The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-23
DUTIES OF THE LlNEMAN.
Hrs EXISTENCE IS HOBBLED AND
MS UORk rs HARD.
Must Always De Ready for n job Mt Re-
pairing Broken Lines-wintcr HRrdships |
Methods of Locating Breaks-Pole |
Climbing Not So EnsY ms IL Looks.

They have more year in and yearout stand
ing by to do than sailors. for sailors get into
port once in while. and anchor watches are
not drawn IRON all hands The lineman cant
make social dates ahead. He is n shuttlecock
OF the weather, and he watches the skies with
the sweeping eye OF a skipper whose ship is
making port under jury rig. The average
od-tme ineman is so skilled in forccasting at
all seasons that he can frequently call tho
turn twenty-tour hours ahead on
pole leveng and wire-deranging storm.
Some of the old linemen Just feel
the approach OF storm that il going to force
them to strap on their pole clutches. Linemen
can and do indulge in a plenty Of loanng and
sitting around. but they are always subject to
hurry calls. They are liable to be dug out OF
bed at any hour OF the night. and when they
take a day of they must always leave precise
details as TO where "A call will find them. II
lineman meditatcs putting in a day amid tho
delights Of Coney Island the chief lineman
has got to know it. IL he contemplates pro-
longed call upon his girl the chief lineman has
got to know where the girl lives. So that the
lineman leads sort OF hobbled existence.
Winter wire repairing is what puts the
pouches under tho linemens eyes. Their work
during the warm months. when they stand by
to repair injuries wrought to wiro systems by
summer squalls aud electrical storms. is easy
junketlng compared with the hardship and
exposure Of their labors during the cold
months. Wires laden with sleet and snow go
down in the winter like leaves before the blasts
ofau;un!n. When they give way, they almost
fall upon the heads of the linemen, so quickly
do these electrical ferrets appear upon the
scenes of damage with their repairing kits.
Lnemen hate the winter. They do not
particularly mind local work on trunk
or city lines when the cold snaps
arc on. but they abominate winter field
work when. after billiards. the wires become
tangled and twisted in the wilderness along
the lines OF railroad. Then they have to rough
1t after the fashion OF railroad construction
gangs. They have to work with extreme
swiftness il they wish to hang on to their Jobs
There is no Sunday or holiday for II lineman II
his company's wires are in bad shape Neither
is there any night He has got to keep at work
until his task is performed. In an emergency
he is not supposed to know the meaning Of the
word sleep. He must be impervious to heat
and cold.
He is expected to get the wire he is engaged
upon in operating shape quicker than the line
man who Is tinkering with the parallel line Of
the other company. II he succeeds in doing
this he gets credit II he doesn't succeed he
Is scowled upon by the chief lineman upon his
return to headquarters from the field and
stands a good chance Of being laid off.
There are local linemen and field linemen.
The work of telegraph and telephone llnemen
IL practically the same. Nowadays, q line
man. to be considered first ratio In his bust
ness. must be as competent in underground
work as in pole wiring. Underground wiring,
comparatively new branch OF the lineman 5
trade. Is pursued by wholly different methods
from pole wiring but as soon as 1t became an
established institution the best OF tho lnemen
tackled 1t and mastered it. so as to 1T them
| selves for ll-around work. The lineman who
does not understand underground work does
not command as much money BY, more than a
ground r-pairer. Field linemen generally
work by the day. and get from S. to $3.50 for
linomcn who understand underground wiring
usually get salaries ranging from $50 to 500
month. IOrcmcn get considerably more.
Tho layman is apt to wonder how. after n
wre-deranglng storm. when the wires decline
fs eTopek the 9qt %nrf
they don't have to set out on a handcar and
follow the line until they come to tho spot
men don't do any such thing. A iineman who
is sent out alone on 4 regular train 10 repair a
break at certain point will sit in the smoking
ear reading a newspaper unit he ira reaches
just the point he Is bound Tor, aud he never
point oRs is ST. reached lie knows where he wants
tog o. ,oo, ,o Lrow ." y srx man ,sted
chief nemAn tho other day.
TT is simple enough" was the reply. When
wire KNOCKS off work and we feel reasonably
test it by the use Of the galvan3meter. For in
stance. surprising one OF our Baltimore, wires
as far rs Trenton. then Philadelphia. II it is
al right as far as PhiIadolphla: then ihiIRdfI-
nha ndS III tn Sc % Gives ye
try lit declines to work between Whining
ton and Baltimore. why Of course We know
that the break is between those two points. We
don't know exactly where, though and it it were
not for the galvanomrterit would be necessary
from Wilmington to Baltimore, But the gal
vanometer measures with arithmettcnl pre-
portion 1' to the mile Of wire and by means Of
| It's registering figures it is perfectly easy to
ascertain within iurlopg the exact distance
| made. Thus the work Of the ineman is. in the
case Of a single break; MAPPED out for him be-
| fore he sets out with his kit"
This is we enough when only one wire has
| suspended business, owing 70 the falling Of
| reason of tho expansion and contraction OF
| heat and cold. 1t is when heavy storm has
battered un comnany,s whole sysirm within M
| for d central office to call up anybody any:
where, owing to TIE tHnrinG OF poles ard I'd
such TINES they out in gangs irGm the
| pairing ms made up OF three or four cars
according to the number OF men in the gang
two Tor the mems seeping brrths and mess
ear, special engine is attached to tn" train
| A chief lineman is foreman Of such gang
| which is composed OF llnemen, ground hands
and pole raisers.
The ground hands, are the heavy laborers OF
| the gang. digging holes forthe poles, and drag
| ginR the poles. which are strcwp under sheds
| all along the line. Mt regular intervals.
| to the proper places, To be elevated by
| the pole raisers, who are experts in this
| work, although they may know nothing Of
| the duties OF the linemen. The men who place
| the poles in position must he climbers, for it is
| part OF their business To- nail the crossarms to
| tho poles after the poles have been set. These
extra workmen are, only take4, along on re-
| pairing expedition, however. when It is known
| that there are poles down. Otherwise the
| gang is made m entirely Of linemeu.
| When the storms injury TO the system has
been so general thnt most of a ,company's
wires are down, the chief lincman does not at
| tempt to get all Of the wires running over the
| same poles in working order as he goes along,
! II the poles carrying five wires from New York
to Philadelphia are down at intervals, he, of
| course. has to raise or renew them. This
| done. he directs all Of his own energies and
| those Of his gang to getting one OF the wires in
| working shape, permitting the other four
wires to remain in their useless condition until
| this task is accomplished In order to get one
| wire in operating condition between two i'm