, doing plantation work. or fol-
lowing any trade that they nav have
learned; but they are universally re- |
garjed as superior beings, like bull
fighters in Spain and baseball Players
IN the United States
4 bale of cotton weighs from $50 10
500 pounds, and silillful packer. can
get from 1000 70 10. OG0 bales in LOO.
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