The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-07-20
GREAT RISKS, POOR PAY.
Positions Held in Which Error
Means Loss of Life.
RESULT OF ONE MISTAKE
If Man in Washington Failed to Press
Telegraph Key at a Certain Time
the Loss to Slipping Would be
Enormous. Other Places of Grave
importance.

in many OF the smaller ones are nun
dreds of men earning small salaries
and facing huge responsibilities. They
are the men who dare not make mis-
takes" A single blunder made 10y
them may result in great loss of life
and vast damage to properly.
In almost every ~reat business en-
terprise there is some one man who.
while not being considered among the
important men in the works would
disarrange the whole machinery OF the
establishment if he were to make even
the smallest mistake in the perform
ance of his duties.
Suppose, for instance, that one OF
the minor officials in the weather
bureau at Washington should fail to
press a telegraph key at certain stated
intervals each day.
This duty may seem unimportnnt,
yet were he to fail in it the entire
shipping business of the Atlantic
coast would be disarranged and vast
sums of money would be involved. This
official is the one who takes the tim"
observations for the bureau every day.
At a certain time he watches a little
star creeping slowly across the field
of an instrument called the transit,
and when it reaches thin line made
by cobweb stretched across the lens
he presses key.
Each time he touches the key he
regulates and adjusts the clocks by
which the time for the entire Atlantic
H..
coast is set Captains of the outgoing
steamers set their watches by this and
il they made mistake even of few
seconds their calculations would be
badly out of the way by the time they
reached the other side.
Some time ago, in England, a ter
rife explosion occurred at the powder
mills at Ross. The loss of life was
appalling and the loss of money great
Yet this accident would not have hap
pened but for the carclessness Of
man who received something like 81
or $S week. He was stationed at the
entrance of the mills. His work was 70
make a thorough search of every per
son who entered. and to prevent any
one carrying in matches or pieces Of
a-etal.
The workmen were provided with
iessing-rooms, where they were
obliged to change their clothing and
lut on soft felt shoes instead of the
mes they wore out Of doors
The watchman had been in the ser
vice of the company for long time,
and was reliable But one day he
failed to notice that new workman,
unused to the routine of the plant,
had failed to remove his shoes and put
on the felt slippers. spark from
the nail in the shoes of this man
caused the explosion.
The responsibility upon the shoul-
ders of railroad men is well known
and thoroughly appreciated The
switchman in the tower carries the
lives of hundreds in his hands. The
watchman at the otherwise unguarded
railroad crossing is security for the
lives of scores. Especially the latter
is not a well-paid workman. Usually
he Is veteran in the service, man
who has given his best years to some
other branch of railroad work, who
has been injured and now is being pro-
vided for by position as watchman.
Upon him depends the safety of street
car passengers and pedestrians.
Suppose there was fire at Van
Buren, and State streets. The police
man who discovers it sends in the
alarm Immediately. This alarm, which
rings a certain number of bells to
show the number of the box, is re-
ceived and noted in the electrical bu
reau. 1t then Is the duty Of one of the
employees to resend that alarm to the
firehouses. Should he make slight
mistake and instead of ringing the box
which calls for State and Van Buren,
streets. should turn in an alarm at
Madison and Halsted. there would be
"some doings" and spectacular fin
ish.
At four places in England and at
many in other European countries
there are men who perform important
duties on pay of 81 or So week.
These are the men who guard the
great dams
Every day Of their lives they are
supposed to make thorough inspec-
ton of the walls and to repair and re-
port even the slightest sign of a leak.
One would think that such a monot-
onous duty, performed year after year,
would make these men grow careless
or forgetful Of the importance of their
missions, but that does not seem to
have been the case.
Four years ago the watchman at the
great Scroby dam, in Lancashire, saw
a tiny leak that would have escaped
the notice Of most men.
He reported it Immediately and
the experts who were sent to make an
examination reported that If he had
not been so prompt another twenty
four hours would have brought 10000,
900 tons Of water sweeping the valley
This would have meant a loss oi
hundreds of lives and millions of dol
lars worth of property.