Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1903-03-24
TRIALS or THE ASPHALT GANG.
The Foreman Has Hard Work to Keep
Public Off the Soft Pavement.

The Foreman Has Hard Work to Keep
Public OFF the Soft Pavement.
Said the foreman of a repair gang
working on Eighth avenue: People
have an idea that a foreman has an
easy time; that all he has to do is to
stand around with his hands in his
pocket and swear at the men at regular
intervals Aside from the fact that a
foreman superintends the job and is
therefore responsible for any mistake,
he has the duty of policing the strip of
asphalt being laid down-that Is, Of
keeping pedestrians and vehicles from
running over it before it's hard The
gang knows how to do its work without
being eternally cussed at. l could go
to sleep, and while they might loaf a
little the work would be just as we'll
done. But if should go away for half
an hour I'd find when I came back that
half the population had either walked
or driven over the new patch.
you'd suppose that citizens who are
forever complaining about the condi-
ton of the streets would at least not
delay the work; yet they're like chill
dren who want to poke their fingers or
their feet into everything that looks
soft Once in a while a man will come
up to the edge of a fresh strip and dig
his toe into it to see how soft it is, sup
pose Then he'll try to smooth the i'm
preston away, but you can't do that
with asphalt-make hole in it and
you've got to pour in more stuff to level
it off.
"The inquisitive man isn't the only
troublesome one. Probably the man
who's in hurry and doesn't like to go
out of his way Is the worst. When we
are working at crossings where thou
sands of people pass every hour it
would take fire line to keep them off.
They cut right through the middle with
the air of small boy with chip on
his shoulder. Women are the hardest
creatures to manage. Only day or two
ago l caught a shopper attempting to
break past me. l spoke to her, as
thought, very quietly and respectfully.
She jumped as If horse had suddenly
stuck his nose in her face. The tongue
lashing she gave me before an amused
crowd would have made a grease spot
Of any man less hardened than am.
"sDon't you speak to NEEDN'T you
dare speak to me- she cried. You have
no right to frighten people out Of their
senses. You wouldn't dare to talk to
my husband like that
''It doesn't do much good to put up
barriers of barrels and planks. I've
seen few lunatics crawl right under.
them or vault over them in order to KEEP
in the straight line in which they were
going OF course after we have laid a
stretch, we always put fence up, and
take it away later when the asphalt
has thoroughly hardened. Then's the
time when he merry truck driver gets
in his fine work; he whips his horses up
and catches one Of the barrels or boxes
with the hub Of his wheel, and down
tumbles the whole business. This Is his
joy and especial care, for, If his truck
be big enough and heavy enough, he
owns the streets.
"Our troubles are not always with
laying asphalt. Sometimes when we're
chopping out old asphalt we clash with
the man in the street. Then little
chips bmristling all over with sharp
points fly in every direction, and the
citizen who feels the sharp sting of an
asphalt crystal seems to lose all control
of his temper. His line of reasoning, If
he reasons at all, is that we are inten-
tionally throwing things at him. But
he takes 1t all out in talk and fist shak-
ings, and goes off vowing to report the
matter.
"As a sort of dumping ground for the
bad tempers of people," concluded the
foreman, according to the New York
Times, "we certainly deserve to be
given place with the motorman and
the conductor