The Inter Ocean from Chicago, Illinois • Page 35

THQ INTER OCEAN, SUNDAY MOItXiyQ, NOVEMBER 1 1903. THE LESSON OF AN HONEST DAY'S WORK ON A CHICAGO STREET. Actual Experiences of a Young Man Who Was Who Found Employment Broke" and 4 IT 2v vT I st 1 I h' 1 1 i Jl i i i i 1 1 i. -J jzr. i 4 iii 1 1 i i i i ut course, me assistant uia an me wor.

tL- rT 5 I self, a shower came up, and it was no use to I that all. were sore the next morning. Of course, the assistant did all the work. self, a shower came up, and it was no use to all wera aore the next morning. i out ne man i oojeci.

meg om w. -c -v I try to work- All who could get in rested in I but he didn't object. Then the barrels were try to work- All who could get in rested In i vniiui An ia iirarin ann inn annua on to a I nUH HUII II WIT I I ffa mighty hard luck to be broke, really broke, dead broke for a long time. Hare you ever gone through It? I've tried it. suffered at It.

worried at it, slaTed to get out of it. and lfs an awfully up-hill game. It's a year now since I came to Chicago. In all that time I have never had enough money to keep me through one week's idleness. Not that I wanted to be idle, for I'Ye walked, and sought, and begged, and Tough for work, and I've always found It, but slck-nes, and pleas for help that could not be ignored, and the cancelation of a few, debts contracted before I came to the city have kept.

me without money. A man can always find work In Chicago. He can find It 'at an hour's notice. is always something to do at fairly good wages, but it was not the kind of work I wanted. No young man 4a blamable, it seems to me.

If he sets his mind to some one thing and keeps going toward it all the time, even though he may have to do eren much worse than I hare. I hare tried to be I know I am industrious. I am not afraid ol work, but I came here to do one thing, and I hare honestly told every man who has offered me work that I would not stay with him any longer than It took me to. get the position I came here for. That honesty has of ten kept me out of work.

What Lnnh But this long period of bankruptcy taught me a few things I did not know or dream of before. That the man who ia compelled to go out and labor with his muscles is no less a happy creature, no less fortunate, no less respectable than the man who is trained, as I had been, to earn his living by his wlta. The one kind of work that taught me this more than all others was work on an asphalt gang. I went out to an asphalt plant on the South Side with a man named Tommy O'Something-or-Other. and there found work mt hi.lMion to learn.

The first thing the boss of the plant said to me was: "Go over wltn tnai gang uu ia- vDrria I Til a white-handed. young fellow, andT knew 1 i. iinn hut I be Era my work. V. S3 I v'-i, tho rfant at clock.

nrt order to get there on time Tommy mX vi. mini! to dron the flrst person pro 4. At "the job." the boss looked at the white hands a second be fore replying. "It's hard work lor a young follow, the likes of you," he taid, not unkindly. But, proud of the new shirt and worklngman's rig, the beginner thought that was too hard.

So he was put with the "tar barrel" At first It was easy. "Do as the rest are 'doing," was the commandrand a young man motioned toward a pile of broken hoopa and etaves which were to be picked up and carried to' the furnace. The rough wood scratched his arms, but the 20 cents an hour that he was earning was a balm to his wounds. Of course the stooping made his back ache, but that ache was not even a slight hint of what waa coming. 1 Rollins Heavy Barrels.

Then followed another order from the boss, who seemed to keep a hawk-like eye on every man working there, and there were over a hundred. "Every man clean up hla -own lioops and staves, and all go to stripping," was the oraer. inow came iroume. a oarrei ef tar may weigh anything from 350 to 510 pounds, but a choice can's be made. The stripping consists Home again! After Kansas.

Indiana! And today, I wouldn't trade one township in Brown county. In this good old Hoosler state, tor all of Kansas, with Its Populism. Us freaSs. and Its history to booC I am Just recovering from my experience as a harvest hand la the sun-kissed fields of Kansas. Chum Is with me.

and he Is also recovering. He has written his folks to forward enough money to get him home in time to bleach his skin before winter sets in. He Is very, very blue. My peripatetic days are ended. My longing to see the world west of Terr Haute haa been gratified, and I am willing to settle down In dear, old, uncivilised Brown county and grow a crop of chin whiskers llks father's and to cultivate corns on my knees, prsytng to be saved in the future from all sorts and brands of Kansas land agents.

Chum and I had a harder time getting from Chicago to Brown county than we did getting from Ness City, to Chicago. We could have got home all right, for -we had enough money, but Chum took a notion be wanted to see a abow before he left Chicago. As soon as he passed through the theater entrance he stack out his chest Just as if he were. In New Haven with a fresh allowance from home, and he insisted that I donate four large dollars to the cause of art. I felt rather New Havenlsh myself and I paid the $4 for two coupons.

Next day' we started for home on the street ears. Did you ever try to get out of Chicago on a street car bound for Indiana? AntlA a tvlnnfn n.llta In ramAVlnV ADVENTURES t)F DAN HE LEAVES CHICAGO WITH CHUM AND JOINS A CIRCUS. the staves from the tar, which ia poured into the barrel hot and. after it cools, aticka with great persistency. In order to begin the operation the barrel must be removed from its fellows Into an open space.

The expert then chops the hoops loose, inserts his ax beneath them, gives the barrel a little roll and the hoops come off clean. He then taps the ends of the staves gently and they come off as nicely as the skin leaves a banana. But the young man with the white hands wa a novice, not an expert. Perhaps It he had been able to have chopped twice in the same place the task might have been easier, but he was as erratic in this regard as a man trying to walk a crack when he has taken too much red liquor. The hoops would break off In the most unexpected places, and al- ways at a nail, making more chopping neces sary.

The staves would brea on at me ena Instead of respectably peeling. This was the beginning. To finish, two large blood blisters appeared on his thumb. The palms of the young man's bands were torn and bleeding. He looked at his watch.

He was sure that it was at the very least 11 o'clock, but the stubborn hands showed only 8. Four more hours until that brief time of It must be remembered that this young man had never done anything in hla lite IiiHp hn "nound" a tvDewriter. and. per- him walk five or ten miles in the course of day. Things soon began to take on a hazy It aeema like the cara have a terrible pre ju- dice against, crossing the line Into Hoosler-dom.

Chum and I got out as far as the end of the elevated railroad and there took a trolley car that was about to set sail for Hammond. It got under way after a bit, ran a little way, shot around a curve, and headed back for Chicago. It kept shooting around curves for half an hour. I never saw a railroad that hated so to try and get any plaee. We finally got to Hammond at a cost of 15 cents each.

We had saved 90 cents all told by riding on the trolley. At Hammond we struck the owner of a one-horse He told Chum and me he had headed for Brown county after he found out we were from there. He said he expected te get there within a week, and he offered to Med us and carry us if we would work for him. He offered merely offered we found out later to pay us $1S a week besides. Chum and I took the engagement.

The manager Informed us he Just happened to be in Hammond, and that the show itself was up near South Bend, and that It was going to work down from there, We went to South Bend, and the first Jump we made wss Into a little burg in Michigan, which wasn't at all in the direction or Brown county. But the manager said he was going south from there and we stuck to him. It Is now a month since we "started." and the show hasn't seen Brown county yet. But we have. However show was what I started to write about.

At the first performance Chum became a i haps, walk five or ten miles in tne course oi I a day. Thlnga soon began to taae on a nazy i v. THE "Can you smoke on the Job?" he asked the man next to him. "Cert," was the laconic reply. "Got any tobacco?" He had.

and for a few minutes a rest was taken while the pipes were loaded andllght-a Tim fellow laborer's Dine held about a quart, but the outlay of tobacco was cheap compared with the rest obtained, i nen me boss, whose name was Magnire and a finer man never drew breath; he was a gentleman, every Inch of him and an expert in his business came around with an old pair of gloves to protect those white hands from further injury. The gloves were full of holes and reeked with melted tar, but they served the purpose. Then came work that was terrific. The making of asphalt ia a complicated process, and four times a day the great tank or vat In which the tar ia melted haa to be refilled. It holda five tona.

and every pound that goea In haa to be weighed. The scales hold four barrels, and It takes more than a few to make the necessary amount. Barrel after barrel was rolled on a back-breaking performance and more than usually disastrous to unhardened hands, because of the stray nail embedded in the tar. Then each barrel bad to be up-ended. It la no small trick to set a 500-pound barrel of tar on end.

and the novice had to have assistance tn A It. rolled platform lecturer In the side show. The Institution car ried a dwarf about feet 4 inches In height, and called him a Lilliputian. There was a fat woman from Boone county and a three- legged pig from the Kankakee marshes. Chum's duty was to extol the praises of this shrunken collection of freaks.

I stood at the flap of the tent and collected I was never so proud of my family name in my life. I stood in the shadow and out of the glare of the naphtha lamp, for I felt sure some old friend of mine would peek In. Indiana Jsn't a very big state when you are trying to hide. When the abow got started I couldn't resist stepping Into the annex tent to see how Chum was getting on. He was standing astride the three-legged pig when I walked In.

About -fifteen farmers were edged around the platform. Cham Waa the Lectarer. "This," spouted Chum, "this Is a trlplgory. the strangest creature the world has ever seen. It comes from the wilds of Madagascar, and is the only on ever captured.

Notice, ladies and gentlemen, that it has but one foreleg, a peculiarity which even the most astute scientists are unable to account for. It lives upon -land as easily as It does In water, as yon can plainly see. It is an amphibian and shows unmistakable traits of the batrachlans. Hagenbeck would Just then I snorted. I couldn't help IL A wise old agriculturist tn the crowd walked over, looked the freak in the eye, and said: hoisted them to the top of the vat.

Then a man attacked the mas with a maul, and the chlpi bombarded the little) party working below. the weighing- process vti oyer, there were thanks In one heart, as ws remarked before, the making -of asphalt a complicated process. Two barrels of "flux" were a necessary ingredient In each tank. It fell to the beginner's lot to '1' 7-Zf Tain't nuthln' but a razor-back shoat that's ben run over by a train." Chum knew it wouldn't do to argue with a hog grower, so he passed to the next, which happened to' be the fat woman. "Thla," said chum in his confident way.

"this is Felicia Fisette. the mastodon maid from Minnesota. Her name Is known wher- a But Felicia Fisette cut him short by declaring her name was neither Felicia nor Fisette. Chum winked at me, and afterward told me he had forgotten to ask what her name was. "The mastodon maid haa not been fed ladies and gentlemen, and she resents being exhibited.

We will therefore pass on to the next, the greatest wonder of the three. This is Eat-a-rambo, the giant King of the Llllputlans. that wonderflul race of African pigmie. He Is the largest Lilliputian ever captured. His commanding presence among his own people made him their Last chance to win $10)000.

Act today or you will be too late. You. may win any part of $40,000. Costs nothing to try. See full announcement on last page.

Want Ad part of today's paper. The Man Who Works with His Muscle Compared with the Man Who Lives by His Wits. King. He speaks no language, and bis only visible trace of civilization is his ability to draw his salary when all the rest of us have failed." Headed Toward Borne. Chum kept this np night after night for a whole month.

But I'm getting ahead of my story. The show did get headed for Brown county. It took short Jumps, like a sick kangaroo, and In six days It traveled forty-one miles. On the evening of the sixth day Chum had the effrontery to ask for his salary. The -manager said he never paid on Saturday nights, but that he.

had an Inflexible rule always to pay on Tuesday Chum said that wss all right and we let the matter of pay go. It went, on for a whole month that way, and It is still going. But Chum aqd I are not going with it. Monday last Monday the owner of the ahow told ua he was going to put on a new act. He told Chum and me he had decided we could do It to perfection.

It-was to be a double high dive from a trapeze Into a net. We protested, but the showman said he wouldn't pay us a cent until we had done the stunt at least once, to see how it would go. We wanted to rehearse it, but the man said he was afraid we might get hurt trying It. and that would spoil the whole thing. Monday night last Monday night; I'll never forget it we pitched our tent In a little town in the lake region of northern Indiana.

The showman. raked out two old pairs of tights and told us to get into them. Chum swore ha wouldn't; but he did. Chum aid la rolling those barrels over. "Flux Is a species of tar about as thick aa molasses.

The barrels leaked, and after two barrels were safely on the platform the amateur looked as though he had been bathed In black. His hands had a solid coating and his face, because he had forgotten and tried to brush away the perspiration, was streaked like that of an Indian up for the death dance. After that be- went back to "stripping." It was a welcome relief. A JLowar. Lonsr Forra.an.

How many hours there were In that forenoon he never If he had had the liberty of making a atatement he would have aald that there were some twenty-four, but there were less than aixv Many of the men carried their own dinners but one did Thla particular one had been told by Tommy of a "fine" saloon wher? a "good" dinner, including a "big" glass of beer could be bought for 15 centa. The aaloon was sought for. The pilgrim had an appetite, but. there waa just-one article of diet that he hated. This is known in some localities as "corn beef and." cabbage filling in the mlssiog-word puzzle.

Of course, that was the only item on the bill of fare. It couldn't have been otherwise. He waa too tired to eat much anyway, but that glaaa of beer certainly waa ''big." Tommy's Judgment was lacking in regard to grub, but fully developed when it came to beer. Then Providence took a hand in the game. On the return to the plant there had been other "corn beef and" devoteea besides him is a regular Apollo He la Just six feet tall, lean, gangling, crooked, and weighs 1S3 pounds.

I am 6 feet 6 inches tall and weigh 182. ThowsrHt Theaa a Pair of Clowata. When we walked out the people thought we were clowns, and they set up a terrible howL But, really. Chum was acting awfully funny. He was cutting np his antics to keep from freezing in that pair of cotton But when he saw where we were to dive from he stood as still as a wooden Indian.

"I won't do it." Chum whispered to me. "Neither will I answered. "Go tell the manager," said Chum. But the manager Just then came out to where we were, mounted a box. and began spouting about Professor Francbettt and SIgnor La Peppln.

the greatest high divers In the world. Chum walked over to him when he was through with his spiel and said: "It's all off. professor; we don't kill ourselves for fifteen a week and wait till some Tuesday for the money." The Seasatloaal lUarh Dive. The showman said we'd have to do the act. and he finally offered us $5 each to do It.

We said it was ail right, and I went up to look at the net. "Where did you get itr-I asked the showman. "It's all right: it's a fish net. I bought It of a fellow down by the take. It's been used and I got It cheap." Chum and I climbed the ladder to a point about twenty feet above mother earth.

"You Jump firat," said Chum. a iittie omce. how tney ever ronna it ouc he did not know, but the whole force was cognizant of the fact that he waa a pretender. They didn't joke him about bla hands nor his Inability to keep up with them. Instead, they commiserated with him and gave htm lots of good advice.

That which clung In hi memory was: "Don't kill yourself." and "Take yoar time. lad; take your time." That waa the whole secret. He had the quick, nervoua walk and movements to a previous condition of servitude; they had that alow way of doing thlnga that did not accomplish much in aa hour, but. in tke course of a day, mad a show leg far ahead of any made by a nervous man. Plenty of Earoiriftnfal.

The rain stopped; no good thing ever lasts. The amateur had earned, or rather waa entitled to, 11.20 for the morning's work. If a feeling of shame hadn't forced hlu on, he ouid have quit then and there, but be stuck to It because of that and because everybody aid he would feel better after he got the stiffness worked out. The afternoon drsgged terribly. He found a way to loaf by carrying his hoops and staves behind a shed and sitting down on the way back for a few minutes, but these were brief at best.

When he would move suddenly things would get black before blm and he would forced -to lean on his ax handle. He drank enough water to drown him, but still he was consumed by an awful Then he was no longer abfe to pull over the barrels. Tho man that worked by his side came to his assistance. This man was rough, but all through that long, weary, dreary alternoon. he doubled his own work by pulling the barrels down where his fellow laborer could get them.

The one of the white hands was tven relieved of the filling process, but still he was not happy. One of the "gang" advised him to slip away and rest awhile. He waa willing, and left the smell of the cooking; compound and the whirr of the. machinery, and sat where the cool air could blow over him. Of course the boss found him, but bo was in such a state that he did not care.

The runaway was cot chidden, but on the contrary, was advised to stick to it. Had the Easiest riaee. have given you the easiest place here," said the boss. "and. for the first few days, won't drive you.

By that time you will get used to it and be as tough aa any-of them." But the spirit that moved the white hands was broken, and ail the worda the gasping breath could form were, "What time do you quit?" "Oh, we'll work late tonight," waa the reply, "but you can quit any time you like." he added, and a resolution to-do so was made at once. When he asked for his "time" the boss gave him a ticket that would be cashed down town, and come good advice which he did not car to convert into cash, for the substance of it was that he should stick to the plant. Tho ticket called for 12.40, and it was the hardest money he ever earned. Had he not had such urgent use for it he would have had it framed and never cashed It. But he could never tell with what a freedom of relief he hailed a car and rode dowa town; how Tommy called him a "tyke, and said he miased being time-keeper: nor how he felt the next morning when he tried to get up and could hardly do it; no, he could never tell that, but he learned a few First, an asphalt plant is not a place of rest; second, a man that Is willing can always find work; third, there is a good fellowship among laboring men that leads the stronger to aid tho weaker; fourth, that he had more muscles In his body than he ever oreamea oi ana "It's a double Mve and we both go at once." said Chum swore he never would do It, and I agreed with him.

We were standing on a platform about two feet square when we said this. I told Chum to climb down and I wocld follow him. He started to torn around to put his feet over the edge of tho platform. Ho lost hla equilibrium, swayed back and forth for a minute, and then grabbed me round the waist I shut my eyes and reeled for a minute, and then I knew something was going to happen, for the platform had got out from under us. An Instant later we struck tb not.

didn't stop. We tor? In It a hoi that you could drive a her of elephant tbiough, and we hit tho tumblers' mat undcrntath. When we struck 1 was on top and the grunt that Chum let out could have been heard a mil away. The crowd thought the fall was the real act, and it created a sensation, but when they had to carry Chum out and call a doctor they began to think they had more than got their money's worth. Last Wednesday morning Chum was ablo to walk to th dtpot.

and I -told the showman I thought I had better get him home. W'e demanded our money, but the showman said he bad taker, in only $14 the night before, and he couldu pay us. He did manage to scrape enough change out of his pockets to buy e-jch of us a railroad ticket to Indianapolis. We were glad to take that, for It enabled ua to get home yesterday. Chum is feeling roach better today, aod says he is only waiting here until he caa hear from home.

We didn't go tack to Tale, but we are determined to do ao yet If kind Providence ahow us tho war..