The record-union., 1896-09-20

ham "hewers of wood and drawers of
water have had places in the history of
industry and now that the world has
grown older and wiser CD they are re-
cognized as essential factors In the pro-
motion of every business interest under
the sun.
While much of the work done in the
Southern Pacific shops in this city
properly belongs to the mechanical arts.
there are in each department a number
of men whose business it is to make
smooth the paths of those same arti-
Sans-tO make possible the vast amount
OF labor they perform by placing every
thing necessary at their elbows, that the
work of each day may progress without
friction
They are laborers, these men, and yet
they are to the railroad shops what
coal is to the locomotive. They are the
cornerstone upon which the entire
fabric is founded, and are deserving of
being placed among the most worthy
and necessary individuals IN the city.
mo man can make bricks without
straw" has been handed down through
the centuries until it has taken on
the venerable appearance of the pro-
verb, and no building was ever yet
erected from those same bricks unless
the services of the man who carries the
hod were brought into requisition.
The yard or plot of land upon which
the railroad shops were erected Is quite
extensive. and in it everything is kept
shipshape. No confusion must exist
there. Confusion means chaos, and
chaos is an unknown quantity at the
shops. Everything has its proper place
Each piece of timber, each bit Of scrap
iron has place Of its own and must be
deposited there.
Laborers are the men required to do
the work Of the yard, and the work they
have to perform takes in the widest
range. It is for them to handle all of
the scrap iron, both wrought and cast;
all of the coal for the foundry, rolling
mills and locomotives; all of the pig
iron and coke for use In the foundry; all
the wood for locomotives, the coal used
by stationaries along the line, and hun
dreds of other miscellaneous articles
which even the foreman of the yard cam
not recall without referring to his
books.
It is no child's play either, this work
done by the laborers in the yard, and
without a few figures compiled from
the books of the company any state
nent concerning its volume would be
incomprehensive, to say the least.
To begin with 1t will be interesting to
know that the weight of scrap rails de-
nvered at the rolling mill during the
past year was 1862 tons, which re-
duced to pounds amounts to 1924, 900
not bad showing for one single item
and 1t is the yard workmen who do
the heavy work.
For the same period Of time the
wrought scrap iron-also delivered at
the rolling mill-amounted to 7,075
tons, or 14,150,000 pounds.
The next item to be mentioned is that
of cast iron scrap delivered at the
foundry, which during the year amount
ed to 3, ,230 tons, or $3.50, 900 pounds.
Coal, however, is the article which
makes more labor for the workman than
any other article, and during the past
twelve months there was delivered, Of
furnace coal, at the rolling mill il, 1877
tons, or &c, 1894 600 pounds, while there
have been consumed in the blacksmith
shop for like period 1,640 tons, or
!, 3,2S0,000 pounds Of Cumberland coal,
mined in the Allegheny Mountains and
hauled acrosss the continent for the use
of our home smiths.
By far the largest item in COAL how
ever, is that for use Of the locomotives
which ply the lines Of the company and
Of this variety there has been handled
twice over-once in unloading from the
cars and once in loading into the ten
ders-within the time specified, 59, ,2SS
tons, or 11S,576,0 900 pounds.
The pig iron for the foundry, which
is also handled by the workmen in the
yards, cuts quite a figure, and the
books show that within the year 4, 1877
tons, or S,374,000 pounds, have been
taken care of.
Coke also is used at the foundry, and
the amount of this material delivered
for use in the furnaces by the yard
men amounts to 2095 tons, or AGO.
900 pounds.
In kindling and firing locomotives a
vast amount of wood is consumed each
year, and it falls to the lot of the la
borer in the yard TO 90 all the work
connected in moving it from the cars
TO the woodward and from the wood
yard to the locomotive tenders, and
during the past year 5.042 cords have
been so handled by them.
The coal needed for stationares or
stationary engines situated at different
places along the company's lines also
passes through the hands Of the men
employed at the yard, and of this, 5,193
tons, or 11,5S6,O00 pounds, have been
housed and delivered.
Beside the handling of materials per-
formed by the laborers in the yard, an
other important feature is the team
ing. Each and every team and dump
cart. and the shop boasts of a number
of them. are under the supervision of
the Yard Foreman, n. Becker. There
are five men, thirteen horses, two drays
and five carts employed at this branch
of work alone, and 1t tells the story to
say that they have 10 time In which
10 idle.
The life of the locomotive varies with
the kind of work it is called upon to
,,e,.form. and when its halcyon days
have nassed and silver threads are
.aen among the gold-when age has
rya,,+ on unawares and rheumatic joints
.nd beart failure are of common oc
,,.,.ra,ca the old servant is sat upon"
~ n hoard who know all about loco
motives. and by that BOARD reiegated
TO the boneyard, after wnich Iorce
Of ward men are called out and the
exacution takes place hat dozen
.tIcks Of giant powder are stuck into
salient angles and laid upon nat sur
faces and when the fuse has been ig-
,,,tad and the powder has done its
,york oven the bereaved engineer
syould not recognize his old friend.
The condemned locomotive is only MT
sor sor,, 1,as the fat of the board OF