The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1919-12-13

ton IN the days Whrn tho late war
was being wREcd principally with
pick and showed.
Don't All Hook On
The reason for these military gar
msnta IL because wanted the job.
And everyone who applies doeant
land Job on the wharyrM Not on
your 80 cents an hour. II they did.
there wouldn't be any lawyers left
uptown.
Tho old-'imern have frs, call: the
Erisxird veterans 81 the cargo hook.
ncafned and SCARED by countless bat
Ties with tricky cargo swings Then
come the younger lads. husky ~
chest and with hats decorated with
countless union buiionA Rank out
siders. especially lily fingered Office
workers. are not ia demand on n.
wharvrn
hut the top n-rEeant or the straw
boss or whatever they cali him IL
Eoenraliy n patriotic ceua
And they give service man n Job
when they can.
Ny military hablllmanta rot me
the job.
Only Select Few
! There weren't sufficient Jobs 20 70
around. About 20 % us received the
little rcd ticket which n tho hand
truck pilots commission. Nearly 20
others ahuffled away. out Of work
for tho day.
/ A ionxrhor~man may make good
wages when he Il working. but there
arc many days when hIa income Ia
pcro.
I The lucky 20 were assigned 10 the
Admiral Evans. and half this crowd
werr sent below decks TO stow away
the cargo that was swung down by
the winch. Not being nautical. de-
csded 20 work on the dock.
The first hundred hours weren't 40
bad didn't mind the akin coming
off my hands or the fallen arches
or the sharp pains that shot thru my
blcepn. but when my backbone began
20 proirude thru the hack OF ms
neck. fci, that floral pieces would
soon be in order.
About J O'Clock In the afternoon I
looked al my watch. II was O'Clock
in the morning.
only Is hours more 20 go'
We were loading misceiia ncoua
cargo into the hold OF tho Admiral
Evans. Hay miscellaneous advised.
~. The greater bulk Of that cargo
was pig iron and sheet lead.
Dancers Have Advantage
Two men with cargo hooks loaded
each truck. They stacked the stuff
in pile. YOU ran tho sharp edge Of
your truck under the stack. the load.
eru. with n jab Of their hooks. Tilted
tho pile, YOU broke" and tho mass.
weighing about 1000 pounds. fen on
your truck.
That n II fell on your truck ~ u
didn't fall on your toe.
with the ton OF unwieldy masses
on your truck. sou logged to the
sling leaders. dumped the load. and
FASTENED back for another trip.
II was impossible to stop. or even
20 slow Up. You were part of an
endless chain Of trucks. making the
eternal round between tho stacked
merchandise and tho ship And
some lad in that chain was formerly
Marathon runner. And he set a
fast pace for the rest Of us.
Noon Hour Flies
Every time would slow up. and
that was almost every other minute.
the sharp edge OF the truck would
catch mo In the Achilles tendon-a
peculiarly tender part OF the anat.
omy.
At II o'clock we got an hour off
TO eat. didn't have any appetite
I could barely get thru stack OF
hots, two bowls OF clam chowdcr. n
plate OF ham and eggs and n plate OF
macaroni.
Before I had finlshed-and they
threw the stuff at patrons In that lit.
tie waterfront restaurant---it was IL
O'Clock.
Funny how fast that hour went
and how slow the preceding ones
had passed.
Dad" Fooled Him
When we began on the afternoon
shift. I noticed that "Dadd" was still
with us. Dad was a sickly little
man. about 40 years Of age. with "A
thin, drawn face. neat white beard.