The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-01-29
THE TROLLEY AND
THE POWER HOUSE

II is at In the morning. In the midst
of the first big rush OF each twenty-four
hours. that the day begins at the power
houses where they produce the current for
hauling trolley cars In and about the bust
ling congeries of villages that surround this
city.
You would not need to look at the clock
to recognize the hour were you lettering
about one of these great electricity shops
in the early morning. The approach Of
o'clock is preceded by the dribbling arrival
of lot of stalwart fellows, mostly young,
many of whom on entering the place are
carefully clad in the tweeds or diagonals
of the ordinary business man or clerk.
Four of every five of those who come
earliest pass through the vast apartment
where the great engines labor and the big
generators whine that you and I may ride
miles for nickel, to a narrow stairway
leading to a loft where lockers and bath
tubs and roller towels are much In evil
dence.
There the early arrivals transform them
solves from men of affairs to workingmen
by stripping off their creased trousers, their
up-to-date coats and waistcoats and their
high collars and substituting therefor wool
en- shirts and oyeralls, In which the freest
movement is comfortable and which cannot
be damaged by the oil and dirt with which
power house men must come in contact
from time to time through the day
When he energies from the loft the tall,
slender chap. whose blue eyes and waxed
moustache struck your fancy as he came
in, may turn out to be the oiler of an en-
gine-a ponderous 1000 horsepower machine
with a ninety-ton f1y-wheel that stands
over In the corner and does as much work
as any other two engines in the house. The
rather stout young chap, whose extremely
rudy, rounded face, clear gray eye and
rather supercilious manner suggest a GER
tain fiction writer much admired by the
matinee girls of our times is belize the
tinker of the establishment
The smiling exquisite whose tan gloves
and faultlessy fitting cutaway coat attract
ed your attention as he entered Is the
switchboard man. The broad-shouldered,
slightly one-sided man with beard, whose
face looks like a preachers, whose body
suggests Sharkey's and who wore a frock
coat and tall silk hat when he climbed
the narrow stairs, is the blacksmith.
By the time they are half through their
elaborate changes of dress the later ar
rivals are stringing In. They are not dress
ed so carefully, and do not have to make
so many preparations before setting to
work. They may or may not be higher
priced men, but they are greater philoso-
piers, and they value the extra half-hour
of sleep that is theirs, because they come
to the power house ready for work, above
rubies or fine raiment.
The two men to come last are hailed with
raillery by all the gang. They Mike
and Tim.
Mike is the general utility man. He has
as many bosses as there are men In the
power house, and he must do whatever he
is bid, from skinning out to the restaurant
a block and a half away for a sandwich
craved by hungry workman, to holding a
chiSPl while a skilled artisan strikes un6Gr
the direction of the machinist, who wants
a metal part cut off cold, where 1t is, in
the course of repairing an engine or a gen.
orator. Every man of the whole force has
regular duties to fill every minute of the
day save Mike, for the power house staff
Is made up of specialists; but he is at the
beck and call of everyone, and naturally
the butt of a thousand jokes and with
cisms.
Mike wouldn't admit 1t to the others for
the price of a generator, but he feels his
lack of general standing keenly, and he is
prouder than king of the fact that he Is
personally held responsible for one thing
about the place-the black oil that lubri-
Gates the machinery. Mike would almost
risk his life to keep 1t from overlooking the
tank in the loft or getting low in the one
down cellar and his heart would break If
the oil pump should clog through any fault
of his.
Tim has well-defined duties, like most of
his fellow workers. He haus in the coal for
the big boilers and he understands the diff
ference between his level and Mikes right
WELL though he tries hard not to show his
feeling of superiority away from the power
house. Neither is young, both come dressed
in overalls all prepared for their days
work, and both begin without ceremony
often without waiting for the steam whis-
ties to pipe the hoarse announcement that
another workday has begun.
In all the day gang at the average power
house will number from twenty-five to for
ty-five. Those who do not cross the big
floor and climb the narrow stairs to the loft
before going to work are heads and chiefs.
There are five six of these among them
being the chief engineer, who probably d.
vides his time between the several power
houses of the company; the head engineer,
to whom every one connected with the
steam department of this house is respon-
sible, and the floor engineer, who goes
about from engine to engine, feeling of
bearing here and inspecting an oil cup there
from morning till night. Besides, there Is
the chief electrician and his staff. These
men have their own private lockers con-
nected with the power house office, and
their duties include the making of careful
memoranda on states of every conceivable
thing that goes on the whole day long.
These are the men to whom we entrust
our lives daily; and the fact that we are
alive and safe today speaks volumes for
their faithfulness.