The Omaha guide., 1942-01-10
STIRRING TRUE STORIES
ABOUT OUR LINEMEN
READ LIKE A BOOK

after gay New Years Eve parties
and later enjoying the New Year
holiday, linemen of the Nebraska
Power company were out in tke
storm bucklng snowdrifts, CLIMB
ing icy poles, and scraping ice
laden wires to restore electric SER
vice in a few widely scattered
hard to reach points over the com
pany's system and late Saturday
night they were still at it.
First trouble call, received at 3
a. m. New Years Day, was assign
ed to Linemen Charles McMullen
and Delmer Whiteman. 1t was
out West Pacific street, somewhere
west of Hath street. Driving
west on Pacific, they were block
ed by deep snowdrifts at Nine
tieth, SO drove south to Center but
again AOuuO IlC oAOW COO 0CCp 4O4
their service car. Abandoning
the car, they walked from Nine
tieth and Center to 115th and Pac-
ific streets, but failed to find any
line trouble, so walked back to
their car at Ninetieth and Center.
In the meantime, Linemen Cal
Blocker and Frank Shannon had
been set to aid them, but ordered
to try to reach the trouble ms
by another route. Going west of
Dodge street they we're stopped
by snowdrifts at 132nd street, SO
went south to Pacific, but were
unable to come east. They re-
turned to 72nd and Dodge and
then went south to Ninetieth and
Pacific streets.
A third pair of linemen, William
Baker and Jack Glantz, was dis
patched at 2 p. m. to try to reach
the trouble spot. Abandoning
their car at Hath street, they
walked to 125th and Pacific where
they located a "floater" wire that
had whipped loose from The pole
and wrapped itself around another
wire breaking the circuit. Repair
of the line was completed by 9:50
p. m, but on returning to their a
sfoot, facing an icy wind, Glantz
suffered a frozen ear and Baker
a frosted nose and cheek.
Bucking the snowdrifts haG
proved costly to McMullen end
Whiteman, stalled at Ninetieth an
Center without gasoline, Sc a
truck was dispatched to bring
them gas. They returned to Ser
vice Headquarters with McMul-
len nursing a badly frost-bitten
face.
While these six linemen were
battling the storm west of Oma-
ha, Linemen Frank O'Connell and
Grant Justice were having simil-
ar tough going in locating trouble
on a line in the vicinity of Radio
Transmitters Stations of WOW
and KOWH northwest of Benson.
Snowdrifts begged down their a
at Forty second and Grand ave.,
so they walked through the drifts,
following the line through alleys
and across fields to the WOW sta
ton at seth and Kansas avenue
They failed to find the source OF
the trouble.
O'Connell then walked back to
the car in an attempt to bring il
to seth and Kansas avenue. That's
the last he saw of Justice that
day, as the car stuck twice in
snowdrifts when he tried various
routes to get through. The sec
ond time he had to call for help,
and a truck was sent out to pull
him in.
When Lyle Honaker and Art
Pakiser started for Florence at
IL a. m. to locate trouble on the
Fort Calhoun line, they met o.
Cornell trying to dig his car out
alto Thirty seventh and Ames ave.
After locating and repairing the
line trouble near Forty second and
Grand, they reported in and clos
ed the circuit, restoring the serv-
ice. Then they went on to Flor
ence to refuse the line serving the
government boat docks near Hum
mel park before heading north to-
ward Fort Calhoun.
When they failed to find the
trouble spot on that line, they re-
turned to Omaha, to check the
line at 72nd street and Snyder
road, but unable to reach this
point by the direct route, they
drove from Florence to Benson,
then north on Seventy second ST.
until again blocked by snowdrifts
Returning to Florence they ap-
preached the scene of the trouble
by dint of several hours of shovel
ing, bucking the drifts and walk
ing. Service vas restored on the
line at 7:40 p. m. nearly Il
hours after they had started on
the call.
But they were not yet through