The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1910-09-15
HEROES IN PEACE.
The Man in Overalls Who Does Dam
gerous Work.

dav are those minor items telling of
catastrophes met by men occupying
an inconspicuous place in the world,
saws the Baltimore American. \ belt
slips and a mill worker is carried to
his home on stretcher by colaborers,
who administer crude comfort to
grief stricken family and return to
the hazardous occupation; man at
the smelter falls into molten metal;
structural steel worker running
along a girder makes misstep and
plunges ten stories down; sledge
slips in the car shops and man is
crippled for life; a trainman in the
performance of duty is manned or
killed-these and other incidents in
the world of industry happen with a
frequency that dulls the senses un-
less accompanied by some spectacu-
lar feature to cause a momentary
thrill of interest.
Certain occupations are hazardous,
yet there is much hazardous work
that has to be done. No machine
can be substituted for the nimble
fingers and brain of the trained Ia
borer in certain tasks. Danger is
everywhere in the mighty undertak-
ings of industry; but wherever dan
ger is there is always man to brave
it undeterred by any thought of the
risk involved. The hazard of the
Job is recognized. but welcomed
either because of its appeal, because
it is the line of duty or because
there is a family back home to sup
port. To the credit of industry much
is being done to minimize risk
and in the event of accident to rem
der some measure of compensation.
Railroads are among the most ener-
getic of corporations in looking af-
ter the man incapacitated in the per-
formance of duty, and recognition of
the obligation is general.
The debt owed by the public to
the man in overalls is large, but
sometimes disregarded. His work
calls for no display of pyrotechnlcs
to attract attention; it is generally
prosaic and frightfully hard. Upon
the faithful performance of 1T de-
pends the worlds advancement.
Credit for mighty feats of construc-
ton properly go to the brain that
conceived and planned and executed
them; but thought should be given
to the men in overalls who did the
work, braved the danger, endured
the toll and wrought up into splendid
realization the finished production.
The man in overalls as he returns
from work grimy with toll, weary
and uncouth in appearance, often is
subjected to many little evidences Of
the existence of a petty caste OF
clothes. His next door neighbor, a
clerk, may look sneeringly upon his
badge of toll, careless of the impor-
tant and honorable part played by
this ordinary workman; the latter,
too anxious that his children shall
not be ashamed because their father
looks less tidy than the fathers of
their playmates, may stink in
through the back to escape the pub
lie gaze.
But there is no dishonor in honest
dirt. The workman plays an impor-
tant and essential part. In America,
at least, ally workingman can look
any millionaire square in the eyes
in the conviction that his work is
relatively quite as important. Let
there be mutual recognition of this
and there will be less of class clash
with the elevation of the laborer to
his rightful position in the esteem of
the community.