Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1908-04-10
THE CELLAR DIGGER.
what lie Is and what He Used 90 BE
In New York

In New York.
The Importance Of being q cellar dig
ger In New York city has grown with
many years ago that man who was
g cellar digger was looked upon in the
same light as the man whom you sent
for TO take out the ashes or fix the
back fence. and IL was a common sight
TO see little signs around the town not
30 many years ago that read, "John
Jones, Cellars Dug" or words in other
juxtaposItion that meant the same
thing.
The steam drill was big thing and
marked an epoch In the career of the
cellar digger. The old fashioned cellar
digger. with his spades aud hand drills
and his old fashioned charges of giant
powder for such. and who In himself
was of some consequence. was super
seded by the man with q couple of
steam drills and a license to handle
dynamite.
Then the big operations began, and
the cellar digger moved along. If he
didn't have the capital to handle the
big jobs he had to go to work for
some one, because the man who had
the big contracts could always spare
a man or two and couple OF carts to
run around the corner and dig q cellar
for an apartment house while he was
excavating for big business block.
i can remember the time when I
first went to work for my father that
man who had ten carts and fifty
men working for him digging cellars
was big man. Today n cellar digger
who has less than 100000 capital to
work on and 200 or 300 horses is only
wasting his time
The men who do nothing but dig cell
hrs in New York city represent an
active working capital of not less than
S1O,000000. and l don't count the men
who are digging subways and making
those gaping holes for the new stations.
I am digging the cellar for the New
Astor apartment house on Broadway,
and the capital involved on that job
alone is greater than the total amount
OF my operations the first year OF my
career
think il is the biggest cellar proper
yet scooped out In the city, aud the
tons Of earth and rock we have taken
out would have made a cellar digger
or twenty years ago sick at the base
OF bis heart to think OF Il.
In the old days the cellar digger
didn't have any trouble with labor
questions.
He had work for so many men, and
they could come and take it or leave it.
Today the cellar digger has FIVE diff
ferent unions to deal with. In the old
days IL he wanted n couple OF horses
he went down TO the old "Blue Front
and bought them cash out OF hand. To-
day he goes TO Chicago, Canada and
northern New York. buys them by the
carload and tells the dealers TO draw
on him.
In the old days n man with blasting
to do in making a hole for a cellar
went downtown and got his powder In
package big enough for the days
work. Today he orders his dynamite
by the ton six months I'm advance and
has special corps OF men TO attend 10
that alone
In the old days. when I first went to
cellar digging, II a couple of cellar dig
gers lived close enough together they
would occasionally get together on a
Saturday night and eat n little chow
der. Today the cellar dIggers have an
organization, with several hundred
members, that give banquet every
year that isn't surpassed by any other
In the city in point of luxury. They
are a power in legislation and have
West End avenue homes, and I'm re-
ferring only to the fellow that digs eel
lars In New York.-David T.. Canavan
In New York World