The sun. (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1906-09-29

hauied IL would all nave 1t, too.
. In Packingtown the fertilizer is pure.
instead Of being q favoring. and In
stead Of q ton or so spread out on sew
eral acres under the open sky, there
are hundreds and thousands OF tons
OF 1t In one building. heaped here and
there In hay stack piles, covering the
floor several inches deep, and filling
the air with q choking dust that be-
comes binding sand-storm when the
wind shifts Illi#
II was In this building that Jurgis
came daily, as II dragged by an I'M
seen hand. The month OF May was an
exceptionally cool one, and his secret
prayers we're granted: but early In
June there came q eCOrd-breaking
hot spell, and after that there were
men wanted In the fertilizer mill.
The boss of the grinding room had
come to know Jurgis by this time and
had marked him for q likely man; and
so when he came to the door about 2
o'clock this breathless hot day he felt
a sudden spasm of pain shoot through
nim-the boss beckoned to him! In
ten minutes more Jurgis had pulled
Off his coat and overshirt, and set his
teeth together and gone to work.
Here was one more difficulty for him
to meet and conquer!
His labor took him about one min
ute to learn. Before him was one of
the vents of the mill In which the fer
tilixer was being grOund--rushing
forth In a great brown river, with q
spray Of the finest dust flung forth in
clouds. Jurgis was given q shovel,
and along with half dozen others II
was his task to shovel this fertilizer
Into carts. tf.H
That others were at work he knew
by the sound, and by the fact that he
sometimes collided with them; other.
wise they might as well not have been
there, for the binding dust storm
man could not see six feet In front Of
his face. .a
When he had filled one cart he had
to grope around him until another
came, and II there was none on hand
he continued TO grope till one arrived.
In five minutes he was, Of course,
mass Of fertilizer from head to feet;
they gave him a sponge to tie over his
mouth, so that he could breathe. but
the sponge did not prevent his lips
and eyelids from caking up with 1t
and his ears from filling solid. o
He looked like brown ghost at twi-
light--from hair to shoes he became
the color OF the building and OF every
thing In It, and, for that matter, q hun
dred yards outside Of It. The build
Ing had to be left open, and when the
wind blew Durham & Company lost
great deal OF fertilizer. ssrat.s{ ia
Working IN his shirt sleeves, and
with the thermometer at over O hun
dred, the phosphates soaked in
through every pore of Jurgis's skin,
and In FIVE minutes he had a head.
ache, and in fifteen was almost dazed.
The blood was pounding In his brain
like an engines throbbing; there was
a frighrlul pain In the top OF his skull,
and he could hardly control his hands.
Still, with the memory of his fourth
months siege behind him, he fought
Oh, In q frenzy OF determination; and
half an hour later he began to vOmit
he yomited until 1t seemed as II his
inwards must be torn to shreds, A
man could get used to the fertilizer
mill. the boss had said, II he would
only make up his mind to It; Jur-
gis now began to see that It was q
question of making up his stomach. \.
At the end OF that day Of horror he
could scarcely stand. He had to
catch himself now and then, and lean
against building and get his bear
ings.
Most or the men, when they came
out, made straight for saloon--they
seemed to place fertilizer and rattle
snake poison In one class. But Jur.
gis was too III to think of drinking
he could only make his way to the