Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1903-01-28
THE PERILS OF PEACE
Brave Men March Daily to Work In
the Shadow Of Death.
Occupatious OF Hundrsds q Thou-
sands Of Artisans In which .
MiaHtep or a Careless Move
Means Destruction.

More than q dozen different forms
Of employment are followed in the
city Of New York more perilous than
the work Of the soldier in the field.
That hairs breadth that lies between
Joyous life and instant and horrible
death Is not incidental TO the battle
neld 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 callingE in New
York win show q proportionately
greater loss to life, taking into con-
liberation the number employed, than
the army in time Of war. Even the
peaceful citizen whose work Is con-
Ansd to a great Office building runs
more risk Of life and limb every day
than the man in the United States
navy.
The men who 20 TO their work on
the great steel structures, in the tun-
nels, on the piers, as chauheurs OF
automobiles, as motor drivers on the
surface cars, artisans on the big
bridges, on the paint scaifoldings, ETC.,
lake their lives In their hands a cons
plStsly and trustingT ~ those who
cork 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 for hosting, when
the floating derrick and pile driver
picks them up and pegs them down.
But the bringing into position re-
Vuires the strength and skill and daring
of half a dozen men. They work on
the rolling, tumbling logs, themselveA
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 a 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, ak 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,
be must work a hole into the wall or
Ak the head of the swsying timber
and drive the wedges that are to hold
Il secure. To look down would be
enough to unnerve the strongest man.
He gives orders to raise or lower HIM
self by 9 wave Of the hand. He has
not even the security Of the so-called
rSteeple Jack" for the latter is re-
SpOnsible for his own hosting appa-
ratus. This man must trust wholly
60 his fellow workmen below.
Thousands of men are working
calmly and steadily every day among
the big steel frames of slyscrapers
within q step Of death. Thousands
more toll beneath the treacherous
IAdgss Of rock and earth in the dark
Gubwaya doubly threatened by their
w c~arelesgness and by their sur
r~oundings. The shocks Of dynamite and
the conCussion 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-
Pectedly every day. 1t is a daily life
Of mere chance.
Those who go wildly about every day
IN automobiles take big risks. So do
those who have to dodge them. If any
man were fool enough to drive a spir-
tied horse through the crowded streets
1T the top Of the animals speed he
would be arrested on the first block,
yet the chauffeur runs at such a speed.
Indeed, few horses can trot at the
Ordins ~ speed used by the average
chauffeur. There is a species Of in-
toxication in mere speed and some m
Pteur chaufeurs are drunk all the
time.
The hundreds Of thousands Of brave
men who march forth daily to face
and work in the shadow of death are
not preceded by trumpets or bands Of
music, or waving flags, or glittering
swords. They fall like flies. ~obscurely
and uncounted. Their widows and or
phans receive no pensions, their graves
are never decorated on national holi-
days. No sssernment monument tells
Of their courage and heroiSmt to future
ages. Yet IN g single year more men
ball In the business Of the railroads
LIone than fen IN one Of the greatest
battles Of the rebellion. And every
rear more msn die with their boots on
IN the city, of New York than have per-
lshed in the same time either in the
war with Spain or in the Philippines.
LOng Way from the Finish.
Thu Cape-to4Cairo railway would be