Los Angeles herald., 1906-02-18

ARNEH, the driver OF the big electric
travelling crane in the Sampson stee
a Works, stood on the defensive, the
EA&4 centre Of a ring Of brawny, bare-armed
workmen, who were eating their noon
day meal from their dnnerl<ettles in the shade
Of the walls of the shop where the steel castings
were made. Things had gone well in the cast
ingshop the day before, and Mr.. Baxter, the SUI
perintendent of the shop, had said good word
to the men. Barney, whose post was on the
crane itself, far above Mr.. Bakers head, had
escaped observation and alone had not been
commended. The men knew that Barney was
hurt by this omission, and merciless in theiI
fun.malSing, made sport Of his chagrin.
"Say, Barney" inquired Peterson, one Of his
tormentors, "why didn't y hang out green FLAG
from y'r cage if y wanted e signal Baxter that
he could address yT
With that the torrent OF Barney's speech was
loosed, and there were lurid reflections upon the
past, present, and future conditions Of his hear
ers. ''I wouldn't woipe me feet on y, y pack oil
coal-heavers" he cried. 9TH wlrruk that tn
whole of y do tighter n year 'sn't Aeabite
t. what we do n a hour"
I'VE? We? An who's we'?" Knocked Banks,
furnace hand.
"An' where "a v bin that v don't know
that?" returned McCrea, another of the men
cts not fur want Of hearin' tn word that y
haven't learned that we IS Barney an tn
Crane. IT'S we done this, an we done that,
mornin', neen, an night with him. I've heard
him a-talkin' that soft t. tn wheels of tn ma
chine that yd think t was woman he was
jollyin'. He'd be elopin' with t, b'leve, if t
wasn't bit heavy t lug,-a stump of man
runnin' away with parcel of IRON"
But McCrea got further. curse that
stilled their laughter told them that they had
gone too far, and Banks and another man Jump
ed out of the way Of the infuriated crane-drlver
as he rushed at McCrea and sunk his fingers into
the later's throat. After brief struggle he was
hauled off and held fast until he realized that he
was helpless But they had not cowed him, and
when, without looking at them, he walked away
there was a set to his jaw and a narrowing OF
his eyes that made one of the men say: Banks
I'd better let up Barney; he'll do someone
harm yet, il we keep a-badgerin' him. An
he'd rather take a lickin' than hear that crane
of his'n laughed at. / guess he thinks It's hui
man bein'."
But strong in their big bodies, not one Of the
gang gave heed to the warning. The little man
who sat in the cage of the crane, and moved
the lever so that the machine came up at the
right moment and lifted the steel moulds with
which they were working source of anuse
ment to them in idle moments; at other times
they did not bother themselves about him.
The crane itself, great span of steel Orders
ana braces winch moved on q railway up dnO
down the full length of the shop, sixty feet ir
the air, and whose revolving drums, operated
by electricity raised or lowered the heavy chains
and whatever they bore, was, to the men in the
casting-shop, only one of the many big machine!
with which they were surrounded-a senseles
thing like the massive furnaces in the same shop
or the ponderous hammers which, in an adjoin
ing building, Numbered night and day as the!
beat the soft metal into shape.
But Barney knew that this idea of the crane
was born of ignorance; he could, if he wished
have told them things of his giant companion o.
which they did not dream. Yet for his own rea
sons he held his tongue, and nourshed with rec
election Of the insults they had heaped upor
him his determination some day to make then
pay for their Indifference and taunts Many
times he had told himself, as he sat far above
these beings who toiled in the CRIME of the shoI
floor, that by the right of the power he welded
he was the ruler of them all, and that he woult
yet make them cringe and cry for mercy To
day. as he leaned over the cage railing and saw
his tormentors bending their backs over weight
he cursed them silently. Then, at signal from
the foreman, he started the crane towards them
smotherng his rage because there was work tx
do and he was to do it.
He ran the machine almost at full speed, bu
when near the point where he was wanted h,
brought the mass Of thirty thousand pounds o
iron and steel to a quick stop. Nor did a maj
Of the gang which stood directly in his patl
move. though the ponderous chains which
dangled from it were almost in their midst
They knew the crane-driver's sure eye, the!
knew his command of the big engine he rode
and when McCrea, who had his back towards th
oncoming crane, turned about with hand out
stretched he never doubted that his extended
fingers would close, as they did close, on thu
chain, swaying at the height of his shoulders
two feet away But. common thing though thi
was, to-day it riveted Barney's attention. Agar
and again, as he carried away piece of steel, o
lifted a casting, or empty-handed, ran up anC
down the shop, he watched, as cat watches
mouse, the workers below him pass in front o
the crane chains when those swinging masses o
metal were fairly upon them There was Gu
rious fascination in seeing them escape destruc
ton by a hairs breadth. and Barney's pride il
his skill and his perfect trust in his big frienc
more than once made him come up silently anc
slowly on some man, and then, putting power
swiftly pass by the unsuspecting object of hi
experiment, missing him by few inches.
Now, there is true saying in the Steel Work
that "meted steel has a long ARM" which, trans
lated, means that the men who at close rang
at the time Of an accident often escape the in
iuries suffered by someone who is farther away
It was on the very afternoon Of its encounte
with Barney that the gang in the department