Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1909-09-08

tracts OF the lower reaches OF the ZMf1W
treacherous Chinese rivers or among ZWMw
the Hindu railway gangs of the dead VIZ
ly lower Indian plains, where scanty II
food. foul water. the lurking cholera IN
germ and the strange machinery OF N1M
the foreign devil" all conspire to <ST
count their victims by the score. In G<T
reality the greatest @4
toll of human life and
limb is taken right
!. !: !: !: 7. !.
here in America, in -<1zzzZ=Z=<<>%
the steel mill, the mine, K=#NZM
the railroad yard and EZ#zNHN
on the towering steel <T5i7TIT7b E/1HIUI
structures that dot our IIlIIplWI W/TX//I
cities and span our riv- wa
ers iTTTTTrr1i w
On the books of WIUIIIll|U va
many life insurance "IINZ @
companies there are NZA
lists OF certain occu- 0ZZzHzzZN/ZZI>
pations, ominously <1ZX
marked as extra hazardous" On ZZXz
this list none is more dangerous NnEl! 30.
than that of the shot firer," or the 4
man who lamps and fires the blast
IN the mines. The ordinary miner ~
races the menace of the deadly ~
damp that flows like an invisible a
poison stream through the lower "
mine levels; he faces the danger of U
explosive gases that may drive the ~
life from his body; the fear of tba w
cavern that may 1atten him under M
tons ol coal and slate is always with
hlm All these fall to the lot of the
shothrer," as well as the dreadful
risks OF handling a high explosive in
the close-walled caverns and under
ground passages where its force ia
confined and intensified Such exnIo- M
sives are VIGOROUSLY unstable p stick ANm
OF giant powder may have witbstood
the Jars of transportation for long
Instances and yet when placed in the drill
mole Oy the hrer may prematurely explode
under the soft blows of the tamping iron on
tne NIL above it. Many fatalities occur in
similar ways
neVerfalllng source of interest to the
street crowd is the movements of tho s+rrc-
tural iron worker. Undoubtedly his work ia
tne most dangerous of all the building trades
IL certainly is the most spectacular With the
increasing ground values of the downtown dis
tricts forcing the buildings higher each wear
ne frequently finishes his work in the free
spaces OF the upper air with all the neighbor-
ing buildings far below him. He rides the
steer Oeans as they are swung from the lower
to the upper stories holding to the cable and
balancing them to make they do not slip
their tether and shoot downward through the
completed floors and create more havoc than
a 12-inch she'll
On the steel beams hundreds of feet above
the street traffic he runs back and forth about
MS iaoors' as sure-footed at those dizzy
helshls as mountain sheep. A single false
step, momentary dizziness and he would
plunge to his death dozen stories below. Ev-
cry minute of each working day his life is in
the hands of his fellow-workmen. heavy
bolt dropped from above, a oosened plank an
unshlpped cable or a flying block and the
structure has taken its toll of human life The
structural steel worker is rarely crippled as
his injuries usually such as to cause i'm
mediate death
very similar to the risks of the steel mans
work are those of the steeple-jack Moving
like fly along the face of a factory chimney
water tower a church spire his dalv
bread Is gained at the daily risk of life and
limb. The fear of high places is not his par
ucular dread, as that is all in days work
out every time he is hoisted aloft he CANDLES
with his life on the strength of strand of
cable and the GOODNESS of his assistant
1t is the assistants duty to raise and lower
and shift the man in the chairs position as he
moves up and down and sidewise on the face
OF the building upon which they are engaged
Many wonderful escapes are recorded in the
annals OF these workers between earth and
sky. Only a few days ago a steepleiack
WORKING on factory chimney in North St
Louis saved himself when his tackle gave
way by grasping a hook at the end of rome
suspended from the chimney top and arrested
nis IAN IN mlualr' where he chung until res
cued by his thoroughly frightened helper
Have you ever noticed the window-washer
going about his business Ii or On storio
ABOVE the street level? He stands on a mar.
TO" ledge and his work compels him to lean
Tar oack over the crowded street, many feet
oeio"' as ne reaches upward to clean the
upper part of the glass. slip of the foot
on the wet stone Of the ledge, a single
stumble and the crowd of downtown shoppers
would see him dashed to his death on the
paving at their feet
Volumes have been written concerning the
terrible Understanding implements of modern
warfare. but the government statistics. COM
piled by the interstate commerce commission
show that the railroad switchman's work is
more dangerous than that of the professional
soldier. military movement in modern war
fare lasts only few months at the longest
but the switchmans campaign is every work.
ing day. In great terminal the noise of tug
ging engines and rolling coaches and box cars
never ceases. On the procession of cars NOV
ing steadily in and out depends the business
activity of the city and its surrounding ter
ritorys
Day and night the yard crews dodge back
and forth in this scene OF tireless ACTIVITY