The Greeley tribune., 1907-08-08
HARD WORK
THAT OF FEEDING CEMENT
MIXING MACHINE
The Hungriest Thing in Our
Well Fed City-A Look at
the Men Now Making
Sidewalks

The hungriest thing in Greeley
has been located. 1t isn't a news
paper editor and it isn't billy goat,
nor the carp In the fountain, nor
even tramp. 1t is the concrete
mixing machine used in laying
cement sidewalks.
Anybody who does not believe this
statement may ask one of the men
who handles wheelbarrow, trying
to keep the machine agoing with
gravel, cement and water.
If anybody would like to see men
pushed to the utmost limit of their
strength in the effort of Drawn and
muscle to keep up with steam and
metal the cement machine which
has been working most of the time
for the past year laying miles and
miles of sidewalk In Greeley will
afford the opportunity 1t Is inter-
esting to one who is not obliged to
perform the work himself And
still there is bit of envy of the
man whose energy can keep up day
after day under the muscular strain.
A full crew with the cement mixer
means twenty-five men, and there
must not be laggard in the entire
chain or the Other twenty-four will
be delayed and consequent loss to
the contractor result. AZ
The machine itself is rather sim.
Pile. just big cylinder revolve
Iby steam power atsa fairly YSpad
rate. Into one end of this CYL
inder wheel barrow after wheelbarrow
load Of very coarse gravel is dumped
and sack Of cement and bucket
OF water thrown in with the gravel
occasionally. The turning motion
mixes these three ingredients, the
proportion being one part cement to
six of gravel and water enough to
make the concrete moist.
One man standing on platform
helps the wheelbarrow men to dump
the gravel into the machine and also
puts in the cement and water. He
also works the lever that dumps the
finished product out of the other end
of the cylinder into the other wait
ing wheelbarrows.
The man on the platform is pretty
near the key to the speed with which
the entire crew works. If he is
slow in dumping the gravel into the
machine or dumping the concrete out
of the machine the wheelbarrow ere"
that hauls the concrete to where 1t
is to be deposited in the sidewalk
will slacken it's pace and the ere"
awaiting to pack the concrete down
will be waiting. Therefore, 1t Is a
case OF push from beginning to end
For this rush work the common
laborers receive 50 25 for eight hours
work and the finishers receive So toF
the same time Here as elsewhere II
is the man with the heaviest WORK
VINO IGCGlScS ullC iSuoo p"s
skill that draws the big checks
The crew of twenty-five with me
mixing machine will lay side"aIN
lust about the length OF one r'''
block in an eight hour day on
would think to see them at WORN
that they would lay at least nl''
n day and 1t may be something Oh
consolation when you come to Pa'
tbe bill for your walk that you are
not paying out all profit to the cor
tractor. The fact is that lt lequi''S
very close figuring and also the N''"
of speed mentioned to make 1T p'2
,t all. But we are hardly th'ous
with n description of the "o'N d"
yet. , ,,r,r
The first thing to be done ""e"
,ou want a sidewalk, after you l'",'
gone through all the other PREM,
n,ries is to hunt up the city eng
and have him give you the 9'a",
That is A very elusive thihE az"
usually changes with every c',""S
in engineer. But, no matter ~
something you cannot get "'ouh
without SO whether or not II ,C',, ,
your avn idea you may be sure Ina, Una,
II conforms with the grade Oh ,. at
o,her sidewalk IN some other par, ~
tbe city or at least 1T Is lh'e,''" uI
60 conform. In most cases IL w." any
hut engineers are as human d ''
NJ the rest Of us. ,ba