The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1905-12-22

LABORERS.
AN ENGINEERS ESTIMATE OF
UNDERGROUND WoRKMEN.
In a Glass by Themselves and Give
Good Service = Many Are
Thrifty and Eager to
Learn.

/
"They are a queer lot, those Guineas.
Keep them at work underground and
they are perfectly satisfied, but give
one of them soft job above the sur
face and he will quit in a week"
/ That was the way one of the tunnel
engineers sized up the underground
/ been cutting their way through Capitol
hill. 1t was after hours and some
of the men who plan the work were
sitting around a small table discussing
the men who do the excavating. These
were the underground gang" made up
almost exclusively of Italians.
"They are a class by themselves, .
said one of the engineers, land don't
want any better workmen. They come
to this county, the most of them, not
knowing a word of English and pick
it up in a year or less. l don't want
to sound like singing their praises too
highly, but they will work without
watching, and that is a good deal more
than you can say of lot of the labor
you have to employ. There may be a
good reason for their not sighting
their work underground. They have
, to go backward and forward under ii
every day and If any of 1t falls they
are probably the ones that will be
buried. Yes. guess there is some
reason for their doing it well.
And save money! Well, ! wish
could do half as well. The most of
them make pretty fair wages-$2.75 a
day is not uncommon. But l know a
man who is making $3.50 with "a time
and a quarter on the night shift, and
he has saved something over $500
while this work has been going on,
and that is less than two years.
But the funniest thing / ever heard
Of was the way one of them helped out
ago, when it was financially embar-
raised. Some of the workmen had
quit and come to the Office for their
wages. 1t was late and the banks were
closed and nobody in the Office had any
money. The chief engineer told them
they would have to come around in
the morning after the bank opened.
But one of the workmen, who was not
quitting, asked him how much money
he wanted.
About $780, said he, not thinking
for a minute the Guinea had that sum
with him.
All right said the Dago, and
pulled out a roll about the size of q
telegraph pole. He peeled off 5000 from
the outside and handed 1t over, and
the chief engineer took it, too.
THE Guineas seldom draw their
pay There is another outfit working
on this same job with us, and they
pay by check. Usually the men just
deposit the check with the company
without endorsing it, and have a 'wad'
of money coming to them when the job
is over.
Il know one man that has 1880 on
deposit with his company. They live
on the average for six dollars month,
and if a man spends ten dollars he's
a high roller. They will pick up Eng.
lish quick, too. | know one of the
men; he is a young Italian who works
in the daytime, goes to night school
and spends his noontime studying. In
ten years I may be hunting a job un,
der him.
They do not often quit They fire.
quently stay by job till it is finished,
and they will go from one piece of en-
cheering to another all over the coun.
try just the same as the engineers.
They are expert underground workers,
and | know a local crew of laborers
could not have been trained in two
years to do the work those fellows
have done on the tunnel.
Drink? Well, yes; but not whisky.
They drink sour beer for choice; buy
it by the key because it is cheaper
that way and bottle it and let it turn
before they use it. They very seldom
go, drunk, and You can turn them out
III night shift any time in the week.
know that is not the case with a
lot of other workmen. One of them
wants to work a night shift tonight,
and they simply can't get out the men
because this is pay day.
Take it altogether, | think they are
pretty good citizens. There is one out
fit here that is working lot of high
grade Austrians. but for my part give
me the Guineas."