Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1910-05-21

w. SsS
I'd ASK THE BOSS TO GIVE ME ruE
HARDEST WORK he HAD.
scale at least zoo. and my size tool,
his eye. Whenever n Job required un-
usual strength 1 was picked out for il
Where lot Of men work together
there Is always more or less rivalry
We had our wrestling bouts and rough
J cd around q little az noon and when
the days work was over When
first began working I thought several
/ or the men were as strong as Her.
cules, but by this time I could more
than hold my own with them
didn't care TO make much OF a
boast Of my strength. and I don't now
1t was natural for me TO be strong
and / suppose III have been a strong
man even II ] hadn't worked SO hard
II was in me. ] credited lt all 10 my
out OF door life and thought that when
| other men as big as myself lacked the
same quality OF strength and quick.
ness it was because they hadn't grown
up out whore the sun would sink into
their bones and muscles and the noun
tain air expand their lungs
Later. when ] was champion. doc
tors examined me wherever went
and told me that ! had "a marvellous
reserve OF nerve force" which. n
seems TO me. was just a way of string
ing words together 90 explain some
thing they didn't understand any more
than l understand 90 myself
one thing Is certain. did have n
peculiar kind OF strength that came 10
me only in an emergency i had two
kinds Of strength. At ordinary times
i was strong man-Stronger FOR
steady lift or hard effort OF any kind
than any OF the other men ] worked
with. But ON a few occasions came
different kind OF strength couplcd
with Quickness that always amazed
me when I sat down afterward To-
think it over and study out reason
that would satisfy my curiosity. In
the course OF my lighting career l
have met many strong men who rose
10 the top Of their profession by whiu
ping scores Of others only a little less
able. To the best Of my recollection
Bob Fitzslmmons was the only one
who had this knack or trick / speak
OF highly developed. Fitzslmmons
was a lauSy fellow with thin legs and
thin body. but ! found when
fought him that when he was almost
i out he could draw on some hidden re-
serve OF strength and FOR few min
utes fight with double his ordlnar.
force. Fltzsimmous was a trained
fighting man, a veteran. at that time
and OF course he may have developc'
this. But 10 me 10 was entirely natura
When ! have been badly battered D.
fight II hasn't worried me az all. De-
cause l know I am in no danger
When II comes 10 showdown ] a.
ways have that squirt. drawn froi
some reserve force I don't understand
IL has come 20 me In way two o.
three times. although. 10 tell you Oh
absolute truth. I've never really ueeG
ed Il IN the ring for I've never Sc
been dazed by n blow or arm wear
FROM fighting
The first time that this uneNplaiu,
power ever came suddenly 10 me W.
before / took up fighting at all auG
when was still working IN iron. TIL
company sent big gang OF men out
20 the Punta oil wells TO build oil
tanks. That's a mans work. aud
youngsters aren't needed on the job.
But / could do mans work, and /
liked the rough life In the hills.
Building an oil tank is no play.
First the structural ironwork goes up.
and then the big iron plates are raised
Into place and riveted one TO another
TO build the sides. Each sheet Of iron.
like the steel plates on the side Of
battleship, is rolled into shape I'm the
works before ii Is shipped. When YOU
remember that each plate weighs FROM
500 70 800 pounds AID that IL has To
be fitted so that every rivet slides into
Its hole like your foot into a tiyhf
shoe you can see that putting VI an
oil tank isn't schOolboy's play.
At the tank / was wofSing on that
day we had big derrick TO lift the
plates into position. IL was made up
OF a mast 60 feet long and u by l.
inches square, supporting a boom OF
just the same size. The mast was
held erect by long guy ropes of twist
ed steel wire fastened TO long iron
pegs driven into the ground.
Most OF the men were working
around the mast and boom, but j was
on staging on the other side heading
rivets. had just finished one and
Strengthened up for a moment waiting
Tor another redhot rivet to be placed
saw one Of the long iron pegs hold
Ing the guy ropes OF the derrick pull
out OF the sand with jerk and go
whirling high in the air. the wire guy
rope twisting and squirming like
snake. Instantly / knew that the mast
and boom were falling. There was
no time TO run to the ladder. Ieaped
down TO the ground, went to my knees