The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-03-22

work. He must know no such word as fear
| or fatigue. and In his territory must keep
the lines In working order and open for
business. II tests show that line Is down,
/ he must traverse weary, painful miles on
his snowshoes and locate it, repair it. and
| continue on his inspection until relieved by
to telephone down to Sacramento for as
sistance. In that case he must await the
coming of the men sent out to aid him, and
keep in touch with them.
There are two linemen now in San Fran
cisco who have been through all of the
rigors Of the mountain work and who were
FORCED 10 leave II on account of the terrible
strain. although they were paid high wages
for the work they accomplished by the tele-
phone t company. One Of them. Foreman
company, constructed the seven-strand
aluminium cable line over the mountains
three three years ago and had a wealth of expert.
ences and adventures during his work at
that time. Another man. who has but re-
Gently returned from the district. and who
cio company i is James u GaEan Who Is now
assisting in the building of new telegraph
lines on the outskirts of the city. For two
years Gagan worked at Summit. up in the
mountains in the high attitudes and had
experiences that he will carry with him to
the grave; He endured every hardship that
lost his nerve or failed in an undertaking,
which,. under the circumstances, il re-
Variable record: He was also stationed at
Truckee and had fourteen miles OF the tee
phone cable under his supervision. This
was on the comparatively new line from
Reno to Sacramento
DANGER OF SNOW BLINDNESS.
Gagan was obliged to wear smoked
glasses almost continually. He never SUI
Tered from snow blindness however as did
some OF his companions. and seemed to be
to any risks and wholly Indifferent to IA
tigue. While some of the men who even
mad worn glasses were suffering forNweeks
at a time in dark rooms with the sharp ex-
cruclating pains which come from snow
olindness. Gagan was able to be at his work
ana apparently was not affected by the daz-
He wore the nine-foot American snow
shoes. which weight about a pound and q
naI apiece ard was sometimes obliged for
weeks at time to make the entire circuit
Of his fourteen miles 'of territory daily.
On May of last year there was a terrible
s.eet storm in the mountains which leveied
in the mountains for weeks Observation-Disclosures Hus
ana repairing Gagan said that for DAYS
tb then a sno to traverse , the damp snow
lmpeded by the heaviness and dampness Of
me eling1ng snow that after q few hours of
,t ,ps they would DO we'll nigh ex-
II snow was so damp as TO make nroo-
ress slew it was often necessary for the
n n,anaSi to camp out overnight with but the
rations pr Eoe at camp. and with short
tSSsiois. OF one whole month Gagan made
t tne enIre circuit Of his fourteen miles of
r rerriit9ry ON foot daily in the heavy SHOWS
1uSDecIlnR
The rocks and sides of the mountain.
were covered with snow, and every sten
m taa NJ mean fall of hundreds of feet to
death the Of srs s,s 6elow with sure
frequently dassn received se Ial; Not In
ana was knocked of from the tops of poles
covering of snow saving him from ,"e se ,h1Es
injury In one week he fell from the tons
OF OF po on,s, hhree times. and never thought It
company or say anything about II. " 'ii'
lie ne frequently received shocks from "hot"
Received sd0n sarIns ZOO volts but he never
markable case. for he seemed 70 ha, re-
charmed existence. At one time he ,os,
G i,sek,,a fell ss11 ny embankment. but
deep. and suffered nothing but an incone
Tenient lack of breath for a few nnoments
slides coming n he when f,smn he saw small snow
rocks and was saved from be,ng r apu'ttIns
the canyon below. "s swept into
knew hv Wsef and and, misehievous boys only
Wmen tney shot the glass insulators on teies
phone phone ana an telegraph wires they would never
iineman has zone OF to such Sia folly; Many
some thoughtless and ienor.n Decause OF
srm som an insulator of from pole cross
cipitate veritable maeistrom Sc W., VII pre-
er currents through a lineman's hddI. 5
mass mi w. or .a Win 70 fa the ground below feess
wires and burn until his body fs resc,a o.
his comrades. uS Is rescued by
:, rms Is one OF the greatest breads n, III.
hnt zen unIooked-for encounterinT of a
IN no' the eat s Wn1cn may snuff their lives cut
matter has this become in the E esioI issa
r aSe ns sesn bearing
Daily in Chicago and New Wo any manner.
eastern Eastern cities linemen are killed in This this
manner MAJ as the result Of some persons wi,bs
sulator Whether a mans iife On ~ s an m
sered or not It takes a great deal of
tbs er ana d considerable expense to repair
brakes an insulator. The pity of II IL that
IN m. most cases the damage IS done innocentiy
eonseuuen Msao hc wno does not know what