Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1913-07-04
WORK WITH DEATH
PsrIlOus caIIngs Where Life 10
Always In Danger.
HOW MEN LOSE THEIR NERVE

sudden Peril Often causss Thorn 20
"Drop Their ooats.S and Then Their
Courage Never Returns-A Ices Of
Heart and a Race Fer Lie.
Human nature becomes Gallons to
the daily association with peril. But
now and then something tears away
the callous spot and leaves the raw.
naked nerve exposed.
Structural steslwOrkers run many
chances Of IOuing their nsrve-'drop-
ping their gOats." they call Il. Only
the other day one Of them Who had
never known fear vas standing on the
outer edge OF q lofty steel framework
and CHANGED TO look down into the
street. BE saw a trolley car run over
q newsboy. Instantly his mind was
swamped with thoughts Of death. He
stretched himself hat on the beam and
erawled 10 an island OF planking.
When a man oncs does that on top OF
a skyscraper he has finished his high
work.
They never cone back" said an old
foreman "Its a pity, too. for they
a never set q quarter the pay At an
other Job that they did at this before
they looked down and saw death"
Much Of the worlds work Il done by
men who have to keep their nerve in
the race OF peril. Sometimes a man
viii not 90 to pieces until after a long
run Of danger. Primarily the cause
may be fatigue or bad liver Or bad
nerves, but when II 30 all over he de-
cides he has had enough and seeks an
other vocation.
In the places where high explosives
are manufactured the men are subject
cd 10 a constant nervous strain. They
get used 10 It. like everything else.
but when an accident comes there Is
lure TO be some one among the sur
dvors who drops out Of the ranks Of
The workerg-
In a plant where more dynamite,
nitroglycerin, guncottOn and other
pentup destruction are made than any
where else in the world nearly q thou
sand lives depend more or less on a
thermometer.
In one step in the manufacture Of
nitrogiycerin II IL q quivenHg. sullen
fluid In q big caldron brilliantly lighted
by electricity. Glycerin IL continually
sprayed on the tons Of heated acids
within As It mixes the glycerin
SEXES the available nitrogen from the
acids, and the mass becomes nitro
glycerin. Round the caldron a man
moves swiftly, noiselessly, dividing his
attention between tho contents and a
Thermometer that extends down into
the hot acidg The temperature OF the
mass must not rise above 80 degrees.
0lycerin has many vaganes that
have been never been explained. II,
through one Of them, the temperature
rises toward the danger point the first
thing the man on watch does e to
send more cool solution through the
pipes that coil snakewisO round the
giant caldron. II the mercury in the
tube continues to rise he shuts on the
inflow Of glycerin. II this does not
have the desired effect he turns on
compressed afr, 80 as to throw the
a into violent agitation. II this
fails be has only one more card to play.
He opens a valve and empties the
charge into the drowning tank" Then
he makes a dash for safety.
Only q few men who have ever been
Immediately exposed 10 explosions
have lived to tell about them after
wnrd. Those who have escaped and
have continued In their hazardous en-
ployment arc thereafter known only
by their first names. There are only
q few Of these. The other survivors
have sought other work Where the
Tisks + less. Said one Of themi
you can't trust the stun any more
than you could a sleeping cobra. l
wal at work n day around the mir
ing tank and things were going as
usual when l suddenly noticed that the
mercury In the thermometer was creep
ing up toward 80. Quick as a fash !
saw that something had gone wrong.
and. One after another, / turned on the
cold, shut OF the giycerin and turned
on the air. No one over watched any
thing more anxiOusly than I did that
thermometer. But the mercury kept
on climbing. Then / made a grab for
the quick opening valve y, AZ 81 drown
the stun. One Of the officers Of the
company was In the room. / had yell
Cd at him to run. Bot he stood there
az cool as a cucumber, saying that he
didn't think there was much danger.
As soon as / opened the valve TO let
the stun on ! made q jump through
the window. There were plenty OF
emergency doors, but / didn't want to
take an extra step. The boss went out
BY 2 door. The fraction Of q second
that I saved by taking the window
probably added a good many years 70
my life. ] landed on the ground and
was running with all my might when
! was lifted or my feet and hurled at
least 100 yards. escaped with a
broken leg. The boss, who hEd run IN
the opposite direction, was picked up
dead. There was hardly a mark on
him.
The explosion started in the drown
ing tank. The stun settled az the bot