Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1903-02-25
THE PERKS OF PEACE
Brave Men March Daily to Work n
the Shadow Of Death.
OeeuDaEiOnu 81 Hundreds a. Thoa-
sands o. Artisans IN which q
MiaatsB or a Careless Move
Means Deatruotson.

More than q dozen different forms
Of employment are followed IN the
city Of New York more perilous than
the work Of the colder in the field.
That hairs breadth that lies between
joyous life and instant and horrible
death Is not incidental to the battle
field alone, nor Is personal courage
In the face Of imminent danger the
exclusive Characteristic of the man
behind the gun, says the Herald, Of
that city.
A dozen different callingS in New
York win show q proportionately
greater loss to life, taking into con-
~sideration the number employed, than
the army in time Of war. Even the
peaceful citizen whose work is con-
hned to a great ONCE building runs
more risk Of life and limb every day
than the man in the United States
navy.
The men who go to their work on
the great steel structures, in the tun-
nels, on the piers, as chauffeurs Of
automobiles, a. motor drivers on the
surface cars, artisans on the big
bridges, on the paint scaftoldings, etc,
take their lives in their hands as COM
Plstsly and trustingly as those who
work in powder mills.
Go and see those employed in the
labor Of constructing piers along the
rivers. The great sticks of timber
that are driven into the river bot
tom must be hoated and roped and
poled into position Tor hosting, when
the floating derrick and pile driver
picks them up and pegs them down.
But the bringing into position re-
quires the strength and skill and daring
Of half a dozen men. They work on
the rolling, tumbling logs, themselveS
sometimes knee deep in the water,
and when the tide sets in strongly and
the waters become a perfect whirlpool
Of conflicting currents that defy the
skill of the oldest pilots 1t is q thrill
ing battle with death. For a single
misstep-a single slip on the treach-
erous timbers-and no human aid
would be able to rescue the ~unfortun-
ate.
Or stop and watch the workman far
up in the swinging seats, az in hand,
placing snoring timbers against some
high blank wall. Hundreds Of feet be-
low him is the solid rock. Two or
three men manipulate the slender rope
that swings between him and destruc-
ton. With nothing to brace himself,
he must work a hole into the wall or
fix the head Of the swaying timber
and drive the wedges that are to hold
1t ecure To look down would be
enough to nnerV the strongest man.
he gives orders to raise or lower him
self by a wave Of the hand. He has
not even the security Of the so-called
''Steeple Jack" for the latter is re-
sponsible for his own hoisting appa-
ratus. This man must trust wholly
TO his fellow workmen below.
Thousands Of men are working
calmly and steadily every day among
the big steel frames Of skyscrapers
q step Of death. Thousands
more toll beneath The t~reacherous
Of rock and earth in the dark
subways, doubly threatened by their
own carelessness and by their sur
roundings. The shocks Of dynamite and
ths conclusion Of passing cars FREE
quently loosen great masses Of stone
and earth, while the swinging cranes
spill rocks upon the men below occa-
Sionally, and blocks and huge sticks Of
timber used as snoring give way unex-
oectedly every day. It Is q daily life
0f mere chance.
Those who go wildly about every day
n automobiles take big risks. So do
hose who have to dodge them. If any
nan were fool enough to drive a spir-
ted horse through the crowded streets
It the top Of the animals speed he
would be arrested on the first blocks
ret the chauffeur runs at such a speed.
indeed, few horses can trot at the
ordinary speed used by the average
chauffeur. There is a species of in
,oIcation in mere speed and some ann
chaufeurs are drunk all the
line.
The hundreds Of thousands Of brave
men who march forth daily to face
md work in the shadow Of death are
lot preceded by trumpetS OF bands Of
music, or waving flags, or glitterinR
words. They fall like flies. obscurely
nd uncounted. Their widows and or
hans receive no pensions, their graves
re decorated on national holi-
avs. No government monument tells
( their courage and, heroism to future
ges. Yet IN a single year more men
al in the business Of the railroads
lone than fell in one Of the greatest
attles Of the rebellion. And every
ear more men die with their boots on
a the city Of New York than have per
shed in the same time either in the
var with Spain or in the Philippines.
A LOng Way from the Finish.