Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1899-10-31
salpoINo THE ArsAaA.
RETURN or THE PHILADELPHIA BUILD
EMS PROM rHE soUDAN.

The men xho built the famous AtbAra
bridge In the Soudsu arrived In Phllsdel-
phia Thursdsy. There are eight OF
them.
The Epglish government wanted .
steel bridge built for their military road
In Egypt. and they wanted IL built In .
hurry. No Eugllsh or European con-
structors could be found with capacity
end quickness enough To put this bridge
up In time. American manufacturers OF
bridges, the Pencoyd Iron Company,
contracted February g to make this
bridge In the time required. 10 month
and day the bridge was completed In
all OF its detxils st Pencoyd, In Mont
gcmery County. II was shipped to the
Soudsn March n.
The eight men who arrived home
rhursdsy are G. j. wennss, superin-
tendent; Daniel NeQusrrie, Thomas Mel
ton, Y. Shsiiner, James Murray, John
Olsen, A. Aspenliter and 4. II. Seig fried.
They sailed from New York April 20,
and arrived at the point Of construction
the last OF May. Two months after the
time Of arrival they turned the complet-
ed structure over 10 the English govern.
meut, an almost unprecedented piece OF
engineering enterprise.
These eight men arrived Ia New York
Thursday on the Servis from Liverpool.
The first thing they did yesterday morn
Ing was to visit the National Export
Exposition, under the guidance Of .
special committee appointed by the PEN
coyd Iron Company 10 look after their
entertainment and comfort. This COM
mittee, l.. c. Dllks, Marshal Shoemaker,
A. l.. Funk and Raymond March, will
take care OF the heroes who were behind
the hammers and under the derricks IN
Ill they have become acquainted with
their native surroundings. Last evening
they were entertained at the home OF
Superintendent wennas, l3s Pomona
Terrace, Germantown. Ia the afternoon
they were taken to the Pencoyd works,
where the whole force turned out to
greet them. Whistles were blown and
great demonstration Was made.
Mr.. Wennas, who supervised the build
ing of the Atbsra bridge, tells most In
teresting story Of the experiences Of the
party In their work In the Soudsn. Fol.
lowing the bridge structure two weeks
after It's shipment from the United States
he arrived with his men st the place
where the work began. He found there
all the parts OF the bridge rs exported
from Pencoyd, consisting of the struct-
ural parts Of the seven spans, each $50
feet, weighing $50 tons. The cylinder
caps were furnished by the Pencoyd
also. There were ca tons In the caps.
Mr.. Wennss said to Times reporter !:
1.-The reasons why the English manu.
fscturer could not undertake the con-
tract was because OF their lack OF csps-
city 10 furnish the structural Iron At
such short notice. This IL an illustra-
ton Of the Immensely superior capacity
for manufactures In the United States.
When We arrived we found there was
absolutely no skilled labor TO assist US,
but an unlimited supply OF convicts and
some English soldiers whom we might
utilize. The nearest approach to skilled
assistance which was offered to rs WAS q
few gangs OF river drivers from Alexsn-
dris, Who had been employed by the
British government In this work, but
who were slow and far from well 10
structed. An idea OF the work which
they were capable Of doing may be OBJ
tanned from the statement OF the fact
that six gangs Of these people, each
gang consisting OF six men, were able TO
drive 100 rivets In day. In our usual
construction Of work OF this sort 10
America we expect one gang Of four
men to drive $50 rivets day.
1--WE were confronted with a choice
hxatx In k.x,v
Of convicts at the government barracks,
who worked nc the muzzle Of the
soldiers rifles and who had only one
virtue, that Of absolute subservience 10
orders. These convicts were In nearly
every instance men who had committed
either one or more murders. IL Was
from Q mass OF such material that we
we're able 10 obtain an average Of two
hundred working men per day, and these
men, with the addition Of q few English
soldiers, who were almost worthless to
US, and the few riveters from Alexandra,
with our eight men built the bridge.
"The English engineers and the
colonel In charge OF the construction Of
the railroad TO khartoum were skeptlcal
As to our ability to put up the structure
in the time specified. They looked at
our eight men quizxically, but we lost
no time and went right ahead, using the
best material at our disposal. | was
given the assistance Of = sergeant In the
British army who could speak English,
and who understood the Arabian Ian
gusge, which was the tongue known 10
the men whom we employed. Except
this man, and another interpreter, sent
from Alexandria, aud who vas with Us
only occasionally, We had no means Of
communication with the labor we had 10
employ.
.srhe convicts were the most sbject
and cowed specimens OF humanity to be
imagined. Physically, they were almost
perfect, some Of them giants 10 pro-
portion and Of immense strength. But
they were lacking absolutely 10 intelli-
geDce. Each could do but one particular
thing. IL one Of them was put TO lifting
the bar Of iron or piece OF structural
steel on TO crane he could not be de-
pended upon to do anything more than
that one act. IL therefore often required
from three TO twelve men 10 do the work
which one Intelligent American would
do In half the time. Our only advsn-
tsge was 10 that the supply of mere
numbers was inexhaustible and that, al
though fearful as a child OF physical
punishment, they were absolutely fear
less In the management Of the great
machinery which they assisted In utiliz-
Ing.
"The heat was intense, being 100 de-
grees In the shade very often. We did
not work from ii O'Clock to 3, starting
at md stopping at 8. The sand storms
we're curious experiences, often envelop-
Ing US and all the work at the bridge In
u cloud Of dust which filled our eyes and
ears and intsrfered In very serious way
with everything for hours. "-Philadel-
phis Times.