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diff --git a/40975-0.txt b/40975-0.txt index 9821cc7..1f2875b 100644 --- a/40975-0.txt +++ b/40975-0.txt @@ -1,37 +1,4 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Life in a Railway Factory, by Alfred Williams - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. 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Carryl. </title> @@ -216,44 +216,7 @@ ins { </style> </head> <body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Life in a Railway Factory, by Alfred Williams - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Life in a Railway Factory - -Author: Alfred Williams - -Release Date: October 8, 2012 [EBook #40975] -[Most recently updated: May 28, 2021] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE IN A RAILWAY FACTORY *** - - - - -Produced by crana and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40975 ***</div> <hr /> @@ -12289,381 +12252,6 @@ alternative has not been located. </p> </div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Life in a Railway Factory, by Alfred Williams - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE IN A RAILWAY FACTORY *** - -***** This file should be named 40975-h.htm or 40975-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/9/7/40975/ - -Produced by crana and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Life in a Railway Factory - -Author: Alfred Williams - -Release Date: October 8, 2012 [EBook #40975] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE IN A RAILWAY FACTORY *** - - - - -Produced by crana and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - -LIFE IN A RAILWAY FACTORY - - - - - _UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_ - - THE READERS’ LIBRARY - - 50 VOLUMES PUBLISHED - - _Full list of Titles can be had from - the Publishers_ - - DUCKWORTH & CO. - COVENT GARDEN, LONDON - - - - - LIFE IN - A RAILWAY FACTORY - - BY - ALFRED WILLIAMS - - AUTHOR OF - ‘A WILTSHIRE VILLAGE’ - ‘VILLAGES OF THE WHITE HORSE’ - - LONDON - DUCKWORTH & CO. - 3 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C. - - - - - _First Published 1915 - Published in the Readers’ Library 1920_ - - _Printed in Great Britain - by Turnbull & Spears, Edinburgh_ - - - - - TO MY FRIEND - ALFRED E. ZIMMERN - - - - -PREFACE - - -My object in penning “Life in a Railway Factory” was to take advantage -of the opportunities I have had as a workman, during twenty-three years’ -continuous service in the sheds, of setting down what I have seen and -known for the interest and education of others, who might like to be -informed as to what is the actual life of the factory, but who have no -means of ascertaining it from the generality of literature published -upon the matter. - -The book opens with a short survey of several causes of labour unrest -and suggestions as to its remedy. Then follows a brief description of -the stamping shed, which is the principal scene and theatre of the drama -of life exhibited in the pages, the central point from which our -observations were made and where the chief of our knowledge and -experience was acquired. After a glance into the interior we explore the -surroundings and pay a visit to the rolling mills, and watch the men -shingling and rolling the iron and forging wheels for the locomotives. -Continuing our perambulation of the yard we encounter the shunters, -watchmen, carriage finishers, painters, washers-down, and -cushion-beaters. The old canal claims a moment’s attention, then we pass -on to the ash-wheelers, bricklayers, road-waggon builders, and the -wheel-turning shed. Leaving them behind we come to the “field,” where -the old broad-gauge vehicles were broken up or converted, and proceed -thence into the din of the frame-building shed and study some portion -of its life. Next follows an exploration of the smithy and a -consideration of the smith at work and at home, his superior skill and -characteristics. From our study of the smiths we pass to that of the -fitters, forgemen, and boilermakers, and complete our tour of the -premises by visiting the foundry and viewing the operations of the -moulders. - -The early morning stir in the town and country around the sheds, the -preparations for work, the manner in which the toilers arrive at the -factory, and the composition of the crowd are next described, after -which we enter the stamping shed and witness the initial toils of the -forgemen and stampers, view the oil furnace and admire the prowess of -“Ajax” and his companions. The drop-hammers and their staff receive -proportionate attention; then follows a comparison of forging and -smithing, a study of several personalities, and an inspection of the -plant known as the Yankee Hammers. Chapter XI. is a description of the -first quarter at the forge expressed entirely by means of actual -conversations, ejaculations, commands, and repartees, overheard and -faithfully recorded. Following that is a first-hand account of how the -night shift is worked, giving one entire night at the forge and noting -the various physical phases through which the workman passes and -indicating the effects produced upon the body by the inversion of the -natural order of things. The remainder of the chapters is devoted to -the description and explanation of a variety of matters, including the -manner of putting on and discharging hands, methods of administration, -intimidating and terrorising, the interpretation of moods and feelings -during the passage of the day, week and year, holidays, the effects -of cold and heat, causes of sickness and accidents, the psychology of -fat and lean workmen, comedy, tragedy, short time and overtime, the -advantages--or disadvantages--of education and intelligence, ending up -with a review of the industrial situation as it was before the war and -remarks upon the future outlook. A table of wages paid at the works is -added as an appendix. - -The site of the factory is the Wiltshire town of Swindon. This stands -at the extremity of the Upper Thames Valley, in the centre of a vast -agricultural tract, and is seventy-seven miles from London and about -forty from Bristol. Its population numbers approximately fifty thousand, -all largely dependent upon the railway sheds for subsistence. The -inhabitants generally are a heterogenous people. The majority of the -works’ officials, the clerical staff, journeymen, and the highly skilled -workers have been imported from other industrial centres; the labourers -and the less highly trained have been recruited wholesale from the -villages and hamlets surrounding the town. About twelve thousand men, -including clerks, are normally employed at the factory. A knowledge of -the composition of the inhabitants of the town is important, otherwise -one might be at a loss to account for the low rate of wages paid, the -lack of spirited effort and efficient organisation among the workers, -and other conditions peculiar to the place. - -The book was never intended to be an expression of patriotism or -unpatriotism, for it was written before the commencement of the -European conflict. It consequently has nothing directly to do with -the war, nor with the manufacture of munitions, any more than it -incidentally discovers the nature of the toils, exertions, and -sacrifices demanded of those who must slave at furnace, mill, -steam-hammer, anvil, and lathe producing supplies for our armies -and for those of our Allies in the field. It is not a treatise on -economics, for I have never studied the science. If I had set out -with the intention of theoretically slaughtering every official -responsible for the administration of the factory I should have -failed signally. I never contemplated such a course. Instead I -wished to write out my own experiences and observations simply, -and from my own point of view, mistaken or otherwise, without fear -or favour to any. I have my failings and prejudices. What they are -is very well known to me, and I have no intention of disavowing -them. Whoever disagrees with me is fully entitled to his opinion. -I shall not question his judgment, though I shall not easily -surrender my own. I am not anxious to quarrel with any man; at -the same time I am not disposed to be fettered, smothered, gagged -or silenced, to cower and tremble, or to shrink from uttering what -I believe to be the truth in deference to the most formidable -despot living. - -A. W. - -_24th July 1915._ - -A portion of Chapter XIII. has appeared in the _English Review_. My -thanks are due to the Editor for his courteous permission to reproduce -it in the volume. - - - - -CONTENTS - - -CHAPTER I - PAGE - - LABOUR UNREST 1 - -CHAPTER II - - THE STAMPING SHOP--GENERAL ENVIRONMENT--THE “COALIES”--THE - ROLLING MILLS--PUDDLING AND SHINGLING--ACCIDENTS AT THE - ROLLS--THE SCRAP WAGGONS--WASTE 9 - -CHAPTER III - - THE SHUNTERS--WATCHMEN--DETECTING A THIEF--FIRES--CARRIAGE - FINISHERS--PAINTERS--WASHERS-DOWN--CUSHION-BEATERS--CHANGES - AND INNOVATIONS--DEPARTMENTAL RELATIONS 25 - -CHAPTER IV - - THE OLD CANAL--THE ASH-WHEELERS--THE BRICKLAYERS--RIVAL - FOREMEN--THE ROAD-WAGGON BUILDERS--THE WHEEL SHED--BOY - TURNERS--THE RUBBISH HEAP 44 - -CHAPTER V - - “THE FIELD”--“CUTTING-DOWN”--THE FLYING DUTCHMAN--THE FRAME - SHED--PROMOTION--RIVET BOYS--THE OVERSEER 63 - -CHAPTER VI - - THE SMITHY--THE SMITH--BUILDING THE FIRE--GALLERYMEN-- - APPRENTICES--THE OLDEST HAND--DEATH OF A SMITH--THE - SMITH’S ATTITUDE TO HIS MATES--HIS GREAT GOOD-NATURE - --THE SMITHS’ FOREMAN 82 - -CHAPTER VII - - FITTERS--THE STEAM-HAMMER SHED--FORGEMEN--THEIR - CHARACTERISTICS--BOILERMAKERS--THE FOUNDRY--THE - BLAST FURNACE--MOULDERS 100 - -CHAPTER VIII - - GETTING TO WORK--THE AWAKENING IN THE COUNTRY--STEALING - A RIDE--THE TOWN STIR--THE ARMY OF WORKMEN--“CHECKING”-- - EARLY COMERS--CLERKS AND DRAUGHTSMEN--FEATURES OF THE - STAFF 120 - -CHAPTER IX - - FIRST OPERATIONS IN THE SHED--THE EARLY DIN--ITS EFFECT ON - THE WORKMEN--CHARGING THE HEATS--THE OIL FURNACE--THE - “AJAX”--HARRY AND SAMMY--THE “STRAPPIE”--HYDRAULIC - POWER--WHEEL-BURSTING 136 - -CHAPTER X - - STAMPING--THE DROP-HAMMER STAFF--ALGY AND CECIL--PAUL AND - “PUMP”--“SMAMER”--BOILERS--A NEAR SHAVE 153 - -CHAPTER XI - - FORGING AND SMITHING--HYDRAULIC OPERATIONS--“BALTIMORE”-- - “BLACK SAM”--“STRAWBERRY” AND GUSTAVUS--THE “FIRE - KING”--“TUBBY”--BOLAND--PINNELL OF THE YANKEE PLANT 169 - -CHAPTER XII - - FIRST QUARTER AT THE FORGE 187 - -CHAPTER XIII - - THE NIGHT SHIFT--ARRIVAL IN THE SHED--“FOLLOWING THE - TOOL”--THE FORGEMAN’S HASTE AND BUSTLE--LIGHT AND - SHADE--SUPPER-TIME--CLATTER AND CLANG--MIDNIGHT-- - WEARINESS--THE RELEASE--HOME TO REST 206 - -CHAPTER XIV - - INFERIORITY OF WORK MADE BY THE NIGHT SHIFT--ALTERING - THE GAUGES--THE “BLACK LIST”--“DOUBLE STOPPAGE - CHARLIE“--”JIMMY USELESS”--THE HAUNTED FORGE AND COKE - HEAP--THE OLD VALET--THE CHECKER AND STOREKEEPER 225 - -CHAPTER XV - - SICKNESS AND ACCIDENTS--THE FACTORY YEAR--HOLIDAYS--“TRIP”-- - MOODS AND FEELINGS--PAY-DAY--LOSING A QUARTER--GETTING - MARRIED 241 - -CHAPTER XVI - - COLD AND HEAT--MEALS--FAT AND LEAN WORKMEN--WAYS AND - MEANS--PRANKS--ALL FOOLS’ DAY--NEW YEAR’S EVE 258 - -CHAPTER XVII - - GETTING A START--THE NEW HAND--TOWN AND COUNTRY WORKMEN-- - PROMOTION--DISCHARGING HANDS--LANGUAGE OF THE SHED-- - EDUCATION--THE EDUCATED MAN NOT WANTED--GREASING - THE FORGE 274 - -CHAPTER XVIII - - SHORT TIME AND OVERTIME--“BACK TO THE LAND”--THE TOWN - INFLUENCE--CHANGES AT THE WORKS--GRIEVANCES--THE - POSITION OF LABOUR--ILLS AND REMEDIES--THE FUTURE - OUTLOOK 292 - -APPENDIX - - TABLE OF WAGES PAID AT THE WORKS 309 - - INDEX 311 - - - - -LIFE IN A RAILWAY FACTORY - - - - -CHAPTER I - -LABOUR UNREST - - -Someone once asked the Greek Thales how he might best bear misfortune -and he replied--“By seeing your enemy in a worse condition than -yourself.” He would have been as near the truth if he had said “friend” -instead of “enemy.” Everyone appears to desire to see every other one -worse off than himself. He is not content with doing well; he must do -better, and if his success happens to be at the expense of one less -fortunate he will be the more highly gratified. This lust of dominion -and possession dates from the very foundation of human society. It is a -feature of barbarism, and one that the wisest teaching and the most -civilising influences at work in the world have failed to remove or even -very materially to modify. The idea behind the _Sic vos non vobis_ of -Virgil has always been uppermost in the minds of the powerful. This it -was that doomed the captives of the Greeks and Romans to a life of -wretchedness and misery in the mines. This was responsible for the -subjugation of the English peasants, and their reduction to the order of -serfs in feudal times. And this is what would enslave the labouring -classes in mine, field, and factory to-day. It must not be permitted. -There is a way to defeat it. That is by law. Not a law made by the -depredators but by the workers themselves. They have the means at their -disposal. If they would summon up the courage to make use of them they -might shatter the power of the capitalist at a stroke and free -themselves from his domination for ever. - -A principal cause of trouble everywhere between the employer and the -employed is the lack of recognition of the worker. I mean this in its -broadest sense. I do not mean merely that great and powerful -combinations do not want to recognise Trade Unions. We all know that. It -is a part of their policy and is dictated by pride and the spirit of -intolerance. But they make a much more serious and fatal mistake. They -refuse to recognise a man. All kinds of employers are guilty of this. -The mineowner, the trading syndicate, the railway or steamship company, -municipal authorities, the large and small manufacturer, the farmer and -shopkeeper are equally to blame. If they would recognise the man they -might be led to a consideration of his legitimate needs. They must first -admit him to be equally a member of the human family and then recognise -that, as such, he has claims as righteous and sacred as they. That is -where the representative of capital invariably fails. He will not admit -that the one under his authority has any rights of his own. To him the -worker is as much a slave as ever he was, only he is conscious that his -treatment of him must be subject to the limitations imposed by the -modern laws of the land. And as he flouts the individual so he contemns -the collective organisations of the men. He is determined not to -recognise them. He considers this to be a proof of his strength. In -reality it is a badge of his weakness. Sooner or later it will prove his -undoing. - -I will give an illustration. Several years ago, working in the same -shed as myself, was a grey-headed furnaceman. He was not an old man; he -could have been no more than fifty. One day he met with a serious -accident. While attending to his furnace, in a stooping position, -someone in passing accidentally pushed him. This caused him to lose his -balance and he slipped on the plate and fell head-first into a boshful -of boiling water underneath the fire hole. His head and shoulders were -severely scalded, and he was absent on the sick list for two months. -When he came in again he was not allowed to resume work at the furnace -but was put wheeling out ashes from the smiths’ fires. To my -steam-hammer an oil furnace had recently been attached and several -managers came daily to experiment with it. One morning, while they were -present, the ex-furnaceman came to wheel away the debris. Then a manager -turned to me and said-- - -“Who’s that? What’s he doing here?” - -I explained who the man was and what he was doing. - -“Pooh! What’s the good of _that thing_! He ought to be shifted outside,” -replied he. - -In a short while afterwards the furnaceman was discharged. - -There is something even worse than this and much more serious in effect. -That is a result of too great recognition. I am referring to the common -fault of interfering with and penalising men of superior mental and -intellectual powers. There is even a certain advantage in a man’s -ability to escape attention. Especially if he is of a courageous turn of -mind, has views and ideas of his own, and is able to influence others. -He will live the more easy for it. Left to himself he can work away -quietly, informing the minds and leavening the opinions of those round -about him. If he can escape recognition. But he cannot. He is soon -discovered, gagged, smothered, or got rid of. The safest way to -strengthen a flame is to fan it. And if you want to intensify a man’s -dissatisfaction with a thing attempt to prevent him by force from giving -expression to it. That is a sure means of provocation and will bear -fruit a hundredfold. - -We hear a great deal about the “discontent” of the workers, and a degree -of censure and reproach is usually conveyed with the expression. It is -not half general enough. The average working man is too content. He is -often lazily apathetic. Is the mineowner, the manufacturer, or the -railway magnate content? Of course he is not. Strength is in action. -When I hear of a man’s being satisfied I know that he is done for. He -might as well be dead. I wish the workers were more discontented, though -I should in every case like to see their discontent rationally expressed -and all their efforts intelligently directed. They waste a fearful -amount of time and energy through irresolution and uncertainty of -objective. - -The selfishness, cruelty, and arrogance of the capitalist and his agents -force the workers into rebellion. The swaggering pomposity and fantastic -ceremony of officials fill them with deserving contempt. Their impudence -is amazing. I have known a foreman of the shed to attack a man by reason -of the decent clothes he had on and forbid him to wear a bowler hat. Not -only in the workshop but even at home in his private life and dealings -he is under the eye of his employer. His liberty is tyrannically -restricted. In the town he is not allowed to supplement his earnings by -any activity except such as has the favour of the works’ officials. He -must not keep a coffee-shop or an inn, or be engaged in any trading -whatever. He may not even sell apples or gooseberries. And if he happens -to be the spokesman of a labourers’ union or to be connected with any -other independent organisation, woe betide him! The older established -association--such as that of the engineers--is not interfered with. It -is the unprotected unskilled workman that must chiefly be terrorised and -subjugated. - -The worker is everywhere exploited. The speeding-up of late years has -been general and insistent. New machinery is continually being installed -in the sheds. This is driven at a high rate and the workman must keep -pace with it. The toil in many cases is painfully exacting. There may be -a less amount of violent physical exertion required here and there, -though much more concentration of mind and attention will be needed. The -output, in some instances, has been increased tenfold. I am not -exaggerating when I say that the actual exertions of the workman have -often been doubled or trebled, yet he receives scarcely anything more in -wages. In some cases he does not receive as much. He may have obtained a -couple of shillings more in day wages and at the same time have lost -double the amount in piecework balance. Occasionally, when the foreman -of the shed has mercilessly cut a man’s prices, he offers him a sop in -the shape of a rise of one or two shillings. On the hammers under my -charge during the last ten years the day wages of assistants--owing to -their being retained on the job up to a greater age--had doubled, and -the piecework prices had been cut by one half. As a result the gang lost -about £80 in a year. A mate of mine, whose prices had been cut to the -lowest fraction, though offered a rise, steadily refused it on the -ground that he would be worse off than before. Though slaving from -morning till night he could not earn his percentage of profit. In many -cases where the workman was formerly allowed to earn a profit of 33 per -cent. on his day wages he is now restricted to 25 per cent., and the -prices have been correspondingly reduced. Even now the foreman is not -satisfied. He will still contrive to keep the percentage earned below -the official figure in order to ingratiate himself with the managers and -to give them the impression that he is still engaged in paring the -prices. - -At the same time, a marvellous lack of real initiative is discovered by -the factory staff. Things that have been so are so, and if any sharp and -enterprising workman sees the possibility of improvement anywhere and -makes a suggestion he is soundly snubbed for his pains. In their -particular anxiety to exact the last ounce from the workman in the -matter of labour the managers overlook multitudes of important details -connected with their own administration, but which the workman sees as -plainly as he does the nose on his face. They often spend pounds to -effect the saving of a few pence. They lavish vast sums on experiments -that the most ordinary man perceives have no possible chance of being -successful, or even useful if they should succeed. Men’s opinions upon a -point are rarely solicited; if offered, they are belittled and rejected. -Where an opinion is asked for it is usually intended as a bait for a -trap, the answer is carefully recorded and afterwards used to prove -something to the other’s disadvantage. - -But those ideas which are most valuable, provided they are not complex -and the simple-minded official can readily grasp them--which is not -always the case--he secretly cherishes and stealthily develops and -afterwards parades them to his superior with swaggering pride as his own -inventions. It is thus Mr So-and-so becomes a smart man in the eyes of -the firm, while, as a matter of fact, he is a perfect blockhead and an -ignoramus. Meanwhile, the very workman whose idea has been purloined and -exploited is treated as a danger by the foreman; henceforth he must be -watched and kept well in subjection. The cowardly overseer sees in him a -possible rival, and is fearful for his own credit. This is one of the -worst ills of the manufacturing life, and has crushed many a brave, good -spirit, and smothered many a rising genius. The disadvantage is twofold. -There is a loss to manufacture in not being assisted with new and bright -ideas, and another to the individual, who is not only deprived of the -fruits of his inventive faculty but is systematically punished for the -possession of an original mind. In a word, officialism at the works is -continually straining at the gnat and swallowing the camel. - -What means are to be adopted in order to do away with the anomaly? One -of the first things to do would be to recognise the individual. We want -a better understanding and a new feeling altogether. The worker does not -need a profusion of sentiment; he claims justice. He is willing to give -and take. He knows that enormous profits are made out of his efforts and -it is but natural that he should demand to receive a fair amount of -remuneration and equitable conditions. My companion of the next -steam-hammer, by means of a new process, in one week saved the railway -company £20 in the execution of a single order. He had to work doubly -hard to do it but he received not a penny extra himself. The piecework -system as it stands is grossly unfair. All the profits accrue to one -side and when the worker demands what is, after all, an insignificant -participation in them he is described as being unreasonable and -discontented. Where day wages have risen all round on piecework jobs the -prices should be increased in proportion, otherwise the workman is -simply paying himself for his additional efforts out of his own pocket. - -Better wages and shorter hours are desired in every sphere of labour -and especially in factories. The worker is not greatly concerned as to -whether he is employed by the State or by a syndicate as long as he -obtains justice. It is no more trouble for Parliament to formulate a law -for a private concern than for a Government department. Forty-eight -hours a week is long enough for any man to work. I would have the -factory week completed in five turns. There is no need of the half-day -Saturdays. It is a waste of time. It is expensive for the employers and -unprofitable for the men. They can neither work nor play. If forty-eight -hours were divided out into five turns the expense of steaming for the -half-turn on Saturday would be saved. The amount of work produced would -not fall very far below that made at present, and the men would be -better satisfied. They would at least be able to have a clear rest and -come to work fresh and fit on the Monday. I would even go further and -suggest forty-five hours--that is, five turns of nine hours each--as a -working week for factories in the future. This is not so impossible nor -yet as unreasonable as it may appear. The proposal will doubtless strike -some as being amazing. Nevertheless, I recommend it to them for their -leisurely consideration. By aiming high we shall hit something. But -there are obstacles to remove and difficulties to overcome. - - - - -CHAPTER II - - THE STAMPING SHOP--GENERAL ENVIRONMENT--THE “COALIES”--THE - ROLLING MILLS--PUDDLING AND SHINGLING--ACCIDENTS AT THE - ROLLS--THE SCRAP WAGGONS--WASTE - - -The Stamping Shop is square, or nearly so, each lateral corresponding to -a cardinal point of the compass--north, south, east, and west, the whole -comprising about an acre and a quarter. That is not an extensive -building for a railway manufactory. There are some shops with an area of -not less than five, six, and even seven acres--a prodigious size! They -are used for purposes of construction, for carriages, waggons, -locomotives, and also for repairs. The premises used for purely -manufacturing purposes, such as those I am now speaking of, are -generally much smaller in extent. - -The workshop is modern in structure and has not stood for more than -fifteen years. Before that time the work proceeded on a much smaller -scale, and was carried on in a shed built almost entirely of wood and -corrugated iron--a dark, wretched place, without light or ventilation, -save for the broken windows and rents in the low, depressed roof. With -the development of the industry and general expansion of trade this -became altogether inadequate to cope with the requirements of the other -sheds, and a move had to be made to larger and more commodious premises. -Thereupon a site was chosen and a new shop erected about a quarter of a -mile distant. The walls of this are of brick, built with “piers” and -“panels,” thirty feet high, solid, massive, and substantial, with no -pretence to show of any kind. The roof is constructed in bays running -north and south, according to the disposition of the long walls, and -presents a serrated appearance, like the teeth of a huge saw. Of these -bays the slopes towards sunrise are filled in with stout panes of glass; -the opposite sides are of strong boards covered with slates, the whole -supported by massive sectional principals and a network of stout iron -girders. - -The roof is studded with hundreds of wooden ventilators intended to -carry off the smoke and fumes from the forges. Above them tower numerous -furnace stacks and chimneys from the boilers, with the exhaust pipes of -the engines and steam-hammers. Towards summer, when the days lengthen -and the sun pours down interminable volumes of light and heat from a -cloudless sky, or when the air without is charged with electricity and -the thunder bellows and rolls over the hills and downs to the south, and -the forked lightning flashes reveal every corner of the dark smithy so -that the heat becomes almost unbearable, a large quantity of the glass -is removed to aid ventilation; the heat, assisted by the ground current, -rises and escapes through the roof. But when the rain comes and the -heavy showers, driven at an angle by the wind, beat furiously through -upon the half-naked workmen beneath, even this is not an unmixed -blessing. Or when the sun shoots his hot arrows down through the -openings upon the toilers at the steam-hammers and forges, as he always -does twice during the morning--once before breakfast, and again at about -eleven o’clock--it is productive of increased discomfort; the sweat -flows faster and the work flags. This does not last long, however. -Southward goes the sun, and shade succeeds. - -The eastern and western ends of the shed are almost half taken up with -large sliding doors, that reach as high as to the roof. These rest on -wheels which are superimposed upon iron rails, so that a child might -push them backwards and forwards. Through several of the doors rails are -laid to permit of engines and waggons entering with loads of -material--iron and steel for the furnaces--and also for conveying away -the manufactures. A narrow bogie line runs round the shed and is used -for transferring materials from one part to another and to the various -hydraulic presses and forges. Here and there are fixed small turn-tables -to enable the bogies to negotiate the angles and move from track to -track. - -Southward the shed faces a yard of about ten acres in extent. This is -bounded on every side by other workshops and premises, all built of the -same dingy materials--brick, slate, and iron--blackened with smoke, -dust, and steam, surmounted with tall chimneys, innumerable ventilators, -and poles for the telephone wires, which effectually block out all -perspective. To view it from the interior is like looking around the -inner walls of a fortress. There is no escape for the eye; nothing but -bricks and mortar, iron and steel, smoke and steam arising. It is ugly; -and the sense of confinement within the prison-like walls of the factory -renders it still more dismal to those who have any thought of the hills -and fields beyond. Only in summer does it assume a brighter aspect. Then -the sun scalds down on the network of rails and ashen ground with deadly -intensity; the atmosphere quivers and trembles; the fine dust burns -under your feet, and the steel tracks glitter under the blinding rays. -The clouds of dazzling steam from the engines are no longer visible--the -air being too hot to admit of condensation--and the black smoke from -the furnaces and boilers hangs in the air, lifeless and motionless, like -a pall, for hours and hours together. - -But when the summer is over, when the majesty of July and August is past -and gone and golden September gives place to rainy October, or, most of -all, when dull, gloomy November covers the skies with its impenetrable -veil of drab cloud and mist day after day and week after week, with -scarcely an hour of sunshine, the utter dismalness and ugliness of the -place are appalling. Then there is not a vestige of colour. The sky, -roofs, walls, the engines moving to and fro, the rolling stock, the -stacks of plates and ingots of iron and steel, the sleepers for the -rails, the ground beneath--everything is dark, sombre, and repellant. -Not a glint upon the steel lines! Not a refraction of light from the -slates on the roof! Everything is dingy, dirty, and drab. And drab is -the mind of the toiler all this time, drab as the skies above and the -walls beneath. Doomed to the confinement from which there is no escape, -he accepts the condition and is swallowed up in his environment. - -There is one point, and only one, a few paces west of the shed, from -which an inspiriting view may be had. There, on a fine day, from between -two towering walls, in the little distance, blue almost as the sky and -yet distinct and well-defined, may be seen a great part of Liddington -Hill, crowned with the _castellum_, the scene of many a lively contest -in prehistoric days, and the holy of holies of Richard Jefferies, who -spent days and nights there trying to fathom the supreme mystery that -has baffled so many great and ardent souls. When the sky is clear and -the air free from mist and haze--especially as it appears sometimes in -the summer months, under a southern wind, or before or after rain--so -distinct does the sloping line of the hill show, with its broad front -towards you, that you may even perceive the common features and details -of it. Then you may plainly view the disposition of the stone walls -running from top to base, with the white chalk-pits gleaming like snow -in the distance, and tell the outer wall of the entrenchment. In short, -you might imagine yourself to be standing within the mound and looking -out over the magnificent valley--north, east, and west; towards Bristol, -over Cirencester, and beyond Witney and Oxford. But in the winter even -this is denied. Then the dark lowering clouds sweep along the downs and -shut them out of view, or grey mist fills the intervening valley, or the -rain, falling in torrents or driving in the furious south-west gale, -hides it completely; or if it is at all visible under the cold sky, it -seems so far removed and the distance so intensified as to lose all -resemblance to a hill and to look like a dim blue cloud faintly seen on -the horizon, and which is no more than a suggestion, a shape phantasmal. - -Everywhere about the yard is evidence of industry and activity; there -all is suggestive of toil, labour, and power. On the right, stretching -for a quarter of a mile, are hundreds upon hundreds of wheels, tyres, -and axles for carriages and waggons, in every phase and degree of -fitness; some fresh from the rolling mills--from Sheffield and -Scotland--some turned and fitted in the lathe, huge jointless tyres -newly unladen waiting to take their turn in the operation of fitting -them to the wheels, and others finished, wheels, tyres, and axle -compact, dipped in tar--except the journals--to prevent them from -rusting, and all ready to be placed underneath the waggons. There are -wheels of solid steel, wheels with spokes, and wheels of oak, teak, and -even of paper composition, of many sorts and sizes, for smooth-running -carriages. One would think there were enough of them to stock the whole -railway system, but a few weeks of steady consumption would thin them -down, and the yard would soon be bare and empty if fresh consignments -were not every day arriving. - -In front of the wheels, in rows and lines, are the huge cast-iron blocks -and dies used for punching and pressing by the hydraulic machines. They -are of all shapes and dimensions, puzzling to the eye of the stranger, -but easily identified by those who are accustomed to use them, and who -have been acquainted with them perhaps from boyhood. There are sets for -“joggling” and “up-setting,” and others for shaping and levelling. In -the midst of them stands a stout, three-legged machine called a “sheer -legs.” To this is attached strong pulley blocks for lifting the sets -from the ground--many of them weigh considerably more than a ton; -afterwards a stout bogie is run underneath and the blocks are lowered -and so carried off to the field of operations. - -Many an accident has happened in the conveyance of blocks and dies to -and from their destination; many a bruised foot or broken limb has -resulted from a lack of carefulness and attention on the part of the -workmen. The slightest disregard may lead to injury. The bogie may slip, -or the block slide, and woe be to the individual who chances to be in -the way of the falling mass. Unassuming, and even valueless as this -collection of dies may appear to the uninitiated, it is really worth a -huge sum, for manufacturing tools are of a very expensive character. - -Close on the left is a long line of waggons laden with coal fresh from -the Welsh pits, and near by is a large bunk into which it is emptied to -allow of the speedy return of the vehicles--an important item in railway -administration. Here the dark and grimy coal heavers, with faces as -black as the mineral they are handling, grunt and sweat, their eyes -obtaining peculiar prominence from being inset in a ground of ebony, and -their teeth glistening pearly white through the blackened lips, -appearing the more remarkable if they should smile at you. For even they -will brighten up sometimes. Hard and laborious as their toil is, they -will now and then relax into pleasantry and relieve the tedium of work -with a snatch of song and hilarity. - -The coalies are not highly paid. Their day wages are eighteen shillings -or a pound a week, but, as all the work of the shed is done at the piece -rate, they are enabled to earn a few shillings above that sum. The -dullest men--those whose misfortune it is to have missed the right -education, or those who are naturally slow and awkward--are usually -selected for coal-heaving. Very often, however, shrewd and capable, -smart and intelligent men, who might be more profitably employed than in -shovelling coal from the truck to the bunk or wheel-barrow, are put at -the task. Perhaps this is the result of carelessness on the part of the -overseer, or it may be dearth of hands, and very likely it is -intentional. The man is out of favour and has been clapped there as a -punishment. - -Near the coal station stand piles upon piles of iron and steel, in -plates, bars, and ingots, some six and some ten feet high, in large -square stacks, and the long bars disposed between uprights to keep them -together and separate those of different lengths and sizes. The chief -part of this comes in from “abroad,” that is, from the midlands and the -north of England, for very little iron ore is now manufactured on the -premises. A small amount of pig iron is imported and worked up at the -local rolling mills, but the greater part of the metal is purchased of -the big firms and dealers away from the town. - -The chief occupation of the factory rolling mills now is to receive the -iron scrap from the various workshops, such as clippings, shearings, -punchings, and drillings, with all the old iron proceeding from the -breaking up of worn-out engines and vehicles. This is first of all -reduced to convenient shape and then set up in “piles” on thin pieces of -wood to enable of its being placed in the furnace on the peels used for -the purpose. In the making of piles the flat pieces of metal are placed -around the outside, leaving a hollow within, which is filled up with -punchings and drillings, old rivets, nuts, bolts, and other similar -scrap. The pile is set in the furnace and heated, when it coalesces into -a mass; afterwards it is brought out to the heavy steam-hammer and -beaten into rough bars or slabs, several feet in length. This process is -called “shingling.” When the iron has become fairly solid and of -convenient length, the bars, still spluttering and fizzing--for they -have not been under the hammer for more than two or three minutes--are -hurried off to the rolls. There they are received by the men in charge, -who stand stripped to the waist, with tongs in hand, and dexterously -guide the rough ingots into the ponderous rollers that revolve at speeds -suited to the size and weight of the bars, and always with a loud -clanking noise. - -As soon as the bar is rolled through--already drawn out to two or three -times its original length--the rolls stop and instantly revolve in the -other direction. The bar is again guided into the channel of the rollers -and emerges on the other side, longer and smoother. This process is -continued four or five times until the bars are finished; then other -small rollers in the floor are set in motion and the bars travel along -the ground to the steam saws, where they are cut up into the lengths -required. There they are loaded on iron bogies and carried off, or -rolled along as before to the weighing machines; everything is paid for -according to the weight of the finished material. - -Punchings and drillings are also treated by the process known as -“puddling.” In this case, the furnaces will have a cavity in the floor, -into which the small scrap material is shovelled or tipped. The door is -now made fast and the heat applied, which must not be too fierce, -however, or the whole mass would soon be burned and spoiled. When the -drillings and chippings have cohered, the puddler, by an aperture -through the iron door, inserts a steel bar, curved at the end, and -prises the lump and turns it over and over. This is called “balling up.” -By and by, when the iron is thoroughly heated and fairly consistent, it -is brought to the “shingler,” who soon gives it shape and solidity. At -the first few blows a terrific shower of sparks shoots around, which -travel for a great distance, burning everything they meet. To protect -themselves against this the shinglers wear heavy iron jackboots, -reaching above the knees, with an iron veil over their eyes and faces. -As the steam-hammer block upon which the pounding is done is only a few -inches above the floor level and the sparks and splinters fly out with -the precision of shot from a gun barrel, the danger is confined to a -space within two feet of the floor. - -When the heats come from the puddling furnaces they look soft and spongy -and soon become dull on the outer parts, so that a stranger might think -them not sufficiently hot to beat up, but after the first light blow or -two he will find himself mistaken. First of all the huge hammer--able to -strike a blow equal to a hundred tons pressure--is merely allowed to -squeeze the mass, without beating it. Then it rises gently and travels -up and down, scarcely touching the metal. Gradually the blows fall -harder and harder until the piece is fully consistent; then it is -rapidly drawn away to the rolls. Very rarely are the hammers required to -expend their full powers upon the melting slabs, unless they happen to -be of steel, which is very hard, even when whitehot. Then the blows fall -terrific. The steam spouts, roars, and hisses; the chains jingle and the -ground under your feet shakes as though in an earthquake. - -When a better quality of iron is required the punchings, bolts, and -rivets are placed in a large drum which is afterwards set in motion and -continues to revolve for several hours. By this means all the rust, -paint, and dirt are removed from the metal, and when it is taken from -the cylinder it shines like silver. Special regard is had for this in -the furnaces. Care is taken to save it from over-heating and waste, and -when it finally emerges from the rolls it is set apart by itself and -labelled for its superior quality. - -Various prices, ranging from 15s. to 50s. a ton, are paid for shingling -and forging. These depend upon the weight of the piece and the degree of -finish required. The shingler is clever and expert, and he is not highly -paid at the works, considering his usefulness, for he is a great -manufacturer. Thousands of tons of metal must pass through his hands in -the course of a year, and the work is very hot and laborious. By the age -of fifty the shinglers and forgemen are usually worn out and superseded -at the forge. When they can no longer perform their duties at the -steam-hammer they are removed from the manufacturing circle and -presented with a broom, shovel, and wheel-barrow. Their wages are cut -down to that of a common labourer, and thus they spend their few -remaining years of service. At an early age they drop off altogether, -and their places are filled by others who have gone through the same -experience. - -The running of the iron from the furnace to the steam-hammer and back -again to the rolls is chiefly performed by boys and young men. The -majority of these come from the villages round about, for the town lads, -as a rule, are much too wideawake for the business; the work is too hard -for them. Living close to the factory they know by report which shops to -avoid, and if, by misadventure, they happen to get a start in such a -place they are very quickly out of it. Accordingly the more laborious -work usually falls upon those who dwell without the town. It is the same -with the men. Those who live in the borough nearly always obtain the -easier berths; John and George do the heavy lifting and heaving. - -Accidents are frequent at the rolling mills. Burns are of common -occurrence, and they are sometimes very serious and occasionally fatal. -Great care is requisite in moving about amid so much fire and heated -material, for everything--the floors, principals, rollers, the bogie -handles, tools and all--is very hot. Some of the carrying is done with a -kind of wheel-barrow that requires a special balance. The least -obstruction will upset it, and a little awkwardness on the part of the -workman is sufficient to bring the weltering burden down to the ground. -Not long ago, as a youth was drawing a large, whitehot pile from the -furnace to the steam-hammer, he slipped on the iron floor and fell at -full length on his back upon the ground. As he fell the bogie inclined -forward and the huge pile slid down and lodged on his stomach, -inflicting frightful injuries. He was quickly rescued from his tortuous -position, but there was no hope of recovery from such an accident, and -he died a day or two afterwards. He, too, was of the neighbouring -village. - -You can always tell these young men of the steam-hammer or rolling -mills, whenever you meet them. They are usually lank and thin and their -faces are ghastly white. Their nostrils are distended; black and blue -rings encircle their eyes. Their gait is careless and shuffling, and -their dress, on a holiday, is a curious mixture of the rural and urban -styles. On week-days they are as black as sweeps, and the blacker they -are the better, in their opinion, for they take pride in parading the -badge of their profession and are not ashamed of it as are their -workmates who dwell in the town. - -I have said that formerly much more iron was manufactured on the -premises than is the case at this time. Then the steam-hammer shed, in -which nothing but forging is done, was a flourishing place. All the -wheels for the engines and waggons, together with piston rods, driving -gear, axles, and cranks, were made there. These are obtained elsewhere -now, some in England and Scotland, and other parts from abroad. Steel -has superseded iron in a great degree, too, being harder, tougher, -stronger and cheaper. The combined skill of the chemist and scientist -has simplified the manufacture of it, and it is to be obtained in large -quantities. But steel rusts much more quickly than iron, and does not -last nearly as long in exposed positions on the vehicles. - -Formerly all wheels were made of wrought iron and a great part of the -work was done by hand. First of all the sections were made under the -steam-hammer, in “=T=” pieces and boss ends, and shut in the middle. -These were for the spokes. Then the “=T=” ends were incurved and joined -together all round till the rim of the wheel was finished. After that, -there remained to form the centre and make the “boss” solid and compact. -As the boss sections were made to fit together in the middle, they only -required to be heated and welded. Accordingly they were placed on an -open forge, built round with damp coal-dust to contain and concentrate -the heat, the boss being exactly over the centre of the fire. Another -forge, close at hand, contained a large round iron washer, similarly -placed, to which was attached an iron bar for lifting it from the fire. -Both heats were prepared simultaneously. Then the wheel, lifted by a -crane, was quickly removed from the forge, turned upside down and placed -on the steam-hammer block. The washer was brought out at once and -clapped on smartly, and down came the heavy monkey. Half-a-dozen blows -were sufficient to make the weld. Then it was removed from the -steam-hammer and laid on an iron table and the smiths set about it with -their tools to finish it off, three or four men striking alternately on -one “flatter” or “fuller,” with perfect rhythm and precision, the chief -smith directing operations and working with the rest. - -Those were the palmy days for the smithy. Wages were high and the prices -good, and the work made was solid and strong. Now all wheels are -manufactured of cast steel and with little hand labour. The molten metal -is simply poured into moulds, allowed to cool and afterwards annealed in -special furnaces. One can easily imagine the immense amount of labour -saved in the operation, though the wheels are not as elastic and -durable. - -Situated near the piles of new material are the scrap bunks. These are -old waggons that have served their turn on the railway and, instead of -being broken up, have been lifted bodily from the sets of wheels and -deposited on the ground as receptacles for the large quantities of scrap -made in the workshop. What miles these old waggons have gone! What storm -and stress they have endured! What burdens they have borne! East and -west, north and south, over hills and bridges, through valleys, past -miles upon miles of cornfields and meadows, green and gold, red and -brown by turn, in rain and snow, winter frost and summer sunshine, by -day and night, year after year together. - -These waggons, if they could speak, would tell you they have visited -every station and town on the system. They have crossed the Thames, the -Severn, the Kennet, the Upper and Lower Avon, the Wye, the Dee, the -Towy, the Parrot and the Tamar, times out of number. They have gone -through dark tunnels, over dizzy viaducts, past cathedral cities and -quaint old market-towns, villages, and hamlets, sleeping and waking, at -all hours of the day and night, drawn on, and on, and on by the tireless -iron steeds, piled up with all sorts of goods and commodities for the -use of man--stones to build him houses, iron to strengthen them, corn to -feed him and his family, and materials to clothe them. They would tell -you of many lovely woods and forests through which they have journeyed, -and seaside towns, with the strong blue ocean in view, sometimes running -perilously near the beach, at others hidden in deep cuttings, where the -banks are blue with violets, and yellow with the pale gold of the -cowslip, followed by the endless array of the ox-eyes, toadflax, and -sweet wild mignonette. And they would tell you of long, dark, winter -nights, when the tempest howled madly through the trees and bridges and -sang shrilly in the telegraph wires; when the rain fell in a deluge from -the inky sky, or the sleet and snow drove in blinding clouds and was -piled upon the weatherproof tarpaulins. Or again they would relate of -running smoothly on summer nights under the pale southern moon, or when -the stars glittered in the frosty heavens, or dense fog, so troublesome -and dangerous to the ever-watchful and valiant old driver, shut -everything out of view, signals and all, so that their very whereabouts -were only known and identified by paying close attention to the loud, -shot-like explosions of the detonators placed along the line by the -fogmen. - -Now all these things are at an end. They have run their race, and grown -old in the service. They have fulfilled their period of usefulness on -the line and, like old veterans returned from the war, they have come -back to their native town to end their days. Being fairly sound of -constitution and having escaped the shocks of collision and accident, -they were adjudged too solid to be broken up yet, so, as a last use, -they were placed here to receive the punchings and trimmings from the -shears and presses, and ingloriously waste away in their old age, -exposed to all the inclemencies and caprices of the weather. - -The scrap, made daily, soon amounts to hundreds of tons. It is of all -shapes and sizes. There is plate from an eighth of an inch to an inch -and a half thick from the presses, ends and trimmings of rods and bars -from the shears and steam-hammers, burs from the stamping plant and -scrag ends from the forgings. In addition to this there are scores of -tons of old iron and steel, brought from all over the system to be cut -up at the hydraulic shears--sole-bars of waggons, stanchions and -“diagonals,” “=T=”-iron plates, and hundreds of old draw-bars and -buffers. The iron and steel are carefully observed and kept separate and -huge piles soon accumulate, far more than the waggons can hold. The iron -refuse is by and by passed on to the rolling mills, while the steel -scrap awaits a purchaser. No attempt is made to utilise that on the -premises. There are secrets in the manufacture of steel which are never -betrayed to outsiders, and it would be a waste of time and money for -the local furnacemen and forgers to attempt to do anything with it. -However carefully the furnaceman tends it in the fire he cannot get it -to cohere well in the piles, and if it is at all over-heated it bursts -and scatters in all directions, brittle and glassy, as soon as the -steam-hammer touches it with a gentle blow. - -There is, at the same time, enormous waste in the matter of scrap iron -and steel, which intelligent supervision would certainly lessen. -Material that might economically be used in the workshop is -indiscriminately passed out with the rubbish and sold away at a cheap -rate--at a fraction of its real value. Tons of metal--good solid iron, -often of the highest quality--which might be used for forging and -stamping, are rejected and scrapped because it would take a trifle -longer to handle. Other large scrap material might be slabbed and used -without sending it to the mill, and thus large profits would accrue to -the shed; for the rolling mills people will only purchase, -theoretically, at trade prices, that is, at about two pounds a ton for -scrap iron. - - - - -CHAPTER III - - THE SHUNTERS--WATCHMEN--DETECTING A THIEF--FIRES--CARRIAGE - FINISHERS--PAINTERS--“WASHERS-DOWN”--CUSHION-BEATERS--CHANGES - AND INNOVATIONS--DEPARTMENTAL RELATIONS - - -A short way off in the yard, in a small space clear of the confusing -network of lines that cross and recross here and there, running in every -direction and connecting the various workshops together, are two old -railway coaches dispossessed of their wheels and lodged upon baulks of -timber let into the ground. Like the old scrap waggons, they have had -their day in active service, and, coming home in fairly good condition, -though antiquated in style and useless for passenger traffic, have yet -been found convenient as occasional storehouses and shelters. They are -now used as cabins, one for the shunters, who conduct their operations -round about, and the other for watchmen, and they are fitted with stoves -for warming the men’s food, and for drying their clothes in wet weather. -The roofs and windows are intact, and some of the original seats still -remain. These are of bare wood and are not padded and upholstered in the -comfortable and luxurious style now required and expected by the railway -traveller. - -These old carriages are at this time very rarely met with and are nearly -extinct. For years after they disappeared from the general -traffic--superseded by more commodious and comfortable vehicles--the -best of them were kept stored up in sheds and yards in out-of-the-way -places to await the time of trippers and excursionists. Then they were -regularly hauled out to accommodate the multitude. The windows were -hastily wiped over and the interiors dusted out; they were ready to -receive the people. Goods engines of the old type were brought up to -draw them along. The trippers squeezed themselves inside, and, with the -shrieking of steam whistles and hooters and the playing of concertinas -and melodions, the trains started off and went jolting and jogging away -to their destinations. At the end of the tripping season the coaches -were again stored away in the yards and sidings, until they became too -crazy and dangerous to run on the main line, when they were either -utilised for storehouses and shelters, or broken up. The refuse wood -from the destruction of old worn-out rolling stock is sawn up and used -for lighting the fires in the furnaces and boilers, and is distributed -throughout the system. A large quantity is also sold to the workmen, who -use it both for firing and for the construction of outhouses. - -The shunters of the yard are a hard-working body of men, and they are -exposed to many dangers. The hours are long and they must cover many -miles during the day by running up and down the lines. It is their duty -to transfer the carriages and waggons from road to road and from one -workshop to another, to dispose of the old ones brought in for repairs, -to lead out the new, and distribute the various stores--iron and steel, -coal, coke, and timber--at several points. Whatever the weather may be -they must be up and doing, or the traffic in the yard would soon be in -utter confusion. Rain or snow, cold or heat, sunshine or cloud, July -glow or December fog and gloom are all one to them. The busy swarm of -workmen comes and goes, the furnaces spout their dense black clouds of -smoke into the heavens; the dazzling steam, shot out from the engines -and steam-hammers, leaps up in an ascending pillar, the rapid wheels -spin round in the roof or under the wall, and the endless toil goes on, -all which must be catered for by the shunters. - -Great care must be taken to prevent the sidings from becoming blocked by -crossing a wrong point. Where two or more engines are operating over a -complex siding this may easily be done, and a delay of several hours -will be the result. If an inexperienced shunter, mistaking the number of -his points, shifts his waggons on to the wrong track and, not perceiving -his error, at once proceeds to carry out several other manœuvres, he -may shut in the engines so completely and confusedly that he will want -all his wits about him to extricate them again; it will be like a -mathematical problem. Happily for the shunter’s credit, this is not a -common occurrence. - -Strong, healthy men are selected for the shunter’s trade, to carry the -pole and whistle. By working in the open air, exposed to all kinds of -weather, they become hardy and seasoned and present a far different -appearance from that of those who are shut up within the walls of the -workshop, amid the smoke and fumes. Instead of becoming lean with the -constant running to and fro, they seem to thrive on the exercise, and -many of them assume substantial proportions. Their faces are bronzed -with the sun and wind, and they are a picture of health--strong, -stalwart, and of good physique. The shunters are not under as many -restrictions as are the factory workers proper, _i.e._, those within the -sheds. It is their privilege to smoke while on duty, or, at any rate, in -the intervals on the premises, an indulgence which is strictly forbidden -to all other employees. They remain always about the yard and never go -beyond the bounds prescribed for them, so that they really belong to the -factory. - -The other cabin is used by the watchmen as an out-shelter--a kind of -half-way refuge. Their headquarter is at the main entrance, where there -are always one or two on duty to check the coming in and going out of -the workmen, to keep out intruders and to prevent any from passing out -before the regulation hour. They also act in the quality of police to -protect the property of the railway company, patrol the shops and yards, -and keep a sharp look-out for loiterers and any who should attempt to -smoke or read a newspaper on the sly. - -Every workshop and building is provided with certain clock-like -instruments called “tell-tales,” which are fixed in many corners and -angles, and at frequent intervals along the high board fence that -encloses the factory grounds. The watchman appointed for the round is -furnished with a key that fits the instrument. It is his duty to visit -each of these every hour, or every two hours, according to the -time-table given him by his chief. When he comes to the tell-tale he -inserts the key and, after turning it round, withdraws it. This leaves a -record of his visit and certifies that he has gone his round regularly. -At intervals, unknown to the watchman, the tell-tales are removed and -privately examined, in order to see that everything is correct, and if -there has been any neglect of duty the offender is sought out and -punished. Occasionally it transpires that there has been wholesale -tampering with the instruments in order to escape going the rounds. The -watchmen, like all others at the works, agreed for the time, finally -come to loggerheads and play the tell-tale themselves. Someone or other -informs of his mate, this one retaliates and the scheme is laid bare. -Forthwith the whole staff of watchmen are summoned to appear before the -works’ manager, and are punished in various ways. Something new and -strange is adopted; the men’s time and rounds are altered, and they -patrol their beats the laughing-stock of the workmen whom it is their -duty to observe and supervise. - -The watchmen, as a class, are surly and over-officious. Perhaps they -were chosen for some qualities they were thought to possess, fitting -them for the duties expected of them; they are not popular with the -workmen. The fact of their being placed in a supervisory position and of -being exempt from manual work induces them to have a higher opinion of -themselves than the actual circumstances warrant. They consider -themselves above the average at the works and cultivate the -pseudo-genteel. - -When a new watchman is made it is noised abroad throughout the -department; his size, description, and all else that is known of him are -passed around the sheds for the benefit of the masses. Developments are -anticipated and the results eagerly awaited. Elated at his promotion and -great in his own conceit the newly initiated one, before he is -well-known and identified by the workmen, slips to and fro in the sheds, -eager for surprise captures. Immediately before the hooter sounds for -the men’s release at meal times he is to be found suddenly opening doors -and popping on the scene. If any of the workmen should happen to have on -their coats, or to have gathered near the door ready to rush out, they -scatter like wood-pigeons when a hawk has darted in the midst of them. -This forms the subject of a report to the shop foreman or to the -manager. Dire threats as to the consequences of loitering are launched -at the workmen; a few youths are suspended and forced to take a rest, -and so the matter is settled. - -The watchman, however, is not forgotten or forgiven by the men. Some -nickname or other is coined for him on the spot. Perhaps he is hooted -for a sneak and teased in various ways, the boys especially enjoying a -joke at his expense. They set traps for him, and after racing about the -yard and dodging between the waggons and coaches, suddenly decamp and -make for the tunnels or entrances. Once a nickname becomes attached to a -watchman it seldom leaves him. One has borne the title of “Long Bill” -for a number of years; another is honoured with the appellation of -“Powerful”; this one is “Flat-foot,” that is “Rubber-heel,” and another -has earned for himself the ridiculous title of “Chesty.” - -Theft is sometimes practised by the workmen, though it is much more -rarely committed now than it was formerly. Some of the schemes adopted -for getting the stolen materials outside the works have been quite -artistic, and others were ridiculously open and daring. Years ago loads -of timber and other valuables were regularly smuggled out in the middle -of the night, and especially on Saturday nights. They were piled upon -big trucks and bogies and got past the entrances with the watchman’s -consent and connivance. Probably he received a bribe for his silence--a -quart of ale at the club, or a share of the stolen goods. On at least -one occasion a brazen-faced fellow wheeled out a new wheel-barrow, -unchallenged, amid the crowd at a dinner-time and was never suspected. -At other times wheel-barrows and other tools have mysteriously -disappeared in the night, as though they had been swallowed up by an -earthquake. They were quietly lifted over the fence and received into -the neighbouring field and so got safely away. - -Sometimes a workman will split on his mate whom he knows to be in the -habit of purloining things from the shed. Perhaps it is a little -firewood or a few screws or nails that were picked up in the yard. -Going privately to the watchman he acquaints him of the fact, and at -dinner-time, or night, a stand is made at the entrance, and the culprit -seized and searched. This invariably means dismissal, however small the -amount of the theft may be. Somehow or other, though, the informer is -discovered and for ever afterwards he is branded as a sneak and shunned -by his fellows. There is no forgiveness for this kind of thing among the -workmen. Honesty or not honesty, he is never tolerated but is looked -upon with the utmost disgust and contempt. - -Occasionally, if you should stand at the entrance as the workmen are -leaving, you might see an abject-looking individual, with drawn -features, making his way painfully through the tunnel, limping, or -dragging a leg behind him. The casual observer would jump to the -conclusion that the man had met with an accident, or that he was -naturally lame or a cripple. But very likely, if the truth were known, -he has a staff of wood, or a rod of iron, four feet long, concealed in -the leg of his trousers and reaching up to the breast, and that is what -makes him walk with such great difficulty. Another plan is to bend a rod -of iron in the shape of a hoop and so fix it around the waist, or to -pack the contraband next to the skin, under the armpits and around the -stomach. This very often leads to detection. The watchman on duty at the -entrance has his suspicions aroused by the shape of the man. Accordingly -he steps out, calls him aside and feels the part, and the culprit is -discovered. - -It sometimes happens that a watchman gets on the track of an innocent -workman and makes himself appear ridiculous, for he is sure to be -noticed by the crowd and heartily jeered at for his interference. Not -long ago a young workman, on his way out from the shed one morning -after night duty, was challenged and stopped and required to disclose -the contents of his dinner-basket, which, to the watchman’s eye, seemed -unusually heavy. The young man, who was an enthusiastic Christian, -smilingly complied and, opening his basket, took out a big Bible, and -presented it to his challenger. That was more than the watchman had -bargained for, and he immediately shuffled off in considerable -confusion. A few nights ago a surly watchman stopped me and curtly -demanded to know what I was carrying “in the parcel under my arm.” It -was merely my daily newspaper. - -It is not the rank and file alone that are guilty of taking things that -do not belong to them. Some of the principals of the staff have been -notoriously to blame in this respect, as is well-known at the works, -though their misdeeds are invariably screened and condoned. If one of -the managers has stolen materials worth hundreds of pounds he is -reprimanded and allowed to continue at his post, or at most, he is asked -to resign and is afterwards awarded a pension; but if the workman has -purloined an article of a few pence in value he is dismissed and -prosecuted. This is no general statement but a plain matter of fact. - -Further over the yard, towards one of the sheds that form the boundary -on this side, stands a large water-closet, one of many about the -factory, built to meet the requirements of about five hundred workmen. -These buildings are of a uniform type and are disagreeable places, -lacking in sanitary arrangements. There is not the slightest approach to -privacy of any kind, no consideration whatever for those who happen to -be imbued with a sense of modesty or refinement of feeling. The -convenience consists of a long double row of seats, situate back to -back, partly divided by brick walls, the whole constructed above a -large pit that contains a foot of water which is changed once or twice a -day. The seats themselves are merely an iron rail built upon brickwork, -and there is no protection. Several times, I have known men to -overbalance and fall into the pit. Everything is bold, daring, and -unnatural. On entering, the naked persons of the men sitting may plainly -be seen, and the stench is overpowering. The whole concern is gross and -objectionable, filthy, disgusting, and degrading. No one that is chaste -and modest could bear to expose himself, sitting there with no more -decency than obtains among herds of cattle shut up in the winter pen. -Consequently, there are many who, though hard pressed by the exigences -of nature, never use the place. As a result they contract irregularities -and complaints of the stomach that remain with them all their lives, and -that might easily prove fatal to them. Perhaps this barbarous relic of -insanitation may in time be superseded by some system a little more -moral and more compatible with human sensibility and refinement. - -Near this spot, in the open air, are stored hundreds of gallons of oil, -spirits and other liquids of a highly inflammable nature, used for -mixing paints for the carriages and waggons, together with chemicals -employed in the rapid cleansing of the exteriors of vehicles that come -in for repairs and washing-down. The rules of the factory strictly -forbid the storing of any of these liquids within the workshops and -outhouses. This precaution is taken in order to prevent damage by fire -in case of an outbreak and to render the flames more easy of control by -the firemen. - -At every short distance there is a connection with the water-main and a -length of hose always fit and ready for any emergency. The works has its -own fire-engine--a powerful motor and pumps--and if by chance a call is -made the men are speedily on the spot. Here and there around the sheds -are deep pits, walled up and covered with cast-iron tops, to contain -water for the fire-engines, for they cannot well draw clear off the -main. To these pits, in the afternoon or evening, the engines and -firemen occasionally come for practice. Immediately the wells are filled -from the main, the hose is coupled up, and a perfect deluge is rained -over everything in the vicinity, as though a fire were really in -progress. After half an hour’s lusty exertion with the hose and the -scaling of walls and roofs, the firemen stow their apparatus and the -motor rushes off down the yard quickly out of sight. - -Though fires at the works are not of common occurrence, there is now and -then an outbreak, and sometimes one of serious dimensions. They are -generally the result of great carelessness, or the want of ordinary -attention on the part of a workman or official. Perhaps a naked light is -left burning somewhere or other, or a portion of cotton-waste is -smouldering away unobserved. The roof may become ignited through contact -with the hot chimney; and very often the cause of the outbreak is not -ascertained at all. In several cases incendiarism has been suggested as -the cause of a fire, but, notwithstanding all the efforts of the works’ -detectives to fix the guilt, proof of the crime has never been brought -home to any individual. When fires do happen they nearly always -originate in the night. One reason of this is that, with so many workmen -on the scene, during the day, the first sign of an outbreak would be -immediately detected and dealt with before it could become dangerous. -But at night it would develop rapidly and obtain a good hold on the -premises before being discovered by the watchmen. - -When it is known in the works that a fire is raging round about--if it -should happen to be at night--the few workmen employed, without waiting -for instructions from the overseers, throw down their tools and rush off -to the scene of the accident. They are impelled to do this, in the first -place, by the strong natural desire every man has to be of service in -times of danger; secondly, by reason of the intense excitement which the -cry of “Fire!” always produces in the most phlegmatic individual, and, -last of all--if either of the two causes before-named are wanting--by a -natural and uncontrollable curiosity and fascination for the smoke and -flames. It is usually the first of these three causes that impels the -workmen to throw down their tools and run to help the men with the -fire-engines. At such times as these nothing is held sacred. Doors and -windows are forced open or smashed in, bolts and bars are wrenched from -their sockets, offices and storehouses are entered; the most private -recesses are made public. All thoughts of the midnight meal are set -aside and there is no returning to the worksheds until morning brings a -fresh supply of hands accompanied by the day officials. - -Not many years ago the station buildings took fire, shortly after -midnight, and most of the men on night duty in the department nearest -the scene flocked out to help the station staff and the firemen. By and -by the refreshment rooms were involved and there was a wholesale removal -of the viands and liquors. Under such circumstances, drinking was -naturally indulged in, and more than one--officials, as well as the rank -and file--who came out to help returned the worse for liquor. Such -adventures as these live long in the memory of the workmen: it is not -often they have the opportunity of taking a drink at the company’s -expense. - -Some time after the station fire a much more serious outbreak occurred -in an extensive shed used for the construction and storing of carriages. -There were in the place sufficient vehicles to compose twenty trains, -and the most of them were brand new, representing altogether a huge sum -of money. When the watchman passed through on his rounds at midnight -everything appeared safe; the place was dark, silent, and deserted. Half -an hour afterwards a workman employed in a shed some distance away saw a -dull glow above the roof and thought at first it was the moon rising. A -few minutes afterwards flames leapt into sight and discovered a fire of -some magnitude. - -Quickly the signal was given, and every available man rushed on the -scene. The centre of the shed was like a raging furnace. The roof was on -fire and the flames leapt from coach to coach with great rapidity. -These, from their slightness of construction and from their being -thickly coated with paint and varnish, caught fire like matchwood and -burned furiously, while large sections of the roof fell in. Every now -and then, as a coach became consumed down to the framework, the gas -cylinders underneath burst with a terrific report, like that of a piece -of heavy artillery. The shattered iron and steel flew in all directions -and increased the danger to the firemen. Hundreds of people of the -neighbourhood, roused with the repeated shocks, left their beds and ran -out of doors to ascertain the cause of the explosions. Some thought it -was an earthquake and others feared it was the boilers exploding. Many -volunteered to help, but their offers were refused, and a strong cordon -of police was drawn around the shed to keep out all intruders. So fierce -was the heat within that the steel tyres of the wheels were buckled and -bent, the rails were warped and twisted into fantastic shapes and the -heavy iron girders of the roof were wrecked. The frames of the burnt -coaches were reduced to a pile of debris and were totally -unrecognisable. The damage to rolling stock and to the premises amounted -to many thousands of pounds, yet the fire was all over in two or three -hours. As to its origin, that remained a mystery, and completely baffled -the detectives. Examination of the tell-tales proved that the watchman -had gone his round all right, and though many experiments were made the -cause of the outbreak remained inexplicable. - -A great part of the repairs to carriages--such as washing-down, -smudging, and especially the cleaning and re-fitting of interiors--is -done out of doors in the yard when the weather permits, for it would be -impossible to contain all the vehicles in the sheds. The whole of this -work, even to the most trivial detail, is now done at the piece rate. -Experienced examiners decide the amount of repairs to be executed, and -the prices are fixed according to their recommendation. It is generally -a matter of luck to the workman whether the repair job pays or not. Very -often the carrying out of repairs takes a much longer time than had been -anticipated. The renewing of one part often necessitates the remodelling -of another, or the fitting up of the new piece may prove to be a very -tedious process. In this case the workman may lose money on the job, -though, on the other hand, he may have finished altogether earlier than -he expected. It would be very nearly impossible to have a perfect -equation in the matter of repair prices, and this is recognised by all, -masters and men, too, at the factory. The workman is commonly told by -his chief that “what he loses on the swings he must pick up on the -roundabouts,” i.e., what he loses on one job he must gain on another, -and this axiom is universally accepted, at least by all those who do -repairs. On new work the labour is uniform and there is no need and no -excuse for inequality of prices. - -Great consternation fell upon the carriage finishers, painters, and -pattern-makers, several years ago, when it became known that piece rates -were to be substituted for the old day-work system, especially as the -change was to be introduced at a very slack time. It was looked upon as -a catastrophe by the workmen, and such it very nearly proved to be. Many -journeymen were discharged, some were transferred to other grades of -work--that is, those who were willing to suffer reduction rather than to -be thrown quite out of employment--and the whole department was put on -short time, working only two or three days a week, while some of the men -were shut out for weeks at a stretch. Several who protested against the -change were dismissed, and others--workmen of the highest skill and of -long connection with the company--had their wages mercilessly cut down -for daring to interpose their opinion. The pace was forced and quickened -by degrees to the uttermost and then the new prices were fixed, the -managers themselves attending and timing operations and supervising the -prices. Feeling among the workmen ran high, but there was no help for -the situation and it had to be accepted. Few of the men belonged to a -trade union, or they might have opposed the terms and made a better -bargain; as it was they were completely at the mercy of the managers and -foremen. - -The carriage finishers and upholsterers are a class in themselves, -differing, by the very nature of their craft, from all others at the -factory. As great care and cleanliness are required for their work, they -are expected to be spruce and clean in their dress and appearance. This, -together with the fact that the finisher may have served an -apprenticeship in a high-class establishment and one far more genteel -than a railway department can hope to be, tends to create in him a sense -of refinement higher than is usually found in those who follow rougher -and more laborious occupations. His cloth suit, linen collar, spotless -white apron, clean shaven face, hair carefully combed, and bowler hat -are subjects of comment by the grimy toilers of other sheds. His -dwelling is situated in the cleanest part of the town and corresponds -with his personal appearance. In the evening he prosecutes his craft at -home and manufactures furniture and decorations for himself and family, -or earns money by doing it for others. Very often the whole contents of -his parlour and kitchen--with the exception of iron and other ware--were -made by his hands, so, since his wages are above the ordinary, provided -he is steady and temperate, he may be reasonably comfortable and -well-to-do. - -The painters are not quite as fortunate as are their comrades the -finishers. Their work, though in some respects of a high order and -important, is at the same time less artistic than is that of the -cabinetmakers and upholsterers. It is also much more wearisome and -unhealthy, and the wages are not as high. Very often, too, work for them -is extremely scarce, especially during the summer and autumn months, -when every available coach is required in traffic for the busy season, -and they are consequently often on short time. Their busiest periods are -the interval between autumn and Christmas and the time between the New -Year and Easter. The style of colouring and ornamentation for the -carriages has changed considerably of recent years and there is now not -nearly as much labour and pains expended upon the vehicles as in times -past. The brighter colours have been quite eliminated and have given -place to chocolates and browns, while the frames and ends of the -carriages are painted black. The arms of the company, together with -figures, letters, initials, and other designs, so conspicuous to the eye -of the traveller, are affixed by means of transfers and therefore are -not dependent upon the skill of the painters. - -The washing-down of the coaches is done by labourers, some of whom live -in the town and others in the villages round about. Little skill is -required for this, and the operation is very dull and monotonous. The -men are supplied with long-handled brushes, soaps, and sponges, hot and -cold water and chemical preparations. Large gangs of them are -continually employed in removing the accretions of dust and filth -acquired by the coaches in their mad career over the railway line, -through tunnels and cuttings, smoky towns and cities. Sometimes the -vehicles are completely smothered with grease and mud thrown up by the -sleepers in bad weather, and every particle of this must be removed -before the painter can apply his brush to renovate the exterior. - -The washers-down are generally raw youths and many of them are of the -shifty type--the kind that will not settle anywhere for long together. -The drabness of their employment forces them to seek some means of -breaking the monotony of it, and they often indulge in noise and -horseplay, singing and shouting at the top of their voices and slopping -the water over each other. This brings them into trouble with the -officials, and occasions them to take many a forced holiday, but they do -not care about that, and when they arrive back upon the scene they -practise their old games as boldly as before. Having no trade, and -receiving but a scant amount in wages, they do not feel to be bound down -hand and foot to the employment, and even if they should be discharged -altogether they will not have lost very much. Their youthfulness, too, -renders them buoyant and independent; all the world is open to them if -they decide to hand in their notices. - -The cushion-beaters, formerly well known about the yard, have quite -disappeared now. At whatever time you were outside the shed, in fine -weather, you might have heard their rods beating on the cushions in -perfect rhythm and order. They were taken from the coaches and laid upon -stools in the open air, and the beater held a rod, usually of hazel, in -each hand. With them he alternately smote the cushion, keeping up the -effort for a long time, until every particle of dust was removed and -blown away. His dexterity in the use of the rods and the ability to -prolong the operation were a source of great interest to the youths; all -the small boys of the shed stole out at intervals to see him at work. -Now the dust is removed from the cushions and paddings by means of a -vacuum arrangement. This is in the form of a tube, with an aperture -several inches in diameter and having strong suctional powers created by -the exhaust steam from the engine in the shed. It is passed to and fro -over the surface of the cushion, and the dust is thereby extracted and -received into the apparatus. So strong is the suction within that it -will sometimes draw the buttons from the upholstering if they are loose -or frayed. The quantity of dust extracted from one carriage often -amounts to a pound in weight. - -Old customs and systems die hard at the works and, whatever their own -opinion of the matter may be, the officials are not considered by the -workmen to be of a very progressive type. Many of the methods employed, -both in manufacture and administration, are extremely old-fashioned and -antiquated; an idea has to be old and hoary before it stands a chance of -being admitted and adopted here. Small private firms are usually a long -way ahead of railway companies in the matter of methods and processes, -and they pay better wages into the bargain. They have to face -competition and to cater for the markets, while railway companies, being -both the producers and consumers of their wares, can afford to choose -their own way of manufacturing them. In addition to this, the heads of -small firms usually have an interest in the concern whereas the managers -of railway works are otherwise placed; it makes no difference to them -what they spend or waste, and they are always able to cover up their -shortcomings. Their prodigality and mismanagement would ruin a hundred -small firms in as many months, though the outside world knows little or -nothing about it. But if the officials creep they urge the rank and file -along at a good rate and make a pretence of being smart and -business-like. The fact of a workman being engaged prosecuting a -worn-out method for the production of an article does not make the task -lighter or more congenial for him, rather the opposite. Real improvement -in manufacture not only expedites production, but also simplifies the -toil to the workman, and the newer methods are the better, generally -speaking. - -In everything, then, except in smart management and supervision, railway -sheds now resemble contract premises. Piecework prices are cut to the -lowest possible point; it is all push, drive, and hustle. No attempt is -made to regulate the amount of work to be done, and short time is -frequent and often of long duration. This is not arranged as it was -formerly, when the whole department, or none at all, was closed down. -Now even a solitary shed, a portion of it, or a mere gang is closed or -suspended if there is a slackness at any point. Consequently, one part -of the works is often running at break-neck speed, while another is -working but three or four days a week and the men are in a half-starved -condition. In one shed fresh hands are being put on, while from others -they are being discharged wholesale. Transfers from one shop to another -are seldom made, and never from department to department. One would -think that the various divisions of the works were owned by separate -firms, or people of different nationalities, such formidable barriers -appear to exist between them. - -The chiefs of the departments are usually more or less rivals and are -often at loggerheads, each one trying to outdo the other in some -particular direction and to bring himself into the notice of the -directors. The same, with a little modification, may be said of the -foremen of the several divisions, while the workmen are about -indifferent in this respect. For them, all beyond their own sheds, -except a few personal friends or relations, are total strangers. Though -they may have been employed at the works for half a century, they have -never gone beyond the boundary of their own department, and perhaps not -as far as that, for trespassing from shed to shed is strictly forbidden -and sharply punished where detected. Thus, the workman’s sphere is very -narrow and limited. There is no freedom; nothing but the same coming and -going, the still monotonous journey to and fro and the old hours, month -after month, and year after year. It is no wonder that the factory -workmen come to lead a dull existence and to lose interest in all life -beyond their own smoky walls and dwellings. It would be a matter for -surprise if the reverse condition prevailed. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - - THE OLD CANAL--THE ASH-WHEELERS--THE BRICK-LAYERS--RIVAL - FOREMEN--THE ROAD-WAGGON BUILDERS--THE WHEEL SHED--BOY - TURNERS--THE RUBBISH HEAP. - - -West of the workshop the yard is bounded by a canal that formerly -connected the railway town with the ancient borough town of Cricklade, -eight miles distant. But things are different now from what they were at -the time the cutting was made, for great changes have taken place during -the last half century in all matters pertaining to transport. Then the -long barges, drawn by horses, mules, and donkeys, and laden with corn, -stone, coal, timber, gravel, and other materials, proceeded regularly by -day and night, up and down the canal to their destinations--north to -Gloucester, west to Bristol, east to Abingdon, and thence to far-off -London. At that time, instead of being filled with mud, weeds, and -refuse, and overgrown with masses of rank vegetation--grasses, flags, -water-parsnip, and a score of other aquatic plants--the channel was -broad and free, and full of clear, limpid water. The cattle came to -drink in the meadows; there the clouds were mirrored, floating in fields -of azure. The fish leapt and played in the sunshine, making innumerable -rings on the surface, and the swallows skimmed swiftly along, dipping -now and then to snatch up a sweet mouthful to carry home to their young -in the nest under the eaves of the neighbouring cottage or shed. - -Occasionally, too, a steamboat passed through the locks out beyond the -town and proceeded on its way to the Thames or Avon. The dredger plied -up and down to prevent the accumulation of mud and refuse, and the -towpaths and bridges were kept in good repair. The railway had not -everything its own way then. The fever of haste had not taken hold of -every part of the community, and a few, at least, could await the -arrival of the barges and so save a considerable sum in the conveyance -of their goods. But now all that is changed. Goods must be loaded, -whirled rapidly away and delivered in a few hours, for no one can wait. -The pace of the freight trains has been increased almost to express -speed. Every possible means that could be thought of have been devised -to facilitate transport, and the barges have disappeared from this -neighbourhood. Here and there at the wharves may still be seen a few -rotten old hulks, falling to pieces and embedded in the mud; the bridges -are shattered and dilapidated and the lock gates are broken. The -towpaths are overgrown with bushes and become almost impassable, and the -channel is blocked up. - -The only person who benefits by the change is the botanist. He, from -time to time, may be seen busily engaged in grappling for rare specimens -of weeds and grasses, or the less learned student of wild flowers comes -to gather what treasures he may from the wilderness: the beautiful -flowering rush, golden iris, graceful water plantain, arrowhead, water -violet, figwort, skull-cap, gipsy wort, and celery-leaved crowfoot. -Formerly, too, the works derived a considerable quantity of water -through the canal, but that has long ceased to be. There is no water at -hand now, and supplies have had to be sought for among the Cotswold -Hills, at a great distance from the town. The engines at the old -pumping station, near the canal path, once so familiar a feature to -travellers that way, are silent now and will be heard there no more. -They, too, have become a thing of the past. - -The factory premises extend along both banks of the canal and are -protected on the far side by a high wall, while that part nearest the -workshop is open to the water’s edge. On this side, first of all, is a -high platform, called the stage, which is used to load the ashes and -refuse, slag and clinkers from the furnaces and forges. This refuse is -wheeled out twice daily--at six in the morning and again in the evening -after the furnaces have been clinkered--by labourers, upon whom the duty -devolves. To remove the clinker properly and economically from the grate -of the furnace the fire must have been damped for a short while. This -allows the whitehot coals to cling together underneath, and they form a -kind of arch above the bars. When this has been accomplished the -furnaceman inserts a strong steel bar at the bottom, resting it upon the -“bridge,” and, with a heavy sledge, breaks the clinker, working along -from side to side. That is in a compact layer or mass, often six or -eight inches deep, considerably thicker in the corners, and it is very -tough while it is hot. After it has been thoroughly broken up, several -of the fire bars are removed together, beginning at one side, and the -heavy clinker drops through, spluttering and hissing, into the deep -boshes of water disposed underneath. If the fire has not been -sufficiently damped it is loose and hollow, and as soon as the bars are -removed the white-hot coals rush through into the water, raising clouds -of hot, blinding dust and dense volumes of steam. - -Immediately the furnaceman, warned of the fall, springs backwards and -escapes from the pit, or, if he is tardy in his movements, he is caught -in the hot vapour and scalded severely. Sometimes the fall is very -sudden and he has no time to escape. Then his face and arms take the -full force of the rushing steam and he is certain to receive painful -injuries. When the operation of clinkering is over the men bring their -wheel-barrows and, with the aid of long-handled shovels, remove the -refuse from the pits and run it outside and upon the stage. This is hot -work, whenever it is performed; the men are always sure of a wet shirt -at the task. Whatever the weather may be, wet or fine, frost or snow, -they come to it stripped to the waist and quickly run their -wheel-barrows to and fro. If the rain should pelt in torrents it makes -little or no difference to them, they still go on with their work, -half-naked and bare-headed. Hardy and strong as they may be, this is -bound to affect their health, sooner or later. It is not an uncommon -thing to find one or other of them breaking down at an early age, a -physical wreck, unfit for further service. - -The ash-wheelers belong to the same class as the coalies and are -sometimes identical with them. They are usually some of the strongest -men in the shed, new hands, perhaps, who have not yet earned for -themselves an installation into the ranks of the regular machine staff. -Sometimes, however, they have proved themselves smart with the shovel -and wheel-barrow and have been considered too serviceable to shift to -other employment, for, as it is well known that “the willing horse must -draw double,” so the workman who is willing to perform a hard duty -without murmuring and complaint is always imposed upon and forced to do -extra. The natural fool or the systematic skulker is pitied and -respected. Once his general conduct is understood he is taken for what -he is worth, and no more is expected of him. In time he is rewarded. He -may come to be a checker, a clerk, or an inspector; while the sterling -fellow, the hard worker, the “sticker,” as he is called, may stop and -work himself to death like a slave. Thus, deserving men, because they -have proved themselves adepts at the work, have been kept on the -ash-barrows for ten or twelve years, sweating their lives away for the -sum of eighteen shillings a week. Several, however, disgusted with the -business, have left the shed and gone back to work on the farms, in the -pure surroundings of the fields and villages. This branch of work has -recently been overhauled and estimated at the piece rate, and the wages -somewhat improved, though the amount of work to each man has been almost -doubled. The refuse and clinker from the furnaces are transported to -various parts and used for filling up hollows, and for the making of -banks and beds of yards and sidings. - -Beyond the stage, lodged on the ground, are two old iron vans that were -formerly used in the goods traffic. They have no windows or lights of -any kind, merely a double door opening outwardly. These are the cabins -and stores of the bricklayers, and they contain cement, fireclay, and -firebricks for the furnaces and forges. A permanent staff of bricklayers -is kept in each department at the works to carry out whatever repairs -are necessary from time to time and to see to the construction and -renovation of the furnaces. If there is any building on a large scale -required, such as a new shed, stores, or offices, extra hands are put on -from the town and afterwards discharged when the work is done. This -procedure gives the officials an opportunity of selecting the best men, -so that it often happens that new hands, temporarily engaged, become -fixtures if they have shown exceptional skill at their trade and are -otherwise suitable. In that case some of the old hands must go, and it -needs not to be said that such an opportunity is welcomed by the -foreman, as it provides him with an excuse for removing undesirables -without being too much blamed himself. - -The bricklayers are a distinct class and do not mingle well with the -other men at the works. Their having to do with bricks and mortar, -instead of with iron and steel, seems to exclude them from the general -hive, and the fact of their being dressed in canvas suits and overalls, -and smeared with cement and fireclay, instead of being blackened with -soot and oil, tends to emphasise the distinction. As with the rest of -the staff, they are recruited from all parts of the country, and some of -them have served a rural apprenticeship. In shrewdness and intelligence -they do not rank with the machinists; that is to say, they may be smart -at their trade, but they do not discover extraordinary faculties beyond -that. Perhaps the nature of their toil has something to do with it, for -that is at best a dull and uninspiring vocation. There is no magic -required in the setting together of bricks and mortar, and little -exertion of the intellect is needed in patching up old walls and -buildings. They are nevertheless very jealous of their craft, such as it -is, and deeply resent any intrusion into their ranks other than by the -gates of the usual apprenticeship. Occasionally it happens that a -bricklayer’s labourer, who has been for many years in attendance on his -mate, shows an aptitude for the work, so that the foreman, in a busy -period, is induced to equip him with the trowel. In that case he at once -becomes the subject of sneering criticism; whatever work he does is -condemned, and he is hated and shunned by his old mates and companions. -The foreman, too, takes advantage of his position and pays him less than -the trade rate of wages, so that, after all, he is really made to feel -that he is not a journeyman. - -Very often, when there is no building to be done, the bricklayers must -turn their hands to other work, such as navvying, whitewashing, -painting, and so on, all which falls under their particular department. -Armed with pick and shovel, or pot and brush, they must dig foundations -and drains, or scale the walls and roof and cleanse or decorate the -shed. This is always productive of much grumbling and sarcastic comment, -but it is better than being suspended. On the whole the bricklayers have -a fairly comfortable billet at the works and they are not subject to -frequent loss of time through wet weather and other accidents, as are -their fellows of the town, though they do not receive as much in wages. - -It is astonishing what a prodigious amount of work the labourers will -get through in a short time, and apparently with little exertion, when -they are digging out drains and foundations for new furnaces, -steam-hammers, or other machinery. These foundations are generally huge -pits, twelve or fifteen feet deep and double the size square. Stripped -to the waist in the heat of the workshop, and armed with the heavy graft -tool, with a stout iron plate fixed underneath their right foot, they -will dig for hours without resting and yet seem to be always fresh and -vigorous. Occasionally, as they throw up the solid clay, some workman of -the shed will steal along to examine the fossil remains, pebbles, and -flints, that were embedded in the earth, and slip back to his place at -the steam-hammer, preserving some relic or other for future examination. -The sturdy labourer, however, keeps digging out the clay and hurling it -up to the light. He knows nothing of geological data, theories and -opinions, and cares not to inquire. He is there to dig the pit and not -to trouble himself about the nature of soils and deposits, and though -you should talk to him ever so learnedly of old time submersions, -accretions, and formations, he only answers you with a blank stare or an -unsympathetic grin. His private opinion is that you are something of a -lunatic. - -There is one among the bricklayers’ labourers that is remarkable. This -is the silent man, generally known as Herbert. The story goes that -Herbert was once in love and thought to take a wife. But the course of -true love did not run smooth in his case, and, in the end, the young -lady jilted Herbert. That is according to the story. It may or may not -have been true; perhaps Herbert could tell, but he is not at all -communicative. Whatever the circumstances were, they made a profound -impression upon Herbert’s mind and he has never been the same man since. -Now he does not speak to any except his near workmate, and only then to -answer the most necessary questions. It is useless for an outsider to -attempt to make him speak; he ignores all your attentions. To cause him -to smile would be akin to working a miracle. The set features never -relax. The eyes are vacant and expressionless, the mouth is firm and -stern, and the whole countenance rigid. - -Yet Herbert is a fine-looking man. His features are regular--almost -classic--his face is bronzed with working out of doors, and he is a -picture of health. In height he is medium. His shoulders are broad and -square, his arms strong and muscular, and he has the endurance of an ox. -Would you tire Herbert? That is impossible. Whatever labour you set him -to do he performs it without a murmur. He does the work of three -ordinary men. Must he dig? He will dig, dig, dig, and throw up the huge -spits of heavy clay as high as his head, one might say for ever. Must he -wheel away the debris? He will pile up the wheel-barrow till it is -ready to break down under the weight, and trundle it off and up to the -stage without the slightest exertion and be back again in a breath. He -will lift enormous weights and strike tremendous blows with the sledge. -He is tireless in his use of the pick and shovel; in fact, whatever you -set Herbert to do he accomplishes it all in about a fifth of the time -ordinarily required for the purpose. He is the butt of his masters and -of his work-mates. Whatever uncommonly laborious task there is to be -done Herbert is the man to do it, and the more he does the more he must -do, though he does not know it, or if he does, he shows no indication of -the knowledge. Now and again the foreman stands by and watches him -approvingly, and this stimulates him to fresh efforts. He revels in the -work and, whatever he thinks about it all, he is still silent and -inexplicable. - -This sort of thing is all right from the point of view of the foreman, -but it is very inconvenient and unfair to the other labourers who are -sane in their minds and mortal in their bodies, for everything they do -is adjudged according to the standard of this indefatigable Hercules. -The overseer, used to seeing him slaving endlessly, thinks light of the -others’ efforts, and imagines that they are not doing their share of the -toil, so uneven is the comparison of their labours. In reality, such a -man as Herbert is a danger and an enemy of his kind, though as he is -quite unconscious of his conduct and does it all with the best -intentions he must be forgiven. Such a one is more to be pitied than -blamed. - -The foremen of the bricklayers are not bricklayers themselves, and never -have been, but were selected apparently without any consideration of -their specific abilities. This one was a shunter, another was a -carpenter, a third was a waggon-builder, and so on. Perhaps So-and-so -and So-and-so went to school together, or worked formerly in the same -shed; or consanguinity is the cause, for blood is thicker than water in -the factory, as elsewhere. Accordingly, it often comes about that the -most fitting person to take the responsible position is thrust aside at -the last moment for an utter stranger, one who has no knowledge whatever -of the work he is to supervise. With a certain amount of “pushfulness,” -however, and an extraordinary confidence in himself and his abilities, -the new man is able to make a pretence of knowledge and, somehow or -other, the work proceeds. Very often it would go on for months just as -well without the foreman to interfere, and in many cases even better, -for it is the chargemen and gangers who have the actual control of -operations and who possess the real and intimate knowledge of the work. - -Should an aspirant to the post of foreman through his own merits be set -aside for a stranger--as is sometimes the case--there is bound to be -jealousy existing between the two for ever afterwards, which now and -again breaks out into heated scenes and may result in brawls and -dismissals. Of the workmen, some will take the one side, and some the -other; they are mutually distrustful, and have recourse to whispering -and tale-telling. If it has been proved that one workman is guilty of -getting another his discharge by any unfair means he is not forgiven by -his mates. The dismissed man, in such a case, will frequently wait for -his informer outside the gates, and will not be satisfied until he has -given him a good thrashing. Perhaps he will walk boldly in through the -entrance with the other men and take him unaware at his work and punish -him on the spot. It is superfluous to say that this is not tolerated by -the officials, and anyone who is so bold as to do it must be prepared to -stand the consequences and appear at the Borough Police Court. - -Now and again a foreman, who has been guilty of some underhanded action, -is taken to task by the exasperated victim and treated to a little -surprise combat of fisticuffs. Perhaps the foreman is a sneak or a -bully, or both, and has carried his tyrannical behaviour too far for -human endurance; or private jealousy may have impelled him to some -cowardly turn or other, and the workman, driven to desperation, takes -the law into his own hands and gives him a thrashing. This--provided the -reprisal was merited--will be a source of huge delight to the other men -in the shed, and everyone will rejoice to see the offender “taken down a -notch,” as they say; but if it was merely an exhibition of unwarrantable -temper on the workman’s part, the overseer will be commiserated with and -defended. Whether right or wrong the pugnacious one is dismissed. His -services are no longer required at the shed; he must seek occupation -elsewhere. - -Running along for some distance near the canal is a shed in which the -road-waggons are made--trollies, vans, and cars for use in the goods -yards and stations about the line--and inside this, and parallel with -it, is the wheel shop, where the wheels, tyres, and axles are turned and -fitted up for the waggons and carriages. Besides the making of new work -in the first-named of these sheds, there is always a considerable amount -of repairs to be carried out. A great part of this is done outside, in -fine weather, in order to give increased room within doors. - -The road-waggon builders are of a sturdy type. Many of them are inclined -to be old-fashioned and primitive in their methods, and they are solid -in character. This is accounted for by the fact that the greater part of -the older hands received their initial training in small yards, in -little country towns and villages, where they worked among farmers and -rustics. The work they did there was necessarily very solid and -strong--such as heavy carts and waggons for the farms--and everything -had to be done by hand, slowly and laboriously perhaps, but efficiently -and well. This taught them the practical side of their trade, as how to -be self-sufficing and independent of machinery, which are the most -valuable features of a good apprenticeship and are of great service to -the workman in after years. By and by, when the time came for them to -leave the scene of their apprentice days--for few masters will pay the -journeyman’s rate of wages to any who, at the end of their term, have -not gone further afield for new experience--they shifted out for -themselves. Some went one way and some another. This one went to London, -that one to Bristol, and others came to the railway town. Whatever -peculiarities of workmanship they acquired in their youth they brought -with them and practised in their new sphere, and so the individual style -is maintained in spite of totally different methods and processes. - -At the present time--in large factories, at any rate--there is machinery -for everything, and this is highly destructive of the purely personal -faculty in manufacture. But in the case of the road-waggon builder, -though a great many, or perhaps all, of the parts have been shaped for -him by steam power, there yet remains the fitting up and building of the -vehicle, which is reasonably a task requiring considerable care and -skill. The iron frame of the locomotive or railway waggon may be clapped -together quite easily, for there is no very elaborate fitting or joining -to be done. Good strong rivets are the chief things required there. The -wooden bodies of the vans and cars, however, must be fitted and built -with the nicest precision and finish, or the materials would shrink away -and the parts would gape open, or fall to pieces. Thus, the road-waggon -builder, as well as the carriage body-maker, must be a craftsman of the -first order, and while some journeymen may be at liberty to sacrifice -their dearly gained experience and individual characteristics in the -face of newer methods and improved mechanical processes, it is well for -him to hold fast to what he has found useful and good in the past. - -The workmen of every shed have their own particular tone and style -collectively as well as individually; different trades and atmospheres -apparently producing different characteristics and temperaments. -Accordingly, the men of one shed are well-known for one quality, while -those of another are noted for something quite different. These are -famed for steadiness, civility, and correct behaviour; those for noise, -rudeness, horseplay, and even ruffianism. The men of some sheds are -remarkable for their extreme docility and their almost childish -obedience to the slightest and most insignificant rules of the factory, -counting every official as a thing superhuman and nearly to be -worshipped. Others are notorious for ideas quite the reverse of this, -for riotous conduct within and without the shed, an utter contempt of -the laws of the factory, for thieving, fighting, and other propensities. -These characteristics are determined as much by the kind of work done in -the sheds and the quality of the overseer, as by the men’s own nature -and temperament. Most foremen are excessively autocratic and severe with -their men, denying them the slightest privilege or relaxation of the -iron laws of the factory. Others are of a wheedling, pseudo-fatherly -type, who, by a combination of professed paternal regard and a cunning -manipulation of the reins, contrive to make everything they do appear -just and reasonable and so hold their men in complete subjection. Some -foremen, again, are of the ceremonious order, who, from pure vanity, -will insist upon the complete observance of the most trivial detail and -drive their workmen half-way to distraction. A few, on the other hand, -are generous and humane. They hold the reins slack, and, without the -knowledge of their chiefs, grant a few small privileges and are rewarded -with the confidence of the workmen and a willingness to labour on their -part amounting to enthusiasm. For, as the horse that is tightly breeched -draws none too well, neither do those men work best who are rigidly kept -down under the iron rod of the overseer. Discipline there is bound to -be, as everyone knows, but there is no excuse for treating a man as -though he were a wild beast, or an infant just out of the cradle. -Whatever dissatisfaction exists about the works is chiefly owing to the -behaviour of the officials, for they force the workmen into rebellion. -If the directors of the company are anxious for the welfare of their -staff--as they profess to be--let them instruct their managers and -foremen to show themselves a little more tolerant and kindly disposed to -the men in the sheds. Actions speak louder than words, and kindness -shown to workmen is never forgotten. - -The wheel shop is a large building, containing many rows of lathes for -the wheels, tyres, and axles, which are nearly all tended by boys. The -lines of shafting stretch in the roof, up and down from end to end of -the place, and the pulleys whirl round almost noiselessly overhead. -Everything is spotlessly clean, for there are no furnaces belching out -their smoke, dust, and flames. The temperature is low and the shed, even -in the hottest part of the summer, is cool in comparison with the other -premises round about. In the winter it is heated with steam from the -boilers and the exhaust from the shop engines. This prevents the boys -from catching cold. The heavy steel axles and tyres are exceedingly -chill in the winter, especially in frosty weather. - -The boys come from all parts, from town and country alike, immediately -after leaving school, and go straight to the lathes. There are labourers -to fix the wheels and tyres in the machines, and the boys attend to the -tools, working carefully to the gauges provided. Coming to the work at a -time when their minds are in a receptive state, they soon master the -principal parts of the business and before long become highly skilled -and proficient. Their wages are no more than five or six shillings a -week for a start, with yearly rises of one or two shillings until they -reach a pound or twenty-two shillings. Upon arriving at this -stage--unless work is plentiful--they are usually removed from the lathe -and set labouring, or otherwise transferred or discharged as too -expensive for the work. Sometimes, after this, they migrate to other -towns and earn double or treble the wages they received before, for good -wheel- and axle-turners are in constant demand and a clever workman may -be sure of securing a high rate of remuneration. - -The boys are an interesting group, and one that is well worthy of -consideration. They are of all sorts and sizes, of many grades and walks -in life. There is the country labourer’s lad, who formerly worked on the -land amid the horses and cattle; the town labourer’s lad, who has been -errand-boy or who sold newspapers on the street corner; the small -shopkeeper’s lad, the fitter’s lad, tall and pale, in clean blue -overalls, and the enginedriver’s lad, fresh from school, whose one -ambition is to emulate his father and, like him, drive an engine, only -one that is two or three times as big and powerful. There are tall and -short boys, boys fat and lean, pale and robust-looking, ragged and -well-kept, with sad and merry faces. And what pranks they play with one -another, and would play, if they were not curbed and checked with the -ever watchful eye of the shop foreman! They are always ready for some -game or other--football, hide-and-seek, or “ierky”--at any time of the -day, and whatever they do, it does not seem to tire them down; they are -still fresh and active, cheerful and vivacious. - -Many of them begin the day well with running regularly to work, perhaps -for two or three miles. At five minutes past six in the morning they -commence at the lathe, and when breakfast-time comes they scamper off, -food in hand, and play about the yard, or in the recreation field -beyond. From nine till one their labour is continuous; there they stand, -bound as with chains to the machines they serve, for ever watchful, so -as not to spoil the cut and waste the axle, which would mean an enforced -holiday for them. When one o’clock comes, smothered with oil and with -faces like those of sweeps--often blackened purposely to give themselves -the appearance of having perspired much--they race off as before, and -play recklessly until it is time to return to the shed. And after the -day’s work is finished and they go home in the evening, they wash away -the grime and oil and play about the streets and lanes till bed-time, -utterly indifferent to the wearisome occupation awaiting them on the -morrow. Their sleep is sound and sweet, for their hearts are happy and -light. Of the cares of life they know nothing; the future is full of -hope for them; all the world is before them. Their chief concern is for -the holidays. All these are anticipated and awaited with great joy and -eagerness; it is by this alone that they discover the extreme tedium of -the daily drudgery of the workshop. - -The boys’ foreman is an experienced official, shrewd, keen, and very -severe; a good judge of character, cautious, and careful, civil enough, -but unbending in a decision, a very good formative agent, one who will -exercise a healthy restraint upon the intractables and encourage the -timid, but who exploits them all for the good of the firm. His keen eyes -and sound judgment enable him to at once sum up a lad’s capabilities. He -takes the youth and sets him where he will show to the best advantage, -instructs him on many of the crucial points, advises him as to the best -means of getting on, and very often furnishes him with hints of a -personal nature which--whatever the lad may think of them at the -time--bear fruit in after life. If the youngster is inclined to be wild -and incorrigible he tries his best to reform him, and gives him sound -advice. He has also been known to administer a corrective cuff in the -ear and a vigorous boot in the posterior, but he usually succeeds in -bringing out the good points and suppressing, if not entirely -eradicating, the bad. - -Whenever he walks up or down the shed the boys fix their attention more -firmly upon their machines, for they feel his keen, penetrating eyes -upon them, and they know that nothing ever escapes his notice. If there -is a slackness at any point the word is passed rapidly on--“Look out, -here’s J----y coming,” and the overseer is sometimes amused with the -various expedients resorted to in order to deceive him and cover up the -juvenile shortcomings. As to wages, prices, and systems, they are not -altogether his fault. It he could suit himself he might possibly be -willing to pay more, but he is always being pressed by the staff to -reduce prices and expenses, and, like the other foremen, he is not -prepared to offer effective resistance. Being an official of long -standing, however, he is secure in his place, and has no occasion to -betray his hands to the firm, as is too often the case with young -foremen, who wish to secure personal notice and advantage. That is one -of the most damning features of all, and is becoming more and more a -practice at the works. One young “under-strapper” I knew is in the habit -of standing over the boys at the lathe, watch in hand, for four hours -without once moving, and, by his manner and language, compelling them to -run at an excessive rate so as to cut their prices. Without doubt he is -deserving of the birch rod, though the managers, who allow it, are the -more to blame. - -A short way from the canal, north of the road-waggon shed, is the -rubbish heap, at which most of the old wood refuse and lumber, with -hundreds of tons of sawdust, are brought to be burned. At one time all -this was consumed in the boiler furnaces, but since the amount of refuse -has enormously increased it has been found expedient to transport some -part of it there and so do away with it. One small furnace is used for -the purpose, and by far the greater part of it, especially the sawdust, -is burned in big heaps upon the ground. This is a slovenly, as well as a -dangerous method, and the inconvenience resulting to the men in the -sheds is considerable. If the wind is in the west the dense clouds of -smoke sweep along the ground and are blown straight in through the open -doors upon the stampers, and are a source of extreme discomfort and -disgust. There is always plenty of smother in the shed, arising from the -oil furnaces, without receiving any addition from outside. Once the -workshop is filled with the bluish vapour it takes hours to disperse, -for, though there are doors all round and hundreds of ventilators on the -roof, they do not carry off the nuisance. Very often the smoke will -travel from end to end of the shed, like a current of water, but just -as it reaches the doorway and you think it is going to pass outside, it -suddenly whirls round like a wheel and traverses the whole length of the -place, and so on, over and over again. - -If the wind is in the north, then the road-waggon builders must suffer -the persecuting clouds of smoke and be tormented with smarting and -burning eyes at work; and if it should blow from over the town, across -the rolling downs from the south, the smother is carried high over the -fence and sweeps along the recreation field to the discomfort of small -boys and lovers, or of whoever happens to be passing that way. If the -nuisance arose from any other quarter complaints might be made and steps -taken towards the mitigation of it. As it is, no one, not even a member -of the local bodies and the Corporation, summons up the courage to make -a protest, for everyone bows down before the company’s officials and -representatives in the railway town and fears to raise objections to -anything that may be done by the people at the works. - - - - -CHAPTER V - - “THE FIELD”--“CUTTING-DOWN”--THE FLYING DUTCHMAN--THE FRAME - SHED--PROMOTION--RIVET BOYS--THE OVERSEER - - -On the north the factory yard is bounded by a high board fence that runs -along close behind the shed and divides the premises from the recreation -grounds, which are chiefly the haunt of juveniles during the summer -months and the resort of football players and athletes in the winter. -Here also the small children come after school and wander about the -field among the buttercups, or sit down amid the long grass in the -sunshine, or swing round the Maypole, under the very shadow of the black -walls, with only a thin fence to separate them from the busy factory. -The ground beneath their feet shakes with the ponderous blows of the -steam-hammers; the white clouds of steam from the exhaust pipes shoot -high into the air. Dense volumes of blackest smoke tower out of the -chimneys, whirling round and round and over and over, or roll lazily -away in a long line out beyond the town and fade into the distance. - -The fence stretches away to the east for a quarter of a mile from the -shed and then turns again at right angles and continues the boundary on -that side as far as to the entrance by the railway. About half-way -across are several large shops and premises used for lifting, fitting, -and storing the carriages; beyond them is a wide, open space commonly -known as “the field.” As a matter of fact, the whole area of the yard -was really a series of fields until quite recently. Fifteen years ago, -although the space was enclosed, you might have walked among the -hedgerows and have been in the midst of rustic surroundings. Numerous -rabbits infested the place and retained their burrows till long after -the steel rails were laid along the ground. Hares, too, continued to -frequent the yard until the rapid extension of the premises and the -clearing away of the grass and bushes deprived them of cover. It was a -common thing to see them and the rabbits shooting in and out among the -old wheels and tyres that had been removed from the condemned vehicles. - -If you should follow the fence along for a short distance you might even -now soon forget the factory and imagine yourself to be far away in some -remote village corner, surrounded with fresh green foliage and drinking -in the sweet breath of the open fields. One would not conceive that in -the very factory grounds, within sight of the hot, smoky workshops, and -but a stone’s throw from some of them, it would be possible to enjoy the -charm of rusticity, and to revel unseen in a profusion of flowers that -would be sought for in vain in many parts about the countryside. Yet -such is the pleasure to be derived from a visit to this little -frequented spot. The fence, to the end, runs parallel with the -recreation ground alongside a hedgerow that once parted the two fields -when the whole was in the occupation of the people at the old farmhouse -that has now disappeared. In the hedgerow, with their trunks close -against the board partition, still in their prime and in strong contrast -to the black smoky walls and roofs of the sheds opposite, stand -half-a-dozen stately elms that stretch their huge limbs far over the -yard and throw a deep shadow on the ground beneath. At this spot the -field gradually declines and, as the inner yard has been made up to a -level with the railway beyond, when you approach the angle you find -yourself out of sight, with the raised platform of cinders on the one -hand and, on the other, the high wooden fence and thick elms. - -At the corner the steel tracks have had to make a long curve, and this -has left the ground there free to bring forth whatever it will. Here, -also, the trees are thickest, and, within the fence, a small portion of -the original site still remains. A streamlet--perhaps the last drain of -a once considerable brook--enters from the recreation ground underneath -the boards and is conducted along, now within its natural banks and now -through broken iron pipes, into the corner, where it is finally -swallowed up in a gully and lost to view. Stooping over it, as though to -protect it from further injury and insult, are several clumps of -hawthorn and the remains of an old hedge of wych elm. Standing on the -railway track of the bank are some frames of carriages that were burnt -out at the recent big fire. Near them are several crazy old waggons and -vans, that look as if they had stood in the same place for half a -century and add still further to the quiet of the scene. - -It is alongside the fence, and especially about the corner, that the -wild flowers bloom. Prominent over all is the rosebay. This extends in a -belt nearly right along the fence, and climbs up the ash bank and runs -for a considerable distance among the metals, growing and thriving high -among the iron wheels and frames of the carriages and revelling in the -soft ashes and cinders of the track. Side by side with this, and -blooming contemporary with it, are the delicate toadflax, bright golden -ragwort, wild mignonette, yellow melilot, ox-eye daisies, mayweed, small -willow-herb, meadow-sweet, ladies’ bedstraw, tansy, yarrow, and -cinquefoil. The wild rose blooms to perfection and the bank is richly -draped with a vigorous growth of dewberry, laden with blossoms and -fruit. - -Beside the streamlet in the corner is a patch of cats’-tails, as high as -to the knees, and a magnificent mass of butter-bur. The deliciously -scented flowers of this are long since gone by, but the leaves have -grown to an extraordinary size. They testify to the presence of the -stream, for the butter-bur is seldom found but in close proximity to -water. Here also are to be found the greater willow-herb with its large -sweet pink blossoms and highly-scented leaves, the pale yellow -colt’s-foot, medick, purple woody night-shade, hedge stachys, spear -plume thistles, hogweed and garlick mustard, with many other plants, -flowering and otherwise, that have been imported with the ballast and -have now taken possession of the space between the lines and the fence. - -The shade of the trees and beauty of the flowers and plants are -delightful in the summer when the sun looks down from a clear, cloudless -sky upon the steel rails and dry ashes of the yard, which attract and -contain the heat in a remarkable degree, making it painful even to walk -there in the hottest part of the day. Then the cool shade of the trees -is thrice welcome, especially after the stifling heat of the workshop, -the overpowering fumes of the oil furnaces and the blazing metal just -left behind; for it is impossible for any but workmen to enjoy the -pleasant retreat. No outsider ever gains admittance here, and though you -should often pace underneath the trees in the recreation ground you -would never dream of what the interior is like. Nor do even workmen--at -least, not more than one or two, and this at rare intervals in the -meal-hours--often come here, for if they did they would be noticed by -the watchmen and ordered away. Their presence here, even during -meal-hours, would be construed as prejudicial to the interests of the -company. They would be suspected of theft, or of some other evil -intention, or would at least be looked upon as trespassers and reported -to the managers. In times gone by men and youths have been known to -escape from the factory during working hours and while they were booked -at their machines, by climbing over the fence, and this has made the -officials cautious and severe in dealing with trespassers. It would not -be a difficult matter, even now--and especially in the winter afternoons -and evenings--to climb over the top of the fence and decamp. - -This part of the factory yard is by far the most wholesome of the works’ -premises. There is plenty of room and light, and happy were they who, in -the years ago, were told off for service in the field, breaking up the -old waggons, sorting out the timber, and running the wheels from one -place to another. At the time the old broad-gauge system of vehicles -was converted to the four-foot scale, large gangs in the yard were -regularly employed in cutting-down; that is, reducing the waggons to the -new shape. First of all the wood-work was removed; then both sides of -the iron frame--a foot each side--were cut completely away. Two new -“sole-bars” were affixed, and the whole frame was riveted up again. The -wheels, also, were taken out and the axles shortened and re-fitted. The -carpenters now replaced the floors and sides and all was fit for traffic -again. The locomotives, on the other hand, were condemned. The boilers -and machinery were built on too great a scale to be fitted to the -narrow-gauge frames. They were accordingly lifted out and the boilers -distributed all over the system, while the frames were cut up for scrap -and new ones built in place of them. - -The old type of broad-gauge engine has never been beaten for speed on -the line. By reason of its occupying a greater space over the wheels and -axles the running was more even, and there was not so much rocking of -the coaches. The broad-gauge Flying Dutchman express was noted for its -magnificent speed and stately carriage, and for many years after the -abolition of the system stories of almost incredible runs were current -at the works. One old driver, very proud of his machine, was said to -have sworn to the officials that he would bring his engine and train -from London to the railway town, a distance of seventy-seven miles, in -an hour, dead time, with perfect safety, and he was only prevented from -accomplishing the feat by the strong stand made by the officials, who -threatened him with instant dismissal if he should exceed the limit of -speed prescribed in the time-tables. - -At the same time, it is well known that the official time-table was -often ignored, and stirring tales might be told of flying journeys -performed in defiance of all written injunctions and authority. The -signalmen knew of these feats and were often astounded at them, but they -are only human, and they often did that they ought not to have done in -order to shield the driver. The passengers, too, are always delighted to -find themselves being whirled along at a high rate. There is an -intoxication in it not to be resisted, and when they leave the train at -the journey’s end, after an extraordinary run, they invariably go and -inspect the engine and admire the brave fellow who has rushed them over -the country at such an exciting speed. - -When the broad-gauge was converted great numbers of men from all -quarters were put on at the works. Every village and hamlet for miles -around sent in its unemployed, and many of the farms were quite -deserted. These were engaged in “cutting-down” or in breaking up the -waggons and engines--little skill being necessary for that -operation--and when, after several years, the system was quite reduced -and slackness followed the busy period, the greater part of them were -discharged and were again distributed over the countryside round about. -It is impossible to go into any village within a radius of eight or ten -miles of the railway town without finding at least one or two men who -were employed on “the old broad-gauge,” as they still call it. After -their discharge the majority, by degrees, settled down to farm life. -Many, however, continued out of work for a long time, and some are -numbered among the “casuals” to this day. - -The only tools, besides hammers, required by the cutters-down, were cold -sets to cut off the heads of the rivets and bolts, and punches to force -the stems and stays out of the holes. They were held by hazel rods, that -were supplied in bundles from the stores for the purpose. To bind them -round the steel tools they were first of all heated in the middle over -the fire. Then the cutter-out took hold of one end, and his mate held -the other, and the two together gave the wand several twists round. -After that the rod was wound twice about the set or punch and the two -ends were tied together with strong twine. This gave a good grip on the -tool, which would not be obtained with the use of an iron rod. The -repeated blows on the set from the sledge would soon jar the iron rod -loose and cause it to snap off, while the hazel rod grips it firmly and -springs with it under the blow. - -Formerly all the repair riveting was done by hand. When the hot rivet -was inserted in the hole the “holder-up” kept it in position, either -with the “dolly” or with a heavy square-headed sledge. Then the riveters -knocked down the head of the rivet with long-nosed hammers, striking -alternately in rapid succession and making the neighbourhood resound -with the blows. Afterwards the chief mate held the “snap” upon it and -his mate plied the sledge until the new head was perfectly round and -smooth. The “snap” is a portion of steel bar, about ten inches long and -toughly tempered, with a die, the shape of the rivet head required, -infixed at one end. Now, however, pneumatic riveting machines are used -out of doors. These, being small and compact, can be employed anywhere -and with much fewer hands than were required by the old method. The air -is supplied from accumulators into which it is forced by the engine in -the shed, and it is conducted in pipes all round the factory yards. - -The repair gangs are an off-shoot of the frame shed that is situated at -a distance of nearly half a mile from the field. There the steel frames -for the waggons and carriages and all iron-topped vehicles, such as -ballast trucks, brake and bullion vans, refrigerators and others are -constructed. That is essentially the shop of hard work, heavy lifting -and noise terrific. The din is quite inconceivable. First of all is the -machinery. On this side are rows of drills, saws, slotting and planing -machines; on that are the punches and shears, screeching and grinding, -snapping and groaning with the terrible labour imposed upon them. The -long lines of shafting and wheels whirl incessantly overhead, the cogs -clatter, the belts flap on the rapidly spinning pulleys, and the blast -from the fan roars loudly underground. All this, however, is nearly -drowned with the noise of the hammering. Hundreds of blows are being -struck, on “tops” and “bottoms,” steel rails and iron rails, sole-bars -and headstocks, middles, diagonals, stanchions, knees, straps and -girders. Every part of the frame is being subjected to the same -treatment--riveted, straightened, levelled, or squared, most -unmercifully used. Every tone and degree of sound is emitted, according -to the various qualities and thicknesses of the metal--sharps and flats, -alto, treble and bass. There is the sharp clear tone of the -highly-tempered steel in the tools used; the solid and defiant ring of -the sole-bar or headstock, strong and firm under the hammer of the -“puller-up,” the dull, flat sound of the floor plates, the loud hollow -noise of the “covered goods” sides and ends, and the deep heavy boom of -the roofs of the vans. Everyone seems to be striking as hard and as -quickly as he is able. All the blows fall at once, and yet everything is -in a jumble and tangle, loud, vicious, violent, confused and chaotic--a -veritable pandemonium. And then, to crown the whole, there are the -pneumatic tools, the chipping and riveting machines. It is dreadful; it -is overpowering; it is unearthly; but it has to be borne, day after day -and year after year. - -Yet even the frame shed must yield to the boiler shop in the matter of -concentrated noise. The din produced by the pneumatic machines in -cutting out the many hundreds of rivets and stays inside a boiler is -quite appalling. There is nothing to be compared with it. The heaviest -artillery is feeble considered with it; thunder is a mere echo. What is -more, the noise of neither of these is continuous, while the operation -within the boiler lasts for a week or more. The boiler, in a great -degree, contains the sound, so that even if you were a short distance -away, though the noise there would be very great, you could have no idea -of the intensity of the sound within. Words could not express it; -language fails to give an adequate idea of the terrible detonation and -the staggering effect produced upon whosoever will venture to thrust his -head within the aperture of the boiler fire-box. Do you hear anything? -You hear nothing. Sound is swallowed up in sound. You are a hundred -times deaf. You are transfixed; your every sense is paralysed. In a -moment you seem to be encompassed with an unspeakable silence--a -deathlike vacuity of sound altogether. Though you shout at the top of -your voice you hear nothing--nothing at all. You are deaf and dumb, and -stupefied. You look at the operator; there he sits, stands or stoops. -You see his movements and the apparatus in his hands, but everything is -absolutely noiseless to you. It is like a dumb show, a dream, a -phantasm. So, for a little while after you withdraw your head from the -boiler, you can hear nothing. You do not know whether you are upon your -head or your heels, which is the floor and which is the roof. The ground -rises rapidly underneath you and you seem to be going up, up, up, you -know not where. Then, after a little while, when you have removed from -the immediate vicinity of the boiler, you feel to come to earth again. -Your senses rush upon you and you are suddenly made aware of the -terrific noise you have encountered. Even now, it will be some time -before the faculty of hearing is properly restored; the fearful noise -rings in your ears for hours and days afterwards. - -And what of the men who have to perform the work? It is said that they -are used to it. That is plainly begging the question. They have to do -it, whether they are used to it or not. It is useless for them to -complain; into the boiler they must go, and face the music, for good or -ill. All the men very soon become more or less deaf, and it is -inconceivable but that other ailments must necessarily follow. The -complete nervous system must in time be shattered, or seriously -impaired, and the individual become something of a wreck. This is one of -the many ills resulting from progress in machinery and modern -manufacturing appliances. - -The personnel of the frame shed is individual and distinct in a very -marked degree. Most of the men seem to have been chosen for their great -strength and fine physique, or to have developed these qualities after -their admission to the work. The very nature of the toil tends to -produce strong limbs and brawny muscles. It is certain that continual -exercise of the upper parts of the body by such means as the lifting of -heavy substances tends to improve the chest and shoulders, and many of -those who are engaged in lifting and carrying the plates and sole-bars -are very stout and square in this respect. There is a number of “heavy -weights,” and a few positive giants among them, though the majority of -the men are conspicuous, not so much by their bulk, as by their -squareness of limb and muscularity. A proof of the strength of the frame -shed men may be seen in the success of their tug-of-war teams. Wherever -they have competed--and they have gone throughout the entire south of -England--they have invariably beaten their opponents and carried off the -trophies. - -There was formerly a workman, an ex-Hussar, named Bryan, in the shed, -who could perform extraordinary feats of strength. He was nearly seven -feet in height and he was very erect. His arms and limbs were solid and -strong; he was a veritable Hercules, and his shoulders must have been as -broad as those of Atlas, who is fabled to have borne the world on his -back. It was striking to see him lift the heavy headstocks, that weighed -two hundredweights and a quarter, with perfect ease and carry them about -on his shoulder--a task that usually required the powers of two of the -strongest men. This he continued to do for many years, not out of -bravado, but because he knew it was within his natural powers to -perform. Notwithstanding his tremendous normal strength, however, he was -subject to attacks of ague, and you might have seen him sometimes -stretched out upon the ground quite helpless, groaning and foaming at -the mouth. If he had been working in the shed recently, since the -passing of the new Factory Acts, he would have been promptly discharged, -for no one is kept at the works now who is subject to any infirmity that -might incapacitate him in the shed among the machinery. Later on, when -work got slack, Bryan was turned adrift from the factory, a broken and a -ruined man. All his past services to the firm were forgotten, he was -cast off like an old shoe. However valuable and extraordinary a man may -have proved himself to be at his work, it counts for little or nothing -with the foremen and managers; the least thing puts him out of favour -and he must go. - -The men of the frame shed are of a cosmopolitan order, though to a less -extent than is the case in some departments. The work being for the most -part rough and requiring no very great skill, there has consequently -been no need of apprenticeships, though there are a few who have served -their time as waggon-builders or boiler-smiths. They are not recognised -as journeymen here, however, and so must take their chance with the rank -and file. Promotion is supposed to be made according to merit, but there -are favourites everywhere who will somehow or other prevail. The normal -order of promotion is from labourer to “puller-up,” from puller-up to -riveter, and thence to the position of chargeman. Here he must be -content to stop, for foremen are only made about once or twice in a -generation, and when the odds on any man for the post are high, surprise -and disappointment always follow. The first is usually relegated to the -rear, and the least expected of all is brought forward to fill the -coveted position. It may be design, or it may be judgment, and perhaps -it is neither. It very often looks as though the matter had been -decided by the toss of a coin, or the drawing of lots, and that the lot -had fallen upon the least qualified, but there is no questioning the -decision. The old and tried chargeman, who knows the scale and -dimensions of everything that has been built or that is likely to be -built in the shed in his lifetime, must stand aside for the raw youth -who has not left school many months, but who, by some mysterious means -or other, has managed to secure the favour and indulgence of his -foreman, or other superior. Perhaps he is reckoned good at arithmetic, -or can scratch out a rough drawing, though more than likely his father -was gardener to someone, or cleaned the foreman’s boots and did odd jobs -in the scullery after factory hours. - -Another reason for the selection of young and comparatively unknown men -for the post of foreman is that they will have a smaller circle of -personal mates in the shed, and, consequently, a less amount of human -kindness and sympathy in them. That is to say, they will be able to cut -and slash the piecework prices with less compunction, and so the better -serve the interests of the company. The young aspirant, moreover, will -be at the very foot of the ladder, hot and impetuous, while the elder -one will have passed the season of senseless and unscrupulous ambition. - -A feature of the frame shed is the rivet boy. It is his duty to hot the -rivets in the forge for his mates and to perform sundry other small -offices, such as fetching water from the tap in the shed, or holding a -nail bag in front of the rivet head which is being cut away, in order to -keep it from flying and causing injury to any of the workmen. The forges -for hotting the rivets are fixtures and are supplied with air through -pipes laid beneath the ground from the fan under the wall. Several boys -usually work from one fire, and there is often a scramble for the most -advantageous position in the coals. An iron plate is used to facilitate -the heating. This has been perforated with holes at the punch to allow -its receiving as many rivets as are required. It is then placed over the -whitehot coke in the forge and the rivets inserted. Each boy has a -certain number of holes allotted to him and he must not trespass on his -mates’ territory. - -It sometimes happens that one of the boys proves to be a bully and a -terror and plays ducks and drakes with the rights and privileges of the -others. This is always a matter of great concern to the juveniles, and -they will not be satisfied till the tyrant has been humbled and -punished. They have many minor differences and quarrels among -themselves, and challenges to fight are frequent. Honour looms big in -the eyes of the rivet boys, and they are quick to resent a taunt or -affront and to wipe off all aspersions. Perhaps a sneer has been -levelled at one by reason of his name, his father’s occupation, or the -name of the street or locality in which he lives. With true pluck the -matter is taken up. An hour and a place for the meeting are fixed: it is -generally--“Meet me in the Rec at dinner-time.” There they accordingly -assemble with their mates and supporters and fight the matter out. It is -usually a rough-and-tumble proceeding, but they do not desist till one -or the other has been worsted and honour satisfied. More than once it -has happened that they have been so intent on the match they have lost -count of the time and have all--a dozen or more--got locked out for the -afternoon. This requires some explanation, and the next day the whole -circumstance has to be related. Here the boys’ fathers might interfere -and administer a sound corrective lesson to each one of them. - -Getting locked out is also very often the result of over-staying at -football, which is regularly practised by the youngsters in the -recreation field all the year round. The boys club together and buy a -ball and race out to play every dinner-time. There, for three-quarters -of an hour, they exert themselves to the utmost and are forced to run -back to the shed at the top of their speed, often returning in an -exhausted condition. A spell of five minutes puts them right, however, -and they go on with their work as though they had enjoyed an infinite -period of refreshment. In the evening they race home to tea and -afterwards go out again while it is daylight, never seeming too tired -for sport and play. - -Many queer nicknames, such as “Bodger,” “Snowball,” “Granny,” “Chucky,” -and “Nanty Pecker,” are in vogue among the boys. These become fixtures -and remain with them for many years. It must not be thought that all the -rivet boys submit to become permanent hands in the shed. A good many of -them, as soon as they are sufficiently old and big, go to the recruiting -sergeant and try to enlist. Some enter the Army and others the Navy; -some go this way and some that. Very often boys who spent their early -days at rivet-hotting in the shed and enter the Service, return in after -years to obtain another start in the old quarters, and grow old amid the -scenes of their boyhood. Some never return at all, but die, either in -battle, of sickness, or other accident. More than one, too, has gone the -wrong way in life and ended in suicide. - -The boys are much given to reading cheap literature of the “dreadful” -type, and they revel in the deeds of Buffalo Bill, Deadwood Dick, and -other well-known heroes of fiction. Sometimes a boy, unknown to his -parents, actually possesses a firearm--a pistol or revolver--and, with a -group of companions, scours the countryside round about in search of -“game.” Once, at least, mischief was done in the shape of bursting open -a letter-box with bullets, and at another time a poor calf received a -bullet-shot through the hedgerow. This last-named deed, however, was -purely accidental. Great fear fell upon the juveniles after this -untoward experience and the pistol was forthwith cast into the canal. At -another time a careless lad shot himself through the hand with a pistol -and inflicted a dangerous wound. - -A great change has come over the frame shed during the last twelve -years. The old foreman has gone; a great many of the old hands have -disappeared also, and the methods of work have been revolutionised. The -prices have been cut again and again; a different spirit prevails -everywhere; it is no longer as it used to be. Considerable liberty and -many small privileges were allowed to the men by the governing staff in -those days, and the foreman, if he felt disposed, could do much to make -them comfortable and satisfied. Then the overseer was practically master -of his shed and could make his own terms with the workmen, though it is -only fair to remember that under those conditions he was sometimes -inclined to be summary and despotic. - -The old foreman of the frame shed was an excellent example of this kind -of overseer. As an engineer he was clever, intelligent, sharp-sighted, -and energetic. In addition to this he was a good judge of character, a -natural leader of men, and one strongly sympathetic. If he was in want -of new hands he needed not to ask a dozen ridiculous questions, or to -stand upon any kind of ceremony; he came, saw, and decided at once. One -glance was sufficient for him; he had summed the man up in an instant. -In the shed he was free, easy and spontaneous, praising and blaming in -the same breath. At one moment he was livid with passion; the next he -was kind, conciliative, and condescending. His temper was hot and fiery. -When he frowned at you his expression was as black as a thunder-cloud, -but you knew that everything would soon be well again. His behaviour was -at least open and genuine, and whatever his attitude to his superiors -might have been, he was free from dissimulation with the workmen. -Nothing escaped his attention in the shed. As he walked his eagle eye -comprehended all. If a stanchion or girder was in the least out of -square he perceived it, and it had to be put right immediately. - -He never made himself too cheap and common with the workmen, but held -himself in such a relation to them that he could always command respect. -He often came to the shed late and left early, but there was then no -rigid law compelling the foreman to be for ever at his post, and the -work usually proceeded the same. He was an inventor himself, and he was -always ready to encourage independent thought and action among his -workmen. He recognised merit and rewarded it. He was not jealous of his -workmen’s brains, and he was at all times willing to consider an opinion -and to act upon it if it seemed preferable to his own. He was a mixture -of the fatherly ruler and the despot, but he was very proud of his men -and he lauded them up to the skies to outsiders, whenever an opportunity -presented itself. There was nothing they could not make, and make well, -according to him. If he blamed them to themselves he stoutly defended -them against others, and he would not have dreamed of selling and -betraying them to the management, as is commonly done at this time. - -Of the boys he was extremely fond, and especially of such as were -well-behaved and attentive, however ragged and rough their dress might -be, and he often stood and talked to them with his hand on their -shoulder, or gave them pennies or marbles. But if he saw one of the -“terribles” bullying a younger lad he ran up to him and gave him a sound -cuff, or a vigorous kick. Under his foremanship work was plentiful and -wages were high. The shed was nearly always on overtime, and money -flowed like water. The men bore the strain of the overtime complacently. -They worked without fear and turned out a hundred, or a hundred and -twenty waggon frames a week. Those were prosperous days for the frame -shed and many a one saved a little pile from his earnings. - -Together with all this, however, the foreman discovered some remarkable -characteristics and he was possessed of the most amazing effrontery. If -strangers connected with other firms came in to inspect the plant and -process and to know the prices of things, he hoodwinked them in every -possible manner and told them astounding fables. He would take up an -article in his hand, describe it with pride, and tell them it was made -for a fifth of what it actually cost to produce. If the manager came -through and any awkward questions were asked, he skilfully turned the -point aside and motioned secretly to the men to support him if they -should be consulted. He hated all interference and would not stand -patronage even from his superiors, and where argument failed clever -manœuvring saved the situation. - -Whatever he saw in the shape of machinery he coveted for his own shed. -More than once he was known actually to purloin a machine from the -neighbour foreman’s shop in the night and transfer it to his own -premises. Once a very large drilling machine, new from the maker and -labelled to another department at the works, came into the yard by -mistake, but it never reached its proper destination. Calling a gang of -men, he removed the drill from the truck, caused a foundation to be made -for it, fixed it up in a corner half out of sight, and had it working -the next morning. A hue and cry was raised up and down and around the -yard for the missing machine, but it was not discovered till a long time -afterwards. It still stands in the shed, a proof of one of the most -brazen and impudent thefts possible. - -At another time three large drop-hammers were shunted near the shed, and -on seeing them he quickly had them unloaded, but he was not successful -in retaining them. On being discovered he made profuse apologies for his -“mistake” and there the matter ended. At last he fell into the disfavour -of someone and defiantly handed in his resignation. Now everything -proceeds upon formally approved lines, though many a one wishes the old -foreman were still in his place, grumbling and scolding, and pushing -things forward as in the days ago. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - - THE SMITHY--THE SMITH--BUILDING THE FIRE--GALLERY - MEN--APPRENTICES--THE OLDEST HAND--DEATH OF A SMITH--THE - SMITH’S ATTITUDE TO HIS MATES--HIS GREAT GOOD-NATURE--THE - SMITHS’ FOREMAN - - -Adjoining the frame-building shed is the waggon smithy, where the -thousand and one details for brake systems for the carriages and -waggons, and other articles and uses are manufactured. Here, also, all -kinds of repairs are executed, and a great number of tools of every -description made for the permanent way men and for other workshops round -about. It is said that the forge is the longest in England, and this is -probably correct. It is slightly under two hundred yards in length, and -it contains one hundred fires. These are built at equal distances, on -each side of the shed, with crowns like large bee-hives, and the -chimneys are joined in with the walls. Every fire is supplied with a -boshful of water in which to cool the various tools, and there is also a -tap and a rubber pipe for damping the coals. - -Behind the forge is a recess for the coke, which is crushed by machines -outside and wheeled in ready for use. Above this is a rack for the tongs -and tools, of which the smith possesses a considerable number. They are -of all sorts and sizes, capable of holding and shaping every conceivable -article. Of tongs there are flat-bits, hollow-bits, and claws large and -small, with sets and “set-tools,” “fullers,” flatters, punches, -“jogglers,” and many others with no specific title but conveniently -named by the brawny fellow who uses them. Standing in one corner, or -soaking in the water of the bosh, are large and small sledges and one or -two wooden mallets. Every fire has its sieve or “riddle,” as it is -called, for sifting the coke before it is put in the forge, for every -particle of dust must be removed from the fuel so as to obtain a clear, -bright heat. If there is welding to be done the coke will have to be -broken up small--about the size of a walnut--with the mallet, in order -to concentrate the heat, and to allow of the iron being easily moved in -the fire and well-covered with the fuel. - -The task of making up the fire falls upon the smith’s mate or striker. -Perhaps, if the piece of work is of big dimensions, two fires are -needed; if it is small or moderate-sized, one will be sufficient. It is -the mate’s duty to get everything ready for the smith. First of all the -clinker is removed and the dust taken out from the centre of the fire -with an iron shovel. The live coals are now raked to the middle and the -blast applied. When this is performed the fresh coke is “riddled” up, -and carefully distributed in the forge. Every smith is very particular -as to the _shape_ of his fire. In general disposition it will be high at -the back with the corners--right and left--well filled, rather full in -front and even in the centre. If the weather is hot and the coke dry it -may receive a good watering--once before the smith begins his heat, and -several times during the operation. A good smith will be sparing of -water, however, for too much of it makes the fire burn too fiercely in -the centre, contracts the area of heat and causes the iron to be dirty -and slimy. The harder the coke, the better it is, and the more brilliant -the heat will be. Soft coke is soon consumed and completely reduced to -dust, while good, hard coke will last a considerable time in the fire. - -It must not be assumed that the smith is idle while his mates are -employed in renovating the forge. He is busy preparing his tools and -taking dimensions of the job to be made, and pondering on the best means -of doing it. For this he usually has a large board whitened with chalk, -upon which he sketches out the article and by means of which he -determines the best method of forming his bends and angles. He may not -be much of an artist, but in his rude way he will make a very -commendable drawing of his job and will thus be enabled to determine -beforehand exactly what to do to effect it, just the time to begin his -tapers and angles, the direction of the bend, and the tools for doing -it. He never leaves the method undetermined till he has his iron on the -anvil, but takes pains to have everything settled and every phase of the -operation well in view before he begins it. It is the inferior or the -unintelligent workman alone that heats his iron and trusts to a chance -idea to complete the job. - -Meanwhile the cloth cap has been removed from the head, and the -waistcoat and braces hung up behind the forge. The long leathern apron -is produced from the wooden tool-chest and tied around the waist, or -fastened with the belt, about three inches of the top of the trousers -being often turned down outside. The smith’s trousers are usually of -blue serge, and they are made very loose and baggy, so as to allow of -much stooping. The strikers more frequently use aprons made of canvas or -of old thin refuse leather that has been stripped from the worn-out -carriages and horse-boxes and consigned to the scrap-heap. While the -finishing touches are being put to the forge the burly smith takes his -can and goes to the tap for a drink of water. Arrived there he fills the -vessel, removes the quid of tobacco from his cheek--a great many smiths -chew tobacco--raises the can to his lips, rinses out his mouth once or -twice and spouts the water out again to a great distance. Then he takes -a long drink, fills the can again and carries it back to the forge, -where he hands it to his mates, or sets it down for future refreshment. - -By this time the iron will have been placed in the forge and the blast -applied by the strikers. The sets also will have been ground, the shafts -of the hammers examined and the wedges tightened. The floor, too, will -be cleanly swept round about, for the smith is most particular in the -matter of neatness and will not have loose ashes and cinders, or other -rubbish, lying under his feet. A light, square table, sometimes of wood -and sometimes of iron plate, is set by the anvil, and of a height with -it, to contain the tools. A handful of birch, bound together after the -manner of a little besom, is placed conveniently upon the table. This is -used for brushing the heat when it comes from the coals, and for -removing the dust and scale from the anvil. As the blast rushes through -the pipe from underground and into the forge it roars loudly, sounding -in the coke like a strong wind among trees. Long, yellow flames rise and -leap high up the chimney, and the air around is filled with clouds of -dust and sulphur fumes from the burning coke. As the heat of the fire -increases this diminishes; in a short time the gaseous properties are -entirely consumed and there is no smell of any kind. - -Our smith is a perfect giant in stature. In height he is well over six -feet, solid and erect, with tremendous shoulders and limbs. His head is -massive and square, with broad deep forehead and bushy brows. His grey -eyes, frank and fearless, are rather deeply inset. The nose is Roman and -slightly crooked; the mouth, with thick lips a little relaxed, is -pleasant and kind. He has a heavy, bronze moustache, a clean shaven chin -and plump, ruddy cheeks. The whole countenance is square, and exhibits -the marks of good-nature and honest character. His ponderous arms are -hard and brown, full of rigid bone and muscle, and his hands are large -and horny with continual holding of the tongs and hammer. His breast is -remarkably broad and hairy--his woollen shirt is always thrown open at -work; he has hips and belly like an ox, legs like those of an elephant, -and large flat feet, and he weighs more than eighteen stone. When he -walks his motion is rather slow and deliberate. He goes heavy on his -soles, and his shoulders rise and fall alternately at every step he -takes. - -He is at all times steady and cool, and he seems never to be in a hurry. -At the anvil he gives one the same impression, so that a stranger might -even think him to be sluggish and dilatory, but he is in everything sure -and unerring, never too soon or too late. Every action is well-timed; -nothing is either over- or under-done. He performs all his beats with a -minimum amount of labour. Where a nervous or spasmodical person would -require forty or fifty blows to shape a piece of metal he will -accomplish it with about twenty-five. His masterly eye and calculating -brain are ever watchful and alert. He understands the effect of every -blow given, and while the less experienced smith is still engaged with -his piece nearly black-hot, his is finished, complete, with the metal -still yellow or bright red. He moves always at the same pace, and his -work is of a uniformly superlative character. When strangers are about, -watching him at his weld, he makes no difference whatever in his usual -methods of procedure, but behaves just as coolly and deliberately and -takes no notice of any man. - -Some smiths and forgemen, on the other hand, hate to be watched at work -by strangers--“foreigners,” as they call them--and very quickly give -evidence of their dislike and irritation. They will every now and then -dart an angry look at the visitors, and, after using the tools, throw -them down roughly, muttering under their breath and telling the -strangers to “clear off,” though not sufficiently loud to be heard. By -and by the unoffending strikers will come in for a castigation; whatever -kind of blow they strike it will be wrong for their mate. At last he -shuts off the blast from the forge, and, laying down his hammer, turns -his back towards the “interlopers,” and waits till they have passed on -up the shed. After their departure he resumes his labour and quickly -makes up for the lost time. - -Some smiths, again, though extremely nervous under the eye of a -stranger, do not object to being watched, while others positively like -the attention. Such as these are always anxious, under the -circumstances, to impress the stranger with their great skill and -dexterity in the use of tools and in twisting and turning the iron about -on the anvil. They are the “gallery men.” As soon as visitors appear -afar off they begin to prepare for an exhibition. The blast is steadied -down, or shut off, and the fire is cooled round. The tools are all most -conveniently disposed upon the anvil or table, and everything is made -ready for a “lightning” weld. The strikers are as well agreed as the -smith, and brace themselves up for an extra special effort. They wait -till the visitors are nearly opposite them and certain of viewing the -operation. Then on goes the blast, roaring loudly in the firebox, while -the smith, with the perspiration streaming down his brow and cheeks, -turns his heat over and over in the forge and glances quickly across to -take care that he is ready at the right moment. The visitors notice the -unusual activity of the men at the fire and stand still, waiting to see -the heat. This is the signal for the iron to leave the coals. With -exaggerated celerity the sections of metal are withdrawn from the forge -and brought to the anvil. The fused parts are clapped smartly together, -the striker throws down his tongs viciously, grips his hammer and, -following the directions of his mate, rains a shower of blows on the -spluttering iron. The sparks whizz out, and reach the visitors, singeing -the dresses of the ladies--if there happen to be any among them--and -causing them to cry out and step backwards a few paces, while the anvil -rings merrily under the blows. Now the smith lays down his own hammer -quickly and takes up the steel tool for finishing and squaring the heat. -His mate follows, striking rapidly, at all angles, heavy and light, -light and heavy, according to what is required, though the smith utters -not a word during the process, for the whole routine is known by heart. -Over and over the piece is jerked on the anvil--a fine flourish being -given to each movement--until it is finished. Upon its completion the -smith hands it to the striker, who receives it dexterously and places it -on the ground, or in the pile, the pair of them looking several times at -the visitors as much as to ask them if they do not think the job well -and quickly done, and begging a compliment. The visitors usually accord -them an admiring glance in recognition of their prowess and pass on up -the forge. - -The gallery men are smart and quick by nature, and are fairly sure of -being successful in “exhibition” work. The slightest blunder would spoil -the whole act and make them appear ridiculous, consequently none but -those who are really skilful ever attempt the business. The average -smith, however, and especially the one we have in view, never breaks his -rule or goes out of his way to oblige visitors, but continues at a -steady, uniform rate. The workman who is showy and energetic before -visitors is often remiss when they have gone by; it is the continual -plodder that gets through the most work in the long run. The visitor, -moreover, if he is gifted with an ordinary amount of insight and -commonsense, may easily recognise the superior workman and discriminate -between the genuine and the superficial effort. Occasionally, when -strangers pass through, after such a performance as I have described, -the striker, more in jest than in earnest, throws his cap at the feet of -the visitors, suggesting that a tip would be welcomed. It is but fair to -say that the hint is seldom or never taken. - -Though the striker, or inside mate, must perform the task of preparing -the fire for the smith, he is no longer responsible for it. Henceforth -the smith takes it under his care, and only hands it over to his mate -when the heat is finished and a stop has to be made to renew the forge. -If the job upon which he is engaged is of any dimensions and two fires -are needed, that will make it increasingly hard for the strikers. The -heaviest work is naturally more usually assigned to the strongest men, -though the rule of adaptability also holds here and the various jobs are -given to those who have proved themselves to be the most efficient at -them. Of the smiths, some are famed for their skill in one direction, -and some for their ability in another. This job requires strength, that -speed and cleverness, and another needs a combination of all those -qualities and is difficult to do at any time. Occasionally it transpires -that an inferior smith has been kept at one class of work for such a -long time that he gets out of touch with the other jobs in the shed, and -would shape awkwardly if he were suddenly called upon to undertake -something new and unusual to him. This is a mistake not often committed -by the foreman, however. He periodically changes and interchanges the -work and so gets the smiths accustomed to many and miscellaneous toils. - -The skilled and clever smith will be at home anywhere and everywhere. He -will do anything, anyhow, and by any method you please, for he is a -complete master of the trade. He will make all kinds of tools with the -utmost ease and simplicity. He will also forge chains, wheels, joints, -and levers, work in iron or steel, in “=T=” stuff, or angle iron; every -conceivable shape and form of work is subject to his operation. If you -put him at the steam-hammer he is still at home; he will forge out an -ingot or bloom with the best man on the ground. - -All the lightest work falls upon the young apprentices and the very old -men, who are too feeble to undertake heavy and trying tasks, but are yet -far too valuable to be dispensed with altogether. The apprentices -perform such work as simple setting and bending, the making of bolts and -eyes, rings and links for chains and so on. They usually come to the -work at the age of sixteen, and stay for five or six years, when they -voluntarily hand in their notices and migrate to other towns. There they -are received as improvers, or as journeymen, and are forthwith paid the -trade rate of wages. This varies considerably in many localities, and it -is to be noted that railway sheds almost always provide the very lowest -wages. Since the work is constant and sure, however, and is not subject -to the many fluctuations of the contract shop, the stability of -employment is counted a certain compensation for lower wages, and the -majority of smiths accept the conditions philosophically. - -The young apprentices are strong and sturdy, and invariably of a sound -constitution; one never sees a sickly-looking youth taking up the -occupation of smithing. This accounts for the fine physique and often -big proportions of the senior smith; the reason being that the youths -chosen were hardy and suitable, and showed signs of physical -development. The sons of smiths usually choose the trade of their -fathers and follow in their footsteps. There is consequently often a -hereditary quality in the workman; they have been a family of smiths for -generations. - -The smiths, provided they are strong and healthy, are usually retained -at the forge till they have reached the age of seventy when, under the -present rule, they are required to leave. Even this is a kind of -concession to them, for, generally speaking, the other workmen are -turned off long before they reach such an advanced age. The smith’s -usefulness, even in his age, is the cause of this; though feeble, he is -still able to do good work and to help with his knowledge and -experience. He is usually employed at tool-making, or at other light -occupations. His poor old hand, almost as hard as iron, shakes with the -weight of the hammer; his head trembles visibly, and his legs totter -beneath him. He comes in early in the morning, in order to avoid the -crush. He brings his meals with him and eats them in the forge, and he -is the last going out at night. In his decline he is forced to live near -the works--only a street or so from the entrance--and even then it takes -him a long time to hobble to and fro. In the evening and at week-ends he -usually stays at home to rest, or he may possibly look in to see a -friend, or to take a mug of ale at the neighbouring inn. - -It is a sad day for him when he receives intelligence of his discharge. -Feeble as he is become, he has a real affection for the smithy, and is -never so happy as when he is at his forge and anvil. As long as he can -drag himself backwards and forwards, see the old faces, and snuff the -breath of the fires, he is content. His health, too, which has been -maintained by the constant exercise of his trade, is passable while he -can do a little work. When he is forced to lie idle, and to forego his -regular habit of early rising and the exertion of his muscles with the -hammer, that suffers as a matter of course. His joints forthwith become -stiff and set; his little store of strength, instead of increasing with -the change, wastes and declines. In a very short while he is dead, and -his old bones are haled away to the cemetery on top of the hill. A -number of his mates and fellow-smiths follow him to the grave and -witness the last rites, not for the sake of formality, but out of pure -friendship and respect. His name is certain to live long in the annals -of the smithy. - -The oldest hand in the forge at the present time is aged sixty-eight, -though there were recently several above this age who have now been -placed on the retired list or superannuated by their societies. He has -led a hard life, and affords a very good example of the average type of -smith. He was apprenticed at Cheltenham and made a journeyman at -Gloucester. From that city he passed on to Worcester, and went thence to -Birmingham, working for about a year at each place. Afterwards he -migrated to Sheffield--the home of furnaces and forges--and shifted -thence in turn to Liverpool, Lancaster, Rotherham, Durham, and several -other manufacturing centres, settling finally in the railway town. He -has brought up a big family and seen them all established in life. Of -his sons several are smiths; one is in America, one in Africa, and one -at home in England. He has saved enough money to buy his house, and he -has a few pounds besides, so that he has no fear of being reduced to -want. He has worked hard and lived well, and he has always drunk his -glass of ale. He is associated with several bodies and committees, and -he has presented a bed to the local hospital out of his earnings, with -the natural condition that smiths have the first claim upon it. Though -his hand is a little unsteady with continual use of the tools, he can -still manage a fair day’s work. He is very proud of his trade and takes -great delight in telling you of his travels and adventures. Every summer -he passes the examination of old smiths made by the works’ manager to -see that they are fit for duty, and he still looks forward to years of -activity at the forge. - -Nearly all the smiths live in the town and within easy reach of their -work. A few only of their number have had a rustic apprenticeship. The -great majority of those in the shed have learnt the rudiments of their -trade in factories, and have migrated from place to place. By living in -the midst of large towns and cities, they have become almost indifferent -to surroundings and are able to make themselves happy and comfortable in -the most crowded and uncongenial situations. For the beauties of -external nature they care but little; they appear to be wholly wrapt up -in and concerned with their own vocation. They nearly all belong to -unions and organisations, and are the most independent of men, though -they do not make a great parade of the fact. Their independence is born -of self-confidence--the knowledge of their own usefulness and worth, and -the strength of their position. If they should choose to leave one place -they are certain of getting employment elsewhere, for a good smith is -never out of work for long together. Other trades suffer considerably -through slackness of employment, but there is a constant demand for -smiths and hammermen. The fact is that fewer smiths and forgemen are -made, in proportion to their numbers, than is the case with some other -trades. The work is hard and laborious, and the life must be one of toil -and sacrifice. - -Although some smiths drink an enormous quantity of cold water at the -forge there are others who seldom taste a drop of the liquid. If you ask -them the reason why, they will tell you that it is not a wise plan to -drink much cold water at work. They say that it causes cramp in the -stomach, colds, rash, and itching of the skin, and add that it makes -them sweat very much more than they would otherwise do. The more you -drink, they say, the more you want to drink, and it is but a habit -acquired. If you care to use yourself to it you may work in the greatest -heat and feel very few ill effects from it if you are abstemious in the -taking of liquids. At the same time, the majority of smiths do drink -water, and that copiously, and seem to thrive well upon it. Such as do -this, and are fat and well, when spoken to upon the matter, always smile -broadly and tell you it is the result of having a contented mind and of -drinking plenty of cold water. - -It is certain that those who drink most perspire most, but that does not -appear to hurt them in the least, and you often hear it said by a -workman who is not addicted to perspiring freely that he feels very -“stuffy” and congested and that he should be better if he could sweat -more. A delightful feeling is experienced after a good sweating at work. -Every nerve and tissue seems to be aglow with intensest life; the blood -courses through the body and limbs freely and vigorously, and produces a -sense of unspeakable physical pleasure. Sweating as the result of -physical exercise has a powerful effect upon the mind, as well as upon -the body; it clears the vision and invigorates the brain, and is a -perfect medicine for many ailments, both mental and physical. If many of -the languid and indolent, who never do any work or indulge in sturdy -exercise, were suddenly to rouse themselves up and do sufficient -physical labour, either for themselves or for someone else, to procure a -good sweating at least twice a week, they would feel immeasurably better -for it. Life would have a new meaning for them. They would eat better, -rest better, and sleep better. They would feel fresher and stronger, -altogether more active and vigorous, more sympathetic and satisfied. -Though he is, as a rule, quite unaware of it, the workman derives -considerably more physical pleasure from life than do those persons, -mistakenly envied, who do nothing, for everything has a relish to him, -while to the others all is flat and insipid. Truly work is the salt of -life, and physical work at that, though there is a most passionate -desire in many quarters to be well rid of it. - -The majority of the smiths, even though they do not drink much cold -water in the forge, are fond of a glass of ale; there are very few -teetotalers among them. No one would wish to imply by this that they are -“wettish customers.” The very nature of their work makes them thirsty, -and though they constrain their appetites while they are at the fires, -nevertheless when they come to the town they feel bound to go in -somewhere or other and “wet the whistle,” as they term it. After a hot -turn in the shed the foaming ale goes down with a delicious relish and -the smith feels that he is entitled to enjoy that pleasure, considering -how hard he has toiled all day in the heat and dust. There is also the -evening paper to be read, after which follows a chat with his mate, and -all the hard toil is for the moment forgotten. Rested and refreshed, the -man of the forge goes home to his wife and children and partakes of a -good tea, feeling very fit and on excellent terms with himself and -others. - -It is rather remarkable that smiths do not smoke very much tobacco. In -the use of the weed they are very moderate, though the strikers and -mates easily make up for the deficiency. Every day, after having their -meals in the smithy, they walk out into the town or stand under the -bridge to “have a draw” and read the morning newspaper, returning -leisurely about ten minutes before it is time to start work again. - -To his mates and strikers, while at the forge, the smith is rather quiet -and reserved, often speaking very little and seldom discussing with them -matters apart from the work. This is not out of any undue feeling of -pride in himself or unsociableness, but because he is full of his work, -and disinclined to talk much. Neither is he given to the discussing of -political and social problems and continually seeking an opportunity for -holding an argument with this or that one. It is characteristic of him -to view everything calmly and soberly; he is imbued with the genuine -philosophical temperament. It is a certain and invariable rule that the -one who has the most ready tongue and is always ripe for an argument is -not the most energetic and proficient at his employment. If such a one -as this should desire to entangle the sturdy smith in a cobweb of -discussion he is bluntly and unceremoniously told to “clear out,” for he -has no time to listen to such “stuff.” Off the premises, however, he is -friendly and indulgent to his mates and strikers. When he meets them in -the town he stops and speaks to them and invites them to have a glass of -ale at his expense. - -The religious beliefs of the smiths are not as well-known as are those -of some classes of workmen, for they are not in the habit of discovering -themselves to outsiders. Though he who has his forge in the village, -under the old elm or spreading chestnut, may go regularly to church, -there is no evidence to prove that those who dwell in the town imitate -him in that respect. Their Sundays appear to be spent chiefly at home in -rest and quietness, in company with their wives and families. A few, -plainly and simply dressed--for the smith heartily hates all foppishness -and superficial ornament--may be seen in the evening walking out towards -the fields. The majority, however, stay indoors and recuperate for the -coming week’s work, or merely go to see their friends who live a few -streets away. But if they do not go to church or chapel they are far -from being deficient in charitableness and true piety. They merely aim -to live the best life they can and to do good wherever possible. Their -religion is one of kindness to all; they are at once large-hearted and -broad-minded, honest, just, and liberal. Their sympathy for their -fellows arises largely from the fact that they are well acquainted with -hard toil; they know what it is to work and sweat, to be hot and -thirsty, beaten and tired. Theirs is no gentlemanly occupation, such as -is that of some other journeymen; not merely the theoretical exercise of -a craft, but one that requires good, solid exertion, such as brings out -all that is best in a man. - -A proof of their utter good-nature and kindness to their fellows may be -seen in the fact of their having, for the last twenty years, made a -voluntary weekly offering of a halfpenny per man to the local Cottage -Hospital. This is taken once a fortnight, the condition being that it -must be unsolicited and a straight gift. In twenty years the sum -collected has amounted to over two hundred pounds. This is quite -independent of the annual collections made for charities, in which the -smiths again always head the list by a large margin. There is no other -example at the works of such spontaneous good-nature, and this will -show, more than any words, the true characteristics of the brawny men at -the forges. - -The smiths’ foreman is the very personification of his class, and is a -highly interesting study. He is of great stature--he is over six feet in -height--with broad, square shoulders and large limbs; fleshy, but not -corpulent. His forehead is wide and steep; he has bushy brows, iron grey -hair and beard, and red cheeks. His eyes are frank and honest; his -voice deep and gruff, but not unkind; and when he speaks to you he looks -you full in the face. His whole figure is striking; he towers above the -majority of his workmen. His weight, as he tells you himself, with a -mixture of pride and modesty and the suspicion of a smile, is nineteen -stone six. After this he hastens to inform you that he is not the -heaviest at his house, for his good wife turns the scale at twenty-two -stone. He has been once married and is the father of a large -family--nineteen in all--twelve of whom are yet living. His age is well -over sixty, and he will soon have to retire from the forge, though he is -still hale and hearty, fond of a glass of good beer, and, as he -frequently and forcibly tells you, he is “a great eater of beef.” - -As for scholarship and culture, he makes no claim to either, for he -never had the opportunity of much education, though he is a famous -smith, and is gifted with the rare faculty of getting his men into a -good humour and keeping them there. He is on good terms with all his -staff; is jealous of their interests, open and honest in his dealings -with them, and he has the satisfaction of being respected in return. He -is one of the old school, of a type that is nearly extinct now; a bold -defender of the rights of smiths, a hard and fast believer in the -hand-made article. Naturally, for him, he is suspicious of all modern -machinery that tends to do away with the trade of the smithy, and he -swears by the most unbreakable oaths that whatever is done by the newer -systems of forging and stamping he is able to equal it on the anvil, -both as regards strength and cheapness. When the managers recently -attempted to bring about sweeping reductions in the prices throughout -the smithy he opposed them at every point, swore that he was master in -his own shed, and that no one but he should be allowed to fix prices. -“When I am gone you can do just whatever you like, but I’m going to -have a say in things as long as I’m about here,” said he. On the -managers insisting to cut the prices, he unceremoniously took off his -coat, and, turning up his shirt-sleeves, presented the representative -with a pair of tongs and a hammer and challenged him to have a trial at -the game himself. “Here’s my fire, guvnor, and there’s yourn. Come on -with you and let’s see what you can do, and if you can make it at your -price I’ll give in to you, but you’ll never do it in the world.” Only -one or two prices fell in the whole shed. The managers abstained from -further interference and since that time the smiths have been but very -little molested. - -No one could walk through the forge and observe the splendid physique -and bearing of the smiths, their skill and dexterity with the tools at -the fires and anvil, without a feeling of pride and genuine admiration -for them. They are a fine body of men, and their frankness and -good-nature, their freedom from ostentation, and general -straightforwardness impress one even more than do their physical -qualities, and help to fix them more deeply and truly in his regard and -esteem. They are not little and petty; they are not spiteful and -malicious. They are not jealous of each other’s skill and position; they -are no tale-bearers. They seldom quarrel about politics or religion, or -hold any other controversy in the shed or out of it. Their attitude to -each other is fair and unquestionable; they are natural and spontaneous, -very free and generous. If proof is needed of this you have but to come -into the smithy and see for yourselves. You will find it written in -their faces in unmistakable characters. You will discover it in a -greater degree if you converse with them. You will be completely -satisfied as to their genuineness and quite convinced of the justice of -these observations. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - - FITTERS--THE STEAM-HAMMER SHOP--FORGEMEN--THEIR - CHARACTERISTICS--BOILERMAKERS--THE FOUNDRY--THE BLAST - FURNACE--MOULDERS - - -There are two large fitting sheds at the works--for engine- and -carriage-fitting. They differ in several respects but are on the whole -consimilar, both in the nature of the work done and in the composition -and individuality of the staffs employed. The duties of the fitters are -very well indicated by their denominative: they prepare and fit together -all the machinery parts for the locomotives and carriages as well as the -steam-brake details and other apparatus of a complicated nature. The -sheds also serve as centres for supplying the other shops with their -small staffs of fitters who superintend repairs to the local machinery, -attend to the steam-hammers, fix new shafting, and so on. - -The fitting sheds are large buildings and are packed with machinery of -every conceivable shape and kind. Within them are lathes large and -small, machines for slotting, shaping and drilling, drills for boring -round and square holes, punches and shears, hydraulic tackle, and -various other curious appliances almost incapable of description. There -are hundreds of yards of steel shafting, pulleys and wheels innumerable, -and miles of beltage. The space between the roof and the floor seems to -be entirely occupied with swiftly-revolving wheels and belts. To view -the interior is like peering into a dense forest where all is tangled -and confused and everything is in a state of perpetual motion. At the -same time there is a minimum of noise. Here are no steam-hammers beating -on the stubborn masses of iron and steel and making the foundations of -the earth tremble beneath you, no riveters’ hammers battering on the -hollow plates of the frames and boilers, and no pneumatic tools ringing -out sharply and driving one to distraction with the unspeakable din. The -wheels revolve almost without sound; the shafting turns and spins -silently. The lathes are nearly noiseless in operation, and the drills -only creak a little now and then as a small portion of the detached -metal becomes blocked underneath the tool and runs round with it. The -greatest noise is made by those who are busily chipping at the benches; -otherwise there is comparative quiet when we remember the tremendous din -of the neighbouring workshops. - -As there are no furnaces or forges in the fitting shed, and abundant -ventilation, the air is cool and free from smoke and fume. The work is -less laborious than is that of the smithy or frame shed, and the men are -not required to perspire much. Both the fitters and the machinemen wear -cloth suits, with a thin blue jacket or “slop” and overalls, and you -rarely see them stripped or with their shirt-sleeves turned up. This is -so much the rule that if they should be seen to take off their coats at -a job in either of the outlying sheds the circumstance will be noted as -of unusual occurrence by the rank and file. They will immediately raise -a good-natured laugh and jokingly tell them to “put their jackets on if -they don’t want to catch a cold.” One local fitter, by reason of his -great fondness for carrying a drawing with him wherever he goes and the -readiness and ease with which he has resort to it in order to explain -away the most trivial detail, has earned for himself the title of “The -Drawing King.” A second, as the result of his artificial activity with -the callipers, is styled “Calliper King,” while a third, by his -volubility, has secured the expressive nickname of “Fish-mouth.” - -An amusing and true story is told of a chargeman of the fitting shed. He -was lying seriously ill and believed himself to be at the point of -death. While in that condition he was conscience-stricken at the thought -that he had had one or two very good prices for work in the shed. He -accordingly sent for his foreman to come and visit him. When he arrived -the sick man unburdened his soul and begged him to cut the prices -forthwith; he said he “could not die with it on his mind.” In due time -the prices were cut. The old fellow’s period had not yet come, however. -He got better and had the satisfaction of returning to the shed and -working at the reduced rates, the laughing-stock of his companions. - -The fitters are usually looked upon as the men _par excellence_ of the -shed. Like the smiths, they have usually travelled far. Some have -visited every part of the kingdom, while others may have served -abroad--in America, at the Cape of Good Hope, in China, or Egypt. A few -have been artificers in the Navy or in the Mercantile Marine; here is -one, for instance, who, by reason of his nautical experiences, has -gained the nickname of “Deep Sea Joe.” It will commonly be found that -those who have gone furthest from home are not only the best workmen--as -having had a more varied and extensive experience--but they are also -more broad-minded and sympathetic towards their mates and labourers. - -The majority of the fitters are members of Trades Unions, and of all -other classes at the works, perhaps, they take the greatest pains to -protect themselves and their interests. By contributing to the funds -of their organisations they are insured against accidents, strikes, -or dismissal, and are thus placed in a position of considerable -independence. They are required to serve an apprenticeship of five or -seven years’ duration before they are recognised as journeymen and they -are, by a common rule, compelled to go further afield in order to obtain -the standard rate of wages. Nearly all the foremen of the different -sheds are appointed from among the fitters; whatever qualities an -outsider may discover he stands but little chance of being preferred for -the post. - -Before a fitter has been promoted to the position of foreman he is a -bold champion of the rights of Labour, one loud in the expression of his -sympathy with his fellowmen, a staunch believer in the liberty of the -individual and a hearty condemner of the factory system. If he has been -appointed overseer, however, there is a considerable change in his -manner and attitude towards all these and kindred subjects. A great -modification of his personal views and opinions soon follows; he begins -to look at things from the official standpoint. He is now fond of -telling you that “things are not as they used to be.” Possibly they are -not, as far as he himself is concerned, but there is another view of the -situation. At the same time, he will be fairly loyal to his old mates, -the journeyman fitters, and treat them with superior respect. To the -labourers, however, he will not be so well-disposed. He will ignore -their interests and rule them with a rod of iron. - -I have said that steam-hammer forging is on the decline in the railway -town. The chief cause of this is the recent development of the process -of manufacturing malleable cast steel, which has largely taken the place -of wrought iron forging both in the locomotive and elsewhere. Formerly -all wheels were forged in sections and were afterwards welded up, and -the work provided constant employment for the steam-hammer men. Now they -are obtained elsewhere, more cheaply, it may be, though they are of an -inferior quality. Engine-cranks also, which at one time were made -exclusively on the premises, are nearly all bought away from the town, -and this was a second great loss to the shed. All that remains is the -manufacture of the less important details, such as connection rods and -levers, with a few special or repair cranks now and then. - -The steam-hammer shed has thus been deprived of much of its importance. -The big machines, capable of striking a blow equivalent to a hundred or -two hundred tons’ pressure, have been removed and put on the scrap-heap, -and their places have been filled by other and less powerful plant. The -old forgemen, too, with their mates who worked the furnaces, are -missing. Of these, some are dead, some have been discharged, while -others have been reduced and are scattered about the yard. He who -formerly shouted out his orders at the steam-hammer and controlled the -mighty mass of iron or steel with the porter, turning it round and round -to receive the tremendous blow, is now hobbling about with a shovel and -wheel-barrow, cleaning up the refuse of the yard, in receipt of a -miserable pittance. Perhaps he is lame as the result of a blow, or he -has a withered arm through its having been “jumped up” with the driving -back of the porter, or he may have lost an eye. A portion of steel has -fled from the hammer rod, or from the “ram,” and struck him in the eye -and he is blind as a consequence. - -Several years ago there was at the factory a splendid forger, a cool and -highly-skilful workman, and one possessed of fine physique. He was tall, -square and broad built, full of bone and muscle, solid and strong, and, -though of seventeen or eighteen stone in weight, he was very nimble and -of unerring judgment. One day he received the offer of a job in the -Midlands, at nearly double the wages he was getting in the railway town, -and he decided to accept the post. Accordingly he left the shed and took -over his new duties. He had not been away long, however, before he met -with a serious accident that quite incapacitated him from following his -occupation as a forgeman. A careless or unskilful hammer-driver had -struck a terrific blow out of time, and the porter-bar, driven out -suddenly, forced the forger’s hand and arm violently to the shoulder, -completely crippling him. A ruined man, he came back to the town and -gained a wretched livelihood by helping to serve the bricklayers and -masons with his one arm. - -The steam-hammer forger is one of the most skilful and useful, as well -as the most interesting of men. He may possibly have learned his trade -in the town, or he may hail from Sheffield, Middlesborough, Scotland or -Wales. All these places are noted for extensive manufactures in iron and -steel and for the efficiency of their workmen, and especially of their -forgers and furnacemen. If any forger in the shed is reputed to have -come from the Midlands, the North, or the iron region of Wales, he is -sure to be considered something of a prodigy. He comes bearing with him -a part of the laurels of his township and all eyes will be upon him to -see how he acquits himself of the responsibility. Very often, however, -he quite fails to fulfil the expectations entertained of him and is -easily beaten by the local men. After all, it was but the name; he is no -better than many who have learned their trade in the shed. Perhaps he is -not even as efficient as they, though he did come from “Ironopolis” and -forged very many tons of steel ingots in an incredibly short space of -time, though this happened “years ago,” if you chance to press him at -all concerning the matter. - -The forger is not always a man of big physical proportions. On the -contrary, he is more usually of a medium, or even of a diminutive type; -you seldom or never find one as stout and heavy as is the average smith. -The nature of the toil forbids this. The smith, at his work, is more or -less stationary. His forging, moreover, is not so heavy, nor is he -exposed to such great heat. The forgeman’s ingot may weigh four or five -tons, all blazing hot, with a porter-bar of thirty hundredweight or more -attached, and though this will be suspended from the crane and he will -have several mates to help him, it will yet require the whole of their -powers to remove it from the furnace to the hammer and to turn it over -or push it backwards and forwards to receive the ponderous blow. But if -the forgeman is inferior to the smith in the matter of stature and bulk, -he easily beats him in strength. He is a very lion in this respect. -Underneath his thin, shrunken cheeks and skinny arms are sinews almost -as tough as steel itself. In the most blinding and deadly heat of the -furnace, with three or four tons of dazzling metal exactly in front of -him and the sweat pouring out of the hollows of his grimy cheeks and -running down his nose and chin to drop in a continual stream on the -ground beneath, he still pushes, heaves, and shouts loudly to his mates, -and works and slaves quite unconcernedly. He is almost as fresh at the -end of the operation as he was at the beginning. Nothing seems to tire -him down; he is for ever active and vigorous. - -The forgeman often proves to be a rather irritable individual, one sharp -and sour to his mates and hasty in his temper. His companions at the -hammer--with the exception of the furnaceman--are so many children to -him; he orders them here and there with the slightest ceremony and -shouts out his orders at the top of his voice. At every command he -utters they hasten to obey, fearing his testiness, and when he roars out -at them they shake in their boots. Perhaps they are slow in handing him -a tool, or they have applied the wrong gauge, or the hammer-driver has -struck too hard a blow. Whatever it is, the forgeman’s wrath is aroused -and they must suffer for it. In his anger he calls them many names that -could not be styled complimentary and withers them with looks. Then, -whatever kind of blow the hammerman strikes, it will be wrong. If it is -light, he wanted it heavy; if heavy, he required it light--the mere -suggestion of a blow. He will often, in the same breath, roar out at the -top of his voice--“Hit ’im! Hit ’im! Light! LIGHT! LIGHT!” and will -immediately explode with passion because his order was not acted upon to -the letter. By and by the exasperated hammer-driver will venture to -reply to his autocratic mate, and a smart battle of words ensues, in -which the forgeman, however, usually comes off best. The old furnaceman, -greyheaded, or totally bald with the heat, will fire away with his coals -and wink at the gaugeman now and then, but never a word will he utter. -He knows his mate thoroughly, and understands his temper perfectly. -Accordingly, he hears all and says nothing; it makes but little -difference to him which way the forging goes as long as he has performed -his heat properly. Perhaps, after this, things may run a little more -smoothly for a time, or matters may even become worse. I have known -mates to work at the same hammer and not speak to each other for a year, -not even to give the necessary instructions as to carrying out the -forging. - -Though there could be no excuse for this foolish exhibition of -ill-nature, many apologies may yet be made for the nervous and irritable -forgeman. In the first place, his work is enormously hard and exacting; -and in the second, there is a great responsibility resting upon him -which is not shared by his workmates. The value of the forging in his -hands is often considerable, and the least error on the part of his -furnaceman or hammer-driver might completely spoil it. If the metal -should be in the slightest degree overheated it would burst all to -pieces at the first blow of the hammer, and if the hammer-driver should -happen to strike a heavy blow at a critical moment, he might spoil the -piece in that way, or otherwise necessitate a considerable amount of -labour to get it into shape again. All this is a matter of serious care -to the forgeman, and as his mates are very often raw hands or careless, -dull-headed fellows, it is not to be wondered at that he should now and -then discover some perverseness of temper. - -It is interesting to note the style of working adopted by different -forgers. This, of course, will vary with the man’s capability for the -job, his gift, his skill acquired, and his natural temper. All forgers -are not possessed of a uniformity of skill and capacity, any more than -are all musicians and painters equal in their arts; wherever you go you -will find good, bad and indifferent workmen. It may at once be said, -however, that bad forgemen are not tolerated for any length of time. If -they cannot handle the porter and bring their ingot or bloom to a -successful finish they are quickly removed and better men put in place -of them, for iron and steel ingots are too valuable to be wasted with -impunity. As a rule, the quiet workman is the best; that is, he who -talks least to his mates, and who does not bawl out every order at the -top of his voice. Such a one will often remove his bloom from the -furnace, bring it to the hammer and complete it without speaking a word. -A nod of the head or a few motions of the hand will be sufficient; his -mates understand him perfectly and everything proceeds without a hitch. -The hammer-driver, encouraged to use his discretion, knows exactly what -kind of a blow to strike--heavy or light, light or heavy--when to stop -and when to begin. The grimy mate, usually styled the donkeyman, stands -by with the gauges; at each pause he fits them to the white-hot mass of -iron or steel and again the hammer descends, regularly and evenly. The -tremendous “monkey” goes high up, almost out of sight overhead, and -glides noiselessly downwards till it beats the metal, making the pulley -chains rattle and jingle and the whole shed to totter and tremble. I -have often sat on a gate, or under the trees in the fields on a still -evening, towards midnight, and counted the blows struck on an obstinate -forging in the shed five miles distant. - -It is a pleasure to watch the skilful forgeman perform his heat and -shape the ponderous bloom under the steam-hammer. If you observe him -closely you will see that he scarcely moves his body. He stands in one -position, easily and naturally, all the time, in a slightly stooping -attitude, yet he has full power over the heavy weight in his hands. When -he shifts the porter, or turns the forging round, his arms are the -instruments; it is all performed deftly and simply, with a minimum of -exertion. There is a style in it the most casual observer must readily -perceive. He cannot help being struck with the extreme simplicity and -attractiveness of the whole operation, and he will at once recognise the -skilful forger from the unskilful, the gifted craftsman from the mere -amateur or improver. - -The inferior forgeman will be full of excitement, noise and bustle. He -will peer into the furnace half-a-dozen times before he is satisfied as -to the heat of the bloom, and grumble and scold the furnaceman all the -while. Then, after darting to and fro, backwards and forwards, kicking -things out of his way and seeing to this and to that, he bawls out to -his mates to “pull up, and get on the pulley chain.” After a -considerable amount of pulling and shoving, grunting, sweating, twisting -and turning the ingot, he at last succeeds in bringing it to the hammer, -having lost a great part of the heat in the transit. Even now he is -undecided as to how to begin the shaping of the piece and has to -consider a moment or two before giving the word to start. At last he -shouts out to the driver, and the preliminary blows fall. A dozen times, -where there is no need of it, he stops the hammer and makes his mate try -the gauges. Then he goes on again, thump, thump, thump, now shouting out -“Light!” at the top of his voice, following up with a very loud “Whoa!” -If his mate happens to be in the way he gives him a rough push and tells -him to “get out,” takes up the gauges and fits them himself and -afterwards throws them down with violence, and repeats the performance -till the bloom is in some manner completed. When the porter-bar has been -lopped off and the forging placed on the ground he examines it several -times, going to the furnace and coming back to view his half-finished -labour and making as much fuss as though he had just forged a -battleship, till even the door-boy is disgusted and passes sarcastic -remarks upon his ceremonious chief. Considerably more slotting and -shaping will always be required on his piece than on that of the other -forgeman, and his work will be left till last in the machine shop. The -skilful forger will shape his bloom perfectly, so that there will be but -a very small amount of facing to do to it; his work will be sure to -receive praise, while the other’s will as certainly be execrated. - -The men of the steam-hammer shed differ from the rest of the factory -hands in having to work a twelve-hour day. Very often the heats are -ready to draw out at meal-times, and it would be ruinous to leave them -to waste in the furnace while the men went home to breakfast and dinner. -Accordingly, the forger and his mates boil water in a can on the neck of -the furnace, or over a piece of hot metal, and make their own tea to -drink. Occasionally the mid-day meal is brought to the factory entrance -by the forgeman’s little son or daughter, or he may bring in a large -basin full of cooked meat and vegetables and warm it up himself. Perhaps -the fare is a rasher of bacon. This the workman brings in raw and either -roasts it over the furnace door, or on a lump of hot iron. Perhaps he -uses a roughly-made frying-pan; or he may place it in the furnaceman’s -shovel in order to cook it. If the furnaceman sees him, however, he will -certainly forbid this, for heating the shovel will spoil the temper of -the steel and cause it to warp. He will say, moreover, that coal charged -into the furnace with a shovel that has had “that mess” in it will never -heat the iron, and I have more than once seen the half-cooked food -unceremoniously turned out into the coal-dust. A common name for the -roughly-made frying-pan is a “rasher-waggon.” - -At night, when the day’s work is over and everything has been left neat -and tidy for the succeeding shift, the forger stows his leathern apron, -cap and jackboots, rinses his hands in the bosh, and leaves the shed, -walking a little in advance of his mates and preserving the same temper -he has displayed at the toil. His mates, however, together with the -ingenuous and mischievous door-boy, are not so conventional in their -behaviour. Since they are free to go home and roam the streets or -trudge off into the country once more, they indulge in games and fun -before they leave, and sing and whistle to their heart’s content. -Meanwhile the old furnaceman has damped his fire and made everything -ready for the mate who succeeds him. Now he, too, swills his hands in -the bosh and gives his sweaty old face an extra special rub with the -wiper, puts the muffler around his neck, slips on his jacket, and, -taking his dinner-can under his arm, proceeds through the tunnel and out -into the town. - -Very few of the forgemen were born in the town; they have nearly all -come in from the villages round about and become urbanised. After their -toils in the hot shed they do not want to have to journey far to their -homes. Their dwellings are consequently usually within easy distance of -the forge, though here and there is to be found one who has the courage -to continue in his native village. As their wages are above the average -paid at the works--though the rate is not nearly as high as it is at -most steam-hammer sheds--the forgers are enabled to indulge themselves -in the matter of living. Their food will accordingly be of the very best -quality, and when that has been paid for there is yet a fair supply of -pocket money remaining. Most forgemen are fond of a glass of ale; it is -a rare thing to find a teetotaler in their ranks. They are much given to -talking of their achievements at all times and in all places, and they -occupy long hours in telling of the famous jobs they have done on many -occasions--a special crank for this or that engine, a big piston-rod or -monkey for an outside firm, or a mighty anchor for an ocean-going -vessel. - -In point of real usefulness and importance the boilermakers stand second -to none at the works. Though they may not be as highly skilled as are -the fitters individually, collectively they form a much more imposing -and vigorous body, and one that is far more essential to the absolute -needs of the firm. To whatever extent the forger or fitter may be done -without, or unskilled men put in place of them, that is not possible in -the case of the boilersmith. His labour, as well as being very -important, is distinct from that of all others at the factory; his is an -exclusive profession. In the making of locomotives for the line the -boiler is by far the greatest item, and it is very difficult and -expensive to construct. The work must be performed with exquisite care -and everything must be conscientiously well done. There must be no -shoddy work in a boiler; no “nobbling over,” concealment of flaws, or -deception of any kind, or disastrous consequences would be inevitable. -The plates must all be admirably shaped and fitted, the bolts and stays -very strong and sound, and the whole most carefully adjusted and -riveted. The time required for the construction of a first-class boiler -for a locomotive is about six months, and the cost is near about a -thousand pounds. All the inner plates are of copper, which is used in -order to allow of regular expansion and contraction. The tubes are of -iron or steel, and number several hundreds. Tubing is a branch of work -distinct from boilermaking properly so-called, and is undertaken by -those less skilful than are required for the other processes. - -Boilermakers are divided into two classes--the platers and the riveters. -Those of the first grade prepare the plates, perform the marking-off and -cutting-out, see to the drilling of the holes and afterwards bolt the -parts together. The riveters follow and make everything solid and -compact. Nearly all the riveting is done by hand; very little is left to -the chance work of the machine, which is often faulty and unreliable. -Rivets put in by hand are far more trustworthy than are those done by -the machine. The hammered heads will be tougher and more durable than -those that have been squeezed up by the hydraulic apparatus. - -The two grades of boilermakers are kept separate and distinct. Every man -is provided with a card certifying to which class he belongs, whether to -the platers or riveters, and he can--as a general rule--only obtain a -job upon that kind of work specified by his ticket. Similarly, if he has -been employed on repair work for any length of time he will have great -difficulty in getting re-admittance into the ranks of those engaged on -the new boilers. The trade throughout is jealously guarded and -protected. The rules are well-defined and published far and wide; there -is no setting aside the regulations. Notwithstanding the division of -work on a boiler the efficient boilersmith is qualified to construct one -throughout, from the marking of the plates to the insertion of the -tubes. The valves and other fixings are usually attached by the fitters. - -The din of the frame shed and the unearthly noise of the pneumatic -apparatus on the headstocks and plates is not to be compared with the -tremendous uproar of the boiler shop. Here are no less than two hundred -huge boilers, either new ones being made, or old ones undergoing repairs -and engaging the attentions of four or five hundred boilersmiths, to say -nothing of tubers and labourers hammering and battering away on the -shells and interiors. There are boilers in every stage of construction -and in every conceivable position on the stocks. Some are upright, some -are upside down, some are standing on end, some lying on their sides, -and others are scattered broadcast. The workmen swarm like ants -everywhere, crawling over the tops, inside and out, in the smoke-box -and fire-box, and lying on their backs underneath. Hundreds of tools are -in operation at once. Hundreds of hammers are falling, banging and -clanging perpetually, with an indescribable noise and confusion. If you -would be heard you must shout at the top of your voice and make yourself -hoarse in the attempt. The boilersmiths, who are used to the conditions, -do not try to address each other at their work; they have discovered an -expedient. Instead of straining their throats and lungs in the vain -effort to make themselves heard they simply motion with the head or -hands; their mates come to know what is required and obey the -telegraphic intimation, and so the work proceeds. - -The boilermakers are a bold and hardy class, sturdy in their views and -outlook, and very independent. As in the case of the fitters, smiths, -and other journeymen, they have travelled far and wide and become -acquainted with many workshops and sets of conditions. Very often they -will have tramped the whole country, from end to end, in search of -employment, for though as a class they are indispensable their ranks are -often over-crowded, and when trade is slack the services of many of them -are dispensed with. As with the majority of other journeymen, if they -are thrown out of employment, though they may be idle for a long time -and reduced to dire straights, they seldom deign to do other work, but -shift from place to place and beg food along the highways and through -the villages. Though verging on starvation they cannot, even for a short -period, be prevailed upon to abandon the idea of their trade, but still -crowd around the factory doors and hope for a revival of the industry. - -A short time ago a party of boilermen, who had been discharged from the -town, made weekly visits to the villages round about pretending that -they had walked from Sunderland and Newcastle--where a big strike had -been declared--and calling themselves a deputation empowered to collect -money for their mates at home in the North. The spokesman, a voluble and -impudent scoundrel, told impressive stories of hardships and suffering -and drew a great many coins from the credulous and sympathetic rustics. -By and by, however, a second party, with exactly the same story, came on -the scene and professed to be highly indignant on being told that they -had been anticipated in their office as collectors. The second batch of -visitors did not solicit money; they demanded it, and any who refused -were subjected to abuse and threatening language. At last the suspicions -of the villagers were aroused. They doubted the genuineness of the tales -of distress and of the long march from far-off Sunderland, and closed -their doors to the importunate strangers. Very soon trade in the railway -town revived; the majority of the men were reinstated and the -countryside knew them no more. - -The iron foundry is but a few yards from the boiler shed; you may very -quickly be introduced to it, with the noise of the hammers and the -clatter of the pneumatic apparatus still ringing loudly in your ears. -After the din of the boiler shop the quietude of the foundry will be the -more remarkable. Here are no plates to be beaten, no rapidly revolving -pulleys and shafting, and no uproar. All that can be heard is the dull -roar of the blast furnace half-way up the shed, and the subdued noise of -the traversing table in the roof above you. The floor is of soft, -yielding sand, similar to that of which the moulds for the castings are -made, and it is noiseless under the feet. The men sit or kneel on the -ground, with their patterns beside them, and construct the duplicates to -receive the molten metal. As soon as the moulds are finished the dark, -grimy labourers bring the molten liquid, either carrying it in a thick -iron vessel lined with firebricks and having a spout on one side--as you -would carry a stretcher--or wheeling it along in a big cauldron that -swings like a pot, and pour it in through a small space left for that -purpose. - -The chief interest to the visitor centres in the furnace that contains -the molten fluid. This is a large, cylindrical structure, enclosed in a -steel frame, towering high into the roof and emitting a terrific heat -all around. Near the top is a large platform, reached by an iron -stairway, up which you are invited to mount by the grimy furnaceman, -more often in jest than in earnest, for the heat there is overpowering. -The handrail of the stairway seems nearly red-hot, and the air, puffed -out from the furnace, strikes you full in the face, so that you are -almost suffocated with it. On the platform is the feeding-place where -the fuel and metal are charged--coke to produce the heat and material -for the molten fluid, either old broken up castings, or bars of new pig -iron. Both iron and coke are thrown in and fused up together. The fluid -metal collects and flows out in front, while the debris of the -coke--what little remains after combustion--is ejected through a small -aperture at the rear. The iron, by its weight, sinks to the floor of the -furnace, while the filth and ashes of the coke remain floating on the -top--there is no fear of the two intermixing. An iron conduit, working -on a hinge, conveys the liquid metal into the pots for the moulds. When -the vessels are filled the shoot is raised, and this stops back the -metal that goes on accumulating till the next pot is in position. - -There is a great attractiveness in the operation of filling the vessels -with the molten fluid that, yellowish-white in colour, flows like water -from the interior, sparkling and spluttering as it drops into the -receptacle beneath. The heat is very intense at all times, and the toil -continuous; hundreds of moulds are waiting to be filled from the -furnace. Having occasion to visit the shed recently I pushed a way -through the crowd of labourers waiting to have their pots filled and -stood beside the furnaceman as he was running out the metal. He took no -notice of my presence, but kept his eyes fixed upon the conduit. - -“Very hot to-day!” I shouted. - -“Yes, ’tis,” he replied, without turning round. - -“How much metal does the furnace hold?” - -“Don’ know.” - -“What’s your heat?” - -“Don’ know.” - -“How many tons of metal do you run out in a day?” - -“Don’ know.” - -“You must have an idea.” - -“Don’ know. Got no time. We’re busy.” - -“Are you always on at this rate?” - -“We kips on till us stops, same as the rest on ’em, an’ has a sleep in -between.” Then, turning round to one of the new arrivals he -shouted--“What! bist thee got back ’ere agyen, Charlie? Thee’t eff to -wait a bit. I got none for thee yet awhile.” Charlie nodded and grinned, -with the sweat streaming down his nose and chin; the whole company -smiled appreciatively. Perhaps Charlie was carrying metal for one of the -less important moulds, and was used to being put aside and made to wait -a few moments, or he may have been one of the day men, of whom there are -but a small number in the shed. Nearly everything is done at the piece -rate; a few special jobs alone are done according to the day work rule. -Under these circumstances Charlie might have no objection to waiting -five or ten minutes. - -Most of the moulders dwell in the town, though many of the labourers -prefer to inhabit the region round about the borough, in those villages -of easy access to the railway centre. Some of the journeymen have served -their apprenticeship at small country towns and villages--perhaps in the -same county and district--at which agricultural machinery is -manufactured. Such as these will be sure to import local methods and -characteristics and they will always retain some part of their -individual style acquired during their term of apprenticeship. Though -the difference of method may not be very great, it will be productive of -good results; it is by a combination of several practices and systems -that perfection is ultimately attained. Very often, in the midst of a -teasing operation, a mate or passer-by may suddenly call to mind a -similar difficulty he had in some far-off village yard and thus he will -be able to supply the key to the situation. According to the theory of -the works’ officials, no difficulties should ever be encountered--they -should not even exist. In practice, however, difficulties will often be -met with, and when the workman is compelled, by the lowness of his -prices, to push ahead at a great speed he is sometimes apt to become -confused with a difficulty and to overlook a point that, to the leisured -overseer, will be quite obvious and simple. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - - GETTING TO WORK--THE AWAKENING IN THE COUNTRY--STEALING A - RIDE--THE TOWN STIR--THE ARMY OF - WORKMEN--“CHECKING”--EARLY COMERS--CLERKS AND - DRAUGHTSMEN--FEATURES OF THE STAFF - - -At an early hour the whole neighbourhood within a radius of five or six -miles of the factory is astir; there is a general preparation for the -coming day’s work. The activity will first begin in the villages -furthest from the town. Soon after four o’clock, in the quiet hamlets -amidst the woods and lanes, the workmen will leave their beds and get -ready for the long tramp to the shed, or to the nearest station touched -by the trains proceeding to the railway town. Many of the younger men -have bicycles and will pedal their way to work. They will not be forced -to rise quite as early as the rest, unless they live at a very great -distance. A few workmen I know have, for the past twenty years, resided -at not less than twelve miles from the town and have made the journey -all through the year, wet and dry together. The only time at which they -cannot get backwards and forwards is when there are deep floods, or -after a heavy snowstorm. Then, if the fall has been severe and the water -or snow lies to any depth on the roads, they will be compelled to walk -or to lodge in the town. Sometimes the fall of snow has taken place in -the night and the workman, under these circumstances, will be forced to -take a holiday until it melts and he is able to journey along the road -again. - -I have heard many accounts, from workmen who had long distances to walk -to the factory, of the great and terrible blizzard of 1881, when the -drifts in many places along the highways were from sixteen to twenty -feet deep. One sturdy fellow took great pride in relating how he made -the journeys daily--of six miles each way--during the whole time the -snow lay on the ground, though many were frozen to death in the -locality. Another workman whom I knew walked regularly to and from the -village for fifty years, and at the end of that time bethought himself -to get a tricycle. It was amusing to see him, with snow-white hair and -the perspiration pouring down his weather-beaten old face, pedalling -home from work after a very hot and scorching day at the rolling mills. -What with the fatigue of the day’s work and the extraordinary exertions -required to propel the machine, he was very nearly exhausted by the time -he reached home. Everyone along the highway turned to have a second view -of the old man as he trundled his machine along, puffing and blowing -with the effort, his face red and fiery; but he was not to be deterred -from the innovation. It is probable that walking would have been the -easier way of getting backwards and forwards, for the machine was nearly -as heavy as a farm cart. There was a slight saving of time, however, and -it is a common saying among work-people of all sorts that “Third-class -riding is better than first-class walking.” After the old man’s death -the tricycle became the property of a band of farm boys who used it as a -training machine; it was for a long time a source of fun and amusement -to the villagers. - -Very often, in the remote villages, where there is no access to the -stations at which the factory trains call, a party of workmen club -together and hire a conveyance to bring them daily to the town; or they -may subscribe the money and buy a horse and cart and contribute equally -towards the expense of keeping them. An arrangement is made with the -proprietor of a public-house in the town. The horse is stabled and the -vehicle stored for a small sum, and the men ride backwards and forwards, -comfortable and independent. It was the custom, years ago, during -haymaking and harvest-time for farmers to come in with conveyances from -the outlying villages and meet the men and drive them home. They went -straight from the factory to the farmyard or hayfield, and, after a -hearty tea in the open air, or a square meal of bread, cheese and ale, -turned in and helped the farmer, both enjoying the change of work and -earning a couple of shillings a night as additional wages. This practice -was very popular with the factory men, who never ceased to talk about it -to their town mates in the shed and rouse them to envy with the frequent -narration. Of late years, however, the custom has died out. Labour is -too cheap and machinery too plentiful for the farmer to have any -difficulty in getting his crops together nowadays. - -The majority of the villagers, though compelled to leave home for the -town at such an early hour, will yet rise in time to partake of a light -breakfast before starting for the shed. The country mothers are far more -painstaking in the matter of providing meals than are many of those in -the town; they think nothing of rising at four a.m. in order to boil the -kettle and cook food for their husbands and sons. Though the goodman may -protest against it and declare that he would rather go without the food -than give his wife so much trouble, it makes no difference. Every -morning, at the usual hour, the smoke goes curling up from the chimney; -a cup of hot, refreshing tea is invariably awaiting him on the table -when he arrives downstairs. After the repast he starts off in abundant -time and takes his leisure on the road; one rarely sees a countryman -hurrying to work in the morning. - -The boys, on the other hand, will not be as punctual in starting off to -work; they will usually be late in setting out, very often delaying till -the last moment. They will, moreover, often loiter on the way -bird’s-nesting or reading, or perhaps they may start into the farmer’s -orchard and carry off the rosy-cheeked apples to eat in the shed or to -divide out among their mates and companions. At one time there were -three brothers of one house in the village, all working in the factory, -though they never under any circumstances went to the town together. The -eldest of the three always led the way, the second following five -minutes later, and the youngest brought up the rear at a similar -interval. The return home at night was made in the same manner: it is -unusual to see the members of a family or household going to work -together. - -Very often the village resident will work for an hour in his garden or -attend to his pigs and domestic animals before leaving for the railway -shed. If the neighbouring farmer is busy, or happens to be a man short, -he may help him milk his cows or do a little mowing with the scythe and -still be fresh for his work in the factory. I have known those who, -during the summer months, went regularly to fishing in the big brook, or -practised a little amateur poaching with the ferrets, and never missed -going to gather mushrooms in the early mornings during autumn. - -Several boys of the village, especially on the dark winter mornings, -used to watch for the freight-trains that sometimes stopped at the -signal station and steal a ride down to the works, hanging on to the -rails of the brake van, or clinging to the buffers. The practice was -attended with considerable risk, and the punishment, had they been -detected, would have been sharp and severe. It was difficult to see them -sitting in the shadow of the tail lamps, however, though once or twice -we were reported by the signalmen and chased by the goods guards. At one -time the train ran through the station without stopping, with three -youngsters clinging to the rails of the guard’s van, and it was only -checked by accident twelve miles higher up the line. A great chase -across fields in a drenching downpour of rain followed, but the goods -guard had to own himself beaten and returned to the van. One of the boys -was fond of lying down between the metals, and of allowing the trains to -thunder along above him--certainly a dangerous proceeding, though he did -not think so at that time. All these practices are well-nigh impossible -now. Greater care is taken to keep trespassers off the line and the -modern system of transverse sleepers for the track hardly permits of -lying down between the metals. - -One morning, nearly dark, as a village lad was going to work down the -line, he was much frightened at seeing a man behaving in a mysterious -and suspicious manner underneath one of the bridges. He appeared to be -selecting a spot in which to lie across the rails, and as there was a -fast train approaching close at hand, the youngster soon became -considerably alarmed. To his relief, however, as the engine drew near, -the unknown one got off the track, ran up the bank and disappeared. At -the same spot, soon afterwards, a young man, suspected of a criminal -offence, threw himself in front of an express and was cut to pieces. -After that occurrence we boys shunned the line, for that winter at -least, and passed to work along the highway. We had many narrow escapes -from being knocked down by engines, trains and waggons in the station -yard at different times. One morning, being very late, I ran between -some waggons that were being shunted, when only a very narrow space -remained before the vehicles closed up. In spite of warning shouts, I -skipped through quickly, but as I cleared the rails an old shunter, who -was waiting on the other side, swung his arm round and struck me a -terrific blow behind the ear with his open hand, and loudly scolded me -for taking such risks. Half stunned with the blow, I ran off, and freely -forgave the old man for his well-meant chastisement. I often meet him -now in the town, many years after the escapade, and always remember the -incident, though he has doubtless forgotten it long ago. - -By five o’clock the people of the inner circle of the radius without the -town are well awake, and twenty minutes later the dreaded hooter bellows -out, like the knell of doom to a great many. The sound travels to a -great distance, echoing and re-echoing along the hills and up the valley -seventeen or twenty miles away, if the wind is setting in that -direction. This is the first warning signal to the workman to bestir -himself, if he has not already done so; to awake from dreams to -realities, to shake off the warm, comfortable bed-clothes and don his -working attire. It is now the turn of the town dweller to stir. Very -soon, here and there, a thin spire of smoke arises from the chimney, -telling of the early cup of tea in preparation. The oldest hands, a good -many of them grey and feeble, are to be seen making their way towards -the entrances to the works. It will take some of them quite half an hour -to reach the shed, though that is no more than three-quarters of a mile -away. By and by others will come from their houses and join those who -are just arriving from the country. These are the town’s early risers. -Some time will elapse yet before the regular stream comes forth to fill -the street and make the pavements ring with their countless footsteps. -Although a few may prefer to come leisurely to work and perhaps wait in -the shed some ten minutes before it is time to start at the machines, -the great majority loiter till the very last minute and spend not a -second of time, more than they are absolutely bound, upon the company’s -premises. - -At ten minutes to six the hooter sounds a second time, then again at -five minutes, and finally at six o’clock. This time it makes a double -report, in order that the men may be sure that it is the last hooter. -Five minutes’ grace--from six till six-five--is allowed in the morning; -after that everyone except clerks must lose time. As soon as the -ten-minutes hooter sounds the men come teeming out of the various parts -of the town in great numbers, and by five minutes to six the streets -leading to the entrances are packed with a dense crowd of men and boys, -old and young, bearded and beardless, some firm and upright, others bent -and stooping, pale and haggard-looking, all off to the same daily toil -and fully intent on the labour before them. It is a mystery where they -all come from. Ten thousand workmen! They are like an army pressing -forward to battle. Tramp! tramp! tramp! Still they pour down the -streets, with the regularity of trained soldiers, quickening in pace as -the time advances, until they come very nearly to the double and finally -disappear through the entrances. Some of the young men’s faces are -ghastly white, very thin and emaciated, telling a story of -ill-health--consumption, very likely--while others are fresh and -healthy-looking--there are fat and lean among them. Some there are still -bearing traces of yesterday’s toil--large black rings around the eyes, -or sharp lines underneath the chin and continued round the back of the -neck. A little more soap and water would have removed them, but in all -probability the youngster was extra tired, or in a great hurry to get -off to play, or go a-fishing, and so could not endure a tedious toilet. -Others, again, come blundering along with eyes only half open--having -obviously missed the morning swill--with their shirt unbuttoned at the -neck, their boots not laced up, untidy and unkempt, and in a desperate -hurry. This one is bare-headed, that one carries his hat in his hand, -and another wears his hind before. Many have had no time even to look -for their working clothes, but have clapped on the first that met their -eyes on arising from bed; you often see one enter the shed dressed in -odd garments, and sometimes wearing a shoe of a sort. - -The boys and youths are usually the last. They always experience greater -difficulty in leaving the comfortable bed, and the _pater familias_ will -often have had trouble in inducing them finally to wake up and think -about work. They do not realise the seriousness of the business as he -does, and are very careless on first awaking. By and by, however, the -truth dawns upon them; up they scramble, dress, and run out of doors and -up the street, and very often do not stop till they come to the shed. I -have many a time, as a boy, run from the village to the factory, four -miles distant, in thirty-five minutes, as the result of oversleeping. -When the youngsters reach the shed, after a long run, they will require -a spell of a few minutes before they can start work, and the forgers and -hammermen will often have to shout at them several times before they are -sufficiently rested to begin. - -A great many of the crowd bring their breakfast and dinner with them, -either to eat it in the shed, or in the mess-rooms provided for the -purpose. Some of the men carry it in a canteen, held under the arm or -slung with a string over the shoulder and back. Others bring it tied up -in red handkerchiefs, and very many, especially of the town dwellers, -wrap it up in old newspapers. The country workmen are more particular -over their food than are their mates of the town. Though their fare will -be plainer and simpler--seldom amounting to anything more tasty than -bread and butter, cheese or cold boiled bacon--they will be at great -pains to see that it is very fresh and clean. - -That which strikes one most forcibly about the morning crowd is the -extraordinary quiet and soberness, both of the men and the juveniles. -They seldom speak to each other as they hurry along through the streets -and tunnels towards their several destinations--not even those who toil -side by side at the same forge or machine, however much they may talk -later on in the day. They do not--except in somewhat rare -instances--even wish each other “Good morning.” If they happen to speak -at all it will usually be no more than to utter a curt “Mornin’,” which -is often responded to with a very impolite and often positively churlish -“’Ow do!” And as for a smile! A morning smile on the way to work is -indeed a rarity. Now and then the careless-hearted lads may indulge in a -little playful banter, though even this is not common, but the men never -smile in the early morning. There is the day’s work to be faced, the -smoke and heat, the long stand at the machine, the tedious confinement, -the hard word and bitter speech, the daily anxiety, the unnatural combat -for the necessaries of life, and it all looms big on the horizon. By and -by, as the day advances and the hands of the clock slowly but surely -record the death and burial of the hours, the set features will relax, -and the tongue will regain its office. The fire of human sympathy will -be rekindled and man and boy will be themselves again. But this will be -not yet. For the present everyone is concerned with his own necessity. -He is marching to battle, the issue of which is doubtful and uncertain. -When the first victory has been won, which is at dinner-time for him, he -will dissolve and be natural and genial, but not now. It is noteworthy -that the country workmen will prove to be more sympathetic than those of -the town. Many of them will bid “Good morning” to everyone they meet, -whether they know them or not. They do not stand upon any kind of -formality; answered or not they persist in the salutation, and always -add the christian name of the individual where it is known to them. - -In the street, near the entrances, are coffee stalls, where, for the -modest sum of a halfpenny, the workmen may obtain a cup of the steaming -beverage, which is usually of a weak quality and not at all likely to -derange the stomach of the individual who swallows it. Another halfpenny -will purchase a bun or scone, a slice of “lardy” or currant cake, if -anyone shall desire it, so that there is no need for any who can afford -a copper each morning to go hungry to work. Some workmen bring food from -home in their hand and eat it standing by the stall, where they have -stopped to partake of a cup of tea or coffee. - -It is pathetic, especially on cold, wintry mornings, to note the rivet -boys and others of the poorest class as they approach the entrance by -the coffee stalls. Their eyes are fixed longingly on the steaming urns -and piled-up plates of buns; they would like to gulp down a good big cup -of the liquid and munch several of the cakes. But such luxuries are not -for them. They have not a halfpenny in the world, so they content -themselves with a covetous look and pass on to the labour. Now and then -a father, with his little son, will stop to share a cup of coffee, or -they may have one apiece, but this is not a common occurrence. All the -money is needed elsewhere--for clothes, boots, and household -requirements. The better class of work-people--journeymen and such -like--never drink tea or coffee at the stalls. That is beneath their -dignity. They do not like to be seen breaking their fast in public, and -they speak of the beverages as “messes” and “slops.” A few of the -workmen will loiter about the street till six o’clock, by which time -some of the public-houses will be opened. They will require a mug of ale -or a little spirit to put them in order; perhaps they were drunk -overnight and want a “livener” before starting in the morning. - -At about three minutes past six a smart rush for the entrance is made, -and those bringing up the rear will be forced to put on a good spurt in -order to gain the shed in time. They have either dawdled about at home, -or were late in rising; whatever the reason may be, every morning finds -them in the same predicament. The same workmen are always first or last; -year in and year out there is little variation in the individual -time-table. What a man is this morning he will be to-morrow morning; -there is no change week after week or month after month. Moreover, he -that is late at the first beginning of the day’s work will most -certainly be in the same position at breakfast-time and dinner-time, -too. He will come to be noted for that characteristic; he is bound to be -late in any case. Such men always parcel out their time with exquisite -nicety, so that when the hooter begins to sound they have about twenty -yards to run in order to reach the check-box. Immediately after the -rear part of the crowd has disappeared within the entrance the -ponderous doors are closed with a loud bang, and the town without looks -to be deserted. The men inside the yard scatter, some this way and some -that, and are soon out of sight in the different sheds. All that can be -seen now are a few clerks sauntering along, usually wearing a flower in -their button-hole, and glancing at the morning newspaper. - -Every workman is provided with a brass check or “ticket,” round in shape -like a penny, or oblong, with a number stamped upon it, corresponding to -his name in the register. This has to be placed in the check-box each -time the man enters the shed, and it is the only accepted proof of his -attendance at work or absence from it. If he loses or mislays the ticket -he will be fined a sum equal to half an hour’s wages, whether he likes -it or not, and he will consequently often be forced to pay fourpence or -fivepence for a portion of metal that is worth no more than a farthing. -This will be the price of having his name registered, or, if he is -dissatisfied with the arrangement, he can return home and wait till -after the next meal-time. Similarly, in the morning, after the five -minutes’ grace, whoever is late is charged quarter of an hour for the -first five minutes, and half an hour for the next, _i.e._, till -six-fifteen, though there is no reason whatever why a workman should be -fined so heavily. A fairer thing to do would be to fine all latecomers a -quarter of an hour’s wages and allow them to check till quarter-past -six. This is the latest time for checking the first thing in the -morning. No workman is admitted later than that hour, but must wait till -the re-start after breakfast. - -The country workmen will be among the first arrivals at the shed, though -they are not usually the earliest comers of all. Some of the townsmen -are early risers, and come regularly to the premises half an hour -before it is time to begin work. It is remarkable that those who are -addicted to very early rising, that is, earlier than is really -necessary, will most certainly be found to be deficient in brains and -intellect. You will invariably find such ones to be dull-witted, and -lower in the mental scale than are many who hurry and come late to -business. The old adage-- - - “Early to bed and early to rise, - Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,” - -may be true enough in all three particulars, but it does not necessarily -follow that a strict observance of the rule will also endue him with a -plentiful supply of brains and intellectual keenness. Healthy it will -certainly make him. The application of a little common-sense will easily -demonstrate that one reason of his retiring early is the fact that he -has no mental pursuits, nothing in which to interest himself outside his -daily occupation, so that he is already deficient, and must perforce -betake himself to bed. Being free from mental worry and not troubling -about intellectual hobbies, he will sleep soundly, enjoy the maximum -amount of rest, and wake up fully refreshed and vigorous in the morning. -All that such men as these think of is their day’s work, their food and -sleep; they have no other object or ambition in life. - -As to the entire wisdom of the rule, that is another matter. It was -counted sufficiently wise formerly, but we of this day are made of -sterner material. Horses and oxen work hard, rest well, enjoy very good -health, and appear to be satisfied, if not actually happy, but one man -is of more value than many horses or oxen. Work and sacrifice are the -only things that will raise a man in the estimation of the world and set -him up as a worthy example to his fellows. To those who are content -merely to live, and not to shine, may be addressed the words of the Ant -spoken to the Fly in the Fable: _Nihil laboras; ideo nil habes_--“You do -nothing, and consequently you have nothing.” At the same time it must be -admitted that those who retire early and rise early nearly always prove -to be the strongest workmen; they will be capable of great physical -exertions and staying powers. But when all has been said, such men are -rather to be pitied than envied. They are little more than mere tools -and the slaves of their employers--the prodigal squanderers of their -powers and lives. - -It is a privilege of the shop clerks to arrive a little later than the -workmen, and to leave a little in advance of them at meal-times and in -the evening. The members of the principal office staff enjoy a still -greater dispensation, for they do not begin work at all before nine -o’clock in the morning and finish at five-thirty in the afternoon. The -clerks are the most numerous of all the trained classes at the factory. -With the draughtsmen they form an imposing body, yet though they rank -next the foremen and heads of departments, they are not taken very -seriously by the rank and file, except when they appear in the shed with -the cashbox to pay the weekly wages. - -For the sake of distinction the shop clerks are called the “weekly -staff,” and the managers and other clerks, with the draughtsmen, are -denominated the “monthly staff.” The first-named of these are paid -weekly with the workmen; the others receive their salary once a month. -The shop clerks are chiefly recruited from the personnel of the sheds, -while those of the monthly staff are chosen from over a wider area. In -the case of them considerably more training and experience will be -required. They must be possessed of specific abilities, and have gone -through classes and taken examinations in order to qualify for the -positions. It is usual for the more intelligent lads at the higher -elementary schools of the town to be recommended to the chiefs of the -factory offices. If their qualifications are considered satisfactory, -they are started in one or other of the clerical departments and -instructed in the several duties. By entering the offices young, and -passing from point to point, they have every opportunity of becoming -proficient, and are in course of time promoted according to their -abilities. - -The clerks of the sheds naturally enjoy the confidence of the overseers. -They know everything pertaining to piecework prices and output, and are -consequently able to furnish the chief with whatever information he -desires upon any point. In addition to the clerk there is a checker, who -books every article made and supervises the piecework outside the -office, and, as if that were not sufficient, a piecework “inspector,” -who is commissioned with the power to report upon any price on the spot -and to make any reduction he thinks fit. All these co-operate and -together supply particulars of the workman and his job, how much he -makes on a shift, the precise time it takes him to finish an article; -and if it is necessary one or the other stays behind after working hours -and computes the number of forgings, or other uses made, and is a -perfect spy upon his less fortunate mates of the shed. - -An unscrupulous clerk may thus work incalculable mischief among the men. -He often influences the foreman in a very high degree, or he even -dictates to him, so that you sometimes hear the clerk spoken of as the -“boss” and the foreman himself styled the “bummer.” Under such -circumstances it will not be wondered at that the clerk is sometimes an -unpopular figure in the shed and is looked upon with disfavour, though -very often unjustly so. A great deal depends upon the temper and -honesty, or dishonesty, of the overseer, for the clerk, in most cases, -will take the cue from him. If he is honourable and “above board,” he -will not tolerate any covert dealings and tale-bearing. If, on the other -hand, he is shifty and cunning, he will encourage all kinds of slimness -and questionable proceedings on the part of his clerks. - -The members of the monthly staff and draughtsmen occupy quarters grouped -around the managers’ offices, and do not often appear in the workshops. -When they do so it will be on account of some extraordinary business, or -they may come in with the foreman to take a look round and view the -machinery. They usually bring a book or drawing in their hand, or under -the arm, so as to have some kind of excuse in case they should be -challenged by a superior, for even they are not allowed to go wherever -they will. I have known draughtsmen to come regularly to the shed -provided with a tape-measure, books, and plans, and take the dimensions -of a machine again and again. No doubt they were in need of a little -exercise and anxious to see the stampers and forgers at work. - -Very few clerks, in spite of their leisure and opportunities, are -bookish or endowed with a taste for literature; out of over a thousand -at the factory less than twenty are connected with the Literary Society -at the Works’ Institute. The students and premiums have their debating -classes on matters connected with engineering. They meet and read papers -on technical subjects, but have little interest in anything natural or -_spirituel_. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - - FIRST OPERATIONS IN THE SHED--THE EARLY DIN--ITS EFFECT ON - THE WORKMEN--CHARGING THE HEATS--THE OIL FURNACE--THE - “AJAX”--HARRY AND SAMMY--THE “STRAPPIE”--HYDRAULIC - POWER--WHEEL-BURSTING - - -Arrived in the shed the workmen remove their coats and hang them up -under the wall, or behind the forges. If any shall be seen wearing them -by the foreman when he enters they will be noticed and marked: it is a -common rule, winter and summer, to take them off on coming into the -workshop, except in places where there are no fires. A terrible din, -that could be heard in the yard long before you came to the doors of the -shed, is already awaiting. Here ten gigantic boilers, which for several -hours have been steadily accumulating steam for the hammers and engines, -packed with terrific high pressure, are roaring off their surplus energy -with indescribable noise and fury, making the earth and roof tremble and -quiver around you, as though they were in the grip of an iron-handed -monster. The white steam fills the shed with a dense, humid cloud like a -thick fog, and the heat is already overpowering. The blast roars loudly -underground and in the boxes of the forges, and the wheels and shafting -whirl round in the roof and under the wall. The huge engines, that -supply the hydraulic machines with pressure, are chu-chu-ing above the -roof outside; everything is in a state of the utmost animation. If you -were not fully awake before and sensible of what the day had in store -for you, you are no longer in any doubt about the matter. All -sluggishness, both of the mind and body, is quickly dispelled by the -great activity everywhere displayed around you. The very air, hot and -heavy, and thickly charged with dust as it is, seems to have an -electrical effect upon you. You immediately feel excited to begin work; -the noise of the steam, the engines, the roar of the blast, and the -whirling wheels compel you to it. - -At the same time the morning freshness, the bloom, vigour, the hopeful -spirit, the whole natural man will be entirely quelled and subdued after -the first few moments in this living pandemonium. Wife and children, -friends and home, town and village, green fields and blue skies, the -whole outside world will have been left far behind. There is no -opportunity to think of anything but iron and steel, furnaces and -hammers, the coming race and battle for existence. Moreover, as -everything is done at the piece rate, the men will be anxious to make an -early start, before the day gets hot. It is especially true of the -stampers and hammermen that “A bird in the hand’s worth two in the -bush,” and a good heat performed before breakfast is far better than -depending upon exertions to be made at a later part of the day. - -So, before you can well look around you, before the foreman can reach -the shed, in fact, the workmen are up and at it. Those who are earliest -on the place usually make the first start. They, and especially the -furnacemen and forgemen, often begin before the regulation hour, and -make haste to get their fires in a fit condition to receive the metal. -First of all, the coal furnaces have to be clinkered. A large steel bar -and a heavy sledge break the clinker; the fire-bars are withdrawn, and -down plunges the white-hot mass into the “bosh” of water beneath. When -this is performed new fuel is laid on, light at first, and sloping -gently to the rear wall. The corners are well filled; the floor of the -furnace, recently levelled with fresh sand, is firmly beaten down with -the heavy paddle, and all is ready to receive the ingots or blooms. - -Immediately the forger and his mates swarm round with the metal, either -using the crane and pulley, or charging it in upon the peel. The -chargeman grunts and scolds and the furnace door is raised, lighting up -the dark corners behind the forges. Now the hammer-driver winds the -wheel that opens the valve, and fills his cylinder with the raucous -vapour; the heavy monkey travels noiselessly up and down, preparing to -beat the iron into the shape required. Little by little, as the steam is -absorbed by the engines and hammers, the din of the boilers subsides. -The tremendous amount of power required to drive the various machines -soon reduces the pent-up energy, and by and by the priming ceases -altogether. The steam will continue gradually to diminish until the -first meal-hour, when it will have reached a low figure, as indicated by -the pressure gauge. During the interval, however, it will have risen -again, and long before it is time to recommence work the boilers will be -roaring off their superfluous energy with the same indescribable din and -fury. - -To obviate the noise of the simultaneous priming of the boilers an -escape valve was recently constructed, and a pipe affixed to carry it -through the roof. Owing to the incapacity of the tube, however, the -noise, instead of being diminished, was considerably intensified. People -heard it in every quarter of the town and thought it was an explosion. -No one in the vicinity of the shed could sleep at night, so at last -complaints were made to the manager, and the use of the valve was -discontinued. - -Now the oil furnaces will have been lit up and the smiths’ forges -kindled. The two foremen will have arrived and made their first -perambulation of the shed, and everything will be in a state of bustle -and confusion. Certainly the sparks will not be flying, nor the anvils -ringing yet. It will take fully twenty minutes to get everything into -order and to produce the first heat. But there is a deadly earnestness -evident all round. It will not be long before the busy Titans are -stripped to the waist, turning the ponderous ingots and blooms over and -over, and raining the blows upon the yielding metal. - -The oil forge hails from the other side of the Atlantic, and is an -innovation at the shed. It is attached to machinery of the American -type, and is well suited for the game of hustle. It is not very large, -and occupies but a small space anywhere, but it has this advantage, that -it may be moved to any position; it is not a fixture, as are the other -furnaces. It is oblong in shape, with an arched roof; and the heating -space is not more than several cubic feet. The front is of brick, with -as many apertures as are required for the bars of metal, and the back -and ends are enclosed in a stout iron frame. The oil--derived from -water-gas and tar--is contained in a tank as high as the roof, fixed -outside the shed, and is conducted through pipes to the furnace. A -current of air from the fan blows past the oil-cock and drives the fluid -into the furnace. The heat generated from combustion of the oil is -regular and intense; the whole contrivance is speedy and simple. - -This is so, however, only when the oil is good and clear. Then there -will be scarcely any smoke or fume. The slight flame emitted from the -vent-hole on top will be of a copperish colour, and the interior will -glitter like a star. The furnace will go right merrily; there will be -no need for the workman to wait a moment. But when the oil is cheap and -inferior, or absolutely worthless--as it often is at the shed--the -system is a most foul and abominable nuisance. As soon as the forger -attempts to light up in the morning, tremendous clouds of black, filthy -smoke pour out of every little crack and hole and mount into the roof. -After striking against the boards and rafters this beats down to the -ground again and rolls away up the shed, filling the place from end to -end, half suffocating the workmen with the sickening, disgusting stench, -and making their eyes smart and burn. Several times during the operation -of lighting up, by reason of the irregular flow through the feeder, the -oil in the furnace will explode with a loud bang, shooting out the -flames and smoke to a great distance, and frequently blowing the whole -front of the forge to pieces, to the great danger of the stampers and -the amusement of the other workmen and smiths--for the oil system of -heating is not at all popular with the men of the shed. - -The stampers’ furnaces, to the number of five or six, are behaving in -the same manner, and as there are no chimneys to carry off the smoke the -whole smother is poured out into the shed. This will very soon be more -than the average man can stand. With loud shouts and curses, down go -hammers and tools; the blast is shut off from the fires and a rush is -made for the open air until the nuisance is somewhat abated. The -overseer walks round and round, viewing the scene with great ill-temper, -defending the oil and the furnaces, and blaming the lighters-up for -everything, at the same time darting angry looks at those who, half -suffocated, have sought refuge outside. So, no matter what the time of -year may be, whether summer or the dead of winter, when the chilling -winds drive through upon the stampers shivering at their fires, he has -every door and window thrown open, and often does it himself and stands -like a sentinel in the doorway, that no one shall close them up till he -is quite satisfied. If he moves away and the half-frozen workmen steal -along and adjust the doors, he returns, closes them entirely, and forces -the stampers to endure the whole smother, because they dared to meddle -with the doors when he had opened them. - -By and by, as the heat in the furnaces increases, the smoke will -diminish somewhat, though as long as the oil is inferior they will -continue to emit a dirty cloud accompanied with deadly fumes and intense -volumes of heat, which are forced out by the blast to a distance of -several yards, making it impossible for the youth to get near enough to -attend to his bars without having his arms and face scorched and burnt. -The roof and walls, for a great distance around, are blackened with the -soot. There is no mistaking the cause of it, though it is a favourite -recommendation of the oil furnaces that they consume every particle of -their vapour. When the oil is of a sufficiently good quality this -actually happens; it is only when the fuel is cheap and bad that -considerable unpleasantness arises. - -Our entry to the shed was made through the large door in the north-west -corner, near which the first oil furnace is situated. This furnace is -attached to a new kind of forging machine conveniently named the “Ajax,” -by reason of its great strength. Ajax was the name of two of the mighty -ones who fought before Troy, but the manufacturer does not inform us -whether the machine is named after Ajax, the son of Telamon, or he that -was the son of Oileus, though perhaps the latter is intended. Standing -alongside the oil furnace is the first of the drop-stamper’s forges, and -next to that, in a line, are the three drop-stamps themselves. Opposite -the Ajax is the foreman’s office--a two-storied building--and a little -to one side, straight from the door, is a coal furnace, upon which is -superimposed a large “loco” boiler. This reflects a tremendous heat all -round, and, together with the furnaces and forges, makes that part of -the shed, though near to the door, almost unbearably hot, so that it has -come to be called “Hell Corner” by the workmen. - -The line of hammers and furnaces is continued up the workshop to the far -end under the wall. There also, fixed to the masonry, are the main -shafting and pulleys, whirled round at a tremendous rate by the engine -in the “lean-to” outside. At the end of the line stand the heavy -steam-hammers and, under the wall outside, the blower house, containing -machinery for forcing the air for the smiths’ fires. A huge stack of -coal and coke is visible through the door at the other end. A small -single fan is attached to the oil furnace with the Ajax in order to -supply it with air. This travels at a high rate of speed and makes a -loud roar, thereby adding to the confused din of the hammers and other -machinery. Standing further out in the shed is a second row of smaller -steam-hammers and forges with drills, saws, shears, pneumatic apparatus, -other oil furnaces, and the American stamping-hammers with their -trimmers and appliances. Beyond them is an open space reserved for -future arrivals in the shape of manufacturing plant, and towards the -south wall are two lines of powerful hydraulic machines and presses with -furnaces and boilers attached for heating the plates of metal for -punching and welding. - -The Ajax machine operates by up-setting. It is worked by youths, one of -whom heats the rods of metal, while the other sets them in the dies and -presses the treadle that brings the machine head forward. As soon as -the furnace is sufficiently hot fifteen or twenty bars are thrust -through the brickwork in front of the forge, the lubricators are filled, -the belt pulled over, and the work begins. The belts flap up and down on -the pulleys with a loud noise, the cog-wheels rattle and clank, the -“ram” travels backwards and forwards incessantly, clicking against the -self-act, the furnace roars and the smoke and flames shoot out. When the -bars are white-hot the assistant hands them along; his mate grips them -and inserts them in the dies, then presses the treadle with his foot. -Immediately the steel tools close up and the ram shoots forward; in -about two seconds the operation is complete. Very often the water, -running continually over the tools to keep them cool, becomes confined -in the dies as they close. The heat of the iron converts it into steam, -and, as the ram collects and forces the material, it explodes with a -loud report, almost like that of a cannon. Showers of sparks and hot -scale are blown in all directions, and if the operator is not careful to -stand somewhat aside, his face and arms will be riddled with the tiny -particles of shot-like metal ejected by the explosion. It is not -uncommon to see his flesh covered with drops of blood from the accident. -The bits of metal will adhere tightly underneath the skin, and must be -removed with a needle, or otherwise remain till they work out of their -own accord. - -Both youths of the Ajax dwell in the town, and are known about the -corner by the names of Harry and Sammy. Harry’s father was an -infantryman, and Sammy’s parent served in the Navy. There is a little of -the roving spirit about both of them--each possesses a share of the -paternal characteristic. Harry’s father, however, is an invalid, and he -is forced to stay at home and help keep him and his mother, otherwise -he would long ago have bidden farewell to the shed, Ajax and all. Sammy, -on the other hand, is free and unfettered, but though he has made many -attempts to enter the Navy, they were all in vain. First, he was not -sufficiently tall or broad in the chest, and later, when, after a course -of exercises with dumb-bells, he was able to pass the examinations, he -was refused on account of his teeth, which were badly decayed. This was -a great disappointment to Samuel. He sulked about for several days -afterwards, quarrelled and fought with his mate, and was generally -inconsolable. The boys’ chargeman had to intervene as peacemaker and he -comforted Sammy, who shed a few tears and finally became reconciled to -the forge again, though he often defiantly affirmed that he would not be -beaten, not he! He would go to Bristol and get a job aboard ship; he -would not stop there in that hole all his life! - -Both Sammy and Harry dress much alike, and they resemble each other in -their habits. They are both nimble and strong, active, energetic, and -high spirited. Both have commendable appetites, and they are especially -fond of drinking tea. They have a passionate regard for sports, -including boxing and football, but, over and above all this, they are -hard workers; every day they are sure of a good sweating at the furnace -and Ajax. Both wear football shirts--Sammy a green one and Harry a red -and white--in the forge, and they have football boots on their feet. If -you should turn out Sammy’s pockets you would be sure to find, among -other things, half a packet of cigarettes, a pack of cards, a mouth -organ, a knife, a comb, and a small portion of looking-glass. A great -many of the town boys and young men carry a small mirror in their -pockets, by the aid of which they comb and part their hair and study -their physiognomies. At meal-times, as soon as the hooter sounds, they -hasten to the nearest water-tap, give their faces a rough swill and, -with the aid of a portion of looking-glass, examine them to make sure -that they are free from the dust and soil of the smoky furnace. - -Though the companions of Ajax work hard and perspire much they do not -become very tired, apparently, for after the most severe exertions they -are still ready to indulge in some sport or other, and run and play or -wrestle and struggle with each other on their way down the yard. Arrived -home they have their tea, wash and change, and come back to the crowded -parts of the town to see and be seen and be moved on by the policeman, -returning late home to bed. In the morning they will often be sullen and -short-tempered. This invariably wears off as the day advances, however, -and they will soon be up to the usual games, singing popular songs and -imitating the comic actors at the theatre, where they delight to go once -or twice a week. - -Close behind the oil furnace, in a recess of the wall, is the fan that -drives the blast for this part of the shed, supplying four forges -altogether. The fan itself is of iron, enclosed in a stout cast-iron -shell or case, and is driven from a countershaft half-way up to the main -shafting. Multiplication takes place through this from the top pulley, -and whereas the main shaft will make but one hundred and twenty -revolutions a minute, the fan below will, in that space, spin round two -thousand times. As the engine is running day and night, for more than -twenty hours out of the twenty-four, the number of revolutions made by -the fan will be over two millions daily. Although, viewed on paper, -these figures appear high, yet, if you should stand near and watch the -fan itself, it would seem incredible to you that it would require such -a long time in which to complete them. The speed is terrific, and this -you may know by the sound, without troubling to look at the gear. The -rate of the belts, from the pulleys on to the countershaft, is a further -proof of the tremendous velocity of the machine. Although strained very -tight on the wheels they make a loud noise, flapping sharply all the -while; one may easily gauge the speed of an engine by the sound of the -belts alone. The fan itself, at normal times, emits a loud humming -noise, like that of a threshing-machine, but when the speed of the -engine increases through the relaxation of some other machinery, or the -sudden rise of steam pressure in the boilers, it seems to swell with a -dreadful fury, and assails the ear with a vicious and continuous -_hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo, HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO_, like some savage beast -ravenous for its prey. The oscillation of the fan is imparted to -everything around. The very ground under your feet trembles, and if you -should place your hand upon the outer shell, or on the wooden guard -around it, you would experience something like an electric shock, -strangely pleasant at first, but very soon necessitating the removal of -your hand from the vicinity. - -It is dangerous to meddle with the fan while it is in motion. A stout -wooden guard is erected around it to prevent any object from coming into -contact with the wheels or the interior. If a nut or rivet head should -happen to fly and be caught in it, the shell would immediately burst. -Very often excessive speed alone will cause a fan to explode. The effect -is similar to that of a steam or gas explosion; the heavy cast-iron -frame will be shattered to bits, and hurled to a great distance. I -remember one in the smithy that exploded and blew up through the roof, -making a huge rent. For safety’s sake the fans are often constructed -underground in order to lessen the danger of explosion, if one should -happen. - -It is remarkable that while the pulley on the countershaft is travelling -at a tremendous speed, so that the spokes are generally invisible, and -there appears to be nothing but the rim and centre whirling round, if -you look up quickly you will see one spoke quite plainly as it flies -over, then it will be entirely lost to view with the rest. The space of -time during which it is visible is exceedingly short--it could be no -more than a fraction of a second--yet in that brief period the eye -perceives it clearly and distinctly: it is something similar to taking a -snapshot with a camera. - -Formerly, when all the belts were of leather and thickly studded with -large broad-headed copper rivets, the boys used to draw near to them and -take small lessons in electricity. This could only be done in the case -of belts that travelled at a very high rate of speed, such as the one on -the fan or the circular saw. Standing dangerously near the wheels they -held a finger, or a knuckle, very close to the belt in motion, and were -rewarded with seeing a small stream of electric sparks, about as large -in volume as the stem of a needle, issuing from the finger-tip or -knuckle, accompanied with a slight pain like that produced by the prick -of a pin. The velocity of the belt, with the copper, attracted the -electricity within the body and drew it out in a tiny visible stream -from the flesh. All the belts for high speed work at this time, however, -are made of another material, _i.e._, a preparation of compressed -canvas, without rivets. Instead of being laced together they are fitted -with a steel-wire arrangement for connection. The ends are inserted, as -you would bend the fingers of both hands and thrust them one between the -other, and a piece of whalebone is pushed through. Slight as this may -seem to be, it is yet capable of withstanding a great strain, and the -whole runs much more smoothly than did the old-fashioned leather belts. - -A man is specially kept to attend to everything pertaining to the belts. -He is known to all and sundry as the “strappie.” Directly anything goes -wrong with the connections he appears on the scene smothered in oil from -head to foot, and looking very cloudy and serious. He is usually in a -great hurry and is not over-polite to anyone. First of all he gives the -signal to have the engine stopped. As soon as the shafting is still, -armed with a very sharp knife, he climbs up the wall, in and out among -the wheels, and unceremoniously cuts away the defective belt. Arrived on -the ground again, he draws out the belt, motions “right away” to the -engineman, then rolls it up and disappears. In a short while he comes -back with it strongly repaired, or brings a new one in place of it. The -shafting is stopped again, and up he mounts as before. When he has -placed it over the shaft and connected the ends, he pulls it half-way on -the wheels and ties it loosely in that position with a piece of cord. As -the engine starts the belt assumes its position on the wheel -automatically; the piece of cord breaks, or becomes untied, and falls to -the ground, and everything goes spinning and whirling away as before. If -a belt is merely loose the strappie brings a potful of a substance he -calls “jam,” very resinous and gluey, some of which he pours on the -wheel and belt while in motion. This makes the belt “bite,” or grip -well, and brings the machine up to its maximum speed with the shafting. - -Sometimes, if the shafting has not been oiled punctually, it will run -hot, or perhaps a small particle of dust will obstruct the oil in the -lubricator and produce friction. News of this is soon published abroad -by a loud creaking noise that everyone can hear. The workmen take up -the cry and shout “Oil, oil,” at the top of their voice; then the -engine-driver comes forth with his can and stops the screeching. -Occasionally the spindle of the fan will run hot, and especially so if -the belt happens to be well tight. This, by reason of its great speed, -will soon generate a fierce heat; I recently ran to attend to it and -found the spindle of the fan a bright red-hot. Thanks to the warning of -the belt, which was slipping owing to the greater exertion required -through tightening of the bearings by expansion, I was just in time to -prevent an accident. In another moment the fan might have been a total -wreck. - -Through a doorway in the wall, in an extension of the shed, stand -several boilers used as auxiliaries, and, near to them, are two powerful -pumping engines and their accumulators, which obtain the pressure for -the whole hydraulic plant of the department. The engines are of a -hundred and twenty horse-power each, and are fitted with heavy -fly-wheels that make forty revolutions a minute at top speed. These draw -the water from a neighbouring tank and force it into the accumulators, -from which the pressure is finally derived. The accumulators are -constructed in deep pits that are bricked round and guarded with iron -fencing. They are large weights of fifty tons each--there was originally -one of a hundred tons--and are built about a central column of iron or -steel standing fifteen or twenty feet above the floor level. Contained -in the lower part of the weight is a cylinder; into this the water is -forced by the engines and the pressure obtained. The power of the water, -when a sufficient volume has accumulated, raises the weights high into -the roof and keeps them there, with a little rising and falling, -corresponding to the action of the presses in the shed. When the weights -have risen to a certain point they operate a self-act, and the engines -stop. Similarly, when they sink below the point they displace a second -small lever that communicates with the engine valves and re-starts the -pumps. The pressure put on the water is enormous; it often amounts to -two thousand pounds per square inch. Since the operation of water is -much slower than that of steam, however, the power is not nearly as -effective. It would be impossible by its agency to drive machinery at a -high rate without the use of gear, though for punching, pressing, and -welding some kinds of work the system is admirable and unsurpassed. - -The engine that drives the lesser machinery of the shop stands in a -“lean-to” and is not nearly as powerful as are those that operate the -pumps. A little higher up, in another small lean-to, is a donkey engine -that drives the “blower,” which produces blast for the forges and fires. -This machine is vastly superior to the old-fashioned fan, and the speed -of it is quite low; there is no danger of explosion or other rupture. It -is a pleasure, since so much manufacturing plant is introduced to us -from foreign countries--America, France and Germany--to reflect that the -idea of the blower is English. There is a considerable amount of -American-made machinery at the works, and the percentage of it increases -every year, though it is often far from being successful. At the same -time, it must be conceded that our kinsmen over the sea are very clever -in the designing and manufacture of tools and plant, and many of their -ideas are particularly brilliant. The English maker of manufacturing -tools follows at some little distance with his wares. These, though not -actually as smart as the others, are yet good, honest value, the very -expression of the Englishman’s character. The chief features of American -machinery are--smartness of detail, the maximum usefulness of parts, -capacity for high speed and flimsiness, styled “economy,” of structure: -everything of theirs is made to “go the pace.” English machinery, on the -other hand, is at the same time more primitive and cumbersome, more -conservative in design and slower in operation, though it is trustworthy -and durable; it usually proves to be the cheaper investment in the long -run. One often sees American tackle broken all to pieces after several -years’ use, while the British-made machine runs almost _ad infinitum_. -At a manufactory in Birmingham is an old beam engine that has been in -use for more than a century and a half, and it is almost as good now as -when it was new. The same may be said with regard to English-made -agricultural machinery. A modern American mower will seldom last longer -than four or five years, but I know of English machines that have been -in use for nearly thirty years and are as good as ever, generally -speaking. - -One man attends to the engines that drive the shop machinery and the -“blower.” It is his duty to see that the shafting is kept clean and the -bearings well oiled, to watch over the belts and to notify the strappie -when one becomes loose or slips off the wheel. Dressed in a suit of blue -overalls, and equipped with ladder and oil-can, he remains in constant -attendance upon his engines and shafts. He will also be required to keep -a watchful eye upon the valves, to regulate the steam to the cylinders, -and to maintain a uniform rate of speed for the lathes and drills. -Occasionally, if the pressure of steam in the boilers should rise very -suddenly--which sometimes happens, as the result of a variable quality -of coal and the diversity of heats required by the furnacemen--the -engine, in spite of the regulators, will rapidly gain speed and “run -away,” as it is called. This may also result from the disconnecting a -particular machine engaged on heavy, dragging work, such as the saw, or -fan, both of which require great power to drive them at their high rate -of speed. - -Considerable danger attaches to the running away of an engine, -especially where it is provided with a heavy fly-wheel. This, if it is -whirled round at an excessive speed, is liable to burst, and the -consequences, in a crowded quarter, would be disastrous. The danger of -bursting lies in the tremendous throwing-off power generated from the -hub of the wheel, about the shaft; as the sections forming the circle of -the wheel are brought rapidly over there is a strong tendency for them -to be cast off in the same manner as a stone is thrown from a sling. If -the wheel is exactly balanced, however, and every part of precisely the -same weight, so as to ensure perfectly even running on the shaft, the -danger of bursting will be small. Grindstones burst much more commonly -than do metal wheels. There is not the same consistency in stone as in -iron; moreover, there may be a flaw somewhere that has escaped the eye -of the fitter or overseer. Consequently, if the speed of the engine -driving the stone should be immoderately increased, it will not be able -to withstand the throw-off, and will fly to pieces, inflicting death, or -very severe injuries upon all those in the vicinity. - - - - -CHAPTER X - - STAMPING--THE DROP-HAMMER STAFF--ALGY AND CECIL--PAUL AND - “PUMP”--“SMAMER”--BOILERS--A NEAR SHAVE - - -The drop-stamps stand in the corner, close under the wall. They are -supplied by three coke forges, and by the coal furnace before mentioned. -A drop-stamp, or drop-hammer, is a machine used for stamping out all -kinds of details and uses in wrought iron or steel, from an ounce to -several hundredweights. It differs from a steam-hammer properly so -called in that while it is raised by steam power it falls by gravity, -striking the metal in the dies by its own impetus, whereas the -steam-hammer head is driven down by a piston. Three hands are employed -at each machine. They are--the stamper, his hotter, and the small boy -who drives the hammer. A similar number compose the night shift; the -machines are in constant use by night and day. All the work is done at -the piece rate, and the prices are low; the men have to be very nimble -to earn sufficient money to pay them for the turn. - -The hands employed on the drop-hammers are of a fairly uniform type, -though there are several distinguished above the others by reason of -their individual features and characteristics. Chief among them are the -two young hammer boys, Algy and Cecil, Paul the furnaceman, and a youth -who rejoices in the preposterous nickname of “Pump.” Algy drives the end -drop-stamp for the chargeman and Cecil the next one to it, larger and -heavier. Algy has several nicknames, one of which, from his diminutive -stature, being “Teddy Bear,” and the other, carrying with it a certain -amount of sarcasm, is plain “Jim.” Sometimes, also, he is called “Dolly” -or “Midget.” Cecil boasts of a string of christian names, the correct -list being Cecil Oswald Clarence. Questioned concerning the other -members of the family he informs you that his brother is named Reginald -Cuthbert, his schoolgirl sister May Alberta, and his baby sister Ena -Merle. From some cause or other he himself has not obtained a regular -nickname; he is rather summarily addressed by his surname. No one in the -shed ever deigns to call him by his christian name, it is too unusual -and high-sounding, too aristocratic and superb. Bob or Jack would have -been preferable; scarcely anyone at the works goes beyond a monosyllable -in the matter of names. - -The boys are of the same age--fifteen or thereabout--but they are -dissimilar in stature and in almost every other respect. Algy is short -and small, plump and sturdy, while Cecil is inclined to run. He is tall -for his age, and very thin. His body is as flat as a man’s hand; he has -no more substance than a herring. Algy’s features are round, regular, -and pleasant; he is quite a handsome boy. His forehead slopes a little, -his nose is perfect in shape. He has frank, grey eyes sparkling with fun -and good-nature, a girlish mouth, and small, pretty teeth. Cecil, on the -other hand, is not what one would style handsome. He has thin, hollow -cheeks and small, hard features. His forehead is narrow, and his eyes -are rather large and searching--expressing strength and keenness. His -mouth is stern, and his lips pout a little: they are best represented by -the French _s’allonger--les lèvres s’allongent_, as Monsieur Jourdain’s -did in Molière, when he pronounced the vowel sound of u. He has a -particularly fine set of teeth, and he has a way of grizzing them -together and showing them when in the act of making a special exertion -that gives him a savage expression. - -Both boys are pale. Algy’s face, when it is clean, shines like a glass -bottle; Cecil’s skin is inclined to be yellow. Both have dark rings -around the eyes, especially Cecil, who is the more delicate of the -two--they are neither very robust-looking. Their hair is very long, and -it stands out well from underneath their cloth caps and stretches down -the cheeks before the ears. They are consequently often assailed with -the cry--“Get yer ’air cut,” or--“You be robbin’ the barber of -tuppence,“ or--”Tell yer mother to use the basin,” suggesting that the -boys’ hair is cut at home. It is a common charge to lay to small boys in -the shed that their mothers used to put a basin over their heads and cut -the hair around the outside of it. Both boys wax indignant at being -taunted about the basin, and reply to the other remark with, “You gi’ me -the tuppence, then, an’ I’ll have it cut.” Occasionally, more by way of -being sarcastic than out of any desire to show good-nature, the stampers -will make a collection towards defraying the barber’s expenses, and the -next morning the boys will turn up at the shed nearly bald: they have -had their hair cut this time with a vengeance. - -Several times Algy has come to the shed wearing a pair of wooden clogs, -but, as everyone teased him and called him “Cloggy,” he cast them aside -and would not wear them any more. Clogs belong rather to the Midlands -and the North of England, and are very rarely seen in the railway town. -The least respectable of all the boys’ clothing are their shirts. They -are usually full of big rents, being split from top to bottom, or torn -quite across the back, the lower part falling down and exposing the -naked flesh for a space of a foot, and they are of an inscrutable -colour. One day an entire sleeve of Algy’s shirt dropped clean away, and -Cecil’s was rent completely up one side so that his entire flank and -shoulder were visible. Though the stampers laugh at Cecil and sometimes -grip hold of whole handfuls of his flesh, where the shirt is torn, he is -not very much disconcerted. Algernon blushed considerably, however, when -his mate quietly told him one day that he could see his naked posterior -through a rent in his trousers. - -Although the boys’ clothing is untidy and dilapidated they are not kept -short of food, and their appetites are truly enormous. They bring large -parcels of provisions to the shed--thick chunks of bread and butter, -rashers of raw bacon, an egg to boil or fry, and sometimes a couple of -polonies or succulent sausages. The whole is tied up in a red -dinner-handkerchief or wrapped in a newspaper; you would often have a -difficulty in getting it into an ordinary-sized bucket. The youngsters -have to stand a great deal of chaff over their parcels of provisions. -The men often take them in their hands and weigh them up and down, -showing them about the shed, and asking each other if they do not want -to buy a pair of old boots. At breakfast- or dinner-time the lads obtain -a roughly-made frying-pan, or take the coke shovel, and, after rubbing -it out with a piece of paper, cook their food, usually frying it -together and dipping their bread in the fat alternately. Then, if it is -fine, still stripped of their waistcoats, they go out in the yard and -sit down, or crouch by the furnace door and clear up the food to the -last morsel; they will often not have finished when the hooter sounds -the first time to warn the men to come back to the shed. When the meal -is over, if there is yet time, Algy will produce from his pocket some -literature of the Buffalo Bill type, or a school story, of which he is -fond, and read it. Cecil will not deign to look at “such stuff,” as he -calls it, but will borrow a newspaper, or some part of one, from his -mates, and greedily devour the contents of that. - -Though neither of them has left school for more than a year, or, at the -outside, fifteen months, they have forgotten almost everything they -learned, even to the very rudiments in many cases. Their knowledge of -grammar, arithmetic, poetry, geography, and history has entirely lapsed, -or, if they remember anything at all, it will be but a smattering of -each. To test their memory and knowledge of these matters the boys’ -chargeman occasionally offers them prizes, and enters them into -competition with other lads of the shed, some of whom have not been away -from school for more than five or six months, but one and all show a -deplorable lack of the faculty of retention. Whether it is the result of -too much cramming by the teacher, or whether it is that the rising -generation is really deficient in mental capacity, they are quite -incapable of answering the most simple and elementary questions. The -chargeman’s plan is to offer them pennies for the names of half-a-dozen -capitals of foreign countries, half-a-dozen foreign rivers, six names of -British kings or British rivers, the capitals of six English counties, -or the names of the counties themselves, six fish of English rivers, six -wild birds, half-a-dozen names of wild flowers, the capitals of British -colonies, the names of six English poets, or a few elementary points of -grammar, and so on. - -The answers, when any are vouchsafed, are often ludicrous and amazing: -the intellectual capacity of the boys is certainly not very brilliant. -During these tests the chargeman was astonished to learn that Salisbury -is a county, Ceylon is the capital of China, and that Paris stands on -the banks of the river Liffey. As for the preterite tense, not one had -ever heard of it. Only one out of six could give the names of the six -counties and kings complete, though another of the lads had strong -impressions concerning a monarch he called the “ginger-headed” one, but -he could not think of his name. Not one could furnish the requisite list -of fish, fowl, and natural wild flowers, but little Jim, struck with a -sudden inspiration, shouted out “jack and perch,” for he had recently -been fishing in the clay-pits with his brother. The others frankly -confessed they did not know anything about the matter; if they had ever -learned it at school they had forgotten it now. Anyway, it was not of -much use to one, they said, though it was all right to know about it. -Not one of the half-dozen, though all were born in the town, could give -the name of a single Wiltshire river. - -Paul is not permanently attached to the furnace in the corner, but came -to fill the place of one who had met with an accident. As a matter of -fact, Paul is everybody’s man; he is here, there, and everywhere. He can -turn his hand to almost anything in the second degree, and is a very -useful stop-gap. Forge he cannot, stamp he cannot, though he is a -capital heater of iron, and makes a good furnaceman; he is a fair -all-round, inside man. But somehow or other, everyone persists in making -fun of Paul, and contrives to play pranks and practical jokes upon him. -Whatever job he is engaged upon his mates address ridiculous remarks to -him; they will never take him seriously. Some one or other, in passing -by, will knock off his hat; this one gravely takes him by the wrist and -feels his pulse, and that one will give him a rough push. Another puts -water over him from the pipe, pretending it was by accident; whatever -reply he makes his mates only laugh at him. As a rule, Paul takes it -all in good part, though sometimes he will lose his temper and retaliate -with a lump of coal, or any other missile upon which he can lay his -hands. - -Paul would be the tallest man in the shed if it were not that he stoops -slightly as the result of having had rheumatics. As it is, he is quite -six feet in height, bony, but not fleshy, with broad shoulders and large -limbs. As he walks his head is thrown forward; he goes heavily upon his -feet. His features are regular and pleasant; he has grey eyes and bushy -brows. His skin is dark with the heat and grime of the furnace; his -expression is one of marked good-nature. In appearance he is a perfect -rustic; there is no need to look at him the second time to know that he -dwells without the municipal border. It is this air of rusticity, -combined with his simplicity of character and behaviour, that makes Paul -the butt of the other workmen. They would not think of practising their -clownish tricks upon others, for there are many upon whom it would be -very inadvisable to attempt a jest without being prepared for a sudden -and violent reprisal. - -Paul’s home is in the village, about three miles from the town. There he -passes his leisure in comparative quiet, and, in his spare time from the -shed, cultivates a large plot of land and keeps pigs. This finds him -employment all the year round, so that he has no time to go to the -public-house or the football match, though he sometimes plays in the -local cricket eleven. He takes great interest in his roots and crops, -and almost worships his forty perch of garden. During the summer and -autumn he brings the choicest specimens of his produce in his pocket and -shows them to his mates in the shed; he usually manages to beat all -comers with his potatoes and onions. - -In spite of Paul’s simplicity of behaviour, one cannot help being -attracted to him by reason of his frankness and open-heartedness; he -would not think of doing anything that is not strictly above board. -Though rough and rude, blunt and unpolished, he is yet very honest and -conscientious. Certainly he is not as sharp and intelligent as are many -of the town workmen, but he is a better mate than most of them, and when -it comes to work he will stand by you to the last; he is not one to back -out at the slightest difficulty. - -How Pump came to be Pump is a mystery; no one knows the origin of the -nickname. “They called I Pump a long time ago,” says he. Very likely it -was given to him extemporaneously, with no particular relation to -anything; someone or other said “Pump,” and the name stuck there at -once. Pump is just under eighteen years of age. He drives the heavy -drop-stamp on the day-shift, and, owing to certain characteristics of -which he is possessed, he always attracts attention. He is very loud and -noisy, full of strong words and forcible language, though he is -extraordinarily cheerful and good-natured. He is short in stature, very -strong and much given to sweating; in the least heat his face will be -very red and covered with great drops of perspiration. His forehead is -broad and sloping, he has immense blue eyes, tapered nose, bronze -complexion, a solid, square countenance, and a tremendous shock of hair. -In driving the hammer he has acquired the unusual habit of following the -heavy monkey up and down with his eyes, and the expression on his face, -as he peers up into the roof, induces many to stop and take a peep at -him as they pass by. To all such Pump addresses certain phrases much -more forcible than polite, and warns them to “clear out” without delay -if they do not “want something.” They usually respond with an -extra-special grimace, or work their arms up and down as though they -were manipulating the engine from which he derives his nickname. - -As a mate Pump is variable. With the men of one shift he can agree very -well, but with the others he is nearly always at loggerheads. The fact -is that Pump’s stamper on one shift does not like him, and will not try -to like him, either. He quite misunderstands his driver’s -characteristics, and will not see his good qualities underneath a -certain rugged exterior. Accordingly, they quarrel and call each other -evil names all day. Very often the stamper will throw down his tongs and -walk off. Thereupon Pump lowers the hammer defiantly, folds his arms, -and tosses his head with disgust, while the furnaceman, waiting with his -heat, calls to them to “come on.” Now the stamper picks up his tongs -quickly, shouts loudly to Pump, “Hammer up, there!” and on they go -again, the stamper snorting and muttering to himself, and glaring -fiercely from side to side, while Pump bursts into song, with a broad -grin on his countenance. Sometimes the stamper, in a towering fury, will -come to the chargeman and swear that he will not hit another stroke with -“that thing there,” and demand another mate forthwith, but with a little -tact and the happy application of a spice of good-humour, the situation -will be saved, and everything will go on right merrily, though the old -trouble will certainly recur. Pump confides all his troubles to the -chargeman and sheds a few tears now and then. He is full of good -intentions and tries to do his level best to please, but he cannot avoid -friction with his fiery and short-tempered mates of the fortnightly -shift. - -He has one very special and ardent desire, which is to go on night -duty; he is for ever counting up the days and weeks that must pass -before his birthday will arrive, and so raise him to the age necessary -for undertaking the shift. In common with most other youths, he looks -upon the night turn as something “devoutly to be wished,” but I very -much fear that a few weeks of the change will modify his opinion of the -matter, if it does not entirely disillusion him. Notwithstanding a -certain amount of novelty attaching to the working on the night-shift, -it is attended with many hardships and inconveniences. The greater part -of those who have to perform it would willingly exchange it for the day -duty. - -There was at one time another highly distinctive “character” attached to -the drop-stamps. He revelled in the nickname of “Smamer.” Where he -obtained the pseudonym is unknown, though it is notable that the word -has an intelligible derivative. Smamer is undoubtedly derived from the -Greek verb σμᾶν = sman, meaning _to smear_, and, afterwards, from -σμᾶμα[1] = soap, so that the nickname is meant to designate a smearer. -As there are many who are in the habit of smearing their faces with -soap, the nickname would seem to have a very wide and universal -application. Be that as it may, our Smamer was a smearer of the first -order; he usually stopped at that and did not care to prosecute the -matter further. His face daily bore traces of the initial process of -washing, and that only; it was a genuine smear and little besides. -Whoever first honoured him with the appellation was a person of -discernment, though he might not have been aware of the origin of the -word. You often hear a workman say that So-and-so is “all smamed up” -with oil or some other greasy substance. - - [1] Classical, σμῆν, σμῆμα - -Smamer was one of the forge hands and heated iron for the middle -drop-stamp. His home was in the country, several miles from the town; -winter and summer he tramped to and from the shed. For several years -after his father and mother died he lived in the cottage by himself, -tilled his own garden, prepared his food, performed his housework, made -his bed, and did his own washing, though he was no more than nineteen -years of age. He was noted for his eccentric mode of living. Whatever -the weather might be he scarcely ever wore an overcoat. He often came to -work wet through to the skin, and reached home at night in the same -condition, where he received no welcome of any sort, but had to light -his own fire before he could dry his clothing or prepare his meal. To -every inquiry as to whether he was wet or not he made one reply; he was -“just a little bit damp about the knees,” that was all. - -In manner he was quiet and rather sullen; he was never very -sweet-tempered, though he was a quick and clever heater of iron and a -very good mate. About his native village he was rough and noisy, fond of -fighting and disturbance. He was frequently in conflict with the police, -and often on the point of being summoned before the Bench for some -offence or other, but he usually scraped out of the difficulty at the -last moment, either by means of apologies, or by making some kind of -restitution to the injured party. At week-ends, with a band of -associates, he paid visits to the neighbouring villages and fought with -the young men, until the whole of them became so well-known to the -police that wherever they went they were recognised and promptly hustled -off in the direction of their native place. - -During the autumn months Smamer visited all the orchards along the road -on the way to work, and came to the shed with his pockets crammed full -of apples. These he used to divide out among his mates, who ate them -with little or no compunction; there is small searching of conscience -among the boys of the factory, especially when the contraband happens to -be sweet, juicy apples plucked from the farmer’s trees. Very soon, -however, the habit of the life began to tell upon him. His continually -getting wet, and the having no one to provide him with any kind of -comfort, ruined his constitution; in a few months he wasted away and -died. A small party of mates from the shed attended the funeral at the -little village churchyard: that was the end of Smamer. His place at the -forge was soon filled; he was not missed very much. Everyone said he had -but himself to blame; there was no sympathy meted out to him. His -brother, who also worked on the drop-stamps, had been killed by a blow -on the head with a piece of metal from the die only a short while -before. They lay side by side in the little walled enclosure, for ever -oblivious of the noise and din of the thunderous hammers and the -grinding wheels of the factory. - -There are several others, distinguished with titles of an expressive -kind, working on the drop-stamps. Of these one answers to the nickname -of “Bovril,” one is “Kekky Flapper,” one is “Aeroplane Joe,” one -“Blubber,” and another is known about the shed as “Wormy.” How they came -to possess such inglorious appellatives cannot with certainty be told; a -very little will suffice to brand you with an epithet in the work-shed. -In addition to these, in the vicinity of the drop-stamps in the corner -are an ex-groom, a grocer, a musical freak, a comedian, a photographer, -a boy scout, a territorial, a jockey, a cowman, a pianoforte maker, and -a local preacher. - -Situated over the coal furnace that feeds the big drop-stamps is a -boiler of the “loco” pattern, one of those responsible for the -tremendous din that is raised every day at meal-times when the steam is -not required for the engines and hammers. These boilers have all served -their time on the line--in passenger or goods traffic--and, after their -removal from the engine frames, they have become distributed over the -company’s system and throughout the factories. The distance a boiler is -required to travel under steam on the railway is about thirty thousand -miles; after completing this it is superseded and removed from the -active list on the permanent way. By the time the boiler and engine have -travelled together so many miles they will be half worn out. The wheels, -by reason of the frequent application of the brakes and “skidding” on -the rails, will be grooved and cut about, and the machinery will require -new fittings and bearings. After the boilers have been removed from the -frames they are overhauled and tested and then sold out to the different -sheds and stations, wherever they may happen to be wanted. - -The method of transacting business between the different sheds and -departments at the works is exactly like that employed by outside firms -and tradesmen. Bills and accounts are rendered, and the whole formula of -hire and purchase is entered into by the different parties; everything; -in fact, except the actual payment of money, is duly carried out. The -sheds are required to show a balance on the right side at the end of -each year; percentages are charged for working expenses, and all the -rest is profit. Thus, some sheds will show profits of many thousands of -pounds annually, though upon paper only; the surpluses do not exist in -reality. - -Although the new boiler costs £1,000 it is sold to the shed second-hand -for £200, so that the cost of ten for the workshop was only £2,000. The -charge for setting, and fitting, and also for repairs and cleaning, -however, is very great; a big sum is needed to keep them in a fit -condition for work. After they have been erected above the furnaces they -are covered with a thick jacket of a compound of magnesia and fibre, to -enable them to retain the heat, and they are afterwards painted black, -so as to harmonise with the general environment. The steam pressure of -the repaired boiler is usually fixed at about a hundred and twenty-five -pounds per square inch. The capacity of each boiler is very great, and -the composite power of the whole set formidable; if one of them should -happen to explode the result would indeed be disastrous. A small staff -of men superintends them by day and night, and greater care is taken of -them than was the case formerly. I can remember when the shed was -several times within a hair’s breadth of being blown up and forty or -fifty men hurled to perdition. - -A few years ago, instead of trustworthy men being appointed to -superintend the boilers, they were consigned to the charge of several -youths, who were very careless and negligent in their work, and who -seemed to have no idea whatever of the tremendous responsibility resting -upon them for the safety and welfare of the life in the shed. Provided -with mouth-organs and bones, or Jew’s harps, they would play and skylark -about for a long time and leave their boilers unattended at considerable -risk. I have often known them to be away from their posts for an hour at -a stretch, and to allow the water in the boilers to become almost -entirely evaporated before they returned to fill them up again, which, -as everyone knows, is an exceedingly dangerous practice. By the common -regulation attaching to boilers, the water should never be permitted to -fall below that point when it is visible in the gauge-glass. If it is -allowed to do so the position becomes dangerous immediately, and, to -obviate accident, the bars of the furnace fire should be withdrawn and -no cold water admitted. - -Once a youth--a wild, reckless fellow--was absent from the boiler an -unusually long time in the middle of the morning before dinner. The -stampers watched the water in the gauge-glass drop little by little and -finally vanish, and still no one came to attend to it. Being a little -anxious about it I sent several men and boys to try and find the -boilerman, but without avail. His mates were nowhere to be found either, -and the foreman was away from the shed at the time. From being anxious I -soon felt alarmed. The matter was becoming serious, and we were not -allowed, under any circumstances, to meddle with the injectors -ourselves. - -As I was warning all men in the locality of the danger the boilerman -arrived, a little frightened, but in a desperate mood. I advised him to -take the usual course in such a case, to have the fire withdrawn from -the furnace and allow the boiler to burn, but as this would have meant -certain dismissal for him he decided to risk everything and fill up the -boiler or explode it. As he was determined in his foolhardy resolution -we collected our mates and left the shed, retiring to a safe distance. -By good fortune, however--by pure luck, and nothing else--the boiler -received the water safely, though with a great deal of shuddering, and -the danger was past. To make the best--or the worst--of it, there were -three men on the back of the boiler at the time, laying on the coat of -magnesia, for it had not been erected many days. Although we gave them -warning of the danger they took not the slightest notice, but kept -working away, in a hurry to get the job done, for it was piecework. If -the boiler had exploded, packed as it was with terrific pressure and -priming furiously, they would have been blown to atoms. - -The bold and daring of the shed indulge in many jeers and -uncomplimentary remarks, if some others, in the face of real danger, -should adopt precautionary measures and take heed of their safety, but -experience has taught me that it is better to be apprehensive and -cautious and to take pains to safeguard oneself than to score a cheap -victory by bravado and carelessness. When danger threatens in the -factory, the best course is to stand quite clear at all costs; it is -then no shame to put into practice the words of the old proverb, -slightly amended: “He that works and runs away will live to work another -day.” By far the greater proportion of the accidents that happen daily -at the works are the direct result of inattention, of not taking notice -of warnings uttered by others, and the failure to exercise the instinct -of self-preservation natural to each individual. It is not that the men -are absolutely careless of themselves; it is rather that the care they -do take is not considerable or sufficient. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - - FORGING AND SMITHING--HYDRAULIC - OPERATIONS--“BALTIMORE”--“BLACK SAM”--“STRAWBERRY” AND - GUSTAVUS--THE “FIRE KING”--“TUBBY ”--BOLAND--PINNELL OF - THE YANKEE PLANT - - -The drop-stamps and forgers, together with the plant known as the Yankee -hammers--so called by reason of their having been introduced from the -other side of the Atlantic--are the life and soul of the shed. The -hydraulic machines, through their noiseless and almost tedious operation -and the considerably less skill required on the part of the workmen in -carrying out the various processes, are dull and tame in comparison with -them. The steam-hammers, both by their noise, speed, and visible power -and by the alertness and dexterity of the stampers and forgers, are -certain to compel attention. There is a great fascination, too, in -standing near the furnace and watching the sparkling, hissing mass of -metal being withdrawn by the crane, or seeing the heated bars removed -from the oil forge and clapped quickly on the steel dies to be beaten -into shape. No one can withstand the attraction of the steam-hammers; -even those who have spent a lifetime in the shed like to stand and watch -the stampers and forgers at work. - -Forging and smithing are, without doubt, the most interesting of all -crafts in the factory; other machinery, however unique it may be, will -not claim nearly as much attention. Visitors will pass by the most -elaborate plant to stand near the steam-hammers, or to watch the smith -weld a piece of iron on the anvil. The small boy who has just been -initiated into the shed, the youth, the grown-up man, and the -grey-haired veteran are bound to be attracted by the flashing of the -furnace and the white-hot metal newly brought out. They are greatly -delighted, too, with the long, swinging blow of the forging hammers, or -the short, sharp stroke of the stampers; to watch the metal being -transposed and conforming to the pressure of the dies, to see the sparks -shooting out in white showers, and the men sweating; to feel the earth -shaking, and to hear the chains jingling, the steam hissing and roaring -and the blows echoing like thunder all the time. To stand in the midst -of it and view the whole scene when everything is in active operation is -a wonderful experience, thrilling and impressive. You see the lines of -furnaces and steam-hammers--there are fifteen altogether--with the -monkeys travelling up and down continually and beating on the metal one -against the other in utter disorder and confusion, the blazing white -light cast out from the furnace door or the duller glow of the -half-finished forging, the flames leaping and shooting from the oil -forges, the clouds of yellow cinders blown out from the smiths’ fires, -the whirling wheels of the shafting and machinery between the lines and -the half-naked workmen, black and bare-headed, in every conceivable -attitude, full of quick life and exertion and all in a desperate hurry, -as though they had but a few more minutes to live. And what a terrific -din is maintained! You hear the loud explosion of the oil and water -applied for removing the scale and excrescence from the iron, the ring -of the metal under the blows of the stampers or of the anvil under the -sledge of the smiths, the simultaneous priming of the boilers, the -horrible prolonged screeching of the steam-saw slowly cutting its way -through the half-heated rail, the roaring blast, the bellowing furnace, -the bumping Ajax, the clanking cogwheels, the groaning shears, and a -hundred other sounds and noises intermingled. There is the striker’s -hammer whirling round, this one pulling and heaving, the forgeman -running out with his staff, the stamper twisting his bar over, the -furnaceman charging in his fuel, the white slag running out in streams -sparkling, spluttering, and crackling, the steam blown down from the -roof through the open door, the thick dust, the almost visible heat, the -black gloom of the roof and the clouds of smoke drifting slowly about, -or hanging quite stationary like a pall, completely blotting out the -other half of the shed, all which form a scene never to be forgotten by -those who shall happen to have once viewed it. - -The hydraulic work, on the other hand, though interesting, is not -engrossing. There is a lack of life and animation in it; it is not -stirring or dramatic. The huge “rams” of the presses, though capable of -exerting a pressure equal to two hundred tons weight, descend very -slowly; the quick, alert steam-hammer could strike at least ten or a -dozen blows while the ram is once operating. So rapid is the blow of the -steam-hammer that the pressure raised in the metal by the impact of the -dies is often still unspent when the hammer rebounds, so that, as the -dies separate, if the metal is very hot, it explodes and flies asunder. -The speed of the rebound may be gauged by the fact that the stamper can -actually see the flow of metal in the dies from the blow after the -hammer has left it. The metal, as the result of this, will frequently -overflow the edge of the bottom die, and when the hammer descends again -the top die will have to shear away a quarter, or half an inch. - -It is instructive to note the effect of the blows on the hot metal. -Continual beating it will quickly raise the temperature of the iron or -steel; I have many times raised the heat of a piece in operation from a -dull yellow to a brilliant welding pitch during the delivery of three or -four blows. Hammers have recently been invented that, with continually -beating on cold metal, will make it sufficiently hot to allow of drawing -and shaping; but though such machinery is interesting, it is not of much -use for serious manufacture. Compressed air, directed on metal of a dull -yellow heat, will soon considerably increase its temperature; you may -easily burn a hole quite through a six-inch steel bloom by the method. - -The flying of sparks through the air will greatly intensify their heat; -after travelling a few yards they will become very dazzling and -brilliant and explode like fireworks. Sometimes a piece of this -superfluous metal, an ounce or more in weight, forced out from the die -with the blow, will shear off and fly to a great distance--often as much -as sixty or seventy yards. This, at the moment of leaving the die, may -be no more than a dull yellow, but by the time it falls to the ground it -will be intensely hot and will throw off a shower of hissing sparks. The -shearing-off of the bur is a source of great danger to the workmen. I -have several times been struck with pieces and been brought to the -ground in consequence; the effect is almost as though you had been -struck with a bullet from a gun. - -Nothing of this kind is ever possible with the hydraulic machines. If a -weld is to be made it must be performed with one stroke of the ram; -after the top die leaves the metal it will be too cool to receive any -benefit from a second application of the power. Welding by hand or steam -power is always preferable to that performed by hydraulic action; a -joint that is made with six or ten small quick blows will be far more -effective and durable than where the iron has been simply squeezed -together by one operation of the ram. As soon as the hydraulic dies meet -the metal is considerably chilled. Instead of intensifying the heat, as -in the case of the steam-hammer, the cold tools greatly lessen it. The -weld, when made, will most certainly be short and brittle. - -Some portion of the personnel of the shed has already been given, but of -the hundred and fifty comprising the permanent staff of the place -several are conspicuous among the rest for strangeness of habit, queer -characteristics, or strong personality. The men are a mixture of many -sorts and of several nationalities--English, Scotch, Welsh, and Irish. -There is the shaggy-browed, fierce-looking son of Erin; the canny Scot -from Motherwell over the border; the gruff and short-tempered old -furnaceman from Dowlais; the doughty forger from Middlesborough; the -cultured cockney with his superb nasal twang; the Lancastrian with his -picturesque brogue; a representative of distant Penzance; an ex-seaman, -nicknamed “The Jersey Lily,” from the Channel Islands, and those hailing -from nearly every county in the Midlands and south of England, from -“Brummagem Bill” to “Southampton Charlie.” There are ex-soldiers and -sailors with arms and breasts tattooed with birds, flowers, serpents, -fair women and other emblems, and who have seen service in the East and -West Indies, China, Egypt, or the Transvaal; those who constantly pride -themselves on having once been in gentlemen’s service--though they do -not tell you how they came to leave it! butchers and bakers, -professional football players, conjurers, bandsmen, and cheap-jacks. - -“Baltimore” works the middle drop-stamp, about halfway up the shed, and, -in the line of smaller steam-hammers opposite to him, toils a mulatto -known to everyone about the place as “Black Sam,” or “Sambo.” They are -old hands, having both come to the premises as boys, where they have -since been, except for the time when “Balty” was absent for the annual -training in the local Militia. It is not explained how he came to -receive the nickname. Black Sam is so called from his very dark -complexion, his short, black, curly hair and large, dark eyes. Baltimore -is rather ordinary in appearance. His forehead is low, his cheek-bones -high and his nose irregular. His lips are thick, he has a pointed chin -and lantern jaws. He is of medium height, square and broad shouldered. -As he walks his shoulders sway to and fro and up and down, keeping time -with his footsteps; he is exceedingly unmilitary both in physique and -movement. - -It was by reason of these characteristics that Baltimore obtained the -attention of his shopmates. They all laughed rudely to see him in the -old-time Militia uniform--scarlet tunic much too big, with regulation -white belt, baggy trousers too long in the legs, heavy bluchers on the -feet and, instead of the swagger headgear worn in the Service to-day, -the old Scotch cap with long streamers behind and a little swishing cane -in the hand or under the arm. It is carefully handed down and passed -from one to the other that when Balty was at home on furlough all the -small boys of the street would gather round him, sniggering and jeering, -and making fun of his cut and appearance, and it is said furthermore -that he used very unceremoniously to drive them away with his cane -crying--“Get out, you young varmints! ’Aven’t you never seen a sojer -before?” In the shed and at the furnace he continued to attract -attention and be the subject of jocular remarks made by his workmates. -They never would take him seriously, not even though he came in time to -work one of the biggest drop-stamps and be reckoned among the honourable -company of forgers. - -To all the superfluous attentions and mock regard of his fellow-mates -Baltimore preserves a good-natured and even an indulgent attitude; he is -not at all disconcerted with their wit and sarcasm. Though not one of -the most skilful of workmen, he is very shrewd and painstaking; his -whole heart and soul are in the business. From morning till night he is -toiling and sweating over his blooms and forgings, and when he is off -the premises he is still concerned with his occupations at the hammer. -He will sometimes tell one of his mates how he lay awake the greater -part of a night working out in his mind some problem connected with a -difficult piece of forging and then came in the next morning and -triumphantly finished the job. - -Sambo’s father was an army veteran, a sergeant, who took for his wife an -Indian woman and became the parent of a family, of whom Samuel is the -eldest. He is of medium height, thin, but very erect, with low shoulders -and long neck. The forehead is sloping, the nose rather thick. He has -large dark eyes with tremendous whites, short woolly hair, high -cheekbones, skin very dark and sallow. The whole countenance is long and -the head angular; he has the clear characteristics of the half-cast. The -general opinion is that Sambo is out of place in the shed. He ought -rather to have been trained for a life on the stage; without doubt he -would have made a good pantomimist. Both his appearance and manner are -comical; he causes everyone to smile by reason of his ludicrous -expressions and grotesque facial contortions. - -Sambo is quite aware of his own funniosity and readily lends himself to -the amusement of the small fry that sometimes come to gaze upon him. -Snatching up a shovel, he claps it to his shoulder as though it were the -traditional nigger’s instrument and, rolling his eyes and turning up the -whites of them, pretends to be fingering the banjo while he sings a few -lines of the “Swanee River” or other coon song. Sambo has always been -the butt of the rougher section in the shed and has been forced to -suffer many indignities. It was a common thing for the bullies of the -place to throw him on the ground and disgrace him. This they continued -to do long after he had married and become the father of children. - -Working just beyond Sambo, at the next furnace, is the very shadow of a -man--a mere frame, a skeleton, which a good puff of wind might very -likely throw down. He is stripped to the waist and hatless. His hair is -long and it stands upright. His flannel shirt is thrown open; his -trousers merely hang on him, and he is as black as a sweep with the -smoke and grime of the furnace. This is “Strawberry,” sometimes also -known as “Gooseberry.” His features are remarkably small and fine, and -his neck is no bigger round than a span. He does not appear strong -enough to do any work, but, for all that, he is very tough and wiry. -Many a one laughs at him and tells him that he is melting away “like a -tallow candle,” but he answers them all boldly and tells them, with a -merry twinkle in his tiny dark eyes, that he is all right. “You look -after yourself, mate, and don’t fret about me,” says he. - -Strawberry was at one time a cobbler, and used to get his living by the -patching up and renovation of old soles. Long after he entered the shed -he kept up the employment in his spare time, but by and by he -discontinued the work and betook himself to the more genteel though less -lucrative pursuits of flute-playing and photography. For a time he -donned uniform and played in the local band, and then, after a while, -that had to be discontinued. Now all his thought and care is to take -photographs and make models of steam-engines, magic lanterns and -cinematographic instruments. Mounted on a cycle, and provided with a -camera, he scours the country round at week-ends for customers and comes -home and does the developing and printing on Sundays. He is thoroughly -versed in time exposures and the various mysteries of photographic -development. Wherever he goes he carries a book of instructions in his -pocket, and if you stop to speak with him for a moment he is sure to -tell you of some new lens or snap-shot arrangement he has lately made, -or wearies you nearly to death with an attempted explanation of the -compounds in his home-made developers--“Hypo-tassum” something or other, -and the rest of it. - -Another of Strawberry’s hobbies is the blind poring over fusty books, -several hundreds of years old, bought at auctions and usually fit for -nothing but the fire or dust-heap. These he treasures with great care, -and he is frequently trying to expound the contents of them to his -workmates, and to any others who will suffer to listen to him for a few -moments. His latest passion is to seek out old caves, ruins and -legendary sites; he is musician, artist, engineer, archæologist and -antiquarian combined. What he will become ultimately no one knows. I -much fear, however, that he will suffer the furnaceman’s fate in the end -and perish of the smoke and heat of the fires. - -Strawberry succeeded Gustavus, who died under very sad circumstances. -Poor Gus was most unfortunate, though such cases as his are not of -uncommon occurrence. He had been through the war in South Africa, and -had fought there for his country. He had not been long on the furnace. -His health was not good at the best of times. If regard for a man’s -health were had at the time of putting him on a job Gus would never have -gone to the fires, but there is a ruthless, and very often a sinister, -disregard of a man’s physical condition when he is wanted to fill a -difficult post. About a year before Gus’s wife contracted milk fever, -after confinement. This affected her reason and she had to be removed; -her case was pronounced hopeless--absolutely hopeless. This came as a -great shock to Gus; there were five little children, all babies, one of -them new-born. He had no friends to come and take care of them and he -was poor--very poor. Accordingly, with a little assistance from the -neighbour, he determined to look after them himself. The oldest boy -prepared the meals by day; Gus saw to the general needs at night and did -the washing Sundays. Very soon one of the mites fell ill and had to go -to the workhouse hospital. All the others but one suffered sickness, and -Gus very soon followed suit. Worn out with the day’s work at the furnace -and obliged to toil and watch half the night over his infants, he soon -fell a prey to ill-health, and was compelled to stop at home from work. - -Then the little stinging insects of the shed began to cavil and sneer. -“He’s oni shammin’. Ther’s nothin’ the matter wi’ he. He’s as well as I -be. He oni wants to shirk the furnace. Kip un to’t when a comes in.” By -and by Gus started work again, but not till the overseer had played a -treacherous trick upon him and tried to have him rejected at the medical -examination through an innocent and incautious remark he had chanced to -let fall concerning himself. The fact of the matter was, Gus was a -broken, ruined man. His general health was gone. His sight was failing; -his constitution was wrecked. For several weeks he dragged himself to -work, in a last desperate effort to keep a home for his babes and supply -them with food, though anyone might have seen that he was in positive -torture all the while. At last he could bear up no longer. He came to -work the fore part of the week, then stopped at home; in three days he -was dead. His little boys and girls went to the workhouse, or to -charities. One has to die before his mates in the shed think there is -anything the matter with him. Then, in nine cases out of ten--especially -if he happens to be one of the poorest and most unfortunate--he is -mercilessly sneered over. Probably that was his own fault. They even -blame him for dying; in three days he is almost totally forgotten. Cruel -hearts and feelings are bred in the atmosphere of the factory. - -There is one “Fire King” and only one; all the others are mere -apprentices--nobodies. He comes from “The Noth,” from Middlesborough, of -great iron fame. Without doubt he is a marvel. He is always talking -about the “haats” they used to draw “way up there.” It was prodigious. -There is nothing like it down south. “Wales! I tell you Wales is a -dung-hill; they can’t do it for nuts.” He looks at you with -inexpressible scorn. Then he plunges the bar into the furnace hole and -stirs up the coals, “stops up” again, peers through the iron door and -comes back mopping his face with the wiper. “I tell you tha be a lot o’ -cow-bangers about here. Tha never sin a furnace nor a haat afore. When I -was at Sunderland”--here he gives an especially knowing wink, and -scratches one side of his nose with his forefinger, drawing his head -near to your ear and speaking in an undertone--“when I was at -Sunderland, though I says it myself, there wasn’t a man on the ground -as could hold a candle to Phil Clegg. The manager allus used to stop and -talk to me about the haats, and slip a crown piece into mi hand for a -drink. ‘Clegg,’ says he, ‘I’ve learned from you what I never knew -before.’” All this is accepted with reserve in the shed. It may or may -not have been true; one is not compelled to believe all the -extraordinary reports circulated by the forgers and furnacemen. - -Some years ago the doughty one was set to do some initial forging in -steel blooms and spoiled three parts of the material by overheating. -“Bad steel! damn bad steel! ’Twunt stand a bit o’ haat,” said he. The -matter was accordingly reported to the managers, and word was sent to -the firm that had manufactured the blooms--“Bad steel! Bad steel!” -passed all along the line. Then the manufacturers’ representative came -to inspect the process and to report upon the quality of the metal. The -Fire King scraped his leg and scratched his nose and talked much of -“kimicals,” winking at his mates and getting his metal to a fizzing -heat. “Too hot, too hot,” said the representative. “Aye! man, but we -must get it so hot or the hammer wunt bate it down,” the Fire King -replied. “Get a heavier hammer,” said the inspector, touching the spot -immediately, and walking off in disgust. The steel was all right, it was -merely overheated. Thereafter the Fire King’s prestige visibly -diminished. He became the scorn of the furnaces; he was humbled and -disgraced for ever. He was subsequently put in charge of the damping-up -of the furnaces, and he styled himself foreman of the night shift there, -which was one, besides himself. - -After all, “Tubby” is the best furnaceman. He hails from Wales, “the -true old country, where the men comes from,” according to him. Tubby is -short, fat and round, about the size of a thirty-six barrel, and he is -extremely short-legged. His head is quite bald and shines well. His -features are regular and well-formed. He has an aristocratic nose, thick -neck, and shoulders shapeless with fat. At the fire he strips off his -outer shirt and only retains his flannel vest. The sleeves of this are -cut short to the shoulders and it is fastened at the neck by means of -strings threaded with a bodkin. He drinks an enormous quantity of cold -water, and it is singular that he never uses a cup but swallows it from -the large two-gallon pot. To this habit he attributes his uncommonly -good health and fine proportions. - -He is a genius at the fire. Whether the furnace be in a good or bad -condition he will soon have it as radiant as a star, and he is -marvellously cool at it. His speech has a strongly Welsh accent and he -talks with great rapidity, especially when he happens to become excited. -At such times it is difficult to understand him; he pours out his words -and sentences like a cataract. - -Notwithstanding the old furnaceman’s skill and general inoffensiveness, -he could not escape a little practical joking at the hands of the -youths. In the shed was an iron bogie, in the shape of a box, just big -enough to contain his Falstaffian body. When he was on night duty he -always seized upon this as a sleeping bunk for meal hours. Resting it -upon the handles forward he sat in it, with his head at the back and his -feet hanging over the front, and slept profoundly, with his arms folded -and a coat drawn over his face. When he had fallen asleep several -hard-hearted youths came up quietly and attached a strong rope to each -handle of the bogie. They then raced off with it as fast as they could -travel, going out of the shed and returning by a roundabout route to the -furnace over bricks and stones, steel rails, and anything else that -happened to be in the way. The jolting was terrific, but the bogie was -drawn at such a rate that poor Tubby dared not attempt to get out and -was forced to endure it as best he could. Arrived back at the furnace -the youths speedily decamped and Tubby never knew for certain who had -perpetrated the joke upon him in the darkness. - -_Dominus vobiscum. Et cum spiritu tuo. Domine sanctorum._ The old -ash-wheeler leans on his shovel and thus addresses you with profound -gravity, as though he were the reverend Father himself ministering to -his flock in the church. Boland is an Irishman and hails from far -Tipperary. He brought his old mother over to England many years ago and -has since dwelt in the railway town. He is a typical Hibernian. He is -square-set and distinctive in feature, with heavy brows, thickish nose, -strong eyes, and firm, expressive mouth. Notwithstanding the fact that -he is slighted by the critical of the shed he has a good many virtues; -underneath his rough exterior is concealed a wealth of kindness and -good-nature. In common with the bulk of his race he is a Catholic in -religion. If you should approach him on the subject you would be -surprised at his interest in and affection for his Church and doctrine: -he is immovable in his simple and childlike faith. In speaking of any -matters connected with it his voice will be solemn and hushed; he is -filled with reverence and awe. Though not a very constant church-goer he -yet manages to attend at festival times and pays considerable attention -to the sermon. He will always tell you the text, and in summing up the -Father’s oratorical abilities he tells you, as a climax, that he can “go -back in history two hundred years.” - -The last and most important of all to be dealt with is Pinnell, of the -Yankee Plant. He is by far the hardest working man in the stamping shed. -In the first place he cannot help being a hard worker, for it is his -nature so to be. Rest and he are most inveterate enemies. He _must_ -find something or other to do; he could not be idle though he tried -never so hard. In the second place he is bound to work hard. The job -requires it, or, at any rate, the “super” requires it, which is a -slightly different matter. Pinnell used to work one of the small -drop-stamps and was always remarkable for his conscientiousness and -dogged perseverance. He was the first to start work and the last to -finish. He would never take a moment’s spell. If there had been no work -he would promptly have made some, and have kept plodding away at his -forge and stamp. Accordingly, when the miraculous tools from the other -side of the Atlantic--which, in the opinion of the Yankee innovator, -were going to smash up the other section altogether and displace half -the men in the shed--were introduced, Pinnell was the man selected to -start the process and lead the way for others. He had to demonstrate -what the machines were capable of doing, and upon his output would be -based the standard of prices for those to follow after or work beside -him. - -The introduction of the Yankee hammers and the oil furnaces for heating -was the beginning of hustle in the shed. Everything was designed for the -man to start as early as possible, to keep on mechanically to and from -the furnace and hammer with not the slightest pause, except for meals, -and to run till the very last moment. His prices were fixed accordingly. -Every operation was correctly timed. The manager and overseer stood -together, watches in hand. It was so and so a minute; that would amount -to so much in an hour, and so much total for the day. If Pinnell flagged -a little--it is dreadful to have to keep hammering away for hours in an -exhausted condition, with never a moment’s pause--if he flagged a -little, or checked the oil somewhat in the forge, the overseer promptly -set it going again and pricked him on to greater effort, answering his -words--if he ever dared utter any--with a wheedling and plausible -excuse, and telling him it was not at all hard; “Just a busy little -job,” and so forth. If nature required that he should leave the forge -and walk across the shed, that was the subject of a note--“One minute -and three-quarters gone.” Did he think he could beat the records of all -the other men at the stamps? The manager hoped he would try hard to do -so, he wanted the machine to be quite first in output. The prices were -weighed, chiselled, and pared with great exactness, even to the -splitting of a farthing: “A halfpenny is too much for this job; I shall -give you three-eighths.” Moreover, the overseers only timed him in the -morning, after breakfast, which is the most active part of every day, -and when all are fresh and fit for work, or never, so that the prices -were fixed at a time when everything was going at its best. It is -impossible to maintain the same speed in the afternoon, or even during -the latter part of the morning towards dinner-time, that one is capable -of after breakfast. - -So Pinnell was little by little broken in to the new conditions. -Whatever protests he made were of no avail. If the acute manager -happened to make a slight misjudgment and give him a fair price for a -job, one or other of the shed overseers--though always very flip with -him to his face--rushed off privately and informed about it, and had it -cut down to the dead level. Very often the overseers competed with each -other to see which could make the lowest quotation in order to get into -favour with the managers. Once, after playing an underhanded game in the -fixing of prices, the foreman even induced Pinnell to leave his hammer -and forge and go and protest to the manager himself, though he knew -very well the matter was nothing but a farce. When the deluded one -arrived at the office he was received with studied courtesy. A little -arithmetic was entered into, and it was proved beyond all doubt that the -job was well, and even generously, paid for. Accordingly, feeling rather -foolish at his boldness in going to the manager and his failure to -succeed in the matter, Pinnell returned to his work, while the overseer -stood in hiding and watched him back to his hammer, laughing at his -simplicity. - -When at last he found that there was no escape for him, he settled down -in despair, and decided to bury himself at the toil. So exacting is the -labour it admits of no interest whatever in anything else. It is a body- -and soul-racking business, just that which keeps the whole man in a -crushed and subdued state, and makes him a very part of the machinery he -operates. It was nothing but the man’s natural zeal for work and grit -that kept him at the task. Night after night he went home to his wife -and children as tired as a dog, too tired even to read the newspaper, or -write a letter. He simply sat in the chair or lay on the couch till -bed-time, completely worn out with the terrible exertions. - -Very soon the abject misery of his condition found expression in words -to his workmates. He was continually wishing himself dead. He said he -should like to die out of it. Life was nothing but a heavy burden, and -there was nothing better in sight in the future; only the same killing -toil day after day. He often wondered _when_ he should die. He had heart -enough for anything, but somehow he felt he could never keep it up, and -everyone told him he was “going home sharp.” At the same time, nothing -would prevent him from turning up at the hammer day after day; ill or -well he was sure to be at his post. Sometimes, when his wife exhorted -him to stay at home and recuperate and locked the doors against him, in -the early morning he escaped to work through the window. There was no -detaining him at all; he felt bound to come to the shed and endure the -daily punishment. To intensify his sufferings everyone told him it was -his own fault. He had no one to blame but himself; he should not have -been such a fool as to lend himself so easily to it, they said. - -So, eternally tired with the work--he has two forges to attend to, he -heats all his own bars, drives his own hammer with the foot and operates -the heavy trimmer by the side of it in the same manner--half-choked and -blinded with the reeking smoke and fumes of the oil, sore-footed with -using the treadle, his arms blistered and burnt with the scale and hot -water from the glands and valves--they are very often in bandages--his -hands cut and torn with the sharp ends of the bars, or burned with the -hot ones that sometimes shoot out from the die and slip white-hot -through his palm and fingers, beaten and distressed with the heat, the -gazing-stock of everyone that passes through the shed and who look upon -him as a freak and a marvel, he keeps plodding away, a much be-fooled -and over-worked individual, the utter victim of a cruel and callous -system. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - - FIRST QUARTER IN THE FORGE - - -“Hey-up!” - -“What’s up?” - -“Wake up!” - -“What’s the matter?” - -“Get up!” - -“Go to hell!” - -“You-u-u! Tell me to go to hell, will you? I’ll smash you. -I’ll--I’ll----” - -“Come on, then! Try it on! I’m not afraid of you! You’re nobody!” - -“Well, wake up! and jump about when I tell you.” - -“Wake up yourself, whitegut!” - -“Who are you calling whitegut, eh? Who are you calling whitegut?” - -“Who shot the sheep and had to pay for it?” - -“Blast you! I’ve had enough of your jaw. I’ll put your head in that -bucket of oil.” - -“_Will_ ya? You got to spell able first.” - -Scuffle, in which the younger is thrown down to the ground, after which -he gets up and runs away, crying: - -“Baa-a-a!” - -“I’ll give you ‘Baa-a-a!’ Wait till I get hold of you!” - -“Baa-a-a! Baa-a-a!” - -“Take that! you-u-u!” throwing a lump of coal that misses him and goes -flying through the office window. - -“Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! - - ‘Everybody’s doing it, doing it, doing it; - Everybody’s doing it now.’” - -“Yes, and you’ll be doing it directly! ’Tis all your fault. If you was -to look after your work instead of acting about so much that wouldn’t -have happened. Blasted well light that fire up!” - -“Here’s the gaffer comin’.” - -“A good job too! I don’t trouble.” - -“What the hell’s up this end? Ya on a’ready this mornin’? I’ll send the -pair of you home directly.” - -“’Tis my mate here. He’s the cause of everything. He’s no good to me. He -won’t do nothing.” - -“D’ye hear this?” - -“I allus does mi whack.” - -“Don’t talk to me. Hello! What’s this ’ere? Who bin smashin’ the window? -Ther’ll be hell to pop over this. If I reports ya you’ll be done for, -both on ya.” - -“Please, sir, I kicked a piece of coke and it went through the pane.” - -“Hey?” - -“The hammer fled off the shaft and went through the window.” - -“Why the devil don’t you look after the shaft then, and keep the wedges -tight. You’ll knock somebody’s head off presently. I daresay you was at -that blasted football again. The first I ketches at it I’ll sack. Have -un clean off the ground. I’ll give un football!” - -“Light that fire up, Laudy!” - -“Got a job on over ’ere, gaffer.” - -“Wha’s the trouble?” - -“Top cylinder busted, ram cracked, and the crown of the furnace fell -in.” - -“How did that happen?” - -“Night chaps, I s’pose. ’Twas done when we got here this mornin’.” - -“You’re out for the rest o’ the wik then. Set yer mind at rest on that. -Damn it! Everything happens on nights. This blasted night work’s a -nuisance. Go and tell Deep Sea and fetch the brickies, and get they on -to’t. Wher’s yer mates?” - -“Waitin’ instructions.” - -“They can go home, and stop ther’ if tha likes. Got nothin’ for ’em to -do. Go and tell ’em.” - -“Sign this order, sir.” - -“Come on then, quick! No time to mess about with you. Hello! Bailey’s -Best! Wha’s this for?” - -“Leg irons.” - -“You don’t want best for them. Cable’s good enough for they. What ya -thinkin’ about?” - -“Have a look at this ’ere die, guvnor?” - -“Wha’s up wi’ he?” - -“Wants dressin’ out, or else re-cuttin’.” - -“Spit in him, and get yer iron hot!” - -“Wanted on the telephone, quick! Number fifteen shop.” - -“Got no coke out at the hip, gaffer!” - -“The water tank’s half empty.” - -“The glass on the boiler’s smashed.” - -“Please, sir, the chargeman’s out, and he got the key of the box.” - -“And my mate bin an’ squished the top of his finger half off.” - -“Damn good job, too! How many more on ya?” - -“Are you coming to answer number fifteen?” - -“Oh, be God!” - -“Another day doin’ nothin’. You can never start till the middle o’ the -wik.” - -“Steady on with that oil, Laudy! Steady on, I tell you! He’ll go off -directly.” - -“_BANG!_” - -“There! What did I tell you!” - -“Oh, Christ! My eyes got it.” - -“Serves you damn well right! I told you on it. You got the front half -out now. Get some oily waste.” - -“There’s plenty here.” - -“You haven’t got the back stopped up yet. Get some wet sand and stop -that hole up. Now then! Be quick with you!” - -“Steady on a bit, then! I don’t want to get burned to death.” - -“Serve you right if you was to!” - -“Steady on, I say! Damn well do it yourself then! I’m not going to get -myself burned.” - -“I shut him off. Make haste with you. Ya ready?” - -“Right.” - -_Foo-oo-oo-oo-oo._ - -“What a blasted smoke! Shut some of that oil off.” - -“Let it alone! That won’t hurt. We wants to get on.” - -“It gets down my inside. I shall spew in a minute.” - -“That’ll do you good.” - -“Shut some of it off.” - -“Let it alone, I tell you!” - -“I’m not going to be pizened.” - -“’Tis no worse for you than ’tis for me.” - -“I can’t see two yards.” - -“Hello! Hello! What the hell’s on there?” - -“’Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!” - -“Steady on with that oil, mate! We gets all the smoke here.” - -“I can’t help it.” - -“Yes you can help it, too! Shut some of that oil off.” - -“That won’t make no difference.” - -“Wind off, mate! and hammer down. This is a bit too thick. Hey! Gaffer! -Are we expected to work in this?” - -“That’ll kill the worms in yer guts.” - -“I can’t stand this. My head aches splittin’. I’m half-smothered.” - -“We don’t care a damn about the smoke, mate, as long as we can get the -iron hot. ’Tis no worse for you than ’tis for the rest. If you don’t -like it you can stop out. There’s plenty more to take yer place.” - -“That’s all you get for your trouble! Wants the inspector in here. It’s -worse than bein’ up the chimmuck. Go on, mate! Hammer up, Jim.” - -“He’ll be all right directly, old man. He ain’t got hot yet.” - -“Hot, be hanged! He ought to be dropped in the middle of the sea, and -you along with him! The pair of you ought to be down with the -_Titanic_.” - -“Don’t talk wet!” - -“Come on, Laudy! and put some pieces in the fire.” - -“I ain’t filled the lubricators yet.” - -“Ain’t filled the lubricators! What ya bin at this half-hour?” - -“God! Give us a chance.” - -“’Twill be breakfast-time before we makes a start.” - -“I wish ’tood be! I wants mine.” - -“What the hell a’ ya talkin’ about?” - -“Baa-a-a!” - -“Now then! You knows what I told you! Get and put some pieces in the -fire.” - -“Can’t find my tongs now.” - -“Where did you leave ’em last night?” - -“Chucked ’em down.” - -“What’s this here?” - -“That en’ them.” - -“Damn well go and look for ’em then. You’ll lose your head directly.” - -“Strike a light, mate! That key’s in there tight.” - -“Look out! Hold that bar up.” - -“I wants the tongs first.” - -“I shan’t hit you.” - -“I don’ know so much.” - -“Come on! A couple o’ blows’ll do the trick.” - -“Not in these trousers!” - -“Old Ernie’s thinkin’ about the Tango.” - -“The tangle, more likely.” - -“Don’t you worry, mate!” - -“Ya got him?” - -“Right!” - -_Slap, slap, slap._ - -“Whoa! Wait a minute. That hammer’s comin’ off.” - -“Hold him up.” - -“Is he shifted?” - -“He’s gone a bit, I think.” - -“Hold your hand the other side, and feel him.” - -“Now go on. Steady, mate!” - -_Slap, slap._ - -“Ho! Hooray!” - -“What did I tell you?” - -“Everybody’s doin’ it, doin’ it, doin’ it.” - -“Our mate’s strong this mornin’. He bin eatin’ onions.” - -“Give us a bit of that packing. That thin piece! Now get the pinch bar, -and prise the monkey up.” - -“How’s that?” - -“A bit higher. Right! That’ll do.” - -“Key in?” - -“Ah! Slap him in.” - -“Give us the sledge.” - -“Get that big un.” - -“Shaft’s broke in two.” - -“Get the furnace one, then.” - -“How about packing?” - -“Same as before.” - -“Look out, then!” - -“Blow up, mate?” - -“Right away with you.” - -“How tight do you want him?” - -“As tight as you can get him. Slip him in. That’ll do now.” - -“Hey-yup! Hammer up. He’s burned a bit, mate.” - -“Be hanged! You only got half a piece.” - -“Can’t help it. That was stoppin’ to get the key out.” - -“Go on. Hit him!” - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -“Whoa! That’ll do.” - -“What’s the dies like, chum?” - -“All right now.” - -“Blow up?” - -“Ah! Let’s have you.” - -“Tool up, mate!” - -“The chain’s twisted.” - -“Can’t you see it’s upside down! D’you want to smash the bounder? Now go -on.” - -_Bang._ - -“Light again.” - -_Bang._ - -“That’ll do. Oil up.” - -[2]“Pi, Pi, Balli! Let’s have you! whack ’em along there!” - - [2] παῖ, παῖ, βάλλε = Boy! boy! whack ’em along. - -“Hullo!” - -_Whizz._ - -“As quick as you like, mate! We’ve got to move to-day. Hit him, there!” - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -“Whoa! Tool up, quick! Light, now!” - -_Bang._ - -“One more. Light!” - -_Bang._ - -“That got him.” - -“Pi, Pi, Balli! All hot! All hot! Let’s have you!” - -_Whizz._ - -“Hooray!” - -“Not much afore breakfast, but look out aater!” - -“Wormy’s makin’ some scrap on the next fire. Look at ’im!” - -“Rat, O! Rat, O! Get that rat out o’ the fire, old man.” - -“Don’t burn ’em! Don’t burn ’em!” - -“Another snider, O!” - -“The blasted jumper won’t work.” - -“Oil they tongs a bit.” - -“Pizen that rat in the fire.” - -“Go to the boneyard and dig Smamer up, and fetch he back.” - -“What the hell are ya talking about? Don’t you never spile one?” - -“Hair off! Hair off!” - -“Don’t get your bracers twisted.” - -“Tell him off, kid.” - -“I’ll put my hand in your mouth directly.” - -“You’re the finest worm I’ve ever seen.” - -“Come on here, and not so much of your old buck!” - -“Get out of the road, and let Pep have a try.” - -“Damn well get away from here! Who the hell can hot iron with you about? -Your face is enough to spoil anything.” - -“Get ’em hot! Get ’em hot!” - -“Get hold of that lever, you reptile!” - -“I’ve seen better things than you crawling on cabbages.” - -“How’s that? Will that do for you?” - -_Whizz. Slap._ - -“Get that muck out o’ your fire.” - -“Hit him hard! Right up.” - -_Bang, bang, bang. Knock._ - -“Keep off the top!” - -“You said right up.” - -“Shut some of that steam off.” - -“Steam’s all right.” - -“Shut it off, I tell you!” - -“Shut it off yourself! Mind the tongs, or you’ll get it.” - -_Bang, bang, bang, bang._ - -“Don’t answer me back or I’ll flatten you out.” - -“Nothing’s never right for you. You ought to be in a bigger town.” - -“Tool up, there!” - -“Rope’s off the wheel, mate!” - -“Shut the blasted wind off.” - -“He’s cut all to pieces.” - -“Tha’s knockin’ the top. I told you of it. I shall ast the gaffer for -another mate. This’ll take us till dinner-time. Go and get the spanners, -and ast Sid for a new rope, and look sharp about it!” - -“Now, Laudy! Wake up with you! We shan’t earn damn salt.” - -“I don’t trouble. I can’t help it.” - -“Well! Come on, then.” - -“Tongs won’t hold ’em.” - -“Get another pair.” - -“Which uns?” - -“There’s plenty more about.” - -“I’m sick o’ this job.” - -“You don’t like work.” - -“’Cause you’re so fond of it!” - -“Don’t waste them ends off. They won’t fill up as it is.” - -“I reckon the fella as started work ought to come back and finish it.” - -_Crack._ - -_Boom._ - -_Bump._ - -“Don’t burn the damn things! Look at that! All over me.” - -“My clothes is afire.” - -“What’s yer little game there, eh? Med as well kill a fella as frighten -him to death.” - -“Oo! My grub got it!” - -“Get these others out first.” - -“What O! I’m not goin’ to see _my_ grub burn. What do _you_ think?” - -“All the damn lot’ll be spoiled.” - -“I don’t care a cuss! I got some tiger in there.” - -“Steady that oil a bit.” - -“God! Doan it stink!” - -“Shut some of it off, I tell you. It’s running all over the place.” - -“Half on it’s water.” - -“That second one there, and keep to the top row.” - -“Hey-up!” - -_Crack._ - -“Why don’t you be careful?” - -_Snap. Bump._ - -“Back tool’s jammed now.” - -“The safety bolt’s broke.” - -“Shut the belt off.” - -“Look out, then!” - -“Stop the oil, and pull them others out.” - -“Let ’em alone! We shan’t be a minute.” - -“Well! Jump about then.” - -“Here’s Calliper King comin’!” - -“Tell him to clear off. We can do very well without him. That fellow -makes me mad.” - -“If you was to put the spanner on the nuts sometimes you wouldn’t get -half the trouble.” - -“All right, mate! There’s no damage done. We can’t think of everything.” - -“Your bearings are hot.” - -“They’ll get cold directly.” - -“You might get them seized.” - -“Damn good job! Shove some oil into ’em, kid!” - -“Who are you calling kid?” - -“Look out, there!” - -“I shall report you, mind!” - -“You can please yourself. ’Twon’t be the first time. If you’ll only keep -out o’ the road we shall be all right. Blow up, Laudy!” - -_Foo-oo-oo-oo-oo._ - -“Pull the belt over.” - -“Right?” - -“I’m ready.” - -“Take him, then.” - -_Crack._ - -_Click, clack. Bump._ - -“How’s that?” - -“That got him. Now we shan’t be long!” - -“Yip ho! All new uns!” - -“I got that pistol in my pocket.” - -“Is he any good?” - -“Kill at hundred and twenty.” - -“What? Inches?” - -“Inches be damned! Yards, man!” - -“You never killed anything with him.” - -“Ain’t he, though? I know he have.” - -“What have you killed? A dead cat?” - -“Dead cat! You’re afraid to let me try him on you.” - -“You couldn’t hit a barn door.” - -“I tell you what I done.” - -“What’s that? Oh! I know. Who shot the sheep? Baa-a-a!” - -“Shut your blasted head!” - -“Pride o’ the Prairie! Got any cartridges?” - -“Half a boxful.” - -“Slugs or bullets?” - -“Slugs.” - -“Let’s have a look!” - -“Get this work done first. ’Twill be breakfast-time directly.” - -“Hey-up! He’s slightly wasted.” - -“I should blasted well think so.” - -_Crack._ - -_Boom._ - -“Hello! There’s another snider!” - -_Bang._ - -“Keep him there! We don’t want your scrap.” - -“Pi, Pi, Balli! Tha’s a good heat, mate!” - -“We haven’t done anything yet.” - -“What! Tell somebody else that yarn! Hear that, Jim?” - -“Wha’s up?” - -“Chargeman says we ain’t done nothin’ yet.” - -“More we ain’t, have us?” - -“Have us not! Tha’s only a rumour.” - -“I didn’t think we had.” - -“You bin asleep an’ only just woke up. All good uns, too.” - -“We shall want ’em, bi what I can see on it.” - -“What d’ya mean?” - -“Look at the next hammer! They won’t start to-day.” - -“How’s that, mate?” - -_Whizz._ - -“Mind my toe.” - -“Good shot, that!” - -“Cool your tongs out.” - -“Have a drink.” - -“Put it on the anvil.” - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -“Whoa! Tool.” - -“Ain’t he slippy!” - -“Light blow.” - -_Bang._ - -“That takes a bit of doing, one hand!” - -“Come on, Lightning!” - -“Unknown swank!” - -“All hot! All hot!” - -“You’ll get the price cut directly.” - -“Come and see the boys!” - -“I’m a-lookin’ at ya!” - -“Ain’t a burned one yet.” - -“Don’t make a song about it.” - -“You got a good mate on the hammer.” - -“Fifty without stoppin’ the wind. All new uns!” - -“See who you are!” - -“Stand back, and mind the mallet! There’s one for you, Wormy!” - -“Take a couple, mate?” - -“Come on with ’em.” - -_Slap, slap._ - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -“Fire’s gettin’ low. Wants some more coke up.” - -“Wher’ d’ye want thase few pieces, Willums!” - -“Tip ’em up anywhere, Mat!” - -“All you’ll get to-day.” - -“You’re talking wet. They won’t last five minutes.” - -“You’ll hef to see gaffer, then. We got to change knives.” - -“Get out of the road, or you’ll get your whiskers singed.” - -“Dossent thee fret thy kidneys. This is too damn hot for me. You got no -room to mauve.” - -“Somebody got to do a bit.” - -“Thee dossent do’t all.” - -“You’d have to go home if I did.” - -“Top hammer’s stopped now. Middle un’s ready.” - -“What’s up a-top? Going to start, there? See that rope’s all right! Have -the sharp edges took off the wheel.” - -“We be done for.” - -“What’s the matter?” - -“Top block broke. Only had forty more to do.” - -“Ram up, and get your dies out. Give a hand there, mates.” - -“’Tis all bad luck this mornin’, ain’ it?” - -“’Tis the chaps as make the luck. What do you think? We get on all -right.” - -“Here’s the bummer in a tear.” - -“Why the hell don’t you be careful! You’ll break all the tackle in -creation. First one thing and then another. Ropes and wheels and dies. -You wants to go home for a month. That ’ood teach ’e a lesson. You don’t -trouble a damn for nothing.” - -“I asked the fitters to see to it, and they wouldn’t come.” - -“That block was never strong enough for the job.” - -“Go an’ fetch Moses. What ya goin’ to put in next?” - -“Pull-rod levers. Die seventy-two.” - -“Don’ want them. Put in hunderd an’ one.” - -“Chargeman says levers. Wanted urgent. Chaps bin up after ’em.” - -“Let ’em wait. I’m the foreman. You knows that.” - -“All right. Don’ make no difference to me.” - -“Did you send for me?” - -“I did. Get on wi’ new blocks for piston rods.” - -“Any alterations?” - -“Not as I knows on.” - -“We’ve had complaints about the others.” - -“I don’t care. Let ’em file ’em. The devils be never satisfied.” - -“Better have ’em a bit stiffer?” - -“They’m stiff enough. They wasn’t set level.” - -“They was as level as a billiard table, gaffer!” - -“I could a’ shoved my finger underneath ’em.” - -“I had ’em packed tight everywhere.” - -“Then you didn’t have yer iron hot. ’Tis no good to arg’ the point. Take -care wi’ the next lot, mind!” - -“Let him go to hell! He’d make anybody a damn liar. Key out. Hang on to -that spanner. Damp up, and shut the blower off. Fetch the iron trucks. -We shall want some help to get these out o’ the way.” - - “Billy, sing that song, - That good old song to me!” - -“Now, Jacko! Give us a hand here.” - -“I can’t. My leg’s bad.” - -“That won’t hurt your leg, will it? I wants your hand, not your leg. -’Tis all in the gang.” - -“I got one stuck on the jumper.” - -“All right. Blind you! We’ll do it ourselves. This _is_ a show! Come on, -mates! Keep the handles down, and mind he don’t tip.” - -“Give him a blow on that bar to get him off the jumper, can’t ya; and -don’t stick up there doin’ nothin’. You ain’t heard our mate’s new -nickname, have you, Wormy?” - -“No. What’s that?” - -“Flannel. Know why that is?” - -“No.” - -“Cos water allus makes him shrink. Look at him! The only curly-headed -boy in the family!” - -“You hump-backed, monkey-faced baa-boon! You broke loose from the Zoo, -you did. I won’t hit another stroke for nobody, now, damn if I do!” - -“Get out! I’ll spiflicate you!” - -“I’ll bash the tongs across your head.” - -“What ya goin’ to do? Take that! _Now_ what ya goin’ to do? I’ve had -enough of your jaw.” - -“Let the kid alone, can’t you!” - -“I’ll get my own back on him, before night, see if I don’t. I’ll drop -the hammer on his head.” - -“Fetch him out, Wormy!” - -“Hey-yup!” - -_Whizz-z-z._ - -“Keep that hammer still, will ya! Hit him if you dares! Now go on. -Steady!” - -_Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang._ - -“Whoa! whoa! steady! steady! Light when I tell ya!” - -_Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang._ - -“Blast you! What a’ you doin’? You smashed him all to pieces.” - -“I told you I’d do it.” - -“Workin’ your breakfast-time, there?” - -“Goin’ to keep on all day?” - -“Ain’t you goin’ to chuck up?” - -“How’s the balance?” - -“What! only just started?” - -“Whack ’em along!” - -“How many more?” - -“Work ’em out!” - -“What time is it?” - -“’Ere’s old Sid with the checks!” - -“What’s up, Flannigan?” - -“Only wants two minutes!” - -“Flatfoot’s gone by.” - -“You’re on late, mate!” - -“What’s going to happen?” - -“Got a book-ful?” - -“Tool up, there!” - -“Put him up yourself!” - -“Put that tool up, Wormy, and catch hold o’ that lever.” - -“Light blow!” - -_Bang._ - -“Whoa! That’ll do.” - -“What cheer, Sid!” - -“Stand back, here, and let’s get by.” - -“Wants a lot o’ room for a little un, don’t ya?” - -“Not so much as you. Not so much as you. My time’s precious, not like -yourn. We got summat to do, we have.” - -“Ah! Sit on your backside an’ count they checks out, that’s all.” - -“Goin’ to have your bit o’ brass when I offers it to you?” - -“Put him on the anvil.” - -“Shan’t! Take him in your hand. Lose him, and then blame me.” - -“My hand’s oiley!” - -“Don’ matter! Wipe him in your breeches, can’t you? Come on, kidney -bean-stick!” - -“Little fat maggot!” - -“Go on, bones!” - -“Pimple on a cabbage!” - -“Alpheus!” - -“Sideus!” - -“_Nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit!_” - -“σφραγιδονυχαργοκομήτης.” - -“Lend my father your wheelbarrow!” - -“Using your knife breakfast-time, kid?” - -“No! I got bread and scrape.” - -“Who got the frying-pan?” - -“You can have him for a fag.” - -“I got a bit o’ dead dog, I have.” - -“What d’ya call it? Looks like a bit of Irish.” - -“That never died a natural death!” - -“That drove many a man up a tree!” - -“Lend us that catalogue of firearms, Dick!” - -“He’s underneath the bucket.” - -“How much longer ya going to keep on?” - -“I wants to get my blocks right afore breakfast.” - -“Laudy! You left that rotten stinking oil on.” - -“No, I didn’t!” - -“Yes you did! Stop it off, and put that board in the hole!” - -“I tell you it’s shut off. That’s only the stink you can smell.” - -“It makes me feel rotten. I shan’t want any grub.” - -“Ain’t it damn hot! We shall be dead afore night.” - -“Hit him, Wormy!” - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -“Whoa!” - -“What’s the die like?” - -“Wants to go over a bit yet.” - -“Chuck it up!” - -“Lie down, can’t you!” - -“Mind your own business!” - -“Put him through the tool.” - -“Got the coke ready for after breakfast, Jim?” - -“Ah!” - -“I’m going to put you through your facings, by and by.” - -“I don’t trouble! I ben’ a-goin’ to work no harder for nobody.” - -“Look out for Ratty! He’s peepin’ about. He’s going to report the first -one as puts his coat on afore the hooter goes.” - -“He’s worse than old Wanky!” - -“’Tis all damn watchmen here!” - -“How’s the minutes?” - -“It’s quarter past.” - -“There’s the buzzer!” - -“There he goes!” - -“Tools down, mates!” - -“Whack ’em down!” - -“Hooter!” - -“Hoo-ter-r!” - -“Hoo-oo-ter-r-r!” - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - - THE NIGHT SHIFT--ARRIVAL IN THE SHED--“FOLLOWING THE - TOOL”--THE FORGEMAN’S HASTE AND BUSTLE--LIGHT AND - SHADE--SUPPER-TIME--CLATTER AND - CLANG--MIDNIGHT--WEARINESS--THE RELEASE--HOME TO REST - - -Whatever the trials of the day shift at the forge may be, those of the -night turn are sure to be far greater. For the daytime is the natural -period of both physical and mental activity. The strong workman, after a -good night’s rest and sleep, comes to the task fresh, keen, vigorous, -and courageous. Though the day before him be painfully long--almost -endless in his eyes--he feels fit to do battle with it, for he has a -reserve of energy. In the early morning, before breakfast, he is not at -his best. He has not yet “got into his stride,” he tells you. His full -strength does not come upon him suddenly, it develops gradually. He can -spend and spend and spend, but cannot exhaust. Nature’s great battery -continues to yield fresh power until the turn of the afternoon. Then the -rigid muscles relax, and the flesh shows loose and flabby. The eyes are -dull, the features drawn; the whole body is tired and languid. - -But this is with the day shift, working in the natural order of things. -A great change is to be observed in the case of the night turn. There -nature is inverted; the whole scheme is reversed. The workman, unless he -is well seasoned to it, cannot summon up any energy at all, and he -cannot conquer habit, not after months, or even years of the change. -When, by the rule of nature, he should be at his strongest and the -exigencies of the night shift require that he should sleep, that -strength, bubbling up, keeps him awake, dead tired though he be, and -when he requires to be active and vigorous just the reverse obtains. The -energy has subsided, the sap has gone down from the tree. Nature has -retired, and all the coaxing in the world will not induce her to come -forth until such time as the day dawns and she steals back upon him of -her own free will. That is what, most of all, distinguishes the night -from the day shift, and makes it so wearisome for the pale-faced -toilers. - -There is a poignancy in preparing for the night shift, the feeling is -really one of tragedy. This is where the unnaturalness begins. Everyone -but you is going home to rest, to revel in the sweet society of wife and -children, or parents, to enjoy the greatest pleasure of the workers’ -day--the evening meal, the happy fireside, a few short hours of simple -pleasure or recreation and, afterwards, the honey-dew of slumber. As you -walk along the lane or street towards the factory you meet the toilers -in single file, or two abreast, or marching like an army, in compact -squads and groups, or straggling here and there. The boys and youths -move smartly and quickly, laughing and talking; the men proceed more -soberly, some upright with firm step and cheerful countenance, others -bent and stooping, dragging their weary limbs along in silence like -tired warriors retreating after the hard-fought battle. - -There is also the inward sense and knowledge of evening, for, however -much you may deceive your external self, you cannot deceive Nature. -Forget yourself as much as you please, she always remembers the hour and -the minute; she is far more painstaking and punctual than we are. The -time of day fills you with a sweet sadness. The summer sun entering -into the broad, gold-flooded west, the soft, autumn twilight, or the -gathering shades of the winter evening, all tell the same story. It is -drawing towards night; night that was made for man, when very nature -reposes; night for pleasure and rest, for peace, joy, and compensations, -while you--here are you off to sweat and slave for twelve dreary hours -in a modern inferno, in the Cyclops’ den, with the everlasting wheels, -the smoke and steam, the flaring furnace and piles of blazing hot metal -all around you. - -Within the entrance the place seems almost deserted. The huge sheds have -poured out their swarms of workmen. The black-looking crowds have -disappeared, and the great, iron-bound doors are closed up and locked. -The watchmen, who have been patrolling the yard and supervising the -exodus of the toilers, are returning to their quarters. Only the rooks -are to be seen scavenging up the fragments of bread and waste victuals -which the men have thrown out of their pockets for them. - -Arrived at the shed you are greeted with the familiar and dreadful din -of the boilers priming, the loud roar of the blast and the whirl of the -wheels. The rush of hot air almost overpowers you. You feel nearly -suffocated already, and half stagger through the smoke and steam to -reach your fire and machine standing under the dark, sooty wall. As you -thread your way in and out between the furnaces and among the piles of -iron and steel you receive a severe dig in the ribs with the long handle -of the man’s shovel who is cleaning out the cinders and clinker from -beneath the furnaces, or the ash-wheeler, stripped to the waist and -dripping with perspiration, runs against you roughly with his -wheel-barrow and utters a loud “Hey-up!” or otherwise assails you with -“Hout o’ the road, else I’ll knock tha down,” and hurries off up the -stage to deposit his load and then comes down again to get in a stock of -coal from the waggon for the furnaces. Here the smith is preparing his -fire, while his mate breaks up the coke with the heavy mallet; the -yellow flames and cinders are leaping up from the open forge by the -steam saw. The oil furnaces are puffing away and spitting out their -densest clouds of pitchy smoke, filling the shed, while the stamper -fixes his dies and oils round, or half runs to the shears in the corner -and demands his stock of iron bars to be brought forthwith. The old -furnaceman, sweating from the operation of clinkering, shovels in the -coal and disposes it with the ravel. The forging hammers glide up and -down, clicking against the self-act, while the forger and his mates -manipulate the crane and ingot, or charge in the blooms or piles. -Everyone is in a desperate hurry, eager to start on with the work and -get ahead of Nature, before she flags too much. It is useless to wait -till midnight, or count upon efforts to be made in the hours of the -morning. - -All this is during your entry to the shed and often before the official -hour for starting work. On coming to your post you, too, strip off hat, -coat, and vest, and hang them up in the shadow of the forge, then bind -the leathern apron about your waist, see to your own fire and -tools--tongs, sets, flatters, and sledges--obtain water from the tap by -the wall, shout “Hammer up!” to your mate, and prepare to thump away -with the rest. The heat of the shed in the evening, from six o’clock -till ten o’clock, is terrific in the summer months. For hours and hours -the furnaces and boilers have been raging, fuming, and pouring out their -interminable volumes of invisible vapour; the sun without, and the fires -within have made it almost unbearable. The floor plates, the iron -principals, the machine frames, the uprights of the hammers--everything -is full of heat; the water in the feed-pipes is so hot as to startle -you. As the hour draws on, towards nine or ten o’clock, this diminishes -somewhat. The cool night air envelops the shed and enters in through the -doors, restoring the normal temperature, though, if the night be muggy, -there will be scarcely any diminution of the punishment till the early -morning, when there is always a cooling down of the atmosphere. - -Now the general toil commences in every corner of the smithy. The brawny -forger pulls, tugs, or pushes the heavy porter; the stamper runs out -with his white-hot bar, spluttering and hissing, and poises one foot on -the treadle while he adjusts it over the die, then _Pum-tchu, pom-tchu, -ping-tchu, ping-tchu_, goes the hammer, and over he turns it deftly, -blows away the scale and excrescence with the compressed air, and -_pom-tchu, ping-tchu_, again replies the hammer. Here he claps the -forging in the trimmer, click goes the self-act, and down comes the -tool. The finished article drops through on to the ground; the stamper -thrusts the bar into the furnace, turns on more oil and off he goes -again. The sparks swish and fly everywhere, travelling to the furthest -wall; he wipes away the sweat with the blistered back of his hand, -looking half-asleep, and rolls the quid of tobacco in his cheek. - -Hard by the smith is busy with his forge and tools. His mate is ghastly -pale and thin in the yellow firelight, though he himself looks fat and -well. He sets the blast on gently till the iron is nearly fit, then -applies the whole volume, to put on the finishing touch and make the -iron soft and “mellow.” This lifts up the white cinders in clouds and -blows them out of the front also, so that now and then they lodge on the -blacksmith’s arms and in his hair, but he shakes them off and takes -little notice of them. He jerks the jumper up and down once or twice, -turns the heat round quickly, then shuts off the blast, and with a -lion-like grip of the tongs, brings it to the anvil and lays on with his -hand-hammer, while his mate plies the sledge. Presently he throws down -his hammer, grips the “set tool” or “flatter,” and his mate continues to -strike upon it till the work is completed. If the striker is not -proficient and misses once or twice, he jerks out, in a friendly -tone--“On the top, or go home,” or, “Go and get some chalk”--_i.e._, to -whiten the tool--or, “Follow the tool, follow the tool, you okkerd -fella.” Once, when a smith had a strange mate--a raw hand--with him, and -bade him to “Follow the tool,” when he put that down the striker -continued to go for it till it flew up and nearly knocked out the -smith’s eye, but he excused himself on the ground that he thought he had -to “follow the tool.” - -Here is a skinny, half-naked fellow, striving with all his might to draw -a heavy bogie piled up with new blooms, half a ton or more in weight. -His head is thrown far forward, about a yard from the ground. His arms, -thin and small, are strained like rods of iron behind his back; only his -toes grip the ground. He shouts out to someone near for help. - -“Hey! Gi’ us a shove a minute.” - -“Gi’ thee tha itch! Ast the gaffer for a mate. I got mi own work to do,” -the other replies, and keeps hammering away. - -Next is a belated stamper in want of tools. “Hast got a per o’ tongs to -len’ us a minute, ole pal?” - -“Shove off wi’ thee and make a pair, or else buy some, like I got to. -Nobody never lends I nothin’,” is the answer he receives. - -This one wants a blow. “Come an’ gi’ I a blow yer.” - -“Gi’ thee a blow on the head. I got no time to mess about wi’ thee.” - -Another is concerned as to the hour--there are those whose thoughts are -always of the clock, anxiously awaiting the next stop. “What time is it, -mate?” - -“Aw! time thee wast better,” or “Same as ’twas last night at this time. -Thee hasn’t bin yer five minutes it.” - -Perhaps the steam pressure is low. “Wha’s bin at wi’ the steam, matey? -We chaps can’t hit a stroke.” - -“Got twisted in the pipes, I ’spect. Go an’ put thi blower on, an’ fire -up a bit, an’ run that slag out.” - -This one cannot obtain his supply of bars from the shears. “Now Matty! -Hasn’t got that iron cut? I can’t wait about for thee.” - -“Dwunt thee be in sich a caddle. Thee ootn’t get it none the zooner. -Other people got to live as well as thee, dost naa!” - -“All right! I shall go and see _he_,” (the overseer). - -“Thee cast go an’ do jest whatever thee bist a-mine to. ’Twunt make a -’appoth o’ difference.” - -By and by the overseer comes up and shouts--“Hey! Can’t you let these -chaps on, Matthews?” - -“No, I caan’t! Tha’ll hef to woite a bit. Ther’s some as bin a-woitin’ -all night, ver nigh. ’Tis no good to plag’ I, else ya wunt get nothin’ -done at all.” - -Here is the forger bellowing at his driver. “Go on! Go on! Hit him! Hit -him! Hit him! Light, ther’! Light! ’Old on! ’Old on! Whoa, then! Castn’t -stop when I tells tha? Dost want to spile the jilly thing? Gi’ us up -they gauges. A’s too thick now. Up a bit, ther! Hit un agyen! Light now! -Light! Light! That’ll do! Whoa! Take ’old o’ this bar, an’ gi’ us that -cutter. Now, Strawberry! turn ’e over in the fire, an’ don’ stand ther’ -a-gappatin’. ’Aaf thi ’ed ’ll drop off in a minute. Ther’s a lot to do -yet, else ya won’ get no balance. Hout o’ the road, oot!” - -“Haw-w-right. Kip yer wool on. ’Tis a long time to mornin’ it. Thee bist -allus in a caddle,” the other answers. - -“Shet thi ’ed, an’ mind thi own business, else I’ll fetch the gaffer to -thee! Pull up ther’, an’ le’s ’ev un out on’t. We be all be’ind agyen! -Everybody else ull a done afore we begins! Hang on to that chayn, Fodgy! -Now then! ALL together! UGH!” - -So the ingot is brought out with shouts and cries, the rattling and -jingling of chains and the loud roaring of steam in the roof outside. -The blaze of the furnace and the spluttering, white-hot metal make it as -light as day in the shed. The forger and his mates stagger under the -weight of the ingot and porter-bar and incline their heads to escape the -fierce heat. Their faces and necks are burnt red and purple--of the -colour of blood-poisoning. Their shirt sleeves are hanging loose to -protect their arms; they wear thin, round calico caps on their heads and -leathern aprons about their waists. At the first blow or two the sparks -shriek around, and especially if the ingot is of steel and happens to be -well-heated. The smiths yell out at the top of their voice and rush to -save their clothes hanging up beside the forge. The men’s faces look -transfigured in the bright light. Their shadows, huge, weird, and -fantastic, reach high up the wall, even to the roof. The smallest object -is thrown into relief and the shafts of the sledges cast a shadow as -sharp and clear as from the sun at mid-day. As the mighty steel monkey -descends, half covering the white mass, the shadow falls on the roof, -walls, and machinery around, and rises as the smooth, shapely piston -glides upward into the cylinder; up and down, up and down it goes, like -the rising and falling of a curtain. This continues till the heat of -the forging diminishes and the rays of the metal are no longer capable -of overpowering the light cast out from the fire-holes and the smoky, -sleepy-looking gas-jets hanging in lines adown the smithy. - -As the iron becomes cooler the hammer beats harder and harder. The -oscillation is very great and the sound nearly approaches a ring. The -steam roars overhead and leaks and hisses through the joints of the -pipes and glands. The oil in the stamper’s dies explodes with a -cannon-like report. The huge hydraulic engines _tchu-tchu_ outside; the -wheels whirr and hum away in the roof, and the smith’s tools clang out -or ring sharply on the anvil. Without, through the open doors, the night -shows inky black; the smoke and steam beat down and are blown in with -the wind, or the fog is sucked in quickly by the currents. Now the rain -beats hard on the roof and runs through in streams, while the wind -clatters between the stacks and ventilators overhead with a noise like -thunder; or, if it is mid-winter, the light, feathery snowflakes are -wafted in from above and sway to and fro and round and round, uncertain -where to lodge, until they are dissolved with the heat and finally -descend in small drops like dew upon the faces and arms of the forgers. - -At the end of every hour the watchman with his lamp passes through, like -a policeman on his beat, and stands a moment before the furnace to warm -himself or to watch the shaping of the ingot. The old furnaceman views -him askance, or ventures to address him with a “How do?” or “Rough night -out,” to which the other responds with a nod, or a “Yes; ’Tis!” and -takes his departure into the blackness outside. At frequent intervals -the overseer walks round and takes his stand here and there, with his -hands behind him, or twisting his fingers in front, or with his thumbs -thrust into the arm-holes of his waistcoat, and glares at the men, -spitting out the tobacco juice upon the ground or on the red-hot -forging. Presently he shouts:--“Ain’t ya done that thing yet? How much -longer ya going to be? He’ll want a bit o’ salt directly. Wher’s -Michael? Ain’t he in to-night? Wha’s up wi’ he?” - -“He’s a-twhum along o’ the owl’ dooman to-night,” someone answers. The -grimy toilers curse him under their breath and wish he would soon clear -off, which he presently does, slipping quickly away into the shadows or -climbing up the wooden stairway into the well-lit office. - -The first spell is at ten o’clock--that is, after four hours of terrific -hammering and sweating. This is the supper-hour. Here the engines cease -and the wheels stop their grinding. The roar of the blast has ceased, -too; there is not a flicker from the coke fires. The old furnaceman is -still shovelling away, for the forger was on till the last moment. Now -he “stops up,” lays a little coal dust along the furnace door, shuts off -his blower, puts down the damper, and proceeds to rinse his hands in the -water bosh. All the while he was attending to his fire he had the wiper -about his neck and held one corner of it in his mouth. After drying his -hands with it he gives his grimy face a good rub, goes to his clothes -hanging up by the wall, slips on his waistcoat, stirs his tea in the can -with the blade of his pocket-knife, takes his food from the peg and -comes and sits down near the furnace, or in the sand-bunk. The one in -charge of the steam walks from boiler to boiler, setting on the -injectors. They admit the cool water with a murmurous, sleepy -sound--there is no priming yet. The furnace fire glitters through the -chinks of the door or grate like the stars on a frosty night. The old -furnaceman does not eat much. He tastes a little and bites here and -there, then he wraps the whole up again. - -“What! Bistn’t agwain to hae thi zupper, then?” some one enquires. - -“No-o! Can’t zim to get on wi’t to-night,” he answers. - -“Well! Chock it out for they owld rats, they’ll be glad on’t. Yellacks -is a girt un ther’ now, in atween they piles!” - -Try how you will you cannot enjoy your food on the night shift. I have -carried mine home again morning after morning, or thrown it out for the -birds in the yard. I have seen men--and especially youths--go to sleep -with the food in their mouths. You are too languid to eat much, and what -you do eat has no savour. It is remarkable, also, that while you -continue working you do not feel the fatigue so much, but as soon as you -sit down you are assailed with increased weariness; you feel powerless -and exhausted and have no strength or energy left. Many, in order to -keep awake and fresh, go out into the town, deserted at that hour. Some -walk outside in the yard and bruise their shins against this or that -obstruction in the darkness. Others, again, after partaking of a few -mouthfuls of food, go on making up their fires, not only to keep -themselves awake, but also to help the work forward and earn their money -for the shift. I have many times worked all night--through both -meal-hours--in the attempt to earn my wages, and then have been -deficient. - -Here and there a small party will sit together and chat the meal-time -away, or a few will endeavour to read. Very soon, however, the newspaper -or book slips from the fingers. The tiredness and heat together prevail; -the eyes close and the mouth opens--the toiler is fast asleep. Presently -someone comes on the scene with a loud shout: “Hey-yup! What! bist thee -vly-ketchin’ agyen? Get up and check, else tha’t be locked out,” or -another staggers round with half-closed eyes and bawls out, “’Ow beest -bi tiself, Bill?“ the reply to which usually is, ”Thee get an’ laay -down,” or “None the better for thy astin’.” Occasionally several will -start singing a song, or hymn, and be immediately assailed with loud -cries of “Lay down, oot!” or “Yeow! Yeow! Kennul! Kennul!” or a large -lump of coal is thrown against the roof to break and fall in dust upon -the choristers. Some spread rivet bags in front of the furnace and lie -upon them and others lie down upon the bare bricks or iron of the floor. -A few minutes before eleven o’clock the stragglers arrive back from the -town. The old furnaceman bestirs himself, lifts the damper, sets on the -blower, routs the coals of the fire and shouts, “Come on, yer,” to his -mates. The steam-hammer man opens the valve and raises the monkey, -making it glide up and down to work the water out of the cylinder, the -forgemen and smiths bustle about again and the terrific din recommences. - -So the furious toil proceeds hour by hour. _Bang, bang, bang. Pum-tchu, -pum-tchu, ping-tchu, ping-tchu. Cling-clang, cling-clang. Boom, boom, -boom. Flip-flap, flip-flap. Hoo-oo-oo-oo-oo. Rattle, rattle, rattle. -Click, click, click. Bump, bump. Scrir-r-r-r-r-r-r. Hiss-s-s-s-s-s-s. -Tchi-tchu, tchi-tchu, tchi-tchu. Clank, clank, clank, clank, clank._ The -noises of the steam and machinery drown everything else. You see the -workmen standing or stooping, pulling, tugging, heaving, dragging to and -fro, or staggering about as though they were intoxicated, but there is -no other sound beyond the occasional shouting of the forger and the -jerking or droning of the injectors. It is a weird living picture, stern -and realistic, such as no painter could faithfully reproduce. If the -oil in the stampers’ forges is worse than usual the dense clouds of -nauseating smoke hang over you like a pall so thickly that you cannot -see your fellows a few paces away, making it intensely difficult to -breathe and adding a horrible disgust to the unspeakable weariness. Then -the bright flashing metal and the white gas-jets show a dull red. Even -the sound seems deadened by the smoke and stench, but this is merely the -action of the impurity upon the sense organs; they are so much impaired -with the grossness of the atmosphere as to fail in their functions. By -and by, when the air has cleared a little, it all rushes back upon you -with increased intensity. Everything is swinging and whirling round, and -you seem to be whirled round with it, with not a thought of yourself, -who you are, where you are, or what you are doing, but keep toiling -mechanically away. Ofttimes you would be quite lost, but the revolutions -of the machine, the automatic strokes of the hammer, and the _habit_ of -the job control you. And if this should fail, your mate, half asleep, -whacks his heat along and casts it upon your toe, or sears you with the -hot tongs, or he misses the top of the tool at the anvil and strikes -your thumb instead. There are many things to keep you alive, and always -the fear of not earning your money for the turn and having to be jeered -at and bullied by the chargeman or overseer and so have your life made -miserable. The faces and fronts of the smiths and forgers, as they stand -at the fires or stoop over the metal, are brilliantly lit up--yellow and -orange. Here are the piles of finished forgings and stampings upon the -ground--white, yellow, bright red, dull red, and almost black hot; the -long tongues of fire leap up from the coke forges, and every now and -then a livid sheet of flame bursts out from the stamper’s dies. There is -plenty of colour, as well as animation, in the picture, which obtains -greater intensity through contrast with the blackness outside. - -The greatest weariness assails you about midnight, and continues to -possess you till towards three o’clock. Then Nature struggles violently, -demanding her rights, twitching, clutching, and tugging at your eyelids -and striving in a thousand ways to bring you into submission and force -her rule upon you, but the iron laws of necessity, circumstance, and -system prevail; you must battle the power within you and repel the sweet -soother, struggling on in the unnatural combat. The keen eye of the -overseer is upon you, who is always whipping you to your task, or the -watchman is striving to take you loitering and so bring himself into -notice; it is useless to give way. Necessity urges; the body must be -clothed and fed. There are the wife and children at home, and you must -live. I have felt it, and I know what it is. There, in the smoke and -stench, the heat and cold, draught and damp of midnight I have slaved -with the rest, not harder or with greater pains than they, though -perhaps I have noted the feelings whereas they have not. The eyes ache, -the ears ache, the teeth ache, the temples ache, the shoulders ache, the -arms ache, the legs ache, the feet ache, and the heart aches. I have -many times wished, in those dark, awful hours, that the hammer would -smash my head; that I might be suddenly caught and hurled into eternity, -and I have heard others express the same wish openly and sincerely. -Sometimes I have stolen out of the great doors to stand for a moment in -the open in the cold dark or starry night, and looked out towards the -hills, or away over the town with the whirl of the shed behind me. There -was the great red moon showing through the clouds low down, or the -fiercely glittering Mars setting in the west, or inky blackness above, -with a few tiny lights twinkling in the far-off streets of the town and -a silence as deep as death out beyond. If I could but have heard the old -barn owl hooting in the farmyard, the cow lowing in the meadow or stall, -the fox yelping in the little wood, or even the bark of a dog, I should -have been strengthened and relieved, but there was never a sound of -them--nothing but the black outlines of the sheds around, the small -distant lights of the town and the great white blaze and crash of noises -within. Even to pause there is but to intensify the torture and the cold -air soon chills you to the bone. The only course open is to keep toiling -away with the rest and wear the night out. - -The second stop is at two o’clock and is of brief duration--twenty -minutes or half an hour at the outside. It is merely a break in order to -have a mouthful of food, a something, so that it shall not be said that -the men have to toil for seven consecutive hours in that unspeakable -weariness. Here the huge engines become silent again and the heavy -pounding stops. The wheels and machinery under the wall look as inert -and innocent as though they had never moved; it would be difficult to -imagine that they were capable of such noise and uproar if you had not -heard it yourself but a few minutes before. The boilers, relieved of the -strain upon their resources, begin to prime again with a continued -crashing, shattering sound which the boilerman tries in vain to subdue -with cold water through the injectors. The furnace glitters and the oil -forges smoke. The air is laden with the peculiarly nauseous fumes of the -water-gas that make the toilers feel sick and ill and destroy the -appetite. - -This time the men are unusually silent and mopish. Each selects a place -for himself and sits, or lies down, apart from the others. Only the -tough, wiry forgeman, the strong smith, or the hardy coalies and -ash-wheelers can attack the food. The rest usually go to their jackets, -open their handkerchiefs, look at the contents, eat a little perhaps, -half-heartedly, and wrap them up again. The constitution of the forgeman -is almost like iron itself. He and the smith can usually manage their -meal, and the coal-wheelers, from being constantly out in the fresh air, -are not quite as weary as are the others, and so can relish the food -better. On Friday nights--when the men are more than usually drowsy--the -food may be a little more tempting and tasty. At six o’clock the wages -were paid, and at supper-time a few, at least, will have gone or sent -out into the town for an appetizing morsel: some sausages, rashers, a -mutton chop, a pound of tripe, a bloater, or a packet of fried fish and -chipped potatoes--the youth’s favourite dainty. Then, in the early -hours, amid the din of the boilers, the black frying-pan or coal shovel -is produced and the savoury odour is wafted abroad. The greatest -pleasure, however, is usually in the anticipation of the meal. The food -itself is seldom eaten--or no more than a small part of it, at -least--the other is cast out for the rats and rooks. Years ago, in the -autumn, we boys used to gather mushrooms in the fields on our way to -work and cook them for “dinner” in the early morning and suffer severely -for it afterwards. Nature, disorganized with the exigences of the night -shift, refused the proffered dainties. It is difficult to digest even -ordinary food taken in the unwholesome air of the shed at such an -unearthly hour. - -Punctually to the moment, if not before time, the engines begin to throb -again; the piston rods, gliding slowly at first, soon attain a rapid -speed. The huge crank, flashing in the bright gas-light, leaps over and -over. The big belt strains and creaks as though it would avoid its -labour and the turning of the shaft overhead, but the heavy fly-wheel -spins round, and the little pulleys and cogs go with it; they must all -obey the urging of the mighty steam wizard lurking in the green-painted -cylinder. The donkey engines, forcing the blast, are coughing and -spitting out the white vapour and labouring painfully under the wall in -the lean-to outside. Within the fires are flashing and the flames -leaping, and the toil goes on as before. - -About three o’clock, or soon after, the weariness begins to diminish -somewhat, and the old habit of the body reasserts itself. The natural -hour of repose is passing, and the fountain of energy begins to bubble -up within you; you feel to be approaching the normal condition again. -The fatigue now gives place to a feeling of unreality and stupidity; you -seem to be dazed and irritable, as though you had been aroused from -sleep before the accustomed time. Now you experience deep pains in the -chest, resulting from loss of sleep. The head aches as though it would -burst and the eyes are very painful and “gritty,” but you feel cheered, -nevertheless, with the thought of daylight, the coming cessation from -toil, and the opportunity of obtaining a breath of fresh, pure air -again. The overseer slips to and fro quickly about this time in order to -keep the men well on the move, pricking here and prodding there, and -visiting those whom he knows will tell him all the news of the night’s -work--such as may have escaped him. The toilers pay him but little -attention, however, and keep plodding languidly away. - -Steadily, as the day dawns, the light within increases, red, white, or -golden, stealing through the thick glass of the roof or by the wide open -doors, and soon after one appears with a long staff and turns off all -the gas. It is really day once more, and there is not much longer to -go. At twenty minutes past five the hooter sounds loudly, calling up the -men of the day shift, and the pace flags visibly. A few, however, who -have not done any too well in the middle hours of the night, hammer away -with increased energy right up to the last, for they know the day -overseers and the chargemen will go round and feel the forgings to see -how late the others were toiling. If the iron is cool they know that -their mates have been dilatory and the tale is told around. - -A few minutes before six o’clock the engines slow down and stop and the -roar of the blast ceases. The steam-hammers are lowered with a loud thud -and the furnace fires are banked up; the mighty toil is over, for this -turn, at any rate. Now the forgers and stampers unbind their aprons and -roll them up; the smiths stow their tools, placing these in the iron box -and those in the boshes of water to soak the shafts and tighten the -handles of the sledges. After that they swill their hands at the tap, -put on muffler, jacket, or great-coat, and file out of the shed--dirty, -dusty, tired and sleepy-looking. Not for them the joy of morning, the -vigour, freshness and bloom, the keen delight in the open air, the happy -heart and elevated spirit. They slouch away through the living stream of -the day toilers now arriving as black as sweeps, half-blinded with the -bright daylight, blinking and sighing, feeling unutterably and -unnaturally tired, out of sorts and out of place, too, and crawl home, -like rats to their holes, to snatch a little rest, and recuperate for -new efforts to be made on the following turn. - -Few of the men’s wives or parents in the town will be up to welcome them -at that early hour and provide them with warm tea and a breakfast. -Accordingly, some go home and straight to bed without food at all, a few -walk about the streets or out towards the country for an hour or so -till the home fire is lit, while others go home and get the breakfast -themselves. Perhaps, if trade in the shed is brisk, they will be -required to work overtime till eight or nine o’clock. I have done this -for months at a stretch and afterwards walked home to the village, -ofttimes sitting down on the roadside to rest, reaching home at about -ten o’clock and getting to bed an hour before noon, to be awakened by -every slight noise without the house. At one time I was aroused by the -old church clock striking, at another by the sound of the school bell, -or the children at play underneath the window, or by the farm waggon. At -four in the afternoon, rested or not, you must rise again, wash and -dress, snatch a hasty meal, and plod off to the town, four miles -distant, forgetful of everything behind you--the gentle peace of the -village, the long line of dreamy-looking hills, the haymakers in the -field, the sweetly sorrowful sound of the threshing machine by the ricks -in the farmyard, the eternal pageantry of the heavens, the whole natural -life and scenery of the world. The knowledge of the loss lies like lead -at the heart and fills one with a keen regret, a poignant sense of the -cruelty of the industrial system and your own weakness with it; yet one -must live. But there is real tragedy in working the night shift at the -forge. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - - INFERIORITY OF WORK MADE BY THE NIGHT SHIFT--ALTERING THE - GAUGES--THE “BLACK LIST”--“DOUBLE STOPPAGE - CHARLIE“--”JIMMY USELESS”--THE HAUNTED COKEHEAP--THE OLD - VALET--THE CHECKER AND STOREKEEPER - - -The work produced on the night turn is greatly inferior to that made by -the men of the day shift. It is impossible to do good work when you are -tired and weary. One has not then the keenness of sense, the nerve, nor -the energy to take the requisite pains. You are not then the master of -your machinery and tools, but are subject to them; even where the work -is with dies and performed mechanically, there will be depreciation. -Perhaps the stamper’s tools have shifted a little. The keys want -removing, the dies re-setting and then to be rammed up tight again. But -he is too weary to do much with the sledge, so he keeps dragging along -with his dies a-twist and makes that do, whereas, if he were working by -day he would rectify them immediately and bang away at top speed. - -It is the same with the forger. He, too, tough as he is, cannot maintain -the precision he would exercise by day. The pile or ingot on the -porter-bar seems to him to have doubled in weight. The flash of the -blazing metal half blinds him. He cannot stand the heat so well; it is -all against turning out good work. Unless the bloom is kept exactly -square under the stroke of the hammer it lops over on one side and -obtains an ugly shape, which it will be impossible to rectify; there is -nothing more unsightly to the eye of the careful smith or hammerman than -a shabby piece of forging. Very often, too, a portion of slag or sand -from the bed of the furnace has adhered to the pile and, falling away, -has left a hole in the metal. Although, in the uncertain light, the -forger may think that he has hammered it quite out, when he views the -piece by daylight he finds it rough and untidy and perhaps worthless. It -may be too small now; there is not enough metal to clean up under the -tools of the slotting- or shaping-machine. - -Then there is the smith’s weld or bend to be considered. In the first -place, the smith is liable to mistake the heat of his parts by gaslight, -for then they appear brighter and hotter than they really are, and when -he brings them out to the anvil, the metal, instead of shutting up well, -will be hard and glassy under the tools. It will, consequently, go -together badly and leave a mark or “scarf,” which is not at all -desirable, though the weld may be strong enough inside. In such a case -resort will be had to “nobbling”; that is, covering up and concealing -the scarf with the small round ball of the hand-hammer. This must be -done secretly, for no foreman would tolerate much of it. It is looked -upon as a mark of bad workmanship, though the bluff old overseer of the -regular smiths’ shed may condone it in a few cases with: “Hello! You be -at it agen then! But ther’, you be no good if you can’t do’t. I allus -said any fool can be a smith but it takes a good man to nobble.” The -smiths, under ordinary circumstances, are not allowed to use a file. -They must finish their job manfully with the sledge and tools, otherwise -they might fake up a bad forging, with nobbling and filing, and make it -look as strong as the best. - -There are more cases of ill-health among men of the night than of the -day shift, but the reason of this will be obvious to any. It is evident -that the unnatural conditions of all-night toil must weaken and wear -down the body and render it unfit to bear the strain put upon it, and -especially to withstand the cold draughts from the doors and roof, which -are the most fruitful source of sickness among the workmen--a large -number is always absent with chills and influenza. Small regard for a -man’s health is had at any time in the factory. It is nothing to the -officials that he is out on the sick list, unless he happens to be -drawing compensation for an injury. I remember once, when work was slack -in the shed, the day overseer left orders for the night boss to send the -men outside in the yard and keep them there for two or three hours -shifting scrap iron, in order that they might “catch cold and stop at -home, and give the others a chance.” - -Accidents, too, are frequent on the night shift; the greater part of the -more serious ones happen on that turn. Then the men, by reason of the -fatigue and dulness, are unable to take sufficient care of themselves; -they lack the quick presentiment of danger common to those of the day -shift. There is also the matter of defective light and carelessness in -the use of tools, and, very often, the mad hurry to get on in the first -part of the night--the wild rush and tear of the piecework system. It -was not long ago that “Smamer’s” brother was killed at the drop-stamps -with a blow on the head, shortly after starting work. A jagged piece of -steel, ten or twelve pounds in weight, flew from the die and struck him -between the eye and ear knocking out half his brains. As things go, no -one was to blame. The men were all hurrying together to get the work -forward, but he was murdered, all the same, done to death by the system -that is responsible for the rash haste and frenzy such as is common on -the night shift. - -Nearly all whitewashing and painting out the interiors of the sheds is -done by night, when the machinery is still. This is performed by -unskilled hands--youths, for the most part; from one year’s end to -another they are employed at it, taking the workshops by turn. The work -is very unhealthy and extremely dangerous. The men construct a little -scaffolding and work upon single, narrow planks, or crawl like flies -along the network of girders in and out among the shafting, with a -single gas-jet to afford them light. One false step or overbalancing -would bring them down to the ground, thirty feet below, amid the -machinery; death would be swift and certain for them if they should miss -their footing on the planks. Their wages, considering the risks they -take, are very low; 18s. or 19s. a week is the amount they commonly -receive. Several of the men, whom I know personally--steady fellows and -good time-keepers--had been getting 18s. a week for twenty years till -recently; then, after persistent applications for an advance, they were -granted the substantial rise of 1s. a week! One sturdy fellow, braver -than the rest, on meeting the manager one day, complained to him of the -low wages, but was unsuccessful. His overseer, upon hearing of it, -promptly told him to clear out, which he afterwards did, and went to -Canada and saved £150 in less than a year. When the small boys asked -Bill Richards, the old smiths’ foreman, for a rise, he used jokingly to -tell them to “Get up a-top o’ the anvul.” - -The running expenses of much of the “labour-saving” plant is truly -enormous and very often so great as entirely to counteract the much -boasted profit-making capacity of the machine, but the managers do not -mind that in the least as long as they can show a reduction of hands. -If, by any means at all, they can get one man to do what formerly -required the services of two or three, they do not trouble about -machinery or fuel expenses; the losses incurred by these they make good -by speeding up the workman and getting a bigger share out of him. They -would rather pay fabulous sums for plant and running expenses than allow -the workman to get a few shillings more in wages. - -The wholesale waste of material, fuel, and energy, in many of the sheds, -is appalling; many thousands of pounds are annually thrown away in this -direction. Walk where he will the keen observer will detect waste; no -one seems to trouble about the real economy. I have seen it daily for -years and have made numerous suggestions, but to no purpose; the -overseers are too stupid and ignorant, or too haughty and jealous, to -carry out ideas, and the managers are no better. They squander thousands -of pounds in experiments and easily cover up their short-comings, but if -the machineman happens to break a new tool, or spoil metal of a few -pence in value, he is suspended and put on the “black list.” - -If a workman sees a way to make improvements in processes and the like, -he immediately falls into disfavour with the overseers. Some years ago -I, as chief stamper, was anxious to improve the process of making a -forging, and also the forging itself, and waited on the overseer with a -view to having the alteration made, but I could not obtain his sanction -for a long time. At last, as new dies were to be made, I succeeded, -after some difficulty, in obtaining his consent for the improvement. -Happening to enter the die shed while the job was in the lathe I was -told by the machineman that no alteration had been authorised. Grasping -the situation, I took a bold course, carried out the suggested -alteration myself, and set the dies in the steam-hammer. The improvement -was a complete success. I was cursed and abused by the overseer, and he -was highly congratulated by the staff in my own presence and hearing. -The improvement was not to be permanent, however. Shortly afterwards the -dies were re-cut, and made in the old way again. At another time, when I -had assisted the overseer with an idea, he would not speak to me for a -fortnight. - -Many times after that I stood for improvements, and was rewarded with -the cutting of my prices and the threat of dismissal, and I had the -mortification of being “hooted” by my shop-mates into the bargain. The -fact of the matter is, workmen and overseers, too, want to run along in -the same old grooves, at any rate, as far as processes are concerned. -The foreman and manager think they have done enough if they merely cut a -price; they are too blind to see that improvements in the process of -manufacture is the first great essential. There are many jobs in the -sheds which have been done in the same old way for half a century. It is -painful to contemplate the ignorance, stupidity, and prejudice of the -staff in charge of operations. - -Every shed has an institution called “The Black List.” This list is -filed in the foreman’s office and contains the names of those who have -been found guilty of any indiscretion, those who may have made a little -bad work, indifferent time-keepers, and, naturally, those who have -fallen into disfavour with the overseer on any other account, and -perhaps the names have been added for no offence at all. When it is -intended to include a workman in the list, he is sent for to the office, -bullied by the overseer before the clerks and office-boy, and warned as -to the future. “I’ve put you on the black list. You know what that -means. The next time, mind, and you’re out of it. I give you one more -chance.” - -Not long ago an apprentice--a fine, smart, intellectual youth--was asked -by a junior mate to advise him as to a piece of work in the lathe and -went to give the required assistance. While thus engaged he was sent for -to the office and charged with idling by the overseer. He tried to -explain that he was helping his mate, but the foreman would not listen -to it. “Put him on the black list,” he roared to the clerk. The lad’s -father, enraged at the treatment meted out to his son, promptly removed -him from the works, and sacrificed four or five years of patient and -studious toil at his trade. It is useless to continue in the shed when -you have been stigmatised with the “black list.” You will never make any -satisfactory progress; you had better seek out another place and make a -fresh start[3] in life. - - [3] I am told that the “Black List” has now been abolished. It - certainly existed down to several years ago. - -A favourite plan of the overseer’s is to catch a man in a weak state and -force him to undergo a strict medical test. As a matter of fact, the -“medical test” is a farce; it is merely an examination by one of the -staff. Even if the workman passes the test satisfactorily it is recorded -and tells against him. Quite recently one of the forgers came to work -with a black eye, as the result of a private encounter, and the -overseer, after jesting with him concerning it, communicated with the -examiner and hustled him off to pass the “medical test.” - -“What have you been at with the hammer?” said I to little Jim one day, -finding the lever working very stiffly. - -“I dunno. The luminator’s broke,” answered he. - -“The what broke?” I inquired. - -“That there yu-bricator, the thing what you puts the oil in,” he -replied. - -Most of the articles stamped seemed to suggest something or other to -Jim’s childish mind. One job, made three at a time, looked like “little -bridges”; something else resembled great butterflies. This was like an -air-gun, and that “just like little pistols.” Jim’s opinion of factory -work is interesting--he is a little over fifteen years of age. Coming up -to me one day, cap, waistcoat, everything cast aside, his shirt -unbuttoned, his face soot black, and with the sweat streaming down his -nose and chin, he said naively--“This is what I calls a weary life. This -place is more like a prison than anything else.” After that he wished to -know if I had any apples in my garden, or, failing that, would I bring -him along some crabs in my pocket? - -“Double Stoppage Charlie” was well-known at the works. He first of all -used to keep his wife short of cash, telling her each pay-day it was -“double stoppage this week.” He often figured in a public place, too, -and invariably made the same excuse. It was always “double stoppage -week“ with him, so he came to be honoured with the nickname of ”Double -Stoppage Charlie.” There was also “Southampton Charlie,” who had seen -service with the Marines, and who was for ever talking about the -“gossoons” and telling monstrous yarns of things--chiefly of bloody -fights and shipwrecks. He took pride in informing you that he had been -told he would have made a capital speaker of French, by reason of his -wonderful powers of “pronounciation.” - -Jimmy Eustace--better known as “Jimmy Useless”--was full of poaching -adventures and midnight tussles with the gamekeepers and police. He was -delighted to tell you of how they dodged the men in blue and waded half -a mile, up to their necks in water, along the canal in the dark hours in -order to keep out of their clutches. This happened in his young days, in -the neighbourhood of Uffington. He was always somewhat of a rake, though -he was a very clever constructor of all kinds of iron work. Everyone -called him “an old fool,” however, when Queen Victoria’s new Royal Train -was made, and the workmen went out in the yard to see it. “He go to see -that thing? Not he! He could make a better one than that standing on his -head, any day.” His long grey hair hung down as straight as candles and -his grey beard had the true lunar curve. He chewed half an ounce of -tobacco at a time, and spat great mouthfuls of the juice about -everywhere. - -A little humour is occasionally in evidence in the life that is lived by -the grimy pack of toilers in the factory sheds. There is, for instance, -the story of the young man engaged to be married to a smart lass, and -who gave himself certain unjustifiable airs, representing himself as -holding a position in the drawing office. After the wedding took place, -at the end of the first week, he took home 18s. in wages and was -severely taken to task by his spouse and mother-in-law. It transpired -that he was employed pulling a heavy truck about; that was the only -“drawing office” to which he was attached. - -One young fellow was subjected to the ridicule of his mates by reason of -an accident that befell him on his wedding-day. He lived far out in the -country, and, on the morning of the ceremony, just before the appointed -hour, happening to give an extra specially good yawn, he dislocated his -jaw and had to be driven twelve miles to a doctor. Another artless -youth, newly brought into the shed, when he was put to withdraw the -white-hot plates from a vast furnace, finding the iron rake much too -short, tied a piece of tar-cord on the end in order to lengthen it! - -The riveter and his mates occasionally practise the ludicrous. One day, -when “Dobbin,” the “holder-up,” who was short-sighted, was sitting -underneath the floor of the waggon with his head against the plate, -dozing perhaps, the riveter began to beat on the floor with his -hand-hammer and severely hurt his mate’s cranium. Shortly afterwards -Dobbin unconsciously took his revenge. It is usual to “drift” the holes -with a steel tool in order to make them clear to admit the rivet, and on -this particular occasion the riveter thrust his finger through instead -and Dobbin, seeing it in the dim light and thinking it was the drift, -gave it a mighty ram upwards with the dolly and smashed it. - -Then there is “Budget,” who works one of the oil furnaces, with only -half a shirt to his back and hair six or seven inches long and as -straight as gunbarrels; whose face, long before breakfast-time, is as -black as a sweep’s; who slaves like a Cyclops at the forge and is -frequently quoting some portions of the speeches of Antonio and Shylock -in the “Merchant of Venice,” which he learnt at school and has not yet -forgotten. He sprang out of bed in a great fright, seized his food and -ran at top speed, and only partly dressed, half through the town in the -darkness to discover finally that it wanted an hour to midnight: he had -only gone to bed at ten o’clock. His father is a platelayer on the -railway receiving the magnificent sum of 16s. a week in wages, and his -mother, after suffering five operations, was lately sent home from the -hospital as incurable; it is a struggle to make both ends meet and to -keep the home respectable. It is no wonder that Budget’s shirt is always -out of repair and that he himself is racked with colds and influenza. - -There is romance in every walk of life, and legends of ghosts and -spirits that frequent desolate ruins and dark places, but few would -think to find such a thing as a haunted forge or coke heap, though they -were believed to exist by the credulous among the night-men at the -factory. “Sammy,” the cokewheeler, had a mortal dread of the cokeheap at -midnight, by reason of strange, weird noises he had heard there in the -lone, dark hours, and the men at the fires often had to wait for fuel, -or go and get it in for themselves. Accordingly, certain among them -determined to frighten the old man still further. For several nights in -succession, at about twelve o’clock, someone scaled the big high heap at -the back and waited for Samuel’s return from the shed with his -wheel-barrow. When he arrived the hidden one set up a loud, moaning -noise and started to clamber down the pile. The coke gave way and fell -with a crash, and Sammy, stuttering and stammering with a childlike -simplicity and in a paroxysm of fear, rushed off and told how the -“ghost” had assailed him. - -The haunted forge was in the smith’s shed, adjoining the steam-hammer -shop. There a simple fellow was by a waggish mate first of all beguiled -into the belief that a treasure was hidden beneath the floorplate and -anvil, and then induced to go alone during the supper-hour in the hope -of obtaining a clue from the “spirit” as to its exact whereabouts. -Accordingly he went fearfully in through the darkness and up to the -fire, while his mate, concealed in the roof, moaned and spoke to him in -a ghostly voice down the chimney, telling how, many years before, he had -been murdered on that spot and his body buried there together with the -treasure, and promising to discover it to the workman if he would come -secretly to the fire a fixed number of nights and not communicate the -matter to any outsiders. This went on for some time, until the unhappy -dupe was made ill, and driven half out of his mind with crazy fear, and -things began to get serious. Suddenly the noises stopped, and the -midnight visit to the forge was discontinued. - -Cases have occurred in which a man has actually been driven out of his -mind by continual and systematic trading on his weakness, and by a -downright wicked and criminal prosecution of the unscrupulous game. -Teddy, the sweeper-up, who was a young married man, and highly -respectable, but who discovered a trifling weakness, was assailed and -befooled with disgusting buffoonery and drivelling nonsense to such an -extent that he became a perfect mental wreck, to the complete amusement -of the clique who had brought it about, and who indulged in hysterical -laughter at the unfortunate man’s antics and general condition. To such -a point was the foolery carried that Teddy had to be detained, and he -fell seriously ill. In a fortnight he died, and those who had been the -chief cause of his collapse went jesting to his funeral. It was nothing -to them that they had been instrumental in his death; a man’s life and -soul are held at a cheap rate by his mates about the factory. - -Jim Cole is considerably out of place in the factory crowd; ill-health -and other misfortunes were the cause of his migration to the railway -town. He is a Londoner by birth, and was first of all a valet in good -service; afterwards he bought a cab and plied with it about the streets -of the metropolis. As a valet he lived with a sister of John Bright, and -was often in attendance upon the famous statesman and orator. John -Bright’s faith in the Book of Books is well nigh proverbial; the old -valet says whenever he went to his room in the morning he was always -sitting up in bed reading the Bible. - -As a cabman Jim was brought into contact with many celebrities, and it -is interesting to learn in what light great men appear to those who are -at their service about the thoroughfares. He knew Tennyson well by -sight. The famous poet was never a favourite with the “men in the -street.” His testiness of manner and severity were well-known to them; -to use Jim Cole’s words: “They hated the sight of him.” “There goes the -miserable old d----l,” they would say to each other. - -Carlyle was not a favourite with the cabmen either. They said he was -“hoggish,” and “too miserable to live.” Everyone was in his way, and -everything had to be set aside for him. His brilliant literary fame was -no recommendation in the face of his stern personal characteristics. - -Oscar Wilde was “a very nice man.” There was not a bit of pride in him; -he would talk to anyone. He would not walk a dozen yards if he could -help it, but must ride everywhere. He often gave cabby a shilling to -post a letter for him. One day Jim Cole was driving him, and they met -Mrs. Langtry in her carriage. Thereupon Oscar Wilde stopped the cab, got -out, and stood with one foot on the step of the popular actress’s -carriage, remaining in conversation with her for nearly an hour. At the -end of the journey Oscar stoutly denied the time, declared he was not -talking to Mrs Langtry for more than ten minutes, and refused to hand -over the fare demanded. Ultimately, however, he admitted he might have -been mistaken, and so came to terms and paid the extras. - -Once James was engaged to drive the celebrated Whistler and Mrs Whistler -to Hammersmith, and came very near meeting with disaster. That night he -was driving a young mare of great spirit, and she took fright at -something on the way and bolted. Poor Jim was in great suspense, -fearing an accident at every crossing. The mare flew along at a terrific -speed, but the hour was favourable and the traffic thin; there was a -fair, open road all the way. He strained every nerve to subdue the -animal and slacken the pace, but for over two miles he had not the -slightest control of the vehicle. Whistler was quiet and apparently well -content within; he had not the faintest idea that anything was wrong. At -last, after a great race up Hammersmith Broadway, the pace began to -flag; by the time they reached their destination Jim was able to “pull -her up” successfully. Whistler was delighted with the journey and waxed -enthusiastic about it. He clapped and patted the animal fondly on the -neck, several times exclaiming--“You splendid little mare!” Whistler was -a great favourite with the cabmen and he often chatted with them, and -made them feel quite at their ease. - -Mr Justin M̒̒̒̒̒̒̒̔‘Carthy and his son were other celebrated fares. They were -very quiet and unassuming and earned the great respect of the cabmen. -Ill-health dogged the old-time valet. He is now forced to do the work of -a menial, lost and swallowed up in the crowd of grimy toilers at the -factory. - -There is one in every shed who stands at the ticket-box and checks in -the workmen at the beginning of each spell; _i.e._, at six A.M., at nine -o’clock, and two in the afternoon. It is his duty also to carry off the -box to the time office and bring back the tickets to the men before they -leave the shed. At the time office the metal tickets are sorted out and -placed on a numbered board; this the checker receives and carries round -to all the men and hands them their brasses. It is a favourite plan of -the man on the check-box to allow the workmen to drag a little by -degrees until they get slightly behind the official moment, and then to -close the box sharp and shut out forty or fifty. This causes the men to -lose half an hour, or they may possibly be compelled to go home for the -rest of the morning or afternoon. For some time afterwards they are very -punctual at the box, but by and by they are allowed to drag again and -the act of shutting out is repeated. The checker, as well as officiating -at the ticket-box, acts as a kind of shop watchman, and supplies the -overseer with information upon such points as may have escaped his -notice. - -Besides the checker, there is the regular shed detective, who locks up -the doors and cleans the office windows, and his supernumerary who -guards the doors at hooter-time and completes the custody of the place: -there is little fear of anything transpiring without its becoming known -to the foreman. As those selected to watch the rest are invariably the -lazy or the incompetent they are sure to be heartily contemned by the -busy toilers; there is nothing the skilful and generous workman detests -more than to have a worthless fellow told off to spy upon him. - -The storekeeper is another who, by reason of his extreme officiousness -and parsimonious manner in dealing out the stores, is not beloved of the -toilers in the shed. He treats every applicant for stores with fantastic -ceremony, examining the foreman’s slip half-a-dozen times or more, and -turning it round and round and over and over until the exasperated -workman can stand it no longer, and sets about him with, “Come on, mate! -Ya goin’ to mess about all day? We got some work to do, we ’ev. -Anybody’d think thee’st got to buy it out o’ thi own pocket!” If the -applicant wants a can of oil the vessel is about half-filled; if a -hammer is needed the storekeeper searches through the whole stock to -find out the worst, if nails, screws, or rivets are required they are -counted out with critical exactness, and if the foreman is not at hand -to sign the order--no matter how urgent the need is--the workman must -wait, perhaps for an hour, till he returns to initial the slip. The time -necessary for an order to reach the shed after it has been issued from -the general stores, fifty yards away, is usually a week, and the workmen -are forbidden to begin a job until they have actually received the -official form. - -The political views of the men in the shed are known to the overseer and -are--in some cases, at any rate--communicated by him to the manager; -there is no such thing as individual liberty about the works. He whose -opinions are most nearly in agreement with those of the foreman always -thrives best, obtains the highest piecework prices and the greatest day -wages, too, while the other is certain to be put under the ban. In -brief, the average overseer dislikes you if you are a tip-top workman, -if you have a good carriage and are well-dressed, if you are clever and -cultivated, if you have friends above the average and are -well-connected, if you are religious or independent, manly, and -courageous; and he tolerates you if you creep about, are rough, ragged, -and round-shouldered, a born fool, a toady, a liar, a tale-bearer, an -indifferent workman--no matter what you are as long as you say “sir” to -him, are servile and abject, see and hear nothing, and hold with him in -everything he says and does: that is the way to get on in the factory. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - - SICKNESS AND ACCIDENTS--THE FACTORY - YEAR--HOLIDAYS--“TRIP”--MOODS AND - FEELINGS--PAY-DAY--LOSING A QUARTER--GETTING MARRIED. - - -Sickness and accidents are of frequent occurrence in the shed. The -first-named may be attributed to the foul air prevailing--the dense -smoke and fumes from the oil forges, and the thick, sharp dust and ashes -from the coke fires. The tremendous noise of the hammers and machinery -and the priming of the boilers have a most injurious effect upon the -body as well as upon the nervous system; it is all intensely painful and -wearisome to the workmen. The most common forms of sickness among the -men of the shed are complaints of the stomach and head, with -constipation. These are the direct result of the gross impurity of the -air. Colds are exceptionally common, and are another result of the bad -atmospheric conditions; as soon as you enter into the smoke and fume you -are sure to begin sniffing and sneezing. The black dust and filth is -being breathed into the chest and lungs every moment. At the weekend one -is continually spitting off the accretion; it will take several days to -remove it from the body. As a matter of fact, the workmen are never -clean, except at holiday times. However often they may wash and bathe -themselves, an absence from the shed of several consecutive days will be -necessary in order to effect an evacuation of the filth from all parts -of the system. Even the eyes contain it. No matter how carefully you -wash them at night, in the morning they will be surrounded with dark -rings--fine, black dust which has come from them as you lay asleep. - -A short while ago I was passing through a village near the town, and, -seeing a canvas tent erected in a cottage garden I made it my business -to inquire into the cause of it and to ask who might be the occupant. -Thereupon I was told that the tent was put up to accommodate a -consumptive lad who slept in it by night and worked in the factory by -day. On asking what were the lad’s duties I was informed that he _worked -on the oil furnaces_. The agonies he must have suffered in that -loathsome, murderous atmosphere may easily be imagined. Strong men curse -the filthy smoke and stench from morning till night, and to a person in -consumption it must be a still more exquisite torture. Reading the -Medical Report for the county of Wilts recently I noticed it was said -that greater supervision is exercised over the workshops now than was -the case formerly. From my own knowledge and point of view I should say -there is no such supervision of the factory shops at all; during the -twenty odd years I have worked there I have never once heard of a -factory inspector coming through the shed, unless it were one of the -company’s own confidential officials. - -The percentage of sickness and accidents is higher at the stamping shed -than in any other workshop in the factory. The accidents are of many -kinds, though they are chiefly scalds and burns, broken and crushed -limbs, and injuries to the eyes. It is remarkable how so many accidents -happen; they are usually very simply caused and received. A great number -of them are due, directly and indirectly, to the unhealthy air about the -place. When the workman is not feeling well he is liable to meet with an -accident at any moment. He has not then the keen sense of danger -necessary under such conditions, or, if he has this, he has not the -power in himself to guard against it. He has a vague idea that he is -running risks, but he is too dazed or too ill fully to realise it, and -very often he does not even care to protect himself. He is thus often -guilty of great self-neglect, amounting to madness, though he is -ignorant of it at the time. When he is away from the shed he remembers -the danger he was in, and is amazed at his weakness, and vows -resolutions of taking greater pains in the future, but on coming back to -the work the old conditions prevail, and he is confronted with the same -inability to take sufficient precautions for his safety and well-being. -Where the air is good, or even moderately pure, the workmen will be more -keen and sensible of danger. Both their physical and mental powers will -be active and alert and accidents will consequently be much more rare. - -As soon as a serious accident happens to a workman a rush is made to the -spot by young and old alike--they cannot contain their eager curiosity -and excitement. Many are impelled by a strong desire to be of service to -the unfortunate individual who has been hurt, though, in nine cases out -of ten, instead of being a help they are a very great hindrance. If the -workman is injured very severely, or if he happens to be killed, it will -be impossible to keep the crowd back; in spite of commands and -exhortations they use their utmost powers to approach the spot and catch -a glimpse of the victim. The overseer shouts, curses, and waves his -hands frantically, and warns them all of what he will do, but the men -doggedly refuse to disperse until they have satisfied their curiosity -and abated their excitement. - -Immediately a man is down one hurries off to the ambulance shed for the -stretcher, another hastens to the cupboard for lint and _sal volatile_; -this one fetches water from the tap, and the “first-aid men” are soon at -work patching up the wound. In a few moments the stretcher arrives and -the injured one is lifted upon it and carried or wheeled off to the -hospital. Some of the men inspect the spot at which the accident -occurred and loiter there for a moment; afterwards they go on with their -work as though nothing had happened. - -If the injured man dies word is immediately sent into the shed. A notice -of the funeral is posted upon the wall and a collection is usually made -to buy a wreath, or the money is handed over to the widow or next-of-kin -to help meet the expenses. There are always a few to follow the old -comrade to the grave, and the bearers will usually be the deceased man’s -nearest workmates. Occasionally, if the funeral happens to be that of a -very old hand, and one who was a special favourite with the men, the -whole shed is closed for the event. Within two or three days afterwards, -however, the affair will be almost forgotten; it will be as though the -workman had never existed. Amid the hurry and noise of the shop there is -little time to think of the dead; one’s whole attention has to be -directed towards the living and to the earning of one’s own livelihood. -For a single post rendered vacant by the death of a workman, there are -sure to be several applicants; a new hand is soon brought forward to -fill the position. Though he does not wish to be unnatural towards his -predecessor, he thanks his lucky stars, all the same, that he has got -the appointment; it is nothing to him who or what the other man was. It -is an ill wind that blows nobody good, and that, for the most part, is -the philosophy of the men at the factory. - -There is one other point worth remembering in connection with the matter -of pure or impure air in the shed, and that is, that the quality of the -work made will be considerably affected by it. The more fit a workman -feels, the better his work will be. If he is deficient in health it will -be unreasonable to expect that his forging will be of the highest -quality; there is bound to be a depreciation in it. The same may be said -of the workman’s relations with his employers--his satisfaction or -dissatisfaction with existing conditions. If he is treated honestly and -fairly the firm will gain greatly thereby, in many ways unknown to them. -The workman, in return, will be conscientious and will use his tools and -machinery with scrupulous care. But if he is being continually pricked -and goaded, and ground down by the overseer, he will naturally be less -inclined to study the interests of the company beyond what is his most -inevitable duty, and something or other will suffer. In any case it is -as well to remember that in such matters as these the interests of all -are identical; where there is mutual understanding and appreciation gain -is bound to accrue to each party. No general has ever won a battle with -an unhealthy or discontented army, and the conditions in a large -factory, with ten or twelve thousand workmen, are very similar; the -figure is reasonably applicable. - -The year at the factory is divided into three general periods; _i.e._, -from Christmas till Easter, Easter till “Trip”--which is held in -July--and Trip till Christmas. There are furthermore the Bank Holidays -of Whitsuntide and August, though more than one day’s leave is seldom -granted in connection with either of them. Sometimes there will be no -cessation of labour at all, which gives satisfaction to many workmen, -for, notwithstanding the painfulness of the confinement within the dark -walls, they are, as a rule, indifferent to holidays. Many hundreds of -them would never have one at all if they were not forced to do so by -the constitution of the calendar and the natural order of things. - -Very little travelling is done by the workmen during the Easter -holidays. Most of those who have a couple of square yards of land, a -small back-yard, or a box of earth on the window sill, prepare for the -task of husbandry--the general talk in spare moments now will be of -peas, beans, onions, and potatoes. The longest journeys from home are -made by the small boys of the shed, who set out in squads and troops to -go bird’s-nesting in the hedgerows, or plucking primroses and violets in -the woods and copses. Young Jim was very excited when Easter came with -the warm, sunny weather; it was pleasant to listen to his childish talk -as he told us about the long walks he had taken in search of primroses -and violets, going without his dinner and tea in order to collect a posy -of the precious flowers. Questioned as to the meaning of Good Friday, he -was puzzled for a few moments, and then told us it was because Jesus -Christ was born on that day. Though he was mistaken as to the origin and -signification of the Festival, there are hundreds of others older than -he at the works who would not be able to answer the question correctly. - -At Whitsuntide the first outings are generally held. Then many of the -workmen--those who can afford it, who have no large gardens to care for, -and who are exempt from other business and anxieties--begin to make -short week-end trips by the trains. The privilege of a quarter-fare for -travel, granted by the railway companies to their employees, is valued -and appreciated, and widely patronised. By means of this very many have -trips and become acquainted with the world who otherwise would be unable -to do so. - -When the men come back to work after the Whitsuntide holidays they -usually find the official noticeboard in the shed covered with posters -containing the preliminary announcements of the annual Trip, and, very -soon, on the plates of the forges and walls, and even outside in the -town, the words “Roll on, Trip,” or “Five weeks to Trip,” may be seen -scrawled in big letters. As the time for the holiday draws near the -spirits of the workmen--especially of the younger ones, who have no -domestic responsibilities--rise considerably. Whichever way one turns he -is greeted with the question--often asked in a jocular sense--“Wher’ -gwain Trip?“ the reply to which usually is--”Same old place,“ or ”Up in -the smowk;” _i.e._, to London, or “Swindon by the Sea.” By the -last-named place Weymouth is intended. That is a favourite haunt of the -poorer workmen who have large families, and it is especially popular -with the day trippers. Every year five or six thousand are conveyed to -the Dorsetshire watering-place, the majority of whom return the same -evening. Given fine weather an enjoyable day will be spent about the -sands and upon the water, but if it happens to rain the outing will -prove a wretched fiasco. Sometimes the trippers have left home in fine -weather and found a deluge of rain setting in when they arrived at the -seaside town. Under such circumstances they were obliged to stay in the -trains all day for shelter, or implore the officials to send them home -again before the stipulated time. - -“Trip Day” is the most important day in the calendar at the railway -town. For several months preceding it, fathers and mothers of families, -young unmarried men, and juveniles have been saving up for the outing. -Whatever new clothes are bought for the summer are usually worn for the -first time at “Trip”; the trade of the town is at its zenith during the -week before the holiday. Then the men don their new suits of shoddy, and -the pinched or portly dames deck themselves out in all the glory of -cheap, “fashionable” finery. The young girls are radiant with -colour--white, red, pink, and blue--and the children come dressed in -brand-new garments--all stiff from the warehouse--and equipped with -spade and bucket and bags full of thin paper, cut the size of pennies, -to throw out of the carriage windows as the train flies along. A general -exodus from the town takes place that day and quite twenty-five thousand -people will have been hurried off to all parts of the kingdom in the -early hours of the morning, before the ordinary traffic begins to get -thick on the line. About half the total number return the same night; -the others stop away till the expiration of the holiday, which is of -eight days’ duration. - -The privilege of travelling free by the Trip trains is not granted to -all workmen, but only to those who are members of the local Railway -Institute and Library, and have contributed about six shillings per -annum to the general fund. Moreover, no part of the holiday is free, but -is counted as lost time. The prompt commencement of work after Trip is, -therefore, highly necessary; the great majority of the workmen are -reduced to a state of absolute penury. If they have been away and spent -all their money--and perhaps incurred debt at home for rent and -provisions beforehand in order to enjoy themselves the better on their -trip--it will take them a considerable time to get square again; they -will scarcely have done this before the Christmas holidays are -announced. - -At the end of the first week after the Trip holiday there will be no -money to draw. When Friday comes round, bringing with it the usual hour -for receiving the weekly wages, the men file out of the sheds with long -faces. This is generally known at the works as “The Grand March Past,” -because the toilers march past the pay-table and receive nothing that -day. The living among the poorest of the workmen will be very meagre, -and a great many will not have enough to eat until the next Friday comes -round, bringing with it the first pay. The local tradesmen and -shopkeepers look upon the Trip as a great nuisance because, they say, it -takes money away from the town that ought to be spent in their -warehouses; they do not take into consideration the fact that the men -are confined like prisoners all the rest of the year. - -Work in the sheds, for the first day or two after the Trip, goes very -hard and painful; everyone is yearning towards the blue sea or the fresh -open country, and thinking of friends and kindred left behind. This -feeling very soon wears off, however. Long before the week is over the -spirit of work will have taken possession of the men; they fall -naturally into their places and the Trip becomes a thing of the past--a -dream and a memory. Here and there you may see scrawled upon the wall -somewhere or other, with a touch of humour, “51 weeks to Trip”; that is -usually the last word in connection with it for another year. - -There are three general moods and phases of feeling among the workmen, -corresponding to the three periods of the year as measured out by the -holidays. The period between Christmas and Easter is one of hope and -rising spirits, of eager looking forward to brighter days, the long -evening and the pleasant week-end. The dark and gloom of winter has -weighed heavily upon the toilers, but this has reached its worst point -by the end of December; after that the barometer begins to rise and a -more cheerful spirit prevails everywhere. - -From Easter till Trip and August Bank Holiday--notwithstanding the -terrible trials of the summer weather in the case of those who work at -the furnaces--the feeling is one of comparative ease and satisfaction. A -series of little holidays is included in this period. The men are -encouraged to bear with the heat and fatigue through the knowledge that -it will not be for long; a holiday in sight goes far towards mitigating -the hard punishment of the work in the shed. The summer sunshine and -general bright weather, the occupations of gardening, and the prevalence -of herbs and salads, fresh, sweet vegetables, flowers, and fruits all -have a beneficial effect upon the workman and tend to distract his -attention from the drabness of his employment and make the weeks go by -more easily. The period is one of lightness. It is the time of -realization, the fulfilling of dreams dreamed through the long, dark -winter. - -From August till Christmas the feeling is one almost of despair. Five -whole months have to be borne without a break in the monotony of the -labour. The time before the next holiday seems almost infinite; a -tremendous amount of work must be done in the interval. Accordingly, the -men settle down with grim faces and fixed determinations. The pleasures -of the year are thrust behind and forgotten; day by day the battle must -be fought and the ground gained inch by inch. The smoke towers up from -the stacks and chimneys, the hammers pound away on the obstinate metal, -the wheels whirl round and the din is incessant. Day after day the black -army files in and out of the entrances with the regularity of clockwork; -it is indeed the period of stern work--the great effort of the year. -Whatever money the workmen save must be put aside now or never; the -absence of holidays and lack of inducement to travel will provide them -with the opportunity. Now is the time for purchasing new clothing and -boots and for getting out of debt--if there is any desire to do that; -it is in every sense of the word the great productive period. - -It is also interesting to note the various moods and feelings common to -the workmen during the passage of the week. Monday is always a flat, -stale day, and especially is this true of the morning, before -dinner-time. It might reasonably be supposed that the workmen, after an -absence of a day, or a day and a half, would return to the shed rested -and vigorous, and fit for new efforts, but this is far from being the -actual case. As a matter of fact, Monday is an extremely dull day in the -shed. Everyone seems surly and out of sorts, as though he had been -routed up from sleep before time and had “got out of bed on the wrong -side.” The foreman comes on the scene with a scowl; the chargeman is -“huffy” and irritable; the stampers and hammermen bend to their work in -stony silence, or snap at each other; even the youngsters are quiet and -mopish. Work seems to go particularly hard and against the grain. It is -as though everything were under a cloud; there is not a bit of life or -soul in it. This feeling is so general on the first day of the week that -the men have invented a term by which to express it; if you ask anyone -how he is on that day he will be sure to tell you that he feels “rough” -and “Monday-fied.” By dinner-time the cloud will have lifted somewhat, -though not till towards the end of the afternoon will there be anything -like real relief, with a degree of brightness. By that time the -tediousness of the first day will have worn off; the men’s faces -brighten up and a spirit of cheerfulness prevails. Now they speak to -each other, laugh, whistle and jest, perhaps; they have won the first -skirmish in the weekly battle. - -Tuesday is the strong day, the day of vigorous activity, of tool- and -also of record-breaking. The men come to work like lions. All the -stiffness and sluggishness contracted at the week-end has vanished now. -There is a great change, both in the temper and the physical condition -of the men, visible about the place; they move more quickly, handle -their tools better, and appear to be in perfect trim. The work made on -Tuesdays is always the greatest in amount and usually the best in -quality. Everyone, from the foreman to the office-boy, seems brighter -and better, more fit, well, and energetic--great things are accomplished -on Tuesdays at the works. - -Wednesday is very similar to Tuesday, though the men are not quite as -fresh and vigorous. The pace, though still smart and good, will fall a -little below that of the day previous. Three days’ toil begins to tell -on the muscles and reserve of the body, though this is counterbalanced -by the increase of mental satisfaction and expectation, the knowledge of -being in mid-week and of getting within sight of another pay-day and -cessation from work. - -Thursday is the humdrum day. As much work will be done as on the day -preceding, but more effort will be required to perform it. An acute -observer will perceive a marked difference in the general behaviour of -the workmen and in the manner in which they manipulate the tools. They -will begin to look tired and haggard. When they leave the shed at -meal-times they do not rush headlong out, pushing and shouting, but file -away soberly and in comparative silence. - -By Friday morning the barometer will have risen considerably. -Notwithstanding the tiredness of the individual, he is nerved to fresh -efforts and induced to make a final spurt towards the end of the weekly -race. His manner is altogether more cheerful, and he becomes quite -affable to his mates. If the manager or overseer passes through the shed -more frequently than usual and comes and times him at his work, he takes -but very little notice of him. Those who are by nature gruff and surly -melt a little and show a more genial disposition on the Friday. The -secret of all this lies in the fact that Friday is both the last whole -day to be worked at the shed, and it is pay-day, too. The men’s faces -brighten considerably at the approach of that happy and eagerly-awaited -hour. When they collect together around the pay-table they indulge in -jocular remarks with one another, and the majority bubble over with -good-nature. As they pass the table in single file they grab up the box -containing the money with commendable determination. If the pay is a -full one there will be a broad smile, or a grin, on the faces of most of -the men as they remove the cover and pocket the coin; that is about the -happiest and most triumphant moment of all for them. - -To draw the wages each man is furnished with a metal check having a -number, corresponding with his name in the register, stamped upon it. -The check is issued to the men as they enter the shed after dinner, and -is a guarantee that they have wages to receive on that day. Each man’s -wages are put up in a tin box, which is also stamped with his number. -The foreman takes his position at the head, and two clerks stand behind -the table. Of these, one calls out the number upon the box and the other -takes it and claps it sharply on the table. The men are waiting ready -and take it as they walk past; two hundred may be paid in about five -minutes by this method. Extras for piecework are paid fortnightly. -Whatever stoppages and contributions are due for the local Sick and -Medical Fund, coal, wood, and other charges, are deducted on the normal -week, and this is called “stoppage week.” Accordingly, the day of great -good-humour comes fortnightly, and that week is known among the men as -“balance week.” - -Saturday is the day of final victory, the closing up of the weekly -battle, though a great part of the eagerness evinced a day or two before -will have vanished now that the time to take the hebdomadal rest is -really at hand. It is strikingly true, even here, that expectation is -better than realization. Notwithstanding the fact that the men are tired -and worn out they do not appear to be as keen for the rest as might be -imagined; they now seem to have recovered their normal powers and work -away quite unconcernedly up to the last moment. The boys and youths, -however, will be restless; they whistle and sing and rush off like shots -from a gun as soon as the hooter sounds. - -Sunday is the day of complete inactivity with most of the workmen, and -it is possibly the weakest and the least enjoyed of all. If the weather -is dull and wet a great number stay in bed till dinner-time, and -sometimes they remain there all day and night, till Monday morning -comes. This will not have done them much harm; they will feel all the -more refreshed and the better able to face the toil and battle of the -coming week. - -Every day, as well as the year and week, has its divisions and a temper -and feeling on the part of the men corresponding with each of them. In -the morning, before breakfast, nearly everyone is sober and quiet, very -often surly, and even spitefully disposed. During that time the men in -the shed rarely speak to each other, but bend down to the labour in -silence. After breakfast the tone improves a little, and continues to do -so till dinner-time, when the tempers of the men will have become about -normal; they are restored to their natural humour and disposition. When -they return after dinner a still greater improvement is discernible, and -by five o’clock in the afternoon they are not like the same beings. In -the evening, after tea, greater good-fellowship than ever prevails, and -if a man meets his mate in the town he is quite cordial. By the next -morning, however, he is metamorphosed again; the old conditions obtain, -and so on day after day and month after month. The best work of the day -is always made in the morning, between the hours of nine and eleven. - -If a workman oversleeps in the morning and is too late for admittance -before breakfast, he may start at nine o’clock. This is called “losing a -quarter.” There are those at the works who are noted for losing -quarters; they are usually absent from the shed before breakfast once or -twice a week. Such as these, by the frequency of their absence, are not -noticed very much, but if one who is habitually a good timekeeper -happens to be out unexpectedly before breakfast, means are taken to -celebrate the event. When he arrives there will be a little surprise -awaiting him. He will find an effigy of himself standing near the forge, -and will receive a salute composed of hammers knocking on steel plates, -and the rattling of any old pot that chances to be at hand. During the -meal-time the workmen obtain several coats, a hat, and a pair of boots, -and fix them on the handles of the mallets and broom, and then chalk out -the features of a man upon the coke shovel. Afterwards they assemble in -a gang and greet their comrade with an overpowering din. If he is wise -he will take it all in good part and join in with the fun, and the din -will soon cease; but if he loses his temper--as is sometimes the -case--he is assailed more loudly than ever, and driven half mad with the -uproar. - -A somewhat similar reception is given to a workman who has just been -married. As soon as it is known that the banns are published--and this -is certain to leak out and news of it be brought into the shed--he -becomes the object of very special attention. The men come to him from -all quarters and offer him their congratulations, sincere and otherwise, -very often accompanying them with advice of different kinds, sometimes -of a highly sarcastic nature. Many insist upon shaking hands with him -and, with mock ceremony, compliment him on his decision to join the “Big -Firm,” as they call it, assuring him, at the same time, that they shall -expect him to “stand his footing.” Occasionally, if their mate is poor, -the men of a gang will make a small collection and buy him a present--a -pair of pictures, a piece of furniture, or a set of ornaments. Perhaps -this may be carried out ridiculously, and the whole thing turned into a -joke, whereupon the prospective bridegroom loses his temper and soundly -lashes his mates for their unsolicited patronage. - -If the workman divulges the time and place of the wedding there will -certainly be a few to witness it, in order to see how he behaves during -the ceremony. Very often they wait outside the church with missiles of -several kinds, such as old shoes and slippers, rice, barley, Indian -corn, and even potatoes, ready to pelt him. Occasionally, however, it -happens that the wily mate has deceived them with regard either to the -time or the place, and if they turn up at the church they will have to -wait in vain, the laughing-stock of all passers-by. When the newly -married man recommences work he is received with a loud uproar. This is -called “ringing him in.” A crowd of men and boys beat upon any loose -plate of metal that will return a loud clang--such as lids of -tool-chests, steel bars, anvils, and sides of coke bunks--and make as -much noise as possible. This is all over by the time the hooter sounds. -With the starting of the shop engine the men fall in to work, and the -marriage is forgotten by the crowd. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - - COLD AND HEAT--MEALS--FAT AND LEAN WORKMEN--WAYS AND - MEANS--PRANKS--ALL FOOLS’ DAY--NEW YEAR’S EVE - - -Two kinds of weather go hard with the toilers in the shed; they -are--extreme cold and extreme heat. When it is very cold in the winter -the men will be subjected to a considerable amount of draught from the -doors and roof; on one side they will be half-baked with the heat, and -on the other chilled nearly to the bone. The furnacemen and stampers -will be drenched with perspiration day after day, in the coldest -weather. When they leave the shed to go home at meal-times and at night -they will run great risks of taking cold; it is no wonder that cases of -rheumatism and lumbago are very common among those who toil at the -furnaces and forges. The workmen, for the most part, wear the same -clothes all the year round, winter and summer; they make no allowance -for cold and heat with warm or thin clothing. - -Very few wear overcoats, or even mufflers, in the coldest weather, -unless it is wet. They are often numbed with the cold, for they feel it -severely, and they commonly run up the long yard in order to keep -themselves warm in frosty weather on their return to the shed after -meals. If you ask them why they do not wear a cravat or muffler they -tell you it is “no good to coddle yourself up too much, for the more -clothes you wear the more you will want to wear.” A great many--of the -town workmen especially--do not possess an overcoat of any kind. -Whatever the weather may be they journey backwards and forwards quite -unprotected. I have known men come to the shed drenched to the skin, -many a time, and be forced to work in that condition while the garments -were drying on their backs. Now and then, though not often, a bold and -hardy workman will remove his shirt or trousers and stand and dry them -at the furnace door. If he does this he is certain to be shied at and -made the target for various lumps of coke and coal. Amusement is -sometimes caused by the shirt taking fire; I have more than once seen a -workman reduced to the necessity of borrowing an overcoat to wrap around -him in lieu of upper garments. Sometimes the clothes of half the gang -are set alight with sparks from the hammers, and burnt to ashes. - -The heat of the summer months, for those who toil at the furnaces and -forges, is far more painful to endure than are all the inconveniences of -cold weather. This is especially the case in close and stuffy sheds -where there is a defective system of ventilation, or where the workshop -is surrounded by other buildings. The interior of these places will be -like a hot oven; it will be impossible for the workmen to maintain any -degree of strength and vigour at their labour. In the early morning, -before eight o’clock, the air will be somewhat cooler, but by the time -of re-starting, after breakfast, the heat will be deadly and -overpowering; the temperature in front of the furnaces will be -considerably over 100 degrees. Where there is a motion of air the -workmen can stand a great amount of heat on all sides, but when that is -quite stagnant, and thick and heavy with the nauseous smoke and fumes -from the oil forges, it is positively torturous. The exigencies of -piecework will admit of no relaxation, however; approximately the same -amount of work must be made on the hottest day of summer as on the -coldest day of winter. - -There is one inevitable result of all this--the work made under such -conditions will be inferior in quality, for the men cannot spend the -time they should over the hot metal. If you stand and watch the stampers -you will see, from their very movements, how wretchedly tired and -languid they are; one-half of them are scarcely able to drag their weary -limbs backwards and forwards--they are truly objects of misery. At the -same time, they do not complain, for that would be fruitless, and they -know it. Lost to everything but the sense of their own inexpressible -weariness, with grim necessity at their elbows, they spend their last -effort on the job, having no interest available for the work, only -longing for the next hooter to sound and give them a temporary rest. -Those who work out of doors in the extreme heat of the sun, though they -perspire much, yet have pure air to breathe, so that there will be a -minimum of fatigue resulting from it. In the dust and filth of the shed, -however, the perspiration costs very much more. It seems drawn from the -marrow of your bones; your very heart’s blood seems to ooze out with it. - -The change from cold to heat, and also the shifting of the wind, is -immediately felt in the shed; there is no need of a weather-vane to -inform you of the wind’s direction. Even when there is air moving, only -one half of the place will benefit from it. Entering the shed at one -end, it will pile up all the smoke and fume at the other. This, instead -of passing out, will whirl round and round in an eddy, and tease and -torment the workmen, making them gasp for breath. - -The toilers have resort to various methods in order to mitigate the heat -during the summer months. The furnacemen, stampers, and forgers usually -remove their shirts altogether, and discard their leathern aprons for -those made of light canvas, or old rivet bags. The amount of cold water -drunk at such times is enormous. It is useless to advise the men to take -it in moderation: “I don’t care, I must have it,” is the answer made. -Occasionally the officials issue oatmeal from the stores, to be taken -with the water. This removes the rawness from the liquid, and makes it -much more palatable, and less harmful to the stomach. The boys are -especially fond of the mixture; they would drink it by the bucketful, -and swallow grouts and all. They do not believe in wasting anything -obtained gratis from the company. - -One plan, in very hot weather, is to wrap a wet towel or wiper about the -head, cooling it now and then with fresh water. Some hold their heads -and faces underneath the tap and let the cool water run upon them; and -others engage their mates to squirt it in their faces instead. Such as -do this tie an apron close around the neck under the chin, and receive -the volume of water full in the face. It is delicious, when you are -baked and half-choked with the heat in midsummer, to go to the big tap -under the wall and receive the cold water on the inside part of the arm, -just below the shoulder, allowing it to run down and flow off the finger -tips. This is very cooling and refreshing, and is a certain restorative. - -Now and then, during the meal-hour, a hardy workman will strip himself -and bathe in the big bosh used for cooling the furnace tools. In the -evening, after a hard sweating at the fires, many of the young men will -pay a visit to the baths in the town. Little Jim and his mates, who have -no coppers to squander upon the luxury of a dip under cover, betake -themselves to the clay-pits in a neighbouring brick-field. There they -dive down among the fishes and forget about the punishment they have -suffered to-day, and which is certainly awaiting them on the morrow. - -The majority of the workmen go out of the sheds to have their food. In -very many workshops they are not permitted, under any consideration, to -remain in to meals. On the score of health this is as it should be; it -forces the workman, whether he likes it or not, to breathe a little -fresh air. It also removes him from his surroundings for the time, and -affords him some refreshment in that way. The sheds in which the men are -allowed to have their meals unmolested are the smiths’ shops, the -steam-hammer shops, and the rolling mills shed. In all these places the -men perspire considerably, and they would be very liable to take a -chill, especially in the winter months, if they were forced to go out -into the cold air to meals. Mess-rooms are provided for the men of some -shops, and tea is brewed and food cooked for as many as like to repair -to them. Very many will not patronise them, however, because they do not -like eating their food in public; they say it is “like being among a lot -of cattle.” Such as these take their food in their hand and eat it as -they walk about, or perhaps they visit a coffee tavern or an inn of the -town. During fine weather a large number have their meals in the -recreation field underneath the trees. Their little sons or daughters -bring the food from home, with hot tea in a mug or bottle, and meet them -outside the entrances. Then they sit down together in the shade of the -elm-trees and enjoy the repast. - -The forgers and furnacemen do not eat much food in the shed during the -summer months. The heat of the fires and the fumes from the oil furnaces -impair their appetites, and large quantities of bread and other -victuals are thrown out in the yard for the rats and birds. Rooks and -sparrows are the only regular feathered inhabitants of the yard, if, -indeed, the rooks can be so called, for they have their nests a long way -off. They merely obtain their food about the yard during the day and go -home to bed at night. The sparrows build their nests almost anywhere, -though their favourite place seems to be in the sockets made in the -walls for containing the lamp brackets. As the lamps are removed during -the summer months, the holes afford a convenient resting-place for the -ubiquitous _passeres_. - -No starlings frequent the yard; they prefer a quieter and more natural -habitation. A robin, even, is an unusual visitor, while martins and -swallows never visit the precincts of the factory. The sweet -_chelidon_--the darling stranger from the far-off shores of the blue -Mediterranean--shuns the unearthly noise and smother of the factory -altogether; her delight is in places far removed from the whirling of -wheels and the chu-chuing of engines. - -The rooks seem perfectly inured to the smoke and steam and the life of -the factory yard; at all hours of the day they may be seen scavenging -around the sheds, picking up any stray morsel that happens to be lying -about. Four of these frequent the yard regularly. Summer and winter they -are to be seen strutting up and down over the ashes of the track, or -perched upon the tops of the high lamps. Once, during a gale, I saw a -rook try to alight upon the summit of a lamp, eighty feet high--on the -small curved iron stay that crowns the whole like a bow. Although it -secured a footing on the top, it could not balance itself to rest there, -but was forced to keep its two wings entirely expanded in order to -maintain any equilibrium at all. This it did for nearly two minutes, but -the force of the wind was so great that it could not keep its balance -and was presently blown away. To view it there, with wings outstretched, -brought to mind a bird of a much nobler reputation than that of Master -Rook; it was worthy of the traditions of the eagle. - -It is instructive to note the various types of men and to consider how -they compare with one another. Big, fat workmen invariably make better -mates than do small, thin ones. Their temper is certain to be more -genial, and they are usually more open and simple, hearty and free; -everything with them, to use a time-honoured phrase, seems to go “as -easy as an old cut shoe.” Even Cæsar, though very thin himself, wished -to have about him men who were fat and sleek--he was suspicious of the -lean and hungry-looking Cassius. Fat workmen, as a rule, seem incapable -of much worry. If anything goes amiss they look upon it with the -greatest unconcern and lightly brush it aside, while the thin, small -individual is forever fretting and grieving over some trivial thing or -other. It is noteworthy that hairy men, as well as being considerably -stronger, are usually better-tempered than are those who are lacking in -this respect. The little person is proverbially vain and conceited and -“thinks great things” of himself, as the Greeks would have said, while -the words of the old rhyme are uniformly true and applicable:-- - - “Long and lazy, - Black and proud, - Fair and foolish, - Little and loud.” - -Small pride is discovered in the individual of sixteen or seventeen -stone weight. Nor are size and bulk in a workman always indicative of -the greatest prowess. Very many men of no more than five feet or less -in stature, and of correspondingly small proportions, are veritable -lions in strength. - -Of all styles of workmen soever the dandy, or, as he is vulgarly called, -the “swanker,” is usually the least proficient at his trade. There is -another who would delight to stand with his hands behind him, or perhaps -to walk about like it: he is certain to be of the self-conscious type, -one not extra fond of making unnatural exertions. This one, whenever an -opportunity presents itself, would stand with his thumbs thrust in the -arm-holes of his waistcoat and complacently look upon all around him; -you may know him for one who would rather see you do a job than do it -himself. That one yonder is fond of standing with his arms folded, and -another would thrust his hands deep into his trousers pockets at every -stray opportunity. Such as these may come in time to draw as much wages -as the best workmen on the premises, or they may even obtain more, but -they will never be experts themselves; they are too choice, and too -dilatory. Your capital workman never adopts any of these attitudes. -Walking or standing, pausing, resting, or viewing any other operation, -his hands are down by his sides--free, and in the most advantageous -position for rendering assistance to himself, or to others, as the case -may be. - -The men of one department or shed--except in the case of a fire--never -help those of another, no matter how great the difficulty may be, unless -they have been officially lent, and this is of extremely rare -occurrence. One might think that where two sheds stand side by side, -help would occasionally be given, when it was required, but such is the -condition of things, and so rigid is the system imposed at the works, -that this is completely out of the question. The men of two contingent -sheds, though they may have been working close together for twenty or -thirty years, are almost total strangers. They may see each other now -and then, and recognise one another by sight, but they do not think of -exchanging conversations. - -There is one matter, however, in which, notwithstanding the many -facilities at hand for perfect equipment, the works resembles most other -establishments, and that is in the frequently defective supply of proper -tools for the workmen and the too great tendency to use anything that -may be lying about for a makeshift. When I came into the factory as a -boy I expected to find everything of this sort in perfect arrangement. -In the rough and ready trade of agriculture I had been accustomed to -making the best use of old, worn-out tools. The farmer, if he is not -blessed with abundant capital, is often forced to have recourse to crude -means and expedients in order to tide himself over a difficulty. He must -bind up this and patch that, and sometimes set his men to work with -tackle that is broken and antiquated. One looks for this, naturally, out -on the farm, and is surprised if he does not find it so. But in the -factory, thought I, there will be none of it. I supposed that all the -machinery would be in perfect trim, that tools would be very plentiful -and of the best description, and that everything would be ordered for -the men’s convenience in order to expedite the work. - -A short acquaintance with matters in the shed soon dispelled this -illusion, however. I found that the same condition of things obtained in -the factory as was the case on the far away, deserted farm. There -something ailed the chaffcutter, the mowing- or reaping-machine, the -plough, the elevator, or the horse-rake. Some links were missing from -the traces and had to be replaced with stout wire; many things were in -use that were heavy, cumbersome, and primitive. Here something is wrong -with the steam-hammer, drill, lathe, or hydraulic machine. The -wheel-barrows are broken, the shovels are without handles, the besoms -are worn out; hammers and chisels, tongs, sets, and other tools are -almost as scarce as pound pieces. You seldom have any decent tools to -work with unless you can make them yourself, or pay the smith for doing -it out of your own pocket. Then, in nine cases out of ten, if the -machinery breaks down, the same means are resorted to as were adopted by -the farmer or haulier; any patching up will do until such time as -someone or other can make it convenient to carry out the necessary -repairs. As long as the parts hang together and the wheels go round, -that will be considered sufficient. This kind of procedure, in the case -of a farmer or other, who has no very great convenience for equipping -himself with every desirable apparatus, may be condoned, but in a large -and professedly up-to-date factory there is no excuse at all for it--it -is pure misdemeanour and slovenliness. - -Many pranks are played upon one another by the workmen, though it is -significant of the times that skylarking and horse-play are not nearly -as common and frequent as they were formerly. The supervision of the -sheds is much more strict, and the prices are considerably lower than -they used to be; there is not now the time and opportunity, nor even the -inclination to indulge in practical jokes. Under the new discipline the -men are generally more sober and silent, though they are none the -happier, nevertheless. The increased efforts they are bound to make at -work and the higher speed of the machinery has caused them to become -gloomy and unnatural, and, very often, peevish and irritable. It is a -further illustration of the old adage-- - - “All work and no play - Makes Jack a dull boy.” - -There is one matter for congratulation, however, and that is that the -youngsters are not to be deprived of their sports and amusements on any -pretext whatever. Though you set them to do almost impossible tasks they -will find the time and the means to exercise their natural propensity to -playfulness. - -It is a bad sign when there is a total absence of play in the shed. It -is bad for the individual and for the men collectively; it indicates too -great a subjection to working conditions--the subjugation of inherent -nature. It is of far greater value and importance to mankind that spirit -and character should be cherished and maintained, than that the trifling -and petty rules of the factory should be scrupulously observed and -adhered to. At the same time, no sane person would recommend that an -unrestricted liberty be allowed the workmen. There is bound to be a -certain amount of law and order, but where everything is done at the -piece rate and the firm is not in a position to lose on the bargain, it -is stupid obstinately to insist upon the observance of every little rule -laid down. Piece-rated men seldom or never work at a perfectly uniform -speed; there are dull and intensely active periods depending sometimes -upon the physical condition of the workman and sometimes upon the -quality known as “luck” in operation. Give the workman his head and he -will fashion out his own time-table, he will speedily make up for any -losses he has incurred before. The feeling of fitness is bound to come; -he revels in the toil while it possesses him. There never was, and there -never will be, a truly mechanical man who shall work with the -systematical regularity of a clock or steam-engine; that is beyond all -hope and reason, beyond possibility and beyond nature. What is more, it -is absolutely unnecessary and undesirable. - -One prank that used to be greatly in vogue in the shed was that of -inserting a brick in the sleeve of a workmate’s jacket as it was hanging -up underneath the wall or behind the forge. This was sometimes done for -pure sport, though occasionally there was more than a spice of malice in -the jest. Perhaps the owner of the garment had been guilty of an -offence, of tale-bearing, or something or other to the prejudice of his -fellow-mates, and this was the means adopted for his punishment. -Accordingly, a large brick was quietly dropped into the sleeve from -inside the shoulder and well shaken down to the cuff, and the jacket was -left hanging innocently in its position. At hooter time all those in the -secret congregated and waited for the victim of the joke to come for his -coat. Suddenly, as the hooter sounded, he rushed up in a great hurry, -seized his coat and discovered the impediment, while all the others -speedily decamped. He had considerable difficulty in dislodging the -brick from the sleeve. After trying in vain for ten minutes or more he -was usually forced to cut away the sleeve, or the lining, with his -pocket-knife. - -Another favourite trick was to place some kind of seat under a wall in -order to entice the unwary, and to fix up above it a large tin full of -soot, so arranged as to work on a pivot, and operated by means of a -string. The soot was also sometimes mixed with water, and stirred up so -as to make an intensely black fluid. By and by an unsuspecting -workman--usually an interloper from the yard or elsewhere--would come -along and sit down upon the improvised seat. Very soon one of the gang -shouted out “Hey up!” sharply, and as the victim jumped up someone -pulled the string and down came soot, water, and very often the pot, -too, upon his head. If the joke was successful the dupe’s face was as -black as a sweep’s; a loud roar of laughter went up from the workmen -and the unhappy victim very quickly got outside. Sometimes, however, he -did not take it so quietly, and I have seen a free fight as the outcome -of this adventure. - -The water-pipe plays a great part in practical joking in the shed, -though this is more usually the juvenile’s method of perpetrating a jest -or paying off an old score. There is also the water-squirt, which is -another juvenile weapon. It is sufficient to say that the use of this, -whenever it is detected, is rigidly put down by the workmen themselves; -it is universally looked upon as a nuisance. Great injuries to health -have been done, in some cases, by senseless practical joking with the -water-pipe. I have known instances in which a workman has thrust the -nose of a pipe up the trouser leg of another as he lay asleep on the -floor in the meal-hour, during night duty, and he has been awakened by -it to find himself quite drenched with the stream of water and most -wretchedly cold. One lad, who used to drive the steam-hammer for me, was -often treated to this by some roughs of the shed, and, as a consequence, -was afflicted with chronic rheumatism. Finally he had to stop away from -work altogether, and he lay as helpless as a child for nine years, with -all his joints stiff and set, and died of the torture. - -There is a touch of humour in the situation sometimes, however, as when, -for instance, upon breaking up for the Christmas holidays, a group of -workmen were singing “Let some drops now fall on me,” and a wag, in the -middle of the hymn, shot a large volume of water over them from the -hose-pipe. Another trick is to fill a thin paper bag with water and -throw it from a distance. If it happens to strike its object the bag -bursts, and the individual forming the target receives a good wetting. - -All Fools’ Day is sure to be the occasion for many jokes of a suitable -kind. A common one at this time is to take a coin and solder it to the -head of a nail, and then to drive the nail into the sill of a door, or -into the floor in a well-frequented spot where it is bound to be -noticed. As soon as it is spied efforts will certainly be made to detach -the coin, and, in the midst of it, the party of youths who prepared the -trap rush forward and bowl the other over on the floor, at the same time -greeting him with boisterous laughter and jeers. Even the chief manager -of the works’ department has been the victim of this jest. In this case -an old sixpence was strongly soldered to the nail, which was then well -driven into the floor. Presently the manager came along, saw the coin, -and made several attempts to pick it up. It needs not to be said that -the jest itself was witnessed in respectful silence; the bowling over a -chief might have been attended with certain undesirable consequences. - -New Year’s Eve was always suitably observed and celebrated by those on -the night-shift. When the men came in to work they set about their toils -with extra special celerity, and the steam-hammers thumped away with all -possible power and speed. This effort was maintained till towards -midnight, and then everyone slowed down. At about one o’clock a general -cessation of hostilities took place. The steam-hammers were silenced, -the fires were damped, and the tools were thrown on one side. All that -could be heard was the continual “chu-chu” of the engine outside forcing -the hydraulic pumps, and the exhaust of the donkey engine whirling the -fan. In one corner of the shed a large coal fire was kindled on the -ground, and around it were placed seats for the company. Then an -inventive and musical-minded workman stretched a rope across from the -principals and came forward with two sets of steel rods, of various -lengths and thicknesses, and capable of emitting almost any note in the -scale. These were tied about with twine and suspended from the rope in a -graduated order, from the shortest to the longest. Someone else fetched -a big brass dome from a worn-out boiler, while others had brought -several old buffers from the scrap waggon. Two were trained to strike -the rods, and the others were instructed to beat on the dome and -buffers. - -Shortly before midnight, when the bells in the town and the far-off -villages began to peal out, the workmen commenced their carnival. Bells -were perfectly imitated by striking the bars of steel suspended from the -rope; the buffers contributed their sharp, clear notes, and the brass -dome sounded deeply and richly. This was called “Ringing the changes.” -When the noise had been continued for a sufficient length of time food -was brought out and the midnight meal partaken of. Although strictly -against the rules of the factory, someone or other would be sure to have -smuggled into the shed a bottle or jar of ale; this would be passed -round and healths drunk with great gusto. When supper was over a -melodeon or several mouth-organs were produced, and selections were -played for another hour. After that the majority had a nap; they seldom -started work any more that morning. The foremen and watchmen were -usually missing on New Year’s Eve, or if they should happen to arrive -upon the scene they never interfered. For once in their lives they, too, -became human, and accepted the situation, and perhaps the old watchman -sat down with the men and drank out of their bottle and afterwards -puffed away at his pipe. If the high officials at the works had only -known of what was going on at the time they would have sacked half the -men the next day, but even they, sharp as they are, do not get -intelligence of everything. - -All this happened some twenty years ago and would not be possible -to-day. The shed in which it took place has been deserted by the forgers -and transformed into a storehouse for manufactures. The kindly disposed -old watchmen are dead, or have been superseded, and a new race of -foremen has sprung up. Of the workmen some are dead and others have -retired. A great number are missing, and many of those who remain have -altered to such an extent under the new conditions that I have sometimes -wondered whether they are really the same who worked the night shift and -jested with us in the years ago. So striking is the change that has -taken place, not only in the administration, but in the very life and -temper of the men of the factory during the last decade. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - - GETTING A START--THE NEW HAND--TOWN AND COUNTRY - WORKMEN--PROMOTION--DISCHARGING HANDS--LANGUAGE OF THE - SHED--EDUCATION--THE EDUCATED MAN NOT WANTED--GREASING - THE FORGE - - -Formerly, when anyone was desirous of obtaining a start in the factory, -he tidied himself up and, arrayed in clean working costume, presented -himself at one or other of the main entrances immediately after -breakfast-time so as to meet the eyes of the foremen as they returned -from the meal. Morning after morning, when work was plentiful, you might -have seen a crowd of men and boys around the large doorways, or lining -the pavements as the black army filed in, all anxious to obtain a job -and looking wonderingly towards the opening of the dark tunnel through -which the men passed to arrive at the different sheds. The workmen eyed -the strangers curiously, and, very often, with contempt and displeasure: -it is singular that those who are safely established themselves dislike -to see new hands being put on. They look upon them as interlopers and -rivals, and think them to be a menace to their own position. - -Those in want of a start were easily recognisable from the rest by -reason of their clean and fresh appearance. Many of them were clad in -white corduroy trousers, waistcoats of the same material, with cloth -jackets and well-shone boots, and they wore a plain red or white muffler -around the neck. Some of them were very modest and bashful, and quite -uneasy in face of the crowd; the boys especially were astonished to see -so many workmen at once passing by like an army. - -As soon as the men had disappeared within the entrances the hooter -sounded and the great doors were shut. Shortly afterwards the staff -clerks came along, the foremen walking between them at the same time. -Very often the two classes were not to be distinguished; in such a case -the overseers passed by unchallenged. It usually happened, however, that -the foremen were known to one or other of the crowd. As they came up the -word was sent round and there was a rush to see who should be the first -to put the usual question--“Chance of a job, sir?” This was sometimes -accompanied with an obsequious bow, or the applicant merely raised his -forefinger to his forehead. If the foreman was not in need of hands, he -simply said “No” to each applicant and pushed by them all. If he -required any he asked them where they came from and what they had been -doing, and furthermore questioned them as to their age. If the answers -were satisfactory he merely said, “Come along with me,” and conducted -the men off, and they followed with alacrity. - -The boys hardly ever had the courage to address the foremen. If they -could summon up the necessary resolution, however, they said, “Please, -sir, will you give me a job?” and if the reply was favourable they -followed off in high glee, wondering all the way at the strange -surroundings, the busy workmen, and the vast array of machinery. Boys -usually had but little difficulty in obtaining a start; they were soon -taken on and initiated into the mysteries of the sheds. When the foreman -saw them outside he went up to them and asked them if they wanted a job -and promptly told them to “Come along.” - -When an applicant was taken in hand by the foreman he was conducted to -the shop office. From that place he was sent, in company with the -office-boy, to the manager’s department, where he had to submit to a -whole code of formal questions, and was also required to read the rules -of the factory and to subscribe his name to them, pledging himself to -their observance. After that he was required to undergo a strict medical -examination, though one not so severe as that now in vogue. If he was -successful in this he was told to present himself at the shed, and was -there informed when he might begin work. This might be at any hour of -the day, though it was usually fixed for the early morning--getting a -start commonly occupied one day entire. Sometimes it happened that a -man’s references were unsatisfactory; in that case, after working for -several days, he was discharged and another was brought forward to fill -the vacancy. - -The boys were always frightened at the thought of one painful ordeal -which they were told they would have to undergo. They were seriously -informed by their new mates in the shed that they would have to be -branded on the back parts with a hot iron stamp containing the initials -of the railway company, and very many of the youngsters firmly believed -the tale and awaited the operation with dreadful suspense. As time went -on, however, and they were not sent for to the offices, they came to -discredit the story and smiled at their former credulity. - -Different methods are now employed in engaging new hands. They are now -seldom taken up from the entrances, but must apply at the works’ Inquiry -Office and begin to pass through the official formula in that way, or -the foreman is supplied with names from private sources. This is another -indication of the times, a further development of system at the works. -By reason of it many good and deserving men and boys are precluded from -the chance of getting a start in the factory, and many less competent -ones are admitted; it affords an excellent opportunity for the exercise -of favouritism on the part of the overseer. Whoever now has a mate he -would like to introduce into the shed approaches the foreman. If he is a -favourite himself room will be made for his friend, somehow or other, -but if he is a commoner, and not reckoned among the “lambs,” he will be -met with a curt refusal, or his application will be put off -indefinitely. The officials do not gain anything by the method; they -will not be able to exercise as great a choice in the selection of -hands, but must have what is sent them. - -Another tendency at the works is that to keep out all those who do not -live in the borough or within a certain area around the town, or, if -they are given the chance of a start, it is only upon condition that -they leave their homes and come and live under the shadow of the factory -walls. It is said that this rule was first introduced chiefly in -deference to the tradesmen and shopkeepers of the town, because they are -under the impression that all wages earned in the town should -necessarily be spent there, either in the payment of rent or the -purchase of provisions and clothes. - -When a new hand enters the shed he attracts considerable attention; all -eyes are immediately fixed upon him. If he has worked in the factory -before he will go about his duties in a very unconcerned manner, but if -he is a total stranger to the place he will be shy and awkward, and will -need careful and sympathetic instruction; it will be some time before he -is entirely used to the new surroundings. If he is rustic in appearance, -or seems likely to lend himself to a practical joke, the wags of the -place soon single him out and play pranks upon him. It sometimes -chances, however, that they have mistaken their man; they may meet with -a sudden and unlooked for reprisal and be beaten with their own weapons. - -The workmen who come from the villages are usually better-natured and -also better-tempered than are those who are strictly of the town, though -there are exceptions to the rule. On the whole, however, they make the -more congenial mates, and they work much harder and are more -conscientious. They dress much more roughly than do their confrères of -the town; the last-named would not think of wearing corduroys in the -shed. There is often a great temperamental difference between the two, -and they differ widely in their ideas of and adaptability for work in -the shed. The country workman is fresh and tractable, open to receive -new ideas and impressions of things. He brings what is practically a -virgin mind to the work; he is struck with the entire newness of it all -and enters heart and soul into the business. He is usually more active -and vigorous, both in brain and body, than is the other, and even where -he falls short in actual intelligence and knowledge of things, he more -than makes up for it with painstaking effort; he is very proud of his -new situation. - -The town workman, on the other hand, is often superior, disdainful, and -over-dignified. There is little in his surroundings that is really new -and strange to him. He has always been accustomed to the crowds of -workmen, and if he has not laboured in the shed before he has heard all -about it from his friends or parents. His mind has often become so full -of the occupations and diversions of the town that it is incapable of -receiving new ideas; it is like a slate that has been fully written over -and is impossible of containing another sentence or word. Instead of -exhibiting shyness or reserve he immediately makes himself familiar and -causes his presence to be felt. Before he has been in the shed many days -he knows everything and can do everything, in his estimation, and if you -attempt to reason with him, or offer any advice as to how to proceed, he -will inform you that he “knows all about it without any of your -telling.” - -Many of the town workmen, and especially those of the more highly -skilled classes and journeymen, though village-born themselves, show -considerable contempt for the country hand newly arrived in the shed, -and even after he has worked there many years and proved himself to be -of exceptional ability. They consider him at all times as an interloper -and a “waster,” and make no secret of their dislike of and antipathy to -him. They often curse him to his face, and tell him that “if it was not -for the likes of him“ they would be getting better wages. ”If I could -have my way I’d sack every man of you, or make you come into the town to -live. All you blokes are fit for is cow-banging and cleaning out the -muck-yard; you ought to be made come here and work for ten shillings a -week,” they say. All this has but little effect upon the countryman, -however, and he seldom deigns to reply to it. Whether his coming to the -factory to work was really better for him or not, prudent or otherwise, -he does not attempt to argue. There is no law that prohibits a man from -changing his occupation and taking another place when he feels inclined -so to do. - -When the average boy of the town first enters the shed he is not long in -finding his way about and taking stock of the other juveniles and men; -he is here, there, and everywhere in a few moments. With his -shirt-sleeves turned up to the elbow he walks round, whistling or -humming a tune, and greeting all indiscriminately with a wink or a nod, -and a “What cheer?” or “Pip! pip!” If the men beckon to him--with a sly -wink at their mates, intending to ask some ridiculous question or take a -rise out of him--the youngster shakes his hand at them and retires -straightway with a knowing nod and the expression, “I don’t think,” -laying great stress upon the don’t. By and by, however, as he becomes a -little more proficient and “cheeky,” the men get hold of him and treat -him to a little rough play. They will either twist his arm round till he -cries out with the pain, and nearly crush him in a vice-like grip, or -dip his head in the nearest bosh of water. - -The country lad behaves in a manner quite the reverse of this. He -remains strictly near his machine or steam-hammer, and is usually too -bashful to speak, unless it be to his immediate mates. He is afraid of -strangers, and it will be some weeks before he ventures to walk to the -other end of the shed. Even when he does this it will be not to converse -with the other boys and men, but in order to watch the machines, the -furnaces, and steam-hammers. There he will stand with great attention -and view the several operations, and if anyone shouts out at him he will -move quietly away and watch something else with the same earnestness, or -go back to his own place. His conduct is altogether different from that -of the other, and he is often singular in turning up his shirt-sleeves -_inside_, and right up to the very shoulders. Before the town boy goes -home from the shed he is careful to wash off the black from his face, -comb his hair, and tidy himself up. The country boy, on the other hand, -wears his livery home with him; he likes everyone to see that he has -been engaged at a hot, black job. In a word, town boys are ashamed of -the badge of their work, while country boys are proud of it. - -Perhaps, when the village boy starts in the shed, one or two kindly -disposed workmen will immediately take notice of him, and, calling him -to them, will ask him where he comes from, and upon what kind of work he -was before engaged, and all about himself, and so win him over with -their friendliness; no matter how long he remains in the shed he does -not forget their former kindness to him. In contradistinction to this -the wags of the shed make him a ready mark for their diversions, running -away with his cap, or sending him on many ridiculous errands and -confounding him with stupid questions and conundrums. One favourite jest -was to send him to the engine-house after a “bucket of blast,” and -another was to despatch him for the “toe punch.” The “toe punch” -consisted of a vigorous kick in the posterior, which the youngster, if -he obeyed the instructions given, was most certain to receive; but he -very soon came to know what was intended and sturdily refused to run any -more errands. - -A great alteration, physically and morally, usually takes place in the -man or boy newly arrived from the country into the workshop. His fresh -complexion and generally healthy appearance soon disappear; his bearing, -style of dress and all undergo a complete change. In a few weeks’ time, -especially if his work is at the fires, he becomes thin and pale, or -blue and hollow-eyed. His appetite fails; he is always tired and weary. -For the first time in his life he must go to the surgery and obtain -medicine, or stay at home on the sick list. His firm carriage--unless he -is very careful of it--leaves him; he comes to stoop naturally and walks -with a slouching gait. His dress, from being clean, tidy, and -well-fitting, partakes of the colour of soot and grease and hangs on his -limbs; I know cases in which men have lost ten pounds in weight in a -fortnight and regained it all in a little more than a week’s absence -from the shed. - -The change in character and morals is often as pronounced as is the -physical transformation; the newcomer, especially if he is a juvenile, -is speedily initiated into the vices prevalent in the factory and taught -the current slang phrases and expressions. Some of the workmen are -greatly to blame in respect of this, and are guilty of almost criminal -behaviour in their dealings with young boys. They use the most filthy -language in their presence, purposely teaching them to swear, and -sometimes also producing obscene pictures and books for their perusal. -The foremen are not free from blame and responsibility in this matter. -Many of them use the most foul language, and curse the men openly before -the youngsters upon the slightest provocation. There is a species of -Continental picture card that is far too popular in some of the offices; -where the example is set by superiors it is small wonder that the rank -and file are affected with the contagion. The managers themselves are -guilty of coarse language and vulgar expressions. Certain remarks of -theirs are frequently repeated and circulated in the sheds, and do not -tend to improve the morals of the workmen, or to increase respect for -those who made them. - -Promotion among the workmen is very slow and tedious, unless there -happens to be an influence at work somewhere behind, which is often the -case. It is superfluous to say, moreover, that the cleverest man is not -the one usually advanced; that would be contrary to all precedent at the -factory. He is more usually the very individual to be kept under; the -foreman will be sure to keep him in the background and hide his light -underneath the bushel, or try his best to snuff it out altogether. The -only material advancement possible to a workman, besides being appointed -overseer, is that of being raised to the position of chargeman. A few -privileges attach to the post of chargeman, especially if there is a -big gang; his wages are higher, and he draws a sum called percentage, -equal to 10 per cent. of his own weekly wages, deducted out of the -“balance” earned by the gang. - -The system of paying percentage is very unpopular with the rank and file -of the workmen; whether the chargeman’s behaviour is good or bad, he is -heartily hated by most of the men in consequence of it. Foremen they -must tolerate, but a chargeman they fully despise. They do not like to -think that any of their earnings go to pay for his supervision, although -in most cases he is quite a necessary individual. In times past the -chargeman used to pay the piecework “balance” to the men, having -received the money in a bulk from the company, and he was often guilty -of scandalous robbery and cheating. The chargeman could and did pay the -gang what amount he pleased, and kept several pounds a week extra for -himself. All that is past and done with now. The “balance” is paid to -the man with his day wages; no opportunity of cheating him is given to -the chargeman. - -As soon as it becomes known that it is intended to discharge a number of -hands considerable anxiety is evidenced by the rank and file, and -especially by the unskilled of the shed. They begin to quake and tremble -and to be full of apprehension, for it is usually men of their class who -are chosen to go, together with any who may be old and feeble, those who -are subject to periodical attacks of illness, who have met with an -accident at some time or other, those who are awkward and clumsy, -dwellers in country places, and those whom the foreman owes a grudge. It -can generally be surmised beforehand by the men themselves who will be -in the number of unfortunates. Groups of workmen gather and discuss the -situation quietly; there is great suspense until the notices are -actually issued. Sometimes as many as a hundred men of the same shed -have received their notices of dismissal in one day. The notices are -written out upon special forms and the clerk of the shed, or the -office-boy, carries them round to the men; it is a dramatic moment. -Although fully expecting to receive the dreaded “bit of paper,” the men -hope against hope; they are quite dazed when the clerk approaches and -hands it to them, for they know full well what it means. The young men -may not care a scrap. To them all the world is open. They have plenty of -other opportunities; but to those who are subject to illness--contracted -on the premises--or who are getting on in life and are becoming old and -grey and unfit for further service, it is little less than tragedy. One -day’s notice is served out to the men; they are quickly removed from the -shed and are presently forgotten. - -Of the number discharged a great many loiter about the town for several -weeks, unable to find any sort of employment. These scatter about among -the villages and try to obtain work on the farms; those are assisted by -their relatives and kindred in various parts of the country to leave the -locality altogether. Some find their way into the workhouse and end -their days there, and others develop into permanent loafers and outcasts -and beg their food from door to door, picking up stray coppers around -the station yard or in the market-place. - -Great relief is felt in the shed when the discharging is over. A common -remark of the workman who is left is, “Ah well! ’Twill be better for we -as be left. ’Tis better to sack a few than to keep us all on short time -here.” That is invariably the view of the well-established in the -factory. Occasionally, when a workman knows he has been selected for -dismissal through spite, or personal malice, he may go to the overseer -and “have it out with him,” but there is no remedy. The foreman has had -the whole batch in his eye for some time past. Whatever little -indiscretion is committed he records it and the man is marked. The -overseer boasts openly that he shall “get his own back,” sooner or -later. “We don’t forget it, mate, you bet, not we! His time’ll come all -right, some day.” After the last great discharge of hands at the -factory, in the year 1909, when a thousand men were dismissed in order -to “reduce expenses,” it was reported that every manager at the works -was granted a substantial increase in salary. In less than a month, for -some inscrutable reason, a number of new hands, equivalent to those who -had been discharged, were put on again. - -The speech of the workmen in the sheds necessarily varies according to -the country or locality which gave them birth or to the part in which -they were settled before coming to the railway town, and to the degrees -of culture existing among them. The majority, including foremen, -fitters, smiths, and other journeymen and labourers, speak a common -language, plain, direct, and homely; there is little pretence to fine -words and “swell” phrases. The average workman detests nothing more than -to be bound to a mate who is always giving himself airs, who lays stress -upon his claim to superior knowledge of grammar and other matters, and -who makes use of affected or artificial language and “jaw-breakers,” as -the men call them. Sometimes a new-comer to the shed may attempt to make -an impression with a magnificent style of diction, though he is only -mocked and ridiculed for his pains, and he soon conforms to the general -rule and habit of the workshop. Even if he really possesses culture, it -is soon effaced and swallowed up amid the unsympathetic environment of -the shed. Occasionally one meets with an individual--it may be a -workman or a clerk--who can never speak simply, but tries to express -everything in ridiculous and fantastic language, and who at all times -looks upon himself as a perfect hero. The blunt and matter-of-fact -workmen take an entirely different view of him and his jargon, however; -they look upon him as a perfect fool or an idiot. - -One habit of speech is particularly noticeable amongst the men, that -is the adding the suffix “fied” to a number of words; you often hear -them make use of such expressions as “Monday-fied,” “sweaty-fied,” -“bossy-fied,” “silly-fied,” and so on. Another peculiarity is the adding -the letter y to a surname, usually a monosyllable, and especially to -those ending in dentals and labials, such as Webb-y, Smith-y, Legg-y, -Lane-y, Nash-y, Brooks-y; you never find the termination used with such -words as Fowler, Foster, Matthews, Jerrom, or Johnson. This is no more -than an extension of the rule which is responsible for such forms as -Tommy, Annie, Betty, Teddy, or Charlie. - -If one workman asks another how he is feeling, he usually receives for -an answer--“Rough and ready, like a rat-catcher’s dog,” or “Passable,” -or “Among the Middlings,” or “In the pink, mate!” as the case may be, -with the common addition of “Ow’s you?” A few are still to be found, and -these among the town dwellers, too, who can neither read nor write. I -especially remember one youth, of a very respectable family, of good -appearance and fairly well-to-do, who could not write his name or read a -letter. Such cases as this are happily rare now. Where there is an -illiterate workman, if the cause of his deficiency be carefully sought -out, it will usually be found to have been entirely through his own -fault. - -As for the fruits of education exhibited among the men in the sheds -generally, that is rather a difficult and delicate matter to touch upon. -One thing, however, is obvious to any who care to pay the slightest -attention to it: extremely little of those subjects taught with such -assiduity at school remains with the individual in after life--such -things as grammar, composition, history, geography, arithmetic, and -chemistry are universally forgotten. The boys of the town are especially -remarkable for shortness of memory and general forgetfulness; they have -few powers of mental retention, and are almost incapable of -concentrating upon a matter. You have often to instruct them upon each -trivial detail half-a-dozen times, and before you can turn round they -have forgotten it again. The least occurrence is sufficient to distract -their attention. Scolding will not help matters, it is really a natural -defect. When I have had occasion to reprove boys for apparent -carelessness and neglect they have more than once replied--“I can’t help -it. I forgot it.” There is great truth in the first of those sentences. - -Sport and play, and especially football, claims the attention of the -juveniles. The love of the last-named pastime has come to be almost a -disease of late years--old and young, male and female, of every rank and -condition, are afflicted with it. Whatever leisure the youngsters have -is spent in kicking about something or other amid the dirt and dust; -from one week’s end to another they are brimful of the fortunes of the -local football team. Many a workman boasts that he has denied himself a -Sunday dinner in order to find the money necessary for him to attend -Saturday’s match. Politics, religion, the fates of empires and -governments, the interest of life and death itself must all yield to the -supreme fascination and excitement of football. - -There is an almost total lack of spontaneous interest in anything--with -the exception of sport and politics--that happens in the world without -the factory walls and the immediate vicinity of the town. The great -business of life is entirely ignored; small inclination is -discoverable--even if there were opportunities--to pay attention to -anything but the ordinary duties and routine of the shed. The beauties -of wood and field, or hill and down, scarcely appeal to the average -working man. Though magnificent downlands and historical relics are -within easy reach of the town’s-people, few are tempted to walk so far -from the smoky atmosphere of the factory as to visit them; a great -indifference to the compelling attractions of Nature apparently exists. -Yet, on the other hand, if you should happen to enter the shed with a -handful of common wild flowers--willow-herb, rosebay, bell flower, -oxeye, and so on--you would immediately be surrounded by a crowd of -boys, and men, too, full of admiration for the lovely strangers, and all -eagerly inquiring after their names, thereby discovering an innate -passion for them, though lack of opportunity and other circumstances had -almost obliterated it. Every man, woman, and child, though they may not -be well aware of it, is a nature-lover at heart; they all have a fond -regard for the simple, natural things of the earth--birds, plants, and -flowers. The men of the shed are always eager to listen to and take part -in political discussions, but they are, as a rule, totally indifferent -to the interest of literature. At the same time, if you have anything to -tell them of birds, flowers, and animals, life on the farm, haymaking, -reaping, threshing, ploughing, and so on, they are full of attention: -they evidently derive great pleasure from the relation of these simple -matters and occupations. - -As for general culture, it may at once be said that the educated man is -not wanted at the factory. What is more, the managers will not have him -if they can by any means avoid it; there is a great antipathy to him on -the part of the staff in and out of the shed. Where a workman is known -to possess any intellectual abilities above those commonly found and has -the courage to raise his voice in any matter or to interest himself in -things pertaining to the town, or if he has in any way access to the ear -of the public, he is certain to be marked for it; at the first -convenient opportunity he will be shifted off the premises. Every -workman who desires to improve himself in any direction other than in -that which tends to promote the interests of the company is looked upon -with suspicion; he is immediately included in the number of -“undesirables.” - -Several years ago the manager of a department, who was at the time -Chairman of the local Educational Authority, sent for me in order to see -whether I might be of any use to him in his office. After a lengthy -interview he expressed his disappointment at being unable to offer me -any position, and took care to point out to me the folly of my ways. My -intellectual qualifications were beyond his consideration, said he. I -was so full of many matters as to be quite worthless to him. He must -have certificates. What was the use of my trying, anyhow? He would quote -two words to me--_Cui bono?_ The world was full of better men than I. -What was the good of literature? His advice to me was to go back to my -furnace, look after my wife and family, and trouble no more about it. - -At the forge, however, the steady persistence of my efforts towards -self-improvement was not appreciated. Day after day the foreman of the -shed came or sent someone with oil or grease to obliterate the few words -of Latin or Greek which I had chalked upon the back of the sooty -furnace in order to memorise them. Even my tool-boxes and cupboard, -always considered more or less private and sacred, were periodically -smeared with fat and the operation was often carried out in a very -offensive manner. The plan was not successful, however, and I was often -more amused than annoyed, though it was most seriously intended by the -overseer, who always said he was acting under the manager’s orders. At -one time he had caused the furnace back to be tarred. Before the tar had -completely dried I innocently chalked upon it several words that figured -in my studies for the day. By the next morning the characters had become -permanent. The colour of the chalk had set, and as often as the overseer -or his agent came with the oil-pot and removed the dust and soot, -thinking to baffle me, he was confronted with the Horatian precept, _Nil -desperandum_, a quotation from the _Hecuba_, and Σταύρωσον αὐτόν (Crucify -him) from the New Testament. The one most appreciated at the works is he -who remains silent and slavishly obeys every order, who is willing to -cringe and fawn like a dog, to swear black is white and white is black -at the bidding of his chief, to fulfil every instruction without ever -questioning the wisdom or utility of it, to be, in a word, as clay in -the potter’s hand, a mere tool and a puppet. - -Where the cultured person does exist in the shed he must generally -suffer exquisite tortures. There can be no culture without a higher -sensibility, and he will be thereby rendered less able to endure the -hardships of the toil, and the otherwise brutal and callous environments -of the place. As for the view, held in some quarters, that education -will make a man happier at work and better satisfied with his lot and -condition, that is pure myth and fallacy, and the sooner it is -dispensed with the better. On the other hand, it will most certainly -produce dissatisfaction, but such, perhaps, as will speedily wake him up -to his real needs and requirements--a larger freedom, and the attainment -of a fuller and better life. Any kind of education that tends to make -the workman at all subjective to his lot is worthless and retrograde; he -must be roused up to battle towards perfection of conditions and must -himself be prepared to make some sort of sacrifice towards the -accomplishment of that end, unless he is content to occupy the same -level for ever. Nor will it be sufficient for him to have obtained -higher wages and greater leisure if he does not attempt to derive -something more than a mere physical or material benefit from them. -Whatever advantage is gained in the future must be turned to sterling -account--to the acquisition of useful knowledge and the increase of -mental strength and fitness, otherwise the battle will have been fought -greatly in vain. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - - SHORT TIME AND OVERTIME--“BACK TO THE LAND”--THE TOWN - INFLUENCE--CHANGES AT THE WORKS--GRIEVANCES--THE POSITION - OF LABOUR--ILLS AND REMEDIES--THE FUTURE OUTLOOK - - -Frequent spells of short time occur at the works, which are most certain -to be followed by brisk and busy periods, as though the officials were -anxious to make up for every moment of the previously lost time. It -usually happens that the change is made direct from prosperity to -adversity and _vice versa_. One week the machinery in the sheds is -running day and night and every man is working unusual hours; the next, -everything is changed. Short time is declared; only half the output will -be needed and about half the time worked. Similarly, after a period of -short weeks, a full-time notice is posted, and by the next night all the -men are pell-mell on overtime, working as though they had but a few -hours to live. Whether it is necessary or not is never ascertained; -there is apparently an astounding want of order and foresight on the -part of the managing staff. - -It is remarkable that, notwithstanding the terrific nature of the -hardships endured, the majority of the men at the factory do not show -themselves seriously averse to the working of overtime. There is even -satisfaction evinced at the prospect of putting in an extra day, or day -and a half, a week, and drawing a few shillings more in wages. The few -who dislike it from principle and on other grounds must swallow their -objections and join in with the rest; whether they like it or not they -are forced to follow the crowd. If a man refuses point-blank to work -after the usual hours he is punished either with suspension from the -shed or instant dismissal. Unfortunately for the good of the working -classes generally, those who are satisfied with the ordinary rate of -hours are insignificant in number. The highly-paid workmen and -journeymen are about as unreasonable in the matter as are the lowest -paid labourers. Very often they are the more insatiable of the two; they -will put in any number of hours provided an opportunity is given them -for so doing. The trade unionists are usually as well agreed as the -others to work extra time; there is but very little difference -discovered between them. No matter how loudly they declaim against the -system and advocate the abolition of overtime, should the order be -issued they commonly obey it with alacrity. - -Occasionally, though not often, it is announced that the working of -overtime may be optional. In the extreme heat of summer, when overtime -at the fires is prevalent, the overseer may relax a little and cause it -to be known that any who wish it may go home at the ordinary hour, but -few take advantage of the offer. I have known those who were highly -paid, on the hottest days of summer, to be so severely punished with the -heat that they could scarcely stand at their posts, almost incapable of -further effort and exhausted with the toil, yet though it was free for -them to leave at the usual hour they would not go home. They cling to -the shed as long as they possibly can; they have an unnatural fondness -for the stench and smoke. Such as these are often teased and twitted and -told to “bring their beds” with them, or an outspoken workman will tell -them they ought to die and be buried on the premises. - -A great part of the overtime, moreover, is not always genuinely -necessary, but is artificially engineered in order to please this or -that one and to provide someone or other with additional pocket-money. A -few chargemen in every shed systematically nurse the overseer and -entreat, or influence him, directly or otherwise, to allow them to work -a few quarters, a Saturday afternoon, or a Sunday. - -Very often, too, some of the men live in houses owned by their foreman. -In that case a little overtime will expedite payment of the rent; it -will not then be amiss to allow them to work a few quarters. The putting -on a few new hands and the addition of a night shift would obviate much -overtime and give the unemployed a chance, but the daymen are offended -should that proposition be made. I have actually heard men volunteer to -work double-handed at the fires and promise to turn out considerably -increased quantities of work on their turn rather than for the foreman -to run a night shift and so prevent them from working overtime. - -The men’s takings at such times as these are fairly high. Some of the -new hands are astonished when they receive their wages, with the -piecework “balance” added, on a full week. One of them, in the days of -the old foreman of the frame shed, was so aghast at the amount he had to -draw he could not believe it was all intended for him; he thought there -must be a mistake somewhere. Accordingly, holding the money in his hand, -he went back to the foreman, and, in front of all the other men -cried--“Be this all mine, sir?” The foreman, who happened to be in an -ill-temper, cursed him for an idiot and promptly told him to “clear -out.” - -At another time, when the men were being paid on breaking up for -Christmas holidays, a good-natured country lad, whose earnings were -small, chanced by mistake to draw the wages of another, much more -highly rated than himself, and, thinking the extras were intended for a -Christmas-box, promptly went and laid out the money in presents for his -mother and dad. He was quickly called to account, however, and had to -refund the cash at once, and he furthermore received the imputation of -being a sly rogue and a thief. Without doubt money is plentiful during -overtime, though the extras are far from being all profit. It costs more -to live. The workman requires more to eat and drink, more clothes, -firing, light, and other sundries, to say nothing of the sacrifice of -freedom and life. - -It is little real gain to the workman, even though he have a trifle -better food and clothing, a finer house and costlier furniture, while he -has to work excessively long hours in order to pay for it. The more -expensively he lives the more time he must spend in the smoke and stench -of the shed and the greater must be his dependence upon his employer. He -that lives simply in a modest cottage is much nearer to freedom than the -other can ever hope to be, for he is bound down to life-long servitude. -Every hour spent outside the factory walls is a precious addition to -life; whoever willingly throws away the opportunity of enjoying it is -guilty of the highest folly and negligence. He is the curtailer of his -dearest rights and liberties, the forger of fetters for himself and his -children after him, and the sooner the working classes can be brought to -see this the better it will be for them. - -There is a great deal of talk, chiefly with a political bias, about the -sheds, of getting back to the land. Many of the men tell you they are -sick of town life and conditions and would like to see themselves -established upon a dozen acres of land far away from the noise of the -factory, but they never make the slightest effort towards the -consummation of the wish. The fact is that, notwithstanding all the -punishments and hardships endured in the workshop, they are still -strongly attached to it or to the life they are enabled to live by -reason of it. They have no intention whatever at heart of changing their -occupation. They are content to mix with the crowd, and are unable to -withstand the novelty and excitement of the town existence. - -During the many years I have spent in the works I have known of but one -case in which a man left the shed to go back to the land as a small -working farmer. He had always been careful and thrifty, and seemed to be -well fitted for the agricultural life, but he could not succeed in it. -After five or six years of hard labour, trying in vain to prosper, he -returned to the shed, a disappointed and ruined man: he had spent his -savings and lost the whole of his small capital. He is still working in -the shed, and he has no intention of repeating the experiment. The wages -at the works, though low as compared with those obtainable at other -towns, are much higher than what the farm labourer receives. Youths of -eighteen years of age in the sheds often draw more than the carter or -cowman, who may have to maintain big families. - -Consequently, while the cry of “Back to the land” is heard on all sides, -there is at the same time a most passionate desire to get away from it -and to come into the town to work and live; whoever is of the requisite -age will be certain to appear at the factory gates to try and obtain -admission there. The whole countryside, within a radius of six or eight -miles of the town, is almost destitute of good strong workmen. Only the -feeble and decrepit are left behind to work on the farms--those who -cannot pass the physical tests and those who formerly worked in the -factory and were discharged through old age or other causes of -unfitness. Once a man becomes settled in the factory he is very -reluctant to leave it. Notwithstanding the rigour of the system imposed, -he usually remains there till the end of his working days, unless he -happens to meet with an accident or dismissal. He soon loses his -self-confidence and independent spirit. The world is considerably -narrowed down in his view; he feels bound to the life with indissoluble -fetters. - -As for the work itself, men do that in the factory they would scorn to -do outside or upon the farm. They would not be seen milking or -“clod-hopping,” or carrying a yoke and pails, a truss of hay on their -head, or a little pig in their arms, or driving cattle to market. At the -same time they are not ashamed to scour down filthy roofs and windows, -to do white-washing, to clean black and greasy engines, to wheel coal -and ashes up or down the stage, to tar the axles and wheels of waggons -and vehicles, to stand at the furnace or machine all day in a -half-fainting condition choked with the smoke and dust of the shed; as -though it were not more wholesome to have to do with cattle and crops -than to be for ever penned up within four walls! - -Although perhaps not as keen intellectually as are some of those who get -their living in the town, and not receiving as much in wages, the best -of the farm-hands are healthier, happier, and generally more well-to-do -than are the factory labourers. At the same time, it is but natural that -a man should desire to leave the country to come into the town. Though -the work is much sharper and infinitely more painful while it lasts, the -shorter hours and higher pay are powerful inducements for him to make -the change. He will be free on Saturday afternoons, and there is no -Sunday labour, while his wages will often be half as much again as what -he would get on the farm. It is idle to say that the desertion of the -countryside is a modern symptom; that has very little force, for it was -always the same among highly civilised communities. The Greek husbandman -left the soil and flocked to Athens to sit in the Agora, the Egyptians -thronged the streets of Alexandria, and the Italians deserted the plough -and sickle and crowded in Rome to see the circus games and other -diversions of the “_Urbs Terrarum_.” - -Those who, most of all, use the cry of “Back to the land” are they that -obtain the highest wages in the sheds, and who are themselves the least -likely to set the example. Men with families enlarge upon the blessings -and privileges of agricultural life, but they take great care to get -their sons started in the shed at the very earliest opportunity. As soon -as they leave school they are brought along in knickerbockers and -presented to the overseer, with the earnest hope of a speedy admission -to work on the premises. I know of several cases in which workmen have -been offered financial help in order to instal them in small-holdings, -and they have refused point-blank. When I asked them the reason they -replied that they “would rather go home at half-past five, if it made no -difference,” and that is the crux of the whole matter. Not only this, -there is the football match, the railway “Trip,” the privilege fares, -the theatre, the cinematograph, the skating-rink, and the trams, all -which must be sacrificed if the workman determines in favour of the -simple life on the farm or small-holding. The class of men to secure for -the land is the pick of the agricultural labourers, those who are -uncontaminated with the life of the town; it is useless to think of -reclaiming those who have once entered the factory and become -established there. - -Even very many of those who dwell outside the town are not content to -spend their leisure in the village; in the evening and at week-ends -they wash and dress and flock back to the street corners or parade up -and down the thoroughfares. Innovations such as the cinematograph and -the skating-rink, though harmless enough in some respects, are of little -real value to the workman; with all their claims to be “educational” and -“health-giving” the town could very well afford to dispense with them. -There is little that is really manly and vigorous in roller-skating, and -many of the cinematograph pictures serve only to indulge the craving for -the novel and sensational. Half the boys of the shed, and even the -infants of the town, can think of little but those ridiculously stupid -and often debasing entertainments, of blood and thunder, crime, and -mawkish love dramas; their minds are rendered quite incapable of -imbibing sound and useful knowledge. - -Even the trams, useful as they are, prove in several ways detrimental to -the toiler and contribute to the restriction of his liberty. Scores of -workmen I know wait at their doors or at street corners for five, and -very often for ten minutes, in order to ride a distance of about a -quarter of a mile. I have nothing to say against the habit provided the -man can afford twopence or threepence a day for fares. At the same time, -considered from the point of view of health, walking the distance would -often be much better, and every copper needlessly spent by the worker -tends to make him more and more dependent upon the shed. Where a man is -engaged upon very hot and laborious work he is often too tired to walk -home. The wages of such a one ought to be sufficiently high to enable -him to make the journey in a taxicab, if he desired it. - -Very different from this, however, is the lot of the small-holder. He -must rise early all the year round--in summer and winter, light or dark, -hot or cold weather. His work is not of five-and-a-half, but of six or -seven days. Where cattle are kept there can be no such thing as a day -off; dumb mouths must be fed and their needs ministered to. He has no -trams to take him to work, very often no shelter from the storms and -showers, no shade in summer and no steam-heated refuge in winter. His -leisure is short, his companions few, his whole life laborious. But he -is happy and strong, healthy, and vigorous in body and mind; he is in -many ways a better man than is his _confrère_ of the town. Considerably -more skill, knowledge, and human feeling are also required on the part -of the carter, cowman, and shepherd in dealing with their teams, flocks, -and herds, than in the case of those who merely superintend mechanical -processes and have to do with lifeless blocks of iron and steel, yet the -countrymen are more or less despised by the factory workers and are -greatly deficient in wages. Low wages are given on the farm simply -because it is the custom so to do; if the Government were to intervene -and fix a higher rate the extra money would be paid as a matter of -course. This is the only kind of reform that would really popularise -work on the land from the point of view of the poor man and help to -check the wholesale migration to the towns. Not until such improvements -have been made will the labourer be willing heartily to respond to the -cry of “Back to the land.” - -One thing is especially to be deplored in the factory, and that is the -serious lack of recognition and appreciation of the skilful and -conscientious workman; there is very little inducement for anyone to -make efforts in order to obtain better results at the steam-hammer or -other machine. If a workman proves himself to be possessed of unusual -skill and originality, instead of being rewarded for it he is boycotted -and held in check. Even the managers are not above exhibiting the same -petty feeling where they find their ideas have been eclipsed by those of -less authority. It is their habit to think that anything they suggest is -the best possible of its kind. - -Whatever inventions are produced by the workmen, whether in leisure time -or at the shed, become the property of the railway company; they claim -the right of free and unrestricted use of all patents applied for by -their employees. Consequently, if a workman discovers means by which he -might assist the firm with a new process he holds his peace and troubles -no more about it. He knows that he would not be thanked for the -information, and he is also aware that if the scheme were adopted his -prices would consequently be reduced. In more up to date sheds, and -particularly in America, bonuses are given for the best work made and -every man is induced, by all reasonable means, to think out new methods. -An “idea box” is kept on the premises; every “happy thought” is written -upon a form and slipped into this. The managers alone inspect the sheets -and any suggestion considered worthy of being adopted is paid for.[4] - - [4] Since these pages were penned the railway authorities - have invited the workmen to submit to them any ideas they - may have for the improvement of dies and plant, but, - unfortunately, the local foreman still stands in the way - and blocks progress. On the publication of the notice a - workman of the shed put forward a brilliant and original - idea in respect of a complex job upon which he was - engaged, but the foreman promptly cut him short and told - him he was a ---- fool, and there the matter ended. - -Bonuses are paid to firemen and engine-drivers on the line for economy -in fuel. The same plan might profitably be adopted in the factory. It is -well-known that certain men invariably produce the best work. One -furnaceman will waste as much again fuel as another. One machineman -breaks no end of drills and tools. The work of this or that smith always -looks rough and shoddy. One stamper spoils more dies in a year than -another will in ten and often gets his work sent back, while the other -does never. If the best men were the most highly paid there would be no -just cause for complaint, but they are not. They are all classed the -same. The incompetent receives as much as the competent and is usually -held higher in esteem. - -That great changes have taken place in regard to everything connected -with the factory of late years is not to be disputed. Different schemes -of work and other methods of dealing with the men have everywhere been -introduced. New machinery has revolutionised many branches of the labour -and it usually happens that where an appliance that saves 50 per cent. -to the firm is adopted the men are hustled into double activity; the -great delight of the managers is to boast of the large amount of work -produced by a machine, and to add that “one man does it all.” In -addition, prices all round are continually being sharpened; “balance” is -earned with greater difficulty and only by increased effort. The -officials declare openly that piecework balance is merely given to the -men when they earn it without strenuous efforts; they will not admit the -reasonableness of working with any degree of sanity and comfort. - -As well as new machinery, which has revolutionised many branches of work -in the factory, there are such things as fresh laws and regulations -touching accidents and compensation for injuries, which have helped -considerably to modify the tone and character of the sheds. Only those -in perfect health are now admitted to the works; those possessed of -flaws of any kind are rejected. The tests are almost as severe as are -those used for recruiting for the Army and Navy, and young men are -refused on account of the most trivial ailments and infirmities. - -When a man shows signs of being subject to recurrent spells of sickness -he is marked out as an undesirable; as soon as an opportunity comes he -will be quietly shifted off the premises. If a workman falls ill he must -not only satisfy the medical authorities at the works’ infirmary, and -notify his foreman of the fact, but, after passing the doctor’s -examination and clearing off the funds, he must present himself at one -of the manager’s offices and be further interrogated before he is -allowed to start again. This last-named examination is deeply resented -by the rank and file, and many, though ill, continue at work when they -ought to be at home because they do not like the irritating process of -passing the test and the certainty of having something or other recorded -against them. - -In reality this is a system of espionage, a cowardly inquisition, but -one that is in high favour with the foreman because it gives him the -chance of getting rid of a man on so-called medical grounds without his -suspecting that he has been discharged for other reasons. By this means -the shed foreman may remove anyone against whom he has a grudge and he -cannot well be blamed himself; the victim is told that he is “medically -unfit,” and there is an end of it. The game is played by putting a -private pen mark upon the official slip to be presented at the office. -If the foreman desires to retain the workman he puts a private mark upon -the paper, and if he wants to get rid of him and has not the courage to -tell him so to his face the mark is omitted. This is so arranged in -order that if the workman suspects that the paper contains something to -his detriment and demands to see it, there shall be nothing that he can -cavil at. The damaging thing is in that there is no sign upon it. -Honest Mark Fell, who was one of the finest smiths that ever worked at a -forge, an excellent time-keeper, and who was possessed of a grand -character, died rather than go out on the sick list and be forced to -pass the dreaded inquisition. He was run down with over-work, and was -badly in need of a rest, but he did not like the idea of going to the -offices. Accordingly he kept coming to work day after day, and grew -weaker and weaker. When at last he did stay out it was too late; his -strength and vitality were gone and he died within a week or two -afterwards. - -A decade and a half ago one could come to the shed fearlessly, and with -perfect complacence; work was a pleasure in comparison with what it is -now. It was not that the toil was easy, though, as a matter of fact, it -was not so exhausting as it is at present, but there was an entirely -different feeling prevalent. The workman was not watched and timed at -every little operation, and he knew that as the job had been one day so -it would be the next. Now, however, every day brings fresh troubles from -some quarter or other. The supervisory staff has been doubled or -trebled, and they must do something to justify their existence. Before -the workman can recover from one shock he is visited with another; he is -kept in a state of continual agitation and suspense which, in time, -operate on his mind and temper and transform his whole character. - -At one time old and experienced hands were trusted and respected, both -by reason of their great knowledge of the work, acquired through many -years, and as a kind of tacit recognition of their long connection with -the firm, but now, when a man has been in the shed for twenty years, -however young he may be, he is no longer wanted. There is now a very -real desire to be rid of him. For one thing, his wages are high. In -addition to this, he knows too much; he is not pliable. It is time he -was shifted to make room for someone lower paid, more plastic and more -ignorant of the inner working of things. - -If a workman has a grievance it is useless for him to complain to the -overseer, who is usually the cause of it, and if he takes it upon -himself to go and see the manager he gets no redress. The manager always -supports the foreman whether he has acted rightly or wrongly, and the -man is remembered and branded as a malcontent; he will be carefully -watched ever after. The safest way to quell a man is to keep him hard at -work. While his nose is firm upon the grindstone there is no danger of -his indulging in speculations of any kind; he could no more realise -himself than he could hope to see the stars at midday. - -While the men are inside the walls of the factory, they are under the -most severe laws and restrictions, many of which are utterly ridiculous, -and out of all reason considering the general circumstances of the toil -and the conditions in vogue; they are indeed prisoners in every sense of -the term. In the midst of the busiest period of hay-making and -harvest-cart, ploughing or threshing, a short stop is always made for -refreshment, or the labourer takes a crust of bread and cheese from his -pocket and eats it at his work and is strengthened with it, but in the -factory one must not be seen to crack a nut, or eat an apple or biscuit, -much less to partake of any other food. If he should break the rule and -be seen eating, he will be marked for it and told to “get a pass out and -go home.” Four or five hours is a long time to keep up a strenuous pace -at the fires. A half-way relaxation of ten minutes would be good for -everyone; the workman would more than make up for it afterwards. - -A regrettable dulness is discovered by very many of the men, which may -be bred of the labour itself and the extremely monotonous conditions of -the factory. There is little or no thought taken for the future, no -knowledge of the value of life, and not much desire to know, either. The -workmen do not think for themselves, and if you should be at the pains -of pointing out anything for their benefit they will tell you that you -are mad, or curse you for a Socialist. Anyone at the works who holds a -view different from that expressed by the crowd is called a Socialist, -rightly or wrongly; it would need an earthquake to rouse many of the men -out of their apathy and indifference. It is more than education at -fault. There is something wrong at the very roots of the tree. The whole -system of life requires overhauling and revolutionising; the national -character is become flat and stale. - -I have already, in the first chapter, referred to labour unrest. That is -the perfectly natural outcome of modern conditions of labour, the long -spell of commercial prosperity, and of the spread of knowledge among the -working classes. It is not to be viewed with misgiving at all, at any -rate, not by those who can look intelligently into the future and brush -aside the paltry prejudices that are common everywhere to-day. The very -fact that working-men are rousing themselves and showing a masterly -interest in problems of the hour, and are prepared to fight fairly and -bravely for better conditions should be a source of satisfaction to -everyone. It proves, at least, that they are awake and alive; that they -have cast off torpor and stagnation and put on power and virility, and -that is surely a good omen both for the future of democracy and for the -nation at large. The extent of the riches of this country is so great as -to be inconceivable to the workers; if they knew how much wealth there -really is they would need to have no scruples in pressing with all their -might for a fairer share in the profits of their labours. Where the pace -is so much faster and the output considerably increased it is natural -that there should be a demand for higher wages and shorter hours. More -leisure and rest are absolutely indispensable in order properly to -recuperate for the increased demands made upon the workmen’s physical -powers. The difficulties of forming agreements with the men are not -nearly as great as they are represented to be. Drastic changes could be -made with but very little inconvenience or loss to the firm; the -transition would be almost imperceptible. - -The idea that the general factory week should be completed in five -turns, the day shifts to finish working by Friday night, and the night -shifts to complete their toils by Saturday morning, has long been in my -mind. The having two clear days of leisure would give the worker an -opportunity of entirely shaking off the effects of confinement in the -shed at the week-end, and of starting work a new man on the Monday -morning. It is impossible for one to recuperate sufficiently in the -short space of time at present allowed; he is never free from the -effects of the hurry and speed of the machinery. There is, moreover, no -time to get away from the shadow and ugliness of the factory walls and -to make the acquaintance of other scenes in the country round about. -When the sheds are closed on Saturdays for short time, crowds of workers -either leave the town on foot and walk around the adjacent villages, -enjoying the fresh, pure air, or take short trips by the train and come -back strengthened with the change; you hear many a one say, during the -following week, that he feels extra fit and well. - -If a week of forty-eight hours were divided out and completed in five -turns, instead of six, it would be both popular with the men and -economical for the employers. The fuel and light, the cost of steaming -up the boilers and the general wear and tear of machinery on the sixth -turn and for several hours a day besides would be saved, and there would -be about an equivalent amount of work produced. It is useless for -critics and calculators to come forward with figures and quotations to -disprove the statement and show its impossibility; I have worked in the -shed long enough to understand the true significance of things. What is -more, the workman is not, and never will be a mathematical machine; his -efforts and powers are not to be calculated by the set rules of -arithmetic. - -The whole trend of things in the industrial world is towards shorter -hours, better wages, and a greater proportion of liberty for the -workman; all the objections that can be raised and schemes devised will -not stop the progressive movement. Sooner or later the barriers must -give way, and the goal will have been reached; the wonder then will be -that the change was not effected earlier. I would bid all toilers and -moilers, in and out of factories, to be of good hope and cheer, to fight -on and press steadily forward; victory will be certain to follow. At the -same time, one must not expect to arrive at an utter immunity from -hardships, nor, perhaps, will the whole of the differences between -capital and labour ever be absolutely removed and every problem solved. -Many conditions, however, will most certainly have been bettered, many -disputes settled and evils overcome, and this, it will be confessed, is -worth living and hoping for. - - - - -APPENDIX - - -Table of average day wages per week of fifty-four hours paid to men -employed at Swindon Railway Works, July 1914:-- - - Foremen 70s. - Foremen, Assistant 50s. - Draughtsmen 35s. - Clerks, Monthly Staff 30s. - Clerks, Shop 25s. - Forgemen 33s. - Smiths 33s. - Rolling Mills Men 30s. - Furnacemen 28s. - Stampers 28s. - Stampers’ Assistants 22s. - Smiths’ Strikers 22s. - Pattern-makers 35s. - Boilermakers 34s. - Fitters and Turners 34s. - Fitters, Engine 34s. - Fitters, Carriage 28s. - Die-sinkers 34s. - Coppersmiths 30s. - Tinsmiths 30s. - Moulders 26s. - Wheel Turners 24s. - Machinemen, General 24s. - Carriage Body-makers 30s. - Carriage Finishers 28s. - Waggon-builders 28s. - Road-Waggon Builders 28s. - Carpenters 28s. - Painters 26s. - Saw Mills, Timber 24s. - Riveters 26s. - Bricklayers 28s. - Labourers, Skilled 22s. - Labourers, Unskilled 20s. - Labourers, Fitters’ 21s. - Storekeepers 23s. - - - - -INDEX - - - Abingdon, 44 - - Accident, 14, 243 - - Accumulators, 149 - - Africa, 92 - - Agora, 298 - - “Ajax,” 141 - - Alexandria, 298 - - All Fools’ Day, 270 - - America, 92, 102, 150, 301 - - Annealed, 21 - - Antiquated, 25 - - Antonio, 234 - - Apprentices (smiths), 90 - - Aquatic plants, 44 - - Archæologist, 177 - - Army, 77, 302 - - Ash-wheelers, 47 - - Athens, 298 - - Athletes, 63 - - Atlantic, 139, 169 - - Atlas, 73 - - Avon, river, 22, 45 - - Axles, 20 - - - “Back to the Land,” 296 - - Balance, 283 - - Balance-week, 254 - - Balling-up, 17 - - Bank Holidays, 245 - - Battleship, 110 - - Bays, 10 - - Beam-engine, 151 - - Beltage, 100 - - Besom, 85 - - Bible, 32 - - “Big Firm,” 256 - - Birmingham, 92, 151 - - Bogies, 11 - - Boilers, 136 - - Boilersmiths, 74, 113 - - Bonuses, 301 - - Borough, 18 - - Boss, 134 - - “Black List,” 230 - - Blast-furnace, 116 - - Blood-poisoning, 213 - - Bloom, 108 - - “Blower,” 150 - - Bricklayers, 48 - - Bricklayers’ labourers, 49 - - Bridge, of furnace, 46 - - Bristol, 13, 44 - - Broad-gauge, 67 - - Broadway, Hammersmith, 238 - - “Bucket of blast,” 281 - - Buffalo Bill, 77, 156 - - Buffer, 23 - - Bullion van, 70 - - “Bummer,” 134 - - Burns, 19 - - Burs, 23 - - - Cabin, 25 - - Cæsar, Julius, 264 - - Callipers, 102 - - Canada, 228 - - Canvas belts, 147 - - Cape of Good Hope, 102 - - Capitalist, 2 - - Carlyle, Thomas, 237 - - Carriage body-makers, 56 - - Carriage finishers, 38 - - Cassius, 264 - - _Castellum_, 12 - - Casuals, 69 - - Catastrophe, 38 - - Ceremonious, 57 - - Ceylon, 157 - - Chalk-pits, 13 - - Channel Islands, 173 - - Chargeman, 282 - - Charities, 97 - - Cheapjack, 173 - - Check-box, 130 - - _Chelidon_, 263 - - Cheltenham, 92 - - Chemicals, 33 - - China, 102, 157, 173 - - Cinematograph, 298 - - Cirencester, 13 - - Clay-pits, 262 - - Clinkering, 46 - - “Clod-hopping,” 297 - - Coal-heavers, 14 - - Coffee stalls, 129 - - Compensation, 227 - - Compressed air, 172 - - Condensation, 11 - - Consumption, 126 - - Contraband, 31 - - Corporation, 62 - - Cotswold Hills, 45 - - Cottage Hospital, 97 - - Countershaft, 145 - - Covered goods waggons, 71 - - “Cow-banging,” 279 - - Cramp, 94 - - Cricklade, 44 - - Cushion-beaters, 41 - - Cutting-down, 68 - - Cyclops, 208 - - Cylinder, 18 - - - Deadwood Dick, 77 - - Dee, river, 22 - - Democracy, 294 - - Detectives, 37 - - Detonators, 23 - - “Diagonals,” 23 - - Dinner-can, 112 - - “Discontent,” 4 - - “Dolly,” 69 - - Donkey-engine, 150 - - Donkey-man, 109 - - Door-boy, 110 - - Dorsetshire, 247 - - Double-handed, 306 - - Dowlais, 173 - - Draughtsmen, 133 - - Dredger, 45 - - Drop-stamp, 153 - - Dumb-bells, 144 - - Durham, 92 - - - Earthquake, 18 - - Ebony, 15 - - Educational Authority, 289 - - Egypt, 173 - - Egyptians, 298 - - Electricity in belts, 147 - - Engine-cranks, 104 - - Entrenchment, 13 - - Erin, 173 - - Espionage, 303 - - Examination, 93 - - Excursionists, 26 - - Exhaust of engines, 63 - - Exhibition, 88 - - Ex-Hussar, 73 - - Explosions, 36 - - - Fable, 133 - - Factory Acts, 74 - - Factory system, 103 - - Falstaffian, 181 - - Fan, 145 - - Feed-pipes, 210 - - Feudal times, 1 - - Fire-engine, 33 - - Fires, 34 - - First Aid Men, 244 - - Fitters, 101 - - “Flatter,” 21 - - Flying Dutchman, 68 - - Fogmen, 23 - - “Foreigners,” 86 - - Forgemen, 106 - - Forging, 18 - - Fortress, 11 - - Foundry, 116 - - France, 150 - - Freight trains, 123 - - “Fuller,” 21 - - - Gallery-men, 87 - - Gauge-glass, 166 - - Gazing-stock, 186 - - Geological data, 50 - - Germany, 20, 150 - - Gloucester, 44, 92 - - Government, 8, 300 - - Greeks, 1, 289 - - Grindstones, bursting of, 152 - - Grossness of atmosphere, 249 - - Gun barrel, 17 - - - Hammer-driver, 107 - - Hammersmith, 237 - - Heavy-weights, 73 - - _Hecuba_, 290 - - “Hell Corner,” 142 - - Hercules, 52 - - Hereditary, 91 - - Hibernian, 182 - - Historical relics, 288 - - Holder-up, 69 - - Hooter, 125 - - Horatian, 290 - - Horse-rake, 266 - - Hustle, 183 - - Hydraulic work, 171 - - - Idea-box, 301 - - “Ierky,” 59 - - Improvers, 90 - - Incendiarism, 34 - - Inferno, 208 - - Injector, 215 - - Inquiry office, 276 - - Inquisition, 303 - - Irishmen, 173 - - “Ironopolis,” 105 - - Italians, 298 - - - Jackboots, 17, 111 - - Jam, 148 - - “Jaw-breakers,” 285 - - Jefferies, Richard, 12 - - “Jersey Lily,” 173 - - Jesus Christ, 246 - - Jew’s harp, 166 - - “Jogglers,” 82 - - “Joggling,” 14 - - John Bright, 236 - - Journals, axle, 13 - - Justin M‘Carthy, 238 - - - Kennet, river, 22 - - - Labour unrest, 1 - - “Lambs,” 177 - - Lancaster, 92 - - Latin, 289 - - Laughing-stock, 29 - - Lean-to, 142 - - Library, 248 - - Liddington Hill, 12 - - Lightning, 10 - - Literary Society, 135 - - Liverpool, 92 - - “Loco” boiler, 164 - - Loitering, 29 - - London, 44, 45, 68 - - - Magnesia, 166 - - Malcontent, 305 - - Malleable steel, 103 - - Mallet, 83 - - Marines, 232 - - Mark Fell, 304 - - Mars, 219 - - May-pole, 63 - - Medical Report, 242 - - Mediterranean, 263 - - Merchant of Venice, 234 - - Mess-rooms, 262 - - Middlesborough, 105, 173 - - Midlands, 105, 155 - - Militia, 174 - - Mines, 1 - - Molière, 154 - - “Monday-fied,” 257 - - “Monkey,” of hammer, 109 - - Monsieur Jourdain, 154 - - Monthly staff, 133 - - Motherwell, 173 - - Moulders, 119 - - Mrs Langtry, 237 - - Mulatto, 174 - - Municipalities, 2 - - Mushrooms, 221 - - - Narrow-gauge, 67 - - Navy, 77, 143, 302 - - Newcastle, 116 - - New Testament, 290 - - New Year’s Eve, 271 - - Nicknames, 77 - - Night shift, 206 - - “Nobbling,” 113 - - - Oatmeal, 261 - - Obsequious, 275 - - Officialism, 7 - - Oileus, Ajax, 141 - - Oil furnace, 3, 139 - - Oscar Wilde, 237 - - Output, 5 - - Overalls, 101 - - Overseer, 7 - - Overtime, 292 - - Oxford, 13 - - - Painters, 38 - - Palmy days, 21 - - Pandemonium, 71, 135 - - Paris, 158 - - Parliament, 8 - - Parrot, river, 22 - - _Passeres_, 263 - - _Pater familias_, 127 - - Pattern-makers, 38 - - Pay-day, 253 - - Pension, 32 - - Percentage, 51, 283 - - Piece-work inspector, 134 - - Piers and panels, 10 - - Pig iron, 117 - - “Piles,” 16 - - Platers, boiler, 113 - - Pneumatic riveting machine, 70 - - Police Court, 53 - - Politics, 287 - - Porter-bar, 105 - - “Pride o’ the Prairie,” 198 - - Provocation, 4 - - “Puddling,” 17 - - “Puller-up,” 71 - - Pull-rod, 201 - - Punishment, 15 - - Pushfulness, 53 - - - Railway Institute, 248 - - “Ram,” 104, 143 - - “Rasher-waggon,” 111 - - References, 276 - - Refrigerator van, 70 - - Repairs, 37 - - “Riddle,” 83 - - River Liffey, 155 - - Rivet-boys, 75 - - Road-waggon builder, 54 - - Rolling mills, 15 - - Romans, 1, 85 - - Rome, 298 - - Rooks, 263 - - Rotherham, 92 - - Royal train, 233 - - Rubbish heap, 61 - - Ruffianism, 56 - - - Salisbury, 157 - - Sanitary, 32 - - Scientist, 20 - - Scotland, 13, 20, 105 - - Scrap-waggons, 21 - - Serfs, 1 - - “Set-tool,” 82 - - Severn, 22 - - Shear-off (bur), 172 - - Sheer-legs, 14 - - Sheffield, 13, 92, 105 - - Shingling, 16 - - Shop clerks, 133 - - Shunters, 25 - - Shylock, 234 - - Sick and Medical Fund, 253 - - Signalmen, 68, 124 - - Skating-rink, 298 - - Skulker, 47 - - Slag, 171 - - Smithy, 82 - - Smoke-box, 115 - - Smoking, 27 - - Smudging, 37 - - “Snap” (rivet), 78 - - Sneak, 31 - - Snowstorm, 121 - - Socialist, 36 - - Sole-bar, 67 - - Sop, 5 - - Speeding-up, 5 - - Stamping, 98 - - State, 8 - - Steam-saw, 16 - - Steamship Company, 2 - - Stoppage week, 254 - - Storekeeper, 239 - - “Strappie,” 148 - - Sunderland, 116, 179 - - Supper-hour, 215 - - Surgery, 281 - - “Swanker,” 265 - - - Tamar, river, 22 - - Tarpaulin, 22 - - Taxicab, 299 - - Teak, 13 - - Telamon, 141 - - “Tell-tale,” 28 - - Tennyson, 237 - - Thales, 1 - - Thames, river, 22, 45 - - Theft, 30, 81 - - Throw-off (wheels), 152 - - “Ticket,” 131 - - Tipperary, 182 - - _Titanic_, 191 - - Titans, 139 - - “Toe-punch,” 281 - - T pieces, 20 - - Towy, river, 22 - - Trades Union, 2, 102 - - Trams, 299 - - Transfer, 40, 43 - - Transport, 44 - - Transvaal, 173 - - Traversing Table, 161 - - Trespassers, 67 - - Trimmer, 210 - - “Trip,” 245 - - Troy, 141 - - Tubing (boilers), 113 - - Tug-of-war, 73 - - Tyres, 13 - - - Uffington, 233 - - Ugliness, 12 - - Under-strapper, 61 - - “Undesirables,” 289 - - Upholsterers, 38 - - Up-setting, 142 - - - Vacuum arrangement, 41 - - Ventilation, 10 - - Viaduct, 22 - - Virgil, 1 - - - Wages, 5 - - Wales, 179, 181 - - Washer, 21 - - Washing-down, 37 - - Waster, 279 - - Watchmen, 25 - - Water-closet, 32 - - Water-gas, 220 - - Water-pipe, 270 - - Weather-vane, 260 - - Weekly staff, 133 - - Welsh pits, 14 - - West Indies, 173 - - Weymouth, 247 - - Wheel shed, 57 - - Whistler, the artist, 237 - - Wiltshire, 158 - - Witney, 13 - - Worcester, 92 - - Works’ Institute, 135 - - Wye, river, 22 - - - Yankee hammers, 133 - - - - -_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ - -A WILTSHIRE VILLAGE - -BY ALFRED WILLIAMS - - -“We have found it a gentle and continuous delight. To the reader it can -hardly be anything but a joy to find the old village life, which perhaps -he himself remembers, set down so fairly and fully, with the charge of -monotony roundly dismissed and all the events and pleasures recorded.... -Wonderful little descriptions. Here is a vivid portrait that will seem -to many like that of an old friend--Jemmy Boulton, the carter.... We -knew and loved him ever so many years ago. And it is because Mr Williams -knows and loves him, as he knows and loves the woods and waters, the -plants and the beasts, that he makes a country-side live for us again as -it still is here and there, as it will not be anywhere for -long.”--_Times._ - -“Here is one who has never been drawn from his allegiance to the -country-side by the allurements of big cities. An extremely interesting -book, concerned not only with village life, but wandering far afield to -the advantage of the thoughtful reader. The beauty of his descriptions, -the quiet dignity of his well-considered inclusion of details, the -manner of introducing us to this ‘character’ and that, call for -appreciation, and the reader closes with reluctance a fascinatingly -discursive record which he has followed with genuine pleasure and -unabated interest.”--_Country Life._ - -“He brings to bear the same observation and love of nature which are the -salient features of his delightful ‘Poems.’ There is in him much quaint -lore and wide knowledge of birds and animals. He has many good things to -say on this subject.”--_Evening Standard._ - -“A book which is as charming as it is uncommon. Makes a deep appeal to -the naturalist and lover of the country. Mr Williams writes of what he -knows, and that fact adds a special value to his book.”--_Field._ - -“A faithful description of a quiet corner of rural England, so well -written in strong simple English that it deserves a place of honour on -the shelf where country-side books are treasured.”--_Daily Mail._ - -“Written from personal experience and with the closest observation. -Those whose interests are centred on rural matters generally will take a -keen delight in it. There is food for much reflection in this volume; -and be it noted that sincerity runs like a golden thread through every -page.”--_Daily Chronicle._ - -_Crown 8vo, 305+xvi pages. 5s. net, postage 4d._ - -DUCKWORTH & CO., COVENT GARDEN, LONDON. - - - - -_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ - -VILLAGES OF THE WHITE HORSE - -BY ALFRED WILLIAMS - - -“If there were a Mr Williams in every county, how rich our libraries -would be in records of real rural life! We hope Mr Williams will keep -on writing as long as he has material in his collections with which to -picture the kindly, stout-hearted, humorous folk of the -Downside.”--_Manchester Guardian._ - -“This book cannot be too strongly recommended for general reading, as a -charming picture, full of changing interest, of a tract of country of -great native beauty, and of the people, sturdy and characterful, who -inhabit a score of villages, so independent and self-centred that the -mere story of their industries makes no small part of the charm of this -delightful book.”--_Pall Mall Gazette._ - -“The author is on friendly terms with all the oldest inhabitants. He -draws vivid pictures, tells many delightful stories. The book is one of -great interest, and we should be glad to see others of a similar -sort.”--_Athenæum._ - -“Especially has he been successful in his portraits of old characters -with whom he has talked. He is good on farm customs, good, too, when -he writes of the lore of the countryside. The whole life of the -country lives in his book, which is a valuable and delightful book, -and should be bought by everyone who loves the country: bought -because it is emphatically a book to read many times and to special -friends.”--_Observer._ - -“He writes with the insight, the humour, and something of the poetry of -Richard Jefferies. A knowledge and a cheerful humour which are -refreshing.”--_Yorkshire Post._ - -“We have only one quarrel with the Author of _Villages of the White -Horse_: the book should have been twice as long. With a genuineness -which is not inevitably behind the reviewers’ summing up, we bear -testimony to its sterling qualities--its simple strength of style, its -sweetness, its fine balance, its sanity of outlook, its flashes of -rollicking humour, its informativeness, its warm sympathy and quick -comprehension, and its unfailing gentle charm.”--_Wiltshire Advertiser._ - -“A series of dramatic pictures and sketches, full of life, anecdote and -humour, together with charming Nature-studies. It introduces us to the -people in their homes and in the field. It gives the most vivid -impression of how they live, of what they think and of what they -say.”--_The Academy._ - -_Crown 8vo, 290+xvi pages. 5s. net, postage 4d._ - -DUCKWORTH & CO., COVENT GARDEN, LONDON. - - - - -_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ - -COR CORDIUM - -BY ALFRED WILLIAMS - - -“_Cor Cordium_ confirms Mr Alfred Williams’ remarkable position among -writers of contemporary verse. It has all his sincerity and clear -vision. We prefer his ecstatic reckless lyrics to the longer poems, in -which he gives us nineteenth-century philosophy in admirable eighteenth -century verse.”--_Manchester Guardian._ - -“Mr Alfred Williams’ position as a poet is fully established.”--_Times._ - -“That remarkable poet, Mr Alfred Williams, adds another triumph to his -list of volumes of verse.”--_Daily Citizen._ - -“Mr Williams is one of those writers whose books we often pull down from -their place when the town lies heavy on the heart.”--_Observer._ - -“Mr Williams is a simple and a genuine poet, simple because he is not -tempted away into decorative effects alien from the spontaneity of his -lyrical impulse, and genuine because he breathes the utmost strength of -his spirit into every line and phrase. He is circumscribed neither in -the concentration nor the intensity of this impulse, but in its range. -The energy and feeling which quicken his expression are sufficient in -themselves to create a responsiveness in the reader which registers the -vicissitudes in the mood and sensibilities of the poet. That is a great -quality. Mr Williams’ strength lies in the clear and exquisite treatment -of a common sentiment.”--_The Nation._ - -“Every line is the expression of a calm, determined purpose, buoyant in -its own well-measured, well-disciplined confidence.”--_Daily Chronicle._ - -“The serious manliness and good sense of these pieces are qualities so -rare in the verse of to-day that when we find them they have a sort of -exotic piquancy. There are times when Mr Williams wears with grace the -mantle of the Jacobeans.”--_Spectator._ - -“His lyrics in strict form are often wonderful. 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By Reginald Berkeley and James Dixon. - - - - -Transcriber’s Note - -Spelling and word usage have been retained as they appear in the -original publication except as follows: - - Page 47 mumuring and complaint is always imposed _changed to_ - murmuring and complaint is always imposed - - Page 86 heats with a minimum amount of labour _changed to_ - beats with a minimum amount of labour - - Page 93 the knowledge of their own usefulnesss _changed to_ - the knowledge of their own usefulness - - Page 156 thick chunks of break and _changed to_ - thick chunks of bread and - - Page 170 for removing the scale and excresence _changed to_ - for removing the scale and excrescence - - Page 172 superflous metal, an ounce or more _changed to_ - superfluous metal, an ounce or more - - Page 197 makes me bad _changed to_ - makes me mad - - Page 200 got to channge knives _changed to_ - got to change knives - - Page 247 domestic rseponsibilities--rise _changed to_ - domestic responsibilities--rise - - Catalogue - Page 3 DUCKWORTH & CO.’S LIBRARIES AND SERIES - A page is missing from the scans used to prepare this - ebook and an alternative has not been located. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Life in a Railway Factory, by Alfred Williams - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE IN A RAILWAY FACTORY *** - -***** This file should be named 40975-0.txt or 40975-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/9/7/40975/ - -Produced by crana and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Life in a Railway Factory - -Author: Alfred Williams - -Release Date: October 8, 2012 [EBook #40975] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE IN A RAILWAY FACTORY *** - - - - -Produced by crana and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - -LIFE IN A RAILWAY FACTORY - - - - - _UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_ - - THE READERS' LIBRARY - - 50 VOLUMES PUBLISHED - - _Full list of Titles can be had from - the Publishers_ - - DUCKWORTH & CO. - COVENT GARDEN, LONDON - - - - - LIFE IN - A RAILWAY FACTORY - - BY - ALFRED WILLIAMS - - AUTHOR OF - 'A WILTSHIRE VILLAGE' - 'VILLAGES OF THE WHITE HORSE' - - [Illustration] - - LONDON - DUCKWORTH & CO. - 3 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C. - - - - - _First Published 1915 - Published in the Readers' Library 1920_ - - _Printed in Great Britain - by Turnbull & Spears, Edinburgh_ - - - - - TO MY FRIEND - ALFRED E. ZIMMERN - - - - -PREFACE - - -My object in penning "Life in a Railway Factory" was to take advantage -of the opportunities I have had as a workman, during twenty-three years' -continuous service in the sheds, of setting down what I have seen and -known for the interest and education of others, who might like to be -informed as to what is the actual life of the factory, but who have no -means of ascertaining it from the generality of literature published -upon the matter. - -The book opens with a short survey of several causes of labour unrest -and suggestions as to its remedy. Then follows a brief description of -the stamping shed, which is the principal scene and theatre of the drama -of life exhibited in the pages, the central point from which our -observations were made and where the chief of our knowledge and -experience was acquired. After a glance into the interior we explore the -surroundings and pay a visit to the rolling mills, and watch the men -shingling and rolling the iron and forging wheels for the locomotives. -Continuing our perambulation of the yard we encounter the shunters, -watchmen, carriage finishers, painters, washers-down, and -cushion-beaters. The old canal claims a moment's attention, then we pass -on to the ash-wheelers, bricklayers, road-waggon builders, and the -wheel-turning shed. Leaving them behind we come to the "field," where -the old broad-gauge vehicles were broken up or converted, and proceed -thence into the din of the frame-building shed and study some portion -of its life. Next follows an exploration of the smithy and a -consideration of the smith at work and at home, his superior skill and -characteristics. From our study of the smiths we pass to that of the -fitters, forgemen, and boilermakers, and complete our tour of the -premises by visiting the foundry and viewing the operations of the -moulders. - -The early morning stir in the town and country around the sheds, the -preparations for work, the manner in which the toilers arrive at the -factory, and the composition of the crowd are next described, after -which we enter the stamping shed and witness the initial toils of the -forgemen and stampers, view the oil furnace and admire the prowess of -"Ajax" and his companions. The drop-hammers and their staff receive -proportionate attention; then follows a comparison of forging and -smithing, a study of several personalities, and an inspection of the -plant known as the Yankee Hammers. Chapter XI. is a description of the -first quarter at the forge expressed entirely by means of actual -conversations, ejaculations, commands, and repartees, overheard and -faithfully recorded. Following that is a first-hand account of how the -night shift is worked, giving one entire night at the forge and noting -the various physical phases through which the workman passes and -indicating the effects produced upon the body by the inversion of the -natural order of things. The remainder of the chapters is devoted to the -description and explanation of a variety of matters, including the -manner of putting on and discharging hands, methods of administration, -intimidating and terrorising, the interpretation of moods and feelings -during the passage of the day, week and year, holidays, the effects of -cold and heat, causes of sickness and accidents, the psychology of fat -and lean workmen, comedy, tragedy, short time and overtime, the -advantages--or disadvantages--of education and intelligence, ending up -with a review of the industrial situation as it was before the war and -remarks upon the future outlook. A table of wages paid at the works is -added as an appendix. - -The site of the factory is the Wiltshire town of Swindon. This stands at -the extremity of the Upper Thames Valley, in the centre of a vast -agricultural tract, and is seventy-seven miles from London and about -forty from Bristol. Its population numbers approximately fifty thousand, -all largely dependent upon the railway sheds for subsistence. The -inhabitants generally are a heterogenous people. The majority of the -works' officials, the clerical staff, journeymen, and the highly skilled -workers have been imported from other industrial centres; the labourers -and the less highly trained have been recruited wholesale from the -villages and hamlets surrounding the town. About twelve thousand men, -including clerks, are normally employed at the factory. A knowledge of -the composition of the inhabitants of the town is important, otherwise -one might be at a loss to account for the low rate of wages paid, the -lack of spirited effort and efficient organisation among the workers, -and other conditions peculiar to the place. - -The book was never intended to be an expression of patriotism or -unpatriotism, for it was written before the commencement of the European -conflict. It consequently has nothing directly to do with the war, nor -with the manufacture of munitions, any more than it incidentally -discovers the nature of the toils, exertions, and sacrifices demanded of -those who must slave at furnace, mill, steam-hammer, anvil, and lathe -producing supplies for our armies and for those of our Allies in the -field. It is not a treatise on economics, for I have never studied the -science. If I had set out with the intention of theoretically -slaughtering every official responsible for the administration of the -factory I should have failed signally. I never contemplated such a -course. Instead I wished to write out my own experiences and -observations simply, and from my own point of view, mistaken or -otherwise, without fear or favour to any. I have my failings and -prejudices. What they are is very well known to me, and I have no -intention of disavowing them. Whoever disagrees with me is fully -entitled to his opinion. I shall not question his judgment, though I -shall not easily surrender my own. I am not anxious to quarrel with any -man; at the same time I am not disposed to be fettered, smothered, -gagged or silenced, to cower and tremble, or to shrink from uttering -what I believe to be the truth in deference to the most formidable -despot living. - -A. W. - -_24th July 1915._ - -A portion of Chapter XIII. has appeared in the _English Review_. My -thanks are due to the Editor for his courteous permission to reproduce -it in the volume. - - - - -CONTENTS - - -CHAPTER I - PAGE - - LABOUR UNREST 1 - -CHAPTER II - - THE STAMPING SHOP--GENERAL ENVIRONMENT--THE "COALIES"--THE - ROLLING MILLS--PUDDLING AND SHINGLING--ACCIDENTS AT THE - ROLLS--THE SCRAP WAGGONS--WASTE 9 - -CHAPTER III - - THE SHUNTERS--WATCHMEN--DETECTING A THIEF--FIRES--CARRIAGE - FINISHERS--PAINTERS--WASHERS-DOWN--CUSHION-BEATERS--CHANGES - AND INNOVATIONS--DEPARTMENTAL RELATIONS 25 - -CHAPTER IV - - THE OLD CANAL--THE ASH-WHEELERS--THE BRICKLAYERS--RIVAL - FOREMEN--THE ROAD-WAGGON BUILDERS--THE WHEEL SHED--BOY - TURNERS--THE RUBBISH HEAP 44 - -CHAPTER V - - "THE FIELD"--"CUTTING-DOWN"--THE FLYING DUTCHMAN--THE FRAME - SHED--PROMOTION--RIVET BOYS--THE OVERSEER 63 - -CHAPTER VI - - THE SMITHY--THE SMITH--BUILDING THE FIRE--GALLERYMEN-- - APPRENTICES--THE OLDEST HAND--DEATH OF A SMITH--THE - SMITH'S ATTITUDE TO HIS MATES--HIS GREAT GOOD-NATURE - --THE SMITHS' FOREMAN 82 - -CHAPTER VII - - FITTERS--THE STEAM-HAMMER SHED--FORGEMEN--THEIR - CHARACTERISTICS--BOILERMAKERS--THE FOUNDRY--THE - BLAST FURNACE--MOULDERS 100 - -CHAPTER VIII - - GETTING TO WORK--THE AWAKENING IN THE COUNTRY--STEALING - A RIDE--THE TOWN STIR--THE ARMY OF WORKMEN--"CHECKING"-- - EARLY COMERS--CLERKS AND DRAUGHTSMEN--FEATURES OF THE - STAFF 120 - -CHAPTER IX - - FIRST OPERATIONS IN THE SHED--THE EARLY DIN--ITS EFFECT ON - THE WORKMEN--CHARGING THE HEATS--THE OIL FURNACE--THE - "AJAX"--HARRY AND SAMMY--THE "STRAPPIE"--HYDRAULIC - POWER--WHEEL-BURSTING 136 - -CHAPTER X - - STAMPING--THE DROP-HAMMER STAFF--ALGY AND CECIL--PAUL AND - "PUMP"--"SMAMER"--BOILERS--A NEAR SHAVE 153 - -CHAPTER XI - - FORGING AND SMITHING--HYDRAULIC OPERATIONS--"BALTIMORE"-- - "BLACK SAM"--"STRAWBERRY" AND GUSTAVUS--THE "FIRE - KING"--"TUBBY"--BOLAND--PINNELL OF THE YANKEE PLANT 169 - -CHAPTER XII - - FIRST QUARTER AT THE FORGE 187 - -CHAPTER XIII - - THE NIGHT SHIFT--ARRIVAL IN THE SHED--"FOLLOWING THE - TOOL"--THE FORGEMAN'S HASTE AND BUSTLE--LIGHT AND - SHADE--SUPPER-TIME--CLATTER AND CLANG--MIDNIGHT-- - WEARINESS--THE RELEASE--HOME TO REST 206 - -CHAPTER XIV - - INFERIORITY OF WORK MADE BY THE NIGHT SHIFT--ALTERING - THE GAUGES--THE "BLACK LIST"--"DOUBLE STOPPAGE - CHARLIE"--"JIMMY USELESS"--THE HAUNTED FORGE AND COKE - HEAP--THE OLD VALET--THE CHECKER AND STOREKEEPER 225 - -CHAPTER XV - - SICKNESS AND ACCIDENTS--THE FACTORY YEAR--HOLIDAYS--"TRIP"-- - MOODS AND FEELINGS--PAY-DAY--LOSING A QUARTER--GETTING - MARRIED 241 - -CHAPTER XVI - - COLD AND HEAT--MEALS--FAT AND LEAN WORKMEN--WAYS AND - MEANS--PRANKS--ALL FOOLS' DAY--NEW YEAR'S EVE 258 - -CHAPTER XVII - - GETTING A START--THE NEW HAND--TOWN AND COUNTRY WORKMEN-- - PROMOTION--DISCHARGING HANDS--LANGUAGE OF THE SHED-- - EDUCATION--THE EDUCATED MAN NOT WANTED--GREASING - THE FORGE 274 - -CHAPTER XVIII - - SHORT TIME AND OVERTIME--"BACK TO THE LAND"--THE TOWN - INFLUENCE--CHANGES AT THE WORKS--GRIEVANCES--THE - POSITION OF LABOUR--ILLS AND REMEDIES--THE FUTURE - OUTLOOK 292 - -APPENDIX - - TABLE OF WAGES PAID AT THE WORKS 309 - - INDEX 311 - - - - -LIFE IN A RAILWAY FACTORY - - - - -CHAPTER I - -LABOUR UNREST - - -Someone once asked the Greek Thales how he might best bear misfortune -and he replied--"By seeing your enemy in a worse condition than -yourself." He would have been as near the truth if he had said "friend" -instead of "enemy." Everyone appears to desire to see every other one -worse off than himself. He is not content with doing well; he must do -better, and if his success happens to be at the expense of one less -fortunate he will be the more highly gratified. This lust of dominion -and possession dates from the very foundation of human society. It is a -feature of barbarism, and one that the wisest teaching and the most -civilising influences at work in the world have failed to remove or even -very materially to modify. The idea behind the _Sic vos non vobis_ of -Virgil has always been uppermost in the minds of the powerful. This it -was that doomed the captives of the Greeks and Romans to a life of -wretchedness and misery in the mines. This was responsible for the -subjugation of the English peasants, and their reduction to the order of -serfs in feudal times. And this is what would enslave the labouring -classes in mine, field, and factory to-day. It must not be permitted. -There is a way to defeat it. That is by law. Not a law made by the -depredators but by the workers themselves. They have the means at their -disposal. If they would summon up the courage to make use of them they -might shatter the power of the capitalist at a stroke and free -themselves from his domination for ever. - -A principal cause of trouble everywhere between the employer and the -employed is the lack of recognition of the worker. I mean this in its -broadest sense. I do not mean merely that great and powerful -combinations do not want to recognise Trade Unions. We all know that. It -is a part of their policy and is dictated by pride and the spirit of -intolerance. But they make a much more serious and fatal mistake. They -refuse to recognise a man. All kinds of employers are guilty of this. -The mineowner, the trading syndicate, the railway or steamship company, -municipal authorities, the large and small manufacturer, the farmer and -shopkeeper are equally to blame. If they would recognise the man they -might be led to a consideration of his legitimate needs. They must first -admit him to be equally a member of the human family and then recognise -that, as such, he has claims as righteous and sacred as they. That is -where the representative of capital invariably fails. He will not admit -that the one under his authority has any rights of his own. To him the -worker is as much a slave as ever he was, only he is conscious that his -treatment of him must be subject to the limitations imposed by the -modern laws of the land. And as he flouts the individual so he contemns -the collective organisations of the men. He is determined not to -recognise them. He considers this to be a proof of his strength. In -reality it is a badge of his weakness. Sooner or later it will prove his -undoing. - -I will give an illustration. Several years ago, working in the same -shed as myself, was a grey-headed furnaceman. He was not an old man; he -could have been no more than fifty. One day he met with a serious -accident. While attending to his furnace, in a stooping position, -someone in passing accidentally pushed him. This caused him to lose his -balance and he slipped on the plate and fell head-first into a boshful -of boiling water underneath the fire hole. His head and shoulders were -severely scalded, and he was absent on the sick list for two months. -When he came in again he was not allowed to resume work at the furnace -but was put wheeling out ashes from the smiths' fires. To my -steam-hammer an oil furnace had recently been attached and several -managers came daily to experiment with it. One morning, while they were -present, the ex-furnaceman came to wheel away the debris. Then a manager -turned to me and said-- - -"Who's that? What's he doing here?" - -I explained who the man was and what he was doing. - -"Pooh! What's the good of _that thing_! He ought to be shifted outside," -replied he. - -In a short while afterwards the furnaceman was discharged. - -There is something even worse than this and much more serious in effect. -That is a result of too great recognition. I am referring to the common -fault of interfering with and penalising men of superior mental and -intellectual powers. There is even a certain advantage in a man's -ability to escape attention. Especially if he is of a courageous turn of -mind, has views and ideas of his own, and is able to influence others. -He will live the more easy for it. Left to himself he can work away -quietly, informing the minds and leavening the opinions of those round -about him. If he can escape recognition. But he cannot. He is soon -discovered, gagged, smothered, or got rid of. The safest way to -strengthen a flame is to fan it. And if you want to intensify a man's -dissatisfaction with a thing attempt to prevent him by force from giving -expression to it. That is a sure means of provocation and will bear -fruit a hundredfold. - -We hear a great deal about the "discontent" of the workers, and a degree -of censure and reproach is usually conveyed with the expression. It is -not half general enough. The average working man is too content. He is -often lazily apathetic. Is the mineowner, the manufacturer, or the -railway magnate content? Of course he is not. Strength is in action. -When I hear of a man's being satisfied I know that he is done for. He -might as well be dead. I wish the workers were more discontented, though -I should in every case like to see their discontent rationally expressed -and all their efforts intelligently directed. They waste a fearful -amount of time and energy through irresolution and uncertainty of -objective. - -The selfishness, cruelty, and arrogance of the capitalist and his agents -force the workers into rebellion. The swaggering pomposity and fantastic -ceremony of officials fill them with deserving contempt. Their impudence -is amazing. I have known a foreman of the shed to attack a man by reason -of the decent clothes he had on and forbid him to wear a bowler hat. Not -only in the workshop but even at home in his private life and dealings -he is under the eye of his employer. His liberty is tyrannically -restricted. In the town he is not allowed to supplement his earnings by -any activity except such as has the favour of the works' officials. He -must not keep a coffee-shop or an inn, or be engaged in any trading -whatever. He may not even sell apples or gooseberries. And if he happens -to be the spokesman of a labourers' union or to be connected with any -other independent organisation, woe betide him! The older established -association--such as that of the engineers--is not interfered with. It -is the unprotected unskilled workman that must chiefly be terrorised and -subjugated. - -The worker is everywhere exploited. The speeding-up of late years has -been general and insistent. New machinery is continually being installed -in the sheds. This is driven at a high rate and the workman must keep -pace with it. The toil in many cases is painfully exacting. There may be -a less amount of violent physical exertion required here and there, -though much more concentration of mind and attention will be needed. The -output, in some instances, has been increased tenfold. I am not -exaggerating when I say that the actual exertions of the workman have -often been doubled or trebled, yet he receives scarcely anything more in -wages. In some cases he does not receive as much. He may have obtained a -couple of shillings more in day wages and at the same time have lost -double the amount in piecework balance. Occasionally, when the foreman -of the shed has mercilessly cut a man's prices, he offers him a sop in -the shape of a rise of one or two shillings. On the hammers under my -charge during the last ten years the day wages of assistants--owing to -their being retained on the job up to a greater age--had doubled, and -the piecework prices had been cut by one half. As a result the gang lost -about 80 in a year. A mate of mine, whose prices had been cut to the -lowest fraction, though offered a rise, steadily refused it on the -ground that he would be worse off than before. Though slaving from -morning till night he could not earn his percentage of profit. In many -cases where the workman was formerly allowed to earn a profit of 33 per -cent. on his day wages he is now restricted to 25 per cent., and the -prices have been correspondingly reduced. Even now the foreman is not -satisfied. He will still contrive to keep the percentage earned below -the official figure in order to ingratiate himself with the managers and -to give them the impression that he is still engaged in paring the -prices. - -At the same time, a marvellous lack of real initiative is discovered by -the factory staff. Things that have been so are so, and if any sharp and -enterprising workman sees the possibility of improvement anywhere and -makes a suggestion he is soundly snubbed for his pains. In their -particular anxiety to exact the last ounce from the workman in the -matter of labour the managers overlook multitudes of important details -connected with their own administration, but which the workman sees as -plainly as he does the nose on his face. They often spend pounds to -effect the saving of a few pence. They lavish vast sums on experiments -that the most ordinary man perceives have no possible chance of being -successful, or even useful if they should succeed. Men's opinions upon a -point are rarely solicited; if offered, they are belittled and rejected. -Where an opinion is asked for it is usually intended as a bait for a -trap, the answer is carefully recorded and afterwards used to prove -something to the other's disadvantage. - -But those ideas which are most valuable, provided they are not complex -and the simple-minded official can readily grasp them--which is not -always the case--he secretly cherishes and stealthily develops and -afterwards parades them to his superior with swaggering pride as his own -inventions. It is thus Mr So-and-so becomes a smart man in the eyes of -the firm, while, as a matter of fact, he is a perfect blockhead and an -ignoramus. Meanwhile, the very workman whose idea has been purloined and -exploited is treated as a danger by the foreman; henceforth he must be -watched and kept well in subjection. The cowardly overseer sees in him a -possible rival, and is fearful for his own credit. This is one of the -worst ills of the manufacturing life, and has crushed many a brave, good -spirit, and smothered many a rising genius. The disadvantage is twofold. -There is a loss to manufacture in not being assisted with new and bright -ideas, and another to the individual, who is not only deprived of the -fruits of his inventive faculty but is systematically punished for the -possession of an original mind. In a word, officialism at the works is -continually straining at the gnat and swallowing the camel. - -What means are to be adopted in order to do away with the anomaly? One -of the first things to do would be to recognise the individual. We want -a better understanding and a new feeling altogether. The worker does not -need a profusion of sentiment; he claims justice. He is willing to give -and take. He knows that enormous profits are made out of his efforts and -it is but natural that he should demand to receive a fair amount of -remuneration and equitable conditions. My companion of the next -steam-hammer, by means of a new process, in one week saved the railway -company 20 in the execution of a single order. He had to work doubly -hard to do it but he received not a penny extra himself. The piecework -system as it stands is grossly unfair. All the profits accrue to one -side and when the worker demands what is, after all, an insignificant -participation in them he is described as being unreasonable and -discontented. Where day wages have risen all round on piecework jobs the -prices should be increased in proportion, otherwise the workman is -simply paying himself for his additional efforts out of his own pocket. - -Better wages and shorter hours are desired in every sphere of labour -and especially in factories. The worker is not greatly concerned as to -whether he is employed by the State or by a syndicate as long as he -obtains justice. It is no more trouble for Parliament to formulate a law -for a private concern than for a Government department. Forty-eight -hours a week is long enough for any man to work. I would have the -factory week completed in five turns. There is no need of the half-day -Saturdays. It is a waste of time. It is expensive for the employers and -unprofitable for the men. They can neither work nor play. If forty-eight -hours were divided out into five turns the expense of steaming for the -half-turn on Saturday would be saved. The amount of work produced would -not fall very far below that made at present, and the men would be -better satisfied. They would at least be able to have a clear rest and -come to work fresh and fit on the Monday. I would even go further and -suggest forty-five hours--that is, five turns of nine hours each--as a -working week for factories in the future. This is not so impossible nor -yet as unreasonable as it may appear. The proposal will doubtless strike -some as being amazing. Nevertheless, I recommend it to them for their -leisurely consideration. By aiming high we shall hit something. But -there are obstacles to remove and difficulties to overcome. - - - - -CHAPTER II - - THE STAMPING SHOP--GENERAL ENVIRONMENT--THE "COALIES"--THE - ROLLING MILLS--PUDDLING AND SHINGLING--ACCIDENTS AT THE - ROLLS--THE SCRAP WAGGONS--WASTE - - -The Stamping Shop is square, or nearly so, each lateral corresponding to -a cardinal point of the compass--north, south, east, and west, the whole -comprising about an acre and a quarter. That is not an extensive -building for a railway manufactory. There are some shops with an area of -not less than five, six, and even seven acres--a prodigious size! They -are used for purposes of construction, for carriages, waggons, -locomotives, and also for repairs. The premises used for purely -manufacturing purposes, such as those I am now speaking of, are -generally much smaller in extent. - -The workshop is modern in structure and has not stood for more than -fifteen years. Before that time the work proceeded on a much smaller -scale, and was carried on in a shed built almost entirely of wood and -corrugated iron--a dark, wretched place, without light or ventilation, -save for the broken windows and rents in the low, depressed roof. With -the development of the industry and general expansion of trade this -became altogether inadequate to cope with the requirements of the other -sheds, and a move had to be made to larger and more commodious premises. -Thereupon a site was chosen and a new shop erected about a quarter of a -mile distant. The walls of this are of brick, built with "piers" and -"panels," thirty feet high, solid, massive, and substantial, with no -pretence to show of any kind. The roof is constructed in bays running -north and south, according to the disposition of the long walls, and -presents a serrated appearance, like the teeth of a huge saw. Of these -bays the slopes towards sunrise are filled in with stout panes of glass; -the opposite sides are of strong boards covered with slates, the whole -supported by massive sectional principals and a network of stout iron -girders. - -The roof is studded with hundreds of wooden ventilators intended to -carry off the smoke and fumes from the forges. Above them tower numerous -furnace stacks and chimneys from the boilers, with the exhaust pipes of -the engines and steam-hammers. Towards summer, when the days lengthen -and the sun pours down interminable volumes of light and heat from a -cloudless sky, or when the air without is charged with electricity and -the thunder bellows and rolls over the hills and downs to the south, and -the forked lightning flashes reveal every corner of the dark smithy so -that the heat becomes almost unbearable, a large quantity of the glass -is removed to aid ventilation; the heat, assisted by the ground current, -rises and escapes through the roof. But when the rain comes and the -heavy showers, driven at an angle by the wind, beat furiously through -upon the half-naked workmen beneath, even this is not an unmixed -blessing. Or when the sun shoots his hot arrows down through the -openings upon the toilers at the steam-hammers and forges, as he always -does twice during the morning--once before breakfast, and again at about -eleven o'clock--it is productive of increased discomfort; the sweat -flows faster and the work flags. This does not last long, however. -Southward goes the sun, and shade succeeds. - -The eastern and western ends of the shed are almost half taken up with -large sliding doors, that reach as high as to the roof. These rest on -wheels which are superimposed upon iron rails, so that a child might -push them backwards and forwards. Through several of the doors rails are -laid to permit of engines and waggons entering with loads of -material--iron and steel for the furnaces--and also for conveying away -the manufactures. A narrow bogie line runs round the shed and is used -for transferring materials from one part to another and to the various -hydraulic presses and forges. Here and there are fixed small turn-tables -to enable the bogies to negotiate the angles and move from track to -track. - -Southward the shed faces a yard of about ten acres in extent. This is -bounded on every side by other workshops and premises, all built of the -same dingy materials--brick, slate, and iron--blackened with smoke, -dust, and steam, surmounted with tall chimneys, innumerable ventilators, -and poles for the telephone wires, which effectually block out all -perspective. To view it from the interior is like looking around the -inner walls of a fortress. There is no escape for the eye; nothing but -bricks and mortar, iron and steel, smoke and steam arising. It is ugly; -and the sense of confinement within the prison-like walls of the factory -renders it still more dismal to those who have any thought of the hills -and fields beyond. Only in summer does it assume a brighter aspect. Then -the sun scalds down on the network of rails and ashen ground with deadly -intensity; the atmosphere quivers and trembles; the fine dust burns -under your feet, and the steel tracks glitter under the blinding rays. -The clouds of dazzling steam from the engines are no longer visible--the -air being too hot to admit of condensation--and the black smoke from -the furnaces and boilers hangs in the air, lifeless and motionless, like -a pall, for hours and hours together. - -But when the summer is over, when the majesty of July and August is past -and gone and golden September gives place to rainy October, or, most of -all, when dull, gloomy November covers the skies with its impenetrable -veil of drab cloud and mist day after day and week after week, with -scarcely an hour of sunshine, the utter dismalness and ugliness of the -place are appalling. Then there is not a vestige of colour. The sky, -roofs, walls, the engines moving to and fro, the rolling stock, the -stacks of plates and ingots of iron and steel, the sleepers for the -rails, the ground beneath--everything is dark, sombre, and repellant. -Not a glint upon the steel lines! Not a refraction of light from the -slates on the roof! Everything is dingy, dirty, and drab. And drab is -the mind of the toiler all this time, drab as the skies above and the -walls beneath. Doomed to the confinement from which there is no escape, -he accepts the condition and is swallowed up in his environment. - -There is one point, and only one, a few paces west of the shed, from -which an inspiriting view may be had. There, on a fine day, from between -two towering walls, in the little distance, blue almost as the sky and -yet distinct and well-defined, may be seen a great part of Liddington -Hill, crowned with the _castellum_, the scene of many a lively contest -in prehistoric days, and the holy of holies of Richard Jefferies, who -spent days and nights there trying to fathom the supreme mystery that -has baffled so many great and ardent souls. When the sky is clear and -the air free from mist and haze--especially as it appears sometimes in -the summer months, under a southern wind, or before or after rain--so -distinct does the sloping line of the hill show, with its broad front -towards you, that you may even perceive the common features and details -of it. Then you may plainly view the disposition of the stone walls -running from top to base, with the white chalk-pits gleaming like snow -in the distance, and tell the outer wall of the entrenchment. In short, -you might imagine yourself to be standing within the mound and looking -out over the magnificent valley--north, east, and west; towards Bristol, -over Cirencester, and beyond Witney and Oxford. But in the winter even -this is denied. Then the dark lowering clouds sweep along the downs and -shut them out of view, or grey mist fills the intervening valley, or the -rain, falling in torrents or driving in the furious south-west gale, -hides it completely; or if it is at all visible under the cold sky, it -seems so far removed and the distance so intensified as to lose all -resemblance to a hill and to look like a dim blue cloud faintly seen on -the horizon, and which is no more than a suggestion, a shape phantasmal. - -Everywhere about the yard is evidence of industry and activity; there -all is suggestive of toil, labour, and power. On the right, stretching -for a quarter of a mile, are hundreds upon hundreds of wheels, tyres, -and axles for carriages and waggons, in every phase and degree of -fitness; some fresh from the rolling mills--from Sheffield and -Scotland--some turned and fitted in the lathe, huge jointless tyres -newly unladen waiting to take their turn in the operation of fitting -them to the wheels, and others finished, wheels, tyres, and axle -compact, dipped in tar--except the journals--to prevent them from -rusting, and all ready to be placed underneath the waggons. There are -wheels of solid steel, wheels with spokes, and wheels of oak, teak, and -even of paper composition, of many sorts and sizes, for smooth-running -carriages. One would think there were enough of them to stock the whole -railway system, but a few weeks of steady consumption would thin them -down, and the yard would soon be bare and empty if fresh consignments -were not every day arriving. - -In front of the wheels, in rows and lines, are the huge cast-iron blocks -and dies used for punching and pressing by the hydraulic machines. They -are of all shapes and dimensions, puzzling to the eye of the stranger, -but easily identified by those who are accustomed to use them, and who -have been acquainted with them perhaps from boyhood. There are sets for -"joggling" and "up-setting," and others for shaping and levelling. In -the midst of them stands a stout, three-legged machine called a "sheer -legs." To this is attached strong pulley blocks for lifting the sets -from the ground--many of them weigh considerably more than a ton; -afterwards a stout bogie is run underneath and the blocks are lowered -and so carried off to the field of operations. - -Many an accident has happened in the conveyance of blocks and dies to -and from their destination; many a bruised foot or broken limb has -resulted from a lack of carefulness and attention on the part of the -workmen. The slightest disregard may lead to injury. The bogie may slip, -or the block slide, and woe be to the individual who chances to be in -the way of the falling mass. Unassuming, and even valueless as this -collection of dies may appear to the uninitiated, it is really worth a -huge sum, for manufacturing tools are of a very expensive character. - -Close on the left is a long line of waggons laden with coal fresh from -the Welsh pits, and near by is a large bunk into which it is emptied to -allow of the speedy return of the vehicles--an important item in railway -administration. Here the dark and grimy coal heavers, with faces as -black as the mineral they are handling, grunt and sweat, their eyes -obtaining peculiar prominence from being inset in a ground of ebony, and -their teeth glistening pearly white through the blackened lips, -appearing the more remarkable if they should smile at you. For even they -will brighten up sometimes. Hard and laborious as their toil is, they -will now and then relax into pleasantry and relieve the tedium of work -with a snatch of song and hilarity. - -The coalies are not highly paid. Their day wages are eighteen shillings -or a pound a week, but, as all the work of the shed is done at the piece -rate, they are enabled to earn a few shillings above that sum. The -dullest men--those whose misfortune it is to have missed the right -education, or those who are naturally slow and awkward--are usually -selected for coal-heaving. Very often, however, shrewd and capable, -smart and intelligent men, who might be more profitably employed than in -shovelling coal from the truck to the bunk or wheel-barrow, are put at -the task. Perhaps this is the result of carelessness on the part of the -overseer, or it may be dearth of hands, and very likely it is -intentional. The man is out of favour and has been clapped there as a -punishment. - -Near the coal station stand piles upon piles of iron and steel, in -plates, bars, and ingots, some six and some ten feet high, in large -square stacks, and the long bars disposed between uprights to keep them -together and separate those of different lengths and sizes. The chief -part of this comes in from "abroad," that is, from the midlands and the -north of England, for very little iron ore is now manufactured on the -premises. A small amount of pig iron is imported and worked up at the -local rolling mills, but the greater part of the metal is purchased of -the big firms and dealers away from the town. - -The chief occupation of the factory rolling mills now is to receive the -iron scrap from the various workshops, such as clippings, shearings, -punchings, and drillings, with all the old iron proceeding from the -breaking up of worn-out engines and vehicles. This is first of all -reduced to convenient shape and then set up in "piles" on thin pieces of -wood to enable of its being placed in the furnace on the peels used for -the purpose. In the making of piles the flat pieces of metal are placed -around the outside, leaving a hollow within, which is filled up with -punchings and drillings, old rivets, nuts, bolts, and other similar -scrap. The pile is set in the furnace and heated, when it coalesces into -a mass; afterwards it is brought out to the heavy steam-hammer and -beaten into rough bars or slabs, several feet in length. This process is -called "shingling." When the iron has become fairly solid and of -convenient length, the bars, still spluttering and fizzing--for they -have not been under the hammer for more than two or three minutes--are -hurried off to the rolls. There they are received by the men in charge, -who stand stripped to the waist, with tongs in hand, and dexterously -guide the rough ingots into the ponderous rollers that revolve at speeds -suited to the size and weight of the bars, and always with a loud -clanking noise. - -As soon as the bar is rolled through--already drawn out to two or three -times its original length--the rolls stop and instantly revolve in the -other direction. The bar is again guided into the channel of the rollers -and emerges on the other side, longer and smoother. This process is -continued four or five times until the bars are finished; then other -small rollers in the floor are set in motion and the bars travel along -the ground to the steam saws, where they are cut up into the lengths -required. There they are loaded on iron bogies and carried off, or -rolled along as before to the weighing machines; everything is paid for -according to the weight of the finished material. - -Punchings and drillings are also treated by the process known as -"puddling." In this case, the furnaces will have a cavity in the floor, -into which the small scrap material is shovelled or tipped. The door is -now made fast and the heat applied, which must not be too fierce, -however, or the whole mass would soon be burned and spoiled. When the -drillings and chippings have cohered, the puddler, by an aperture -through the iron door, inserts a steel bar, curved at the end, and -prises the lump and turns it over and over. This is called "balling up." -By and by, when the iron is thoroughly heated and fairly consistent, it -is brought to the "shingler," who soon gives it shape and solidity. At -the first few blows a terrific shower of sparks shoots around, which -travel for a great distance, burning everything they meet. To protect -themselves against this the shinglers wear heavy iron jackboots, -reaching above the knees, with an iron veil over their eyes and faces. -As the steam-hammer block upon which the pounding is done is only a few -inches above the floor level and the sparks and splinters fly out with -the precision of shot from a gun barrel, the danger is confined to a -space within two feet of the floor. - -When the heats come from the puddling furnaces they look soft and spongy -and soon become dull on the outer parts, so that a stranger might think -them not sufficiently hot to beat up, but after the first light blow or -two he will find himself mistaken. First of all the huge hammer--able to -strike a blow equal to a hundred tons pressure--is merely allowed to -squeeze the mass, without beating it. Then it rises gently and travels -up and down, scarcely touching the metal. Gradually the blows fall -harder and harder until the piece is fully consistent; then it is -rapidly drawn away to the rolls. Very rarely are the hammers required to -expend their full powers upon the melting slabs, unless they happen to -be of steel, which is very hard, even when whitehot. Then the blows fall -terrific. The steam spouts, roars, and hisses; the chains jingle and the -ground under your feet shakes as though in an earthquake. - -When a better quality of iron is required the punchings, bolts, and -rivets are placed in a large drum which is afterwards set in motion and -continues to revolve for several hours. By this means all the rust, -paint, and dirt are removed from the metal, and when it is taken from -the cylinder it shines like silver. Special regard is had for this in -the furnaces. Care is taken to save it from over-heating and waste, and -when it finally emerges from the rolls it is set apart by itself and -labelled for its superior quality. - -Various prices, ranging from 15s. to 50s. a ton, are paid for shingling -and forging. These depend upon the weight of the piece and the degree of -finish required. The shingler is clever and expert, and he is not highly -paid at the works, considering his usefulness, for he is a great -manufacturer. Thousands of tons of metal must pass through his hands in -the course of a year, and the work is very hot and laborious. By the age -of fifty the shinglers and forgemen are usually worn out and superseded -at the forge. When they can no longer perform their duties at the -steam-hammer they are removed from the manufacturing circle and -presented with a broom, shovel, and wheel-barrow. Their wages are cut -down to that of a common labourer, and thus they spend their few -remaining years of service. At an early age they drop off altogether, -and their places are filled by others who have gone through the same -experience. - -The running of the iron from the furnace to the steam-hammer and back -again to the rolls is chiefly performed by boys and young men. The -majority of these come from the villages round about, for the town lads, -as a rule, are much too wideawake for the business; the work is too hard -for them. Living close to the factory they know by report which shops to -avoid, and if, by misadventure, they happen to get a start in such a -place they are very quickly out of it. Accordingly the more laborious -work usually falls upon those who dwell without the town. It is the same -with the men. Those who live in the borough nearly always obtain the -easier berths; John and George do the heavy lifting and heaving. - -Accidents are frequent at the rolling mills. Burns are of common -occurrence, and they are sometimes very serious and occasionally fatal. -Great care is requisite in moving about amid so much fire and heated -material, for everything--the floors, principals, rollers, the bogie -handles, tools and all--is very hot. Some of the carrying is done with a -kind of wheel-barrow that requires a special balance. The least -obstruction will upset it, and a little awkwardness on the part of the -workman is sufficient to bring the weltering burden down to the ground. -Not long ago, as a youth was drawing a large, whitehot pile from the -furnace to the steam-hammer, he slipped on the iron floor and fell at -full length on his back upon the ground. As he fell the bogie inclined -forward and the huge pile slid down and lodged on his stomach, -inflicting frightful injuries. He was quickly rescued from his tortuous -position, but there was no hope of recovery from such an accident, and -he died a day or two afterwards. He, too, was of the neighbouring -village. - -You can always tell these young men of the steam-hammer or rolling -mills, whenever you meet them. They are usually lank and thin and their -faces are ghastly white. Their nostrils are distended; black and blue -rings encircle their eyes. Their gait is careless and shuffling, and -their dress, on a holiday, is a curious mixture of the rural and urban -styles. On week-days they are as black as sweeps, and the blacker they -are the better, in their opinion, for they take pride in parading the -badge of their profession and are not ashamed of it as are their -workmates who dwell in the town. - -I have said that formerly much more iron was manufactured on the -premises than is the case at this time. Then the steam-hammer shed, in -which nothing but forging is done, was a flourishing place. All the -wheels for the engines and waggons, together with piston rods, driving -gear, axles, and cranks, were made there. These are obtained elsewhere -now, some in England and Scotland, and other parts from abroad. Steel -has superseded iron in a great degree, too, being harder, tougher, -stronger and cheaper. The combined skill of the chemist and scientist -has simplified the manufacture of it, and it is to be obtained in large -quantities. But steel rusts much more quickly than iron, and does not -last nearly as long in exposed positions on the vehicles. - -Formerly all wheels were made of wrought iron and a great part of the -work was done by hand. First of all the sections were made under the -steam-hammer, in "=T=" pieces and boss ends, and shut in the middle. -These were for the spokes. Then the "=T=" ends were incurved and joined -together all round till the rim of the wheel was finished. After that, -there remained to form the centre and make the "boss" solid and compact. -As the boss sections were made to fit together in the middle, they only -required to be heated and welded. Accordingly they were placed on an -open forge, built round with damp coal-dust to contain and concentrate -the heat, the boss being exactly over the centre of the fire. Another -forge, close at hand, contained a large round iron washer, similarly -placed, to which was attached an iron bar for lifting it from the fire. -Both heats were prepared simultaneously. Then the wheel, lifted by a -crane, was quickly removed from the forge, turned upside down and placed -on the steam-hammer block. The washer was brought out at once and -clapped on smartly, and down came the heavy monkey. Half-a-dozen blows -were sufficient to make the weld. Then it was removed from the -steam-hammer and laid on an iron table and the smiths set about it with -their tools to finish it off, three or four men striking alternately on -one "flatter" or "fuller," with perfect rhythm and precision, the chief -smith directing operations and working with the rest. - -Those were the palmy days for the smithy. Wages were high and the prices -good, and the work made was solid and strong. Now all wheels are -manufactured of cast steel and with little hand labour. The molten metal -is simply poured into moulds, allowed to cool and afterwards annealed in -special furnaces. One can easily imagine the immense amount of labour -saved in the operation, though the wheels are not as elastic and -durable. - -Situated near the piles of new material are the scrap bunks. These are -old waggons that have served their turn on the railway and, instead of -being broken up, have been lifted bodily from the sets of wheels and -deposited on the ground as receptacles for the large quantities of scrap -made in the workshop. What miles these old waggons have gone! What storm -and stress they have endured! What burdens they have borne! East and -west, north and south, over hills and bridges, through valleys, past -miles upon miles of cornfields and meadows, green and gold, red and -brown by turn, in rain and snow, winter frost and summer sunshine, by -day and night, year after year together. - -These waggons, if they could speak, would tell you they have visited -every station and town on the system. They have crossed the Thames, the -Severn, the Kennet, the Upper and Lower Avon, the Wye, the Dee, the -Towy, the Parrot and the Tamar, times out of number. They have gone -through dark tunnels, over dizzy viaducts, past cathedral cities and -quaint old market-towns, villages, and hamlets, sleeping and waking, at -all hours of the day and night, drawn on, and on, and on by the tireless -iron steeds, piled up with all sorts of goods and commodities for the -use of man--stones to build him houses, iron to strengthen them, corn to -feed him and his family, and materials to clothe them. They would tell -you of many lovely woods and forests through which they have journeyed, -and seaside towns, with the strong blue ocean in view, sometimes running -perilously near the beach, at others hidden in deep cuttings, where the -banks are blue with violets, and yellow with the pale gold of the -cowslip, followed by the endless array of the ox-eyes, toadflax, and -sweet wild mignonette. And they would tell you of long, dark, winter -nights, when the tempest howled madly through the trees and bridges and -sang shrilly in the telegraph wires; when the rain fell in a deluge from -the inky sky, or the sleet and snow drove in blinding clouds and was -piled upon the weatherproof tarpaulins. Or again they would relate of -running smoothly on summer nights under the pale southern moon, or when -the stars glittered in the frosty heavens, or dense fog, so troublesome -and dangerous to the ever-watchful and valiant old driver, shut -everything out of view, signals and all, so that their very whereabouts -were only known and identified by paying close attention to the loud, -shot-like explosions of the detonators placed along the line by the -fogmen. - -Now all these things are at an end. They have run their race, and grown -old in the service. They have fulfilled their period of usefulness on -the line and, like old veterans returned from the war, they have come -back to their native town to end their days. Being fairly sound of -constitution and having escaped the shocks of collision and accident, -they were adjudged too solid to be broken up yet, so, as a last use, -they were placed here to receive the punchings and trimmings from the -shears and presses, and ingloriously waste away in their old age, -exposed to all the inclemencies and caprices of the weather. - -The scrap, made daily, soon amounts to hundreds of tons. It is of all -shapes and sizes. There is plate from an eighth of an inch to an inch -and a half thick from the presses, ends and trimmings of rods and bars -from the shears and steam-hammers, burs from the stamping plant and -scrag ends from the forgings. In addition to this there are scores of -tons of old iron and steel, brought from all over the system to be cut -up at the hydraulic shears--sole-bars of waggons, stanchions and -"diagonals," "=T="-iron plates, and hundreds of old draw-bars and -buffers. The iron and steel are carefully observed and kept separate and -huge piles soon accumulate, far more than the waggons can hold. The iron -refuse is by and by passed on to the rolling mills, while the steel -scrap awaits a purchaser. No attempt is made to utilise that on the -premises. There are secrets in the manufacture of steel which are never -betrayed to outsiders, and it would be a waste of time and money for -the local furnacemen and forgers to attempt to do anything with it. -However carefully the furnaceman tends it in the fire he cannot get it -to cohere well in the piles, and if it is at all over-heated it bursts -and scatters in all directions, brittle and glassy, as soon as the -steam-hammer touches it with a gentle blow. - -There is, at the same time, enormous waste in the matter of scrap iron -and steel, which intelligent supervision would certainly lessen. -Material that might economically be used in the workshop is -indiscriminately passed out with the rubbish and sold away at a cheap -rate--at a fraction of its real value. Tons of metal--good solid iron, -often of the highest quality--which might be used for forging and -stamping, are rejected and scrapped because it would take a trifle -longer to handle. Other large scrap material might be slabbed and used -without sending it to the mill, and thus large profits would accrue to -the shed; for the rolling mills people will only purchase, -theoretically, at trade prices, that is, at about two pounds a ton for -scrap iron. - - - - -CHAPTER III - - THE SHUNTERS--WATCHMEN--DETECTING A THIEF--FIRES--CARRIAGE - FINISHERS--PAINTERS--"WASHERS-DOWN"--CUSHION-BEATERS--CHANGES - AND INNOVATIONS--DEPARTMENTAL RELATIONS - - -A short way off in the yard, in a small space clear of the confusing -network of lines that cross and recross here and there, running in every -direction and connecting the various workshops together, are two old -railway coaches dispossessed of their wheels and lodged upon baulks of -timber let into the ground. Like the old scrap waggons, they have had -their day in active service, and, coming home in fairly good condition, -though antiquated in style and useless for passenger traffic, have yet -been found convenient as occasional storehouses and shelters. They are -now used as cabins, one for the shunters, who conduct their operations -round about, and the other for watchmen, and they are fitted with stoves -for warming the men's food, and for drying their clothes in wet weather. -The roofs and windows are intact, and some of the original seats still -remain. These are of bare wood and are not padded and upholstered in the -comfortable and luxurious style now required and expected by the railway -traveller. - -These old carriages are at this time very rarely met with and are nearly -extinct. For years after they disappeared from the general -traffic--superseded by more commodious and comfortable vehicles--the -best of them were kept stored up in sheds and yards in out-of-the-way -places to await the time of trippers and excursionists. Then they were -regularly hauled out to accommodate the multitude. The windows were -hastily wiped over and the interiors dusted out; they were ready to -receive the people. Goods engines of the old type were brought up to -draw them along. The trippers squeezed themselves inside, and, with the -shrieking of steam whistles and hooters and the playing of concertinas -and melodions, the trains started off and went jolting and jogging away -to their destinations. At the end of the tripping season the coaches -were again stored away in the yards and sidings, until they became too -crazy and dangerous to run on the main line, when they were either -utilised for storehouses and shelters, or broken up. The refuse wood -from the destruction of old worn-out rolling stock is sawn up and used -for lighting the fires in the furnaces and boilers, and is distributed -throughout the system. A large quantity is also sold to the workmen, who -use it both for firing and for the construction of outhouses. - -The shunters of the yard are a hard-working body of men, and they are -exposed to many dangers. The hours are long and they must cover many -miles during the day by running up and down the lines. It is their duty -to transfer the carriages and waggons from road to road and from one -workshop to another, to dispose of the old ones brought in for repairs, -to lead out the new, and distribute the various stores--iron and steel, -coal, coke, and timber--at several points. Whatever the weather may be -they must be up and doing, or the traffic in the yard would soon be in -utter confusion. Rain or snow, cold or heat, sunshine or cloud, July -glow or December fog and gloom are all one to them. The busy swarm of -workmen comes and goes, the furnaces spout their dense black clouds of -smoke into the heavens; the dazzling steam, shot out from the engines -and steam-hammers, leaps up in an ascending pillar, the rapid wheels -spin round in the roof or under the wall, and the endless toil goes on, -all which must be catered for by the shunters. - -Great care must be taken to prevent the sidings from becoming blocked by -crossing a wrong point. Where two or more engines are operating over a -complex siding this may easily be done, and a delay of several hours -will be the result. If an inexperienced shunter, mistaking the number of -his points, shifts his waggons on to the wrong track and, not perceiving -his error, at once proceeds to carry out several other manoeuvres, he -may shut in the engines so completely and confusedly that he will want -all his wits about him to extricate them again; it will be like a -mathematical problem. Happily for the shunter's credit, this is not a -common occurrence. - -Strong, healthy men are selected for the shunter's trade, to carry the -pole and whistle. By working in the open air, exposed to all kinds of -weather, they become hardy and seasoned and present a far different -appearance from that of those who are shut up within the walls of the -workshop, amid the smoke and fumes. Instead of becoming lean with the -constant running to and fro, they seem to thrive on the exercise, and -many of them assume substantial proportions. Their faces are bronzed -with the sun and wind, and they are a picture of health--strong, -stalwart, and of good physique. The shunters are not under as many -restrictions as are the factory workers proper, _i.e._, those within the -sheds. It is their privilege to smoke while on duty, or, at any rate, in -the intervals on the premises, an indulgence which is strictly forbidden -to all other employees. They remain always about the yard and never go -beyond the bounds prescribed for them, so that they really belong to the -factory. - -The other cabin is used by the watchmen as an out-shelter--a kind of -half-way refuge. Their headquarter is at the main entrance, where there -are always one or two on duty to check the coming in and going out of -the workmen, to keep out intruders and to prevent any from passing out -before the regulation hour. They also act in the quality of police to -protect the property of the railway company, patrol the shops and yards, -and keep a sharp look-out for loiterers and any who should attempt to -smoke or read a newspaper on the sly. - -Every workshop and building is provided with certain clock-like -instruments called "tell-tales," which are fixed in many corners and -angles, and at frequent intervals along the high board fence that -encloses the factory grounds. The watchman appointed for the round is -furnished with a key that fits the instrument. It is his duty to visit -each of these every hour, or every two hours, according to the -time-table given him by his chief. When he comes to the tell-tale he -inserts the key and, after turning it round, withdraws it. This leaves a -record of his visit and certifies that he has gone his round regularly. -At intervals, unknown to the watchman, the tell-tales are removed and -privately examined, in order to see that everything is correct, and if -there has been any neglect of duty the offender is sought out and -punished. Occasionally it transpires that there has been wholesale -tampering with the instruments in order to escape going the rounds. The -watchmen, like all others at the works, agreed for the time, finally -come to loggerheads and play the tell-tale themselves. Someone or other -informs of his mate, this one retaliates and the scheme is laid bare. -Forthwith the whole staff of watchmen are summoned to appear before the -works' manager, and are punished in various ways. Something new and -strange is adopted; the men's time and rounds are altered, and they -patrol their beats the laughing-stock of the workmen whom it is their -duty to observe and supervise. - -The watchmen, as a class, are surly and over-officious. Perhaps they -were chosen for some qualities they were thought to possess, fitting -them for the duties expected of them; they are not popular with the -workmen. The fact of their being placed in a supervisory position and of -being exempt from manual work induces them to have a higher opinion of -themselves than the actual circumstances warrant. They consider -themselves above the average at the works and cultivate the -pseudo-genteel. - -When a new watchman is made it is noised abroad throughout the -department; his size, description, and all else that is known of him are -passed around the sheds for the benefit of the masses. Developments are -anticipated and the results eagerly awaited. Elated at his promotion and -great in his own conceit the newly initiated one, before he is -well-known and identified by the workmen, slips to and fro in the sheds, -eager for surprise captures. Immediately before the hooter sounds for -the men's release at meal times he is to be found suddenly opening doors -and popping on the scene. If any of the workmen should happen to have on -their coats, or to have gathered near the door ready to rush out, they -scatter like wood-pigeons when a hawk has darted in the midst of them. -This forms the subject of a report to the shop foreman or to the -manager. Dire threats as to the consequences of loitering are launched -at the workmen; a few youths are suspended and forced to take a rest, -and so the matter is settled. - -The watchman, however, is not forgotten or forgiven by the men. Some -nickname or other is coined for him on the spot. Perhaps he is hooted -for a sneak and teased in various ways, the boys especially enjoying a -joke at his expense. They set traps for him, and after racing about the -yard and dodging between the waggons and coaches, suddenly decamp and -make for the tunnels or entrances. Once a nickname becomes attached to a -watchman it seldom leaves him. One has borne the title of "Long Bill" -for a number of years; another is honoured with the appellation of -"Powerful"; this one is "Flat-foot," that is "Rubber-heel," and another -has earned for himself the ridiculous title of "Chesty." - -Theft is sometimes practised by the workmen, though it is much more -rarely committed now than it was formerly. Some of the schemes adopted -for getting the stolen materials outside the works have been quite -artistic, and others were ridiculously open and daring. Years ago loads -of timber and other valuables were regularly smuggled out in the middle -of the night, and especially on Saturday nights. They were piled upon -big trucks and bogies and got past the entrances with the watchman's -consent and connivance. Probably he received a bribe for his silence--a -quart of ale at the club, or a share of the stolen goods. On at least -one occasion a brazen-faced fellow wheeled out a new wheel-barrow, -unchallenged, amid the crowd at a dinner-time and was never suspected. -At other times wheel-barrows and other tools have mysteriously -disappeared in the night, as though they had been swallowed up by an -earthquake. They were quietly lifted over the fence and received into -the neighbouring field and so got safely away. - -Sometimes a workman will split on his mate whom he knows to be in the -habit of purloining things from the shed. Perhaps it is a little -firewood or a few screws or nails that were picked up in the yard. -Going privately to the watchman he acquaints him of the fact, and at -dinner-time, or night, a stand is made at the entrance, and the culprit -seized and searched. This invariably means dismissal, however small the -amount of the theft may be. Somehow or other, though, the informer is -discovered and for ever afterwards he is branded as a sneak and shunned -by his fellows. There is no forgiveness for this kind of thing among the -workmen. Honesty or not honesty, he is never tolerated but is looked -upon with the utmost disgust and contempt. - -Occasionally, if you should stand at the entrance as the workmen are -leaving, you might see an abject-looking individual, with drawn -features, making his way painfully through the tunnel, limping, or -dragging a leg behind him. The casual observer would jump to the -conclusion that the man had met with an accident, or that he was -naturally lame or a cripple. But very likely, if the truth were known, -he has a staff of wood, or a rod of iron, four feet long, concealed in -the leg of his trousers and reaching up to the breast, and that is what -makes him walk with such great difficulty. Another plan is to bend a rod -of iron in the shape of a hoop and so fix it around the waist, or to -pack the contraband next to the skin, under the armpits and around the -stomach. This very often leads to detection. The watchman on duty at the -entrance has his suspicions aroused by the shape of the man. Accordingly -he steps out, calls him aside and feels the part, and the culprit is -discovered. - -It sometimes happens that a watchman gets on the track of an innocent -workman and makes himself appear ridiculous, for he is sure to be -noticed by the crowd and heartily jeered at for his interference. Not -long ago a young workman, on his way out from the shed one morning -after night duty, was challenged and stopped and required to disclose -the contents of his dinner-basket, which, to the watchman's eye, seemed -unusually heavy. The young man, who was an enthusiastic Christian, -smilingly complied and, opening his basket, took out a big Bible, and -presented it to his challenger. That was more than the watchman had -bargained for, and he immediately shuffled off in considerable -confusion. A few nights ago a surly watchman stopped me and curtly -demanded to know what I was carrying "in the parcel under my arm." It -was merely my daily newspaper. - -It is not the rank and file alone that are guilty of taking things that -do not belong to them. Some of the principals of the staff have been -notoriously to blame in this respect, as is well-known at the works, -though their misdeeds are invariably screened and condoned. If one of -the managers has stolen materials worth hundreds of pounds he is -reprimanded and allowed to continue at his post, or at most, he is asked -to resign and is afterwards awarded a pension; but if the workman has -purloined an article of a few pence in value he is dismissed and -prosecuted. This is no general statement but a plain matter of fact. - -Further over the yard, towards one of the sheds that form the boundary -on this side, stands a large water-closet, one of many about the -factory, built to meet the requirements of about five hundred workmen. -These buildings are of a uniform type and are disagreeable places, -lacking in sanitary arrangements. There is not the slightest approach to -privacy of any kind, no consideration whatever for those who happen to -be imbued with a sense of modesty or refinement of feeling. The -convenience consists of a long double row of seats, situate back to -back, partly divided by brick walls, the whole constructed above a -large pit that contains a foot of water which is changed once or twice a -day. The seats themselves are merely an iron rail built upon brickwork, -and there is no protection. Several times, I have known men to -overbalance and fall into the pit. Everything is bold, daring, and -unnatural. On entering, the naked persons of the men sitting may plainly -be seen, and the stench is overpowering. The whole concern is gross and -objectionable, filthy, disgusting, and degrading. No one that is chaste -and modest could bear to expose himself, sitting there with no more -decency than obtains among herds of cattle shut up in the winter pen. -Consequently, there are many who, though hard pressed by the exigences -of nature, never use the place. As a result they contract irregularities -and complaints of the stomach that remain with them all their lives, and -that might easily prove fatal to them. Perhaps this barbarous relic of -insanitation may in time be superseded by some system a little more -moral and more compatible with human sensibility and refinement. - -Near this spot, in the open air, are stored hundreds of gallons of oil, -spirits and other liquids of a highly inflammable nature, used for -mixing paints for the carriages and waggons, together with chemicals -employed in the rapid cleansing of the exteriors of vehicles that come -in for repairs and washing-down. The rules of the factory strictly -forbid the storing of any of these liquids within the workshops and -outhouses. This precaution is taken in order to prevent damage by fire -in case of an outbreak and to render the flames more easy of control by -the firemen. - -At every short distance there is a connection with the water-main and a -length of hose always fit and ready for any emergency. The works has its -own fire-engine--a powerful motor and pumps--and if by chance a call is -made the men are speedily on the spot. Here and there around the sheds -are deep pits, walled up and covered with cast-iron tops, to contain -water for the fire-engines, for they cannot well draw clear off the -main. To these pits, in the afternoon or evening, the engines and -firemen occasionally come for practice. Immediately the wells are filled -from the main, the hose is coupled up, and a perfect deluge is rained -over everything in the vicinity, as though a fire were really in -progress. After half an hour's lusty exertion with the hose and the -scaling of walls and roofs, the firemen stow their apparatus and the -motor rushes off down the yard quickly out of sight. - -Though fires at the works are not of common occurrence, there is now and -then an outbreak, and sometimes one of serious dimensions. They are -generally the result of great carelessness, or the want of ordinary -attention on the part of a workman or official. Perhaps a naked light is -left burning somewhere or other, or a portion of cotton-waste is -smouldering away unobserved. The roof may become ignited through contact -with the hot chimney; and very often the cause of the outbreak is not -ascertained at all. In several cases incendiarism has been suggested as -the cause of a fire, but, notwithstanding all the efforts of the works' -detectives to fix the guilt, proof of the crime has never been brought -home to any individual. When fires do happen they nearly always -originate in the night. One reason of this is that, with so many workmen -on the scene, during the day, the first sign of an outbreak would be -immediately detected and dealt with before it could become dangerous. -But at night it would develop rapidly and obtain a good hold on the -premises before being discovered by the watchmen. - -When it is known in the works that a fire is raging round about--if it -should happen to be at night--the few workmen employed, without waiting -for instructions from the overseers, throw down their tools and rush off -to the scene of the accident. They are impelled to do this, in the first -place, by the strong natural desire every man has to be of service in -times of danger; secondly, by reason of the intense excitement which the -cry of "Fire!" always produces in the most phlegmatic individual, and, -last of all--if either of the two causes before-named are wanting--by a -natural and uncontrollable curiosity and fascination for the smoke and -flames. It is usually the first of these three causes that impels the -workmen to throw down their tools and run to help the men with the -fire-engines. At such times as these nothing is held sacred. Doors and -windows are forced open or smashed in, bolts and bars are wrenched from -their sockets, offices and storehouses are entered; the most private -recesses are made public. All thoughts of the midnight meal are set -aside and there is no returning to the worksheds until morning brings a -fresh supply of hands accompanied by the day officials. - -Not many years ago the station buildings took fire, shortly after -midnight, and most of the men on night duty in the department nearest -the scene flocked out to help the station staff and the firemen. By and -by the refreshment rooms were involved and there was a wholesale removal -of the viands and liquors. Under such circumstances, drinking was -naturally indulged in, and more than one--officials, as well as the rank -and file--who came out to help returned the worse for liquor. Such -adventures as these live long in the memory of the workmen: it is not -often they have the opportunity of taking a drink at the company's -expense. - -Some time after the station fire a much more serious outbreak occurred -in an extensive shed used for the construction and storing of carriages. -There were in the place sufficient vehicles to compose twenty trains, -and the most of them were brand new, representing altogether a huge sum -of money. When the watchman passed through on his rounds at midnight -everything appeared safe; the place was dark, silent, and deserted. Half -an hour afterwards a workman employed in a shed some distance away saw a -dull glow above the roof and thought at first it was the moon rising. A -few minutes afterwards flames leapt into sight and discovered a fire of -some magnitude. - -Quickly the signal was given, and every available man rushed on the -scene. The centre of the shed was like a raging furnace. The roof was on -fire and the flames leapt from coach to coach with great rapidity. -These, from their slightness of construction and from their being -thickly coated with paint and varnish, caught fire like matchwood and -burned furiously, while large sections of the roof fell in. Every now -and then, as a coach became consumed down to the framework, the gas -cylinders underneath burst with a terrific report, like that of a piece -of heavy artillery. The shattered iron and steel flew in all directions -and increased the danger to the firemen. Hundreds of people of the -neighbourhood, roused with the repeated shocks, left their beds and ran -out of doors to ascertain the cause of the explosions. Some thought it -was an earthquake and others feared it was the boilers exploding. Many -volunteered to help, but their offers were refused, and a strong cordon -of police was drawn around the shed to keep out all intruders. So fierce -was the heat within that the steel tyres of the wheels were buckled and -bent, the rails were warped and twisted into fantastic shapes and the -heavy iron girders of the roof were wrecked. The frames of the burnt -coaches were reduced to a pile of debris and were totally -unrecognisable. The damage to rolling stock and to the premises amounted -to many thousands of pounds, yet the fire was all over in two or three -hours. As to its origin, that remained a mystery, and completely baffled -the detectives. Examination of the tell-tales proved that the watchman -had gone his round all right, and though many experiments were made the -cause of the outbreak remained inexplicable. - -A great part of the repairs to carriages--such as washing-down, -smudging, and especially the cleaning and re-fitting of interiors--is -done out of doors in the yard when the weather permits, for it would be -impossible to contain all the vehicles in the sheds. The whole of this -work, even to the most trivial detail, is now done at the piece rate. -Experienced examiners decide the amount of repairs to be executed, and -the prices are fixed according to their recommendation. It is generally -a matter of luck to the workman whether the repair job pays or not. Very -often the carrying out of repairs takes a much longer time than had been -anticipated. The renewing of one part often necessitates the remodelling -of another, or the fitting up of the new piece may prove to be a very -tedious process. In this case the workman may lose money on the job, -though, on the other hand, he may have finished altogether earlier than -he expected. It would be very nearly impossible to have a perfect -equation in the matter of repair prices, and this is recognised by all, -masters and men, too, at the factory. The workman is commonly told by -his chief that "what he loses on the swings he must pick up on the -roundabouts," i.e., what he loses on one job he must gain on another, -and this axiom is universally accepted, at least by all those who do -repairs. On new work the labour is uniform and there is no need and no -excuse for inequality of prices. - -Great consternation fell upon the carriage finishers, painters, and -pattern-makers, several years ago, when it became known that piece rates -were to be substituted for the old day-work system, especially as the -change was to be introduced at a very slack time. It was looked upon as -a catastrophe by the workmen, and such it very nearly proved to be. Many -journeymen were discharged, some were transferred to other grades of -work--that is, those who were willing to suffer reduction rather than to -be thrown quite out of employment--and the whole department was put on -short time, working only two or three days a week, while some of the men -were shut out for weeks at a stretch. Several who protested against the -change were dismissed, and others--workmen of the highest skill and of -long connection with the company--had their wages mercilessly cut down -for daring to interpose their opinion. The pace was forced and quickened -by degrees to the uttermost and then the new prices were fixed, the -managers themselves attending and timing operations and supervising the -prices. Feeling among the workmen ran high, but there was no help for -the situation and it had to be accepted. Few of the men belonged to a -trade union, or they might have opposed the terms and made a better -bargain; as it was they were completely at the mercy of the managers and -foremen. - -The carriage finishers and upholsterers are a class in themselves, -differing, by the very nature of their craft, from all others at the -factory. As great care and cleanliness are required for their work, they -are expected to be spruce and clean in their dress and appearance. This, -together with the fact that the finisher may have served an -apprenticeship in a high-class establishment and one far more genteel -than a railway department can hope to be, tends to create in him a sense -of refinement higher than is usually found in those who follow rougher -and more laborious occupations. His cloth suit, linen collar, spotless -white apron, clean shaven face, hair carefully combed, and bowler hat -are subjects of comment by the grimy toilers of other sheds. His -dwelling is situated in the cleanest part of the town and corresponds -with his personal appearance. In the evening he prosecutes his craft at -home and manufactures furniture and decorations for himself and family, -or earns money by doing it for others. Very often the whole contents of -his parlour and kitchen--with the exception of iron and other ware--were -made by his hands, so, since his wages are above the ordinary, provided -he is steady and temperate, he may be reasonably comfortable and -well-to-do. - -The painters are not quite as fortunate as are their comrades the -finishers. Their work, though in some respects of a high order and -important, is at the same time less artistic than is that of the -cabinetmakers and upholsterers. It is also much more wearisome and -unhealthy, and the wages are not as high. Very often, too, work for them -is extremely scarce, especially during the summer and autumn months, -when every available coach is required in traffic for the busy season, -and they are consequently often on short time. Their busiest periods are -the interval between autumn and Christmas and the time between the New -Year and Easter. The style of colouring and ornamentation for the -carriages has changed considerably of recent years and there is now not -nearly as much labour and pains expended upon the vehicles as in times -past. The brighter colours have been quite eliminated and have given -place to chocolates and browns, while the frames and ends of the -carriages are painted black. The arms of the company, together with -figures, letters, initials, and other designs, so conspicuous to the eye -of the traveller, are affixed by means of transfers and therefore are -not dependent upon the skill of the painters. - -The washing-down of the coaches is done by labourers, some of whom live -in the town and others in the villages round about. Little skill is -required for this, and the operation is very dull and monotonous. The -men are supplied with long-handled brushes, soaps, and sponges, hot and -cold water and chemical preparations. Large gangs of them are -continually employed in removing the accretions of dust and filth -acquired by the coaches in their mad career over the railway line, -through tunnels and cuttings, smoky towns and cities. Sometimes the -vehicles are completely smothered with grease and mud thrown up by the -sleepers in bad weather, and every particle of this must be removed -before the painter can apply his brush to renovate the exterior. - -The washers-down are generally raw youths and many of them are of the -shifty type--the kind that will not settle anywhere for long together. -The drabness of their employment forces them to seek some means of -breaking the monotony of it, and they often indulge in noise and -horseplay, singing and shouting at the top of their voices and slopping -the water over each other. This brings them into trouble with the -officials, and occasions them to take many a forced holiday, but they do -not care about that, and when they arrive back upon the scene they -practise their old games as boldly as before. Having no trade, and -receiving but a scant amount in wages, they do not feel to be bound down -hand and foot to the employment, and even if they should be discharged -altogether they will not have lost very much. Their youthfulness, too, -renders them buoyant and independent; all the world is open to them if -they decide to hand in their notices. - -The cushion-beaters, formerly well known about the yard, have quite -disappeared now. At whatever time you were outside the shed, in fine -weather, you might have heard their rods beating on the cushions in -perfect rhythm and order. They were taken from the coaches and laid upon -stools in the open air, and the beater held a rod, usually of hazel, in -each hand. With them he alternately smote the cushion, keeping up the -effort for a long time, until every particle of dust was removed and -blown away. His dexterity in the use of the rods and the ability to -prolong the operation were a source of great interest to the youths; all -the small boys of the shed stole out at intervals to see him at work. -Now the dust is removed from the cushions and paddings by means of a -vacuum arrangement. This is in the form of a tube, with an aperture -several inches in diameter and having strong suctional powers created by -the exhaust steam from the engine in the shed. It is passed to and fro -over the surface of the cushion, and the dust is thereby extracted and -received into the apparatus. So strong is the suction within that it -will sometimes draw the buttons from the upholstering if they are loose -or frayed. The quantity of dust extracted from one carriage often -amounts to a pound in weight. - -Old customs and systems die hard at the works and, whatever their own -opinion of the matter may be, the officials are not considered by the -workmen to be of a very progressive type. Many of the methods employed, -both in manufacture and administration, are extremely old-fashioned and -antiquated; an idea has to be old and hoary before it stands a chance of -being admitted and adopted here. Small private firms are usually a long -way ahead of railway companies in the matter of methods and processes, -and they pay better wages into the bargain. They have to face -competition and to cater for the markets, while railway companies, being -both the producers and consumers of their wares, can afford to choose -their own way of manufacturing them. In addition to this, the heads of -small firms usually have an interest in the concern whereas the managers -of railway works are otherwise placed; it makes no difference to them -what they spend or waste, and they are always able to cover up their -shortcomings. Their prodigality and mismanagement would ruin a hundred -small firms in as many months, though the outside world knows little or -nothing about it. But if the officials creep they urge the rank and file -along at a good rate and make a pretence of being smart and -business-like. The fact of a workman being engaged prosecuting a -worn-out method for the production of an article does not make the task -lighter or more congenial for him, rather the opposite. Real improvement -in manufacture not only expedites production, but also simplifies the -toil to the workman, and the newer methods are the better, generally -speaking. - -In everything, then, except in smart management and supervision, railway -sheds now resemble contract premises. Piecework prices are cut to the -lowest possible point; it is all push, drive, and hustle. No attempt is -made to regulate the amount of work to be done, and short time is -frequent and often of long duration. This is not arranged as it was -formerly, when the whole department, or none at all, was closed down. -Now even a solitary shed, a portion of it, or a mere gang is closed or -suspended if there is a slackness at any point. Consequently, one part -of the works is often running at break-neck speed, while another is -working but three or four days a week and the men are in a half-starved -condition. In one shed fresh hands are being put on, while from others -they are being discharged wholesale. Transfers from one shop to another -are seldom made, and never from department to department. One would -think that the various divisions of the works were owned by separate -firms, or people of different nationalities, such formidable barriers -appear to exist between them. - -The chiefs of the departments are usually more or less rivals and are -often at loggerheads, each one trying to outdo the other in some -particular direction and to bring himself into the notice of the -directors. The same, with a little modification, may be said of the -foremen of the several divisions, while the workmen are about -indifferent in this respect. For them, all beyond their own sheds, -except a few personal friends or relations, are total strangers. Though -they may have been employed at the works for half a century, they have -never gone beyond the boundary of their own department, and perhaps not -as far as that, for trespassing from shed to shed is strictly forbidden -and sharply punished where detected. Thus, the workman's sphere is very -narrow and limited. There is no freedom; nothing but the same coming and -going, the still monotonous journey to and fro and the old hours, month -after month, and year after year. It is no wonder that the factory -workmen come to lead a dull existence and to lose interest in all life -beyond their own smoky walls and dwellings. It would be a matter for -surprise if the reverse condition prevailed. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - - THE OLD CANAL--THE ASH-WHEELERS--THE BRICK-LAYERS--RIVAL - FOREMEN--THE ROAD-WAGGON BUILDERS--THE WHEEL SHED--BOY - TURNERS--THE RUBBISH HEAP. - - -West of the workshop the yard is bounded by a canal that formerly -connected the railway town with the ancient borough town of Cricklade, -eight miles distant. But things are different now from what they were at -the time the cutting was made, for great changes have taken place during -the last half century in all matters pertaining to transport. Then the -long barges, drawn by horses, mules, and donkeys, and laden with corn, -stone, coal, timber, gravel, and other materials, proceeded regularly by -day and night, up and down the canal to their destinations--north to -Gloucester, west to Bristol, east to Abingdon, and thence to far-off -London. At that time, instead of being filled with mud, weeds, and -refuse, and overgrown with masses of rank vegetation--grasses, flags, -water-parsnip, and a score of other aquatic plants--the channel was -broad and free, and full of clear, limpid water. The cattle came to -drink in the meadows; there the clouds were mirrored, floating in fields -of azure. The fish leapt and played in the sunshine, making innumerable -rings on the surface, and the swallows skimmed swiftly along, dipping -now and then to snatch up a sweet mouthful to carry home to their young -in the nest under the eaves of the neighbouring cottage or shed. - -Occasionally, too, a steamboat passed through the locks out beyond the -town and proceeded on its way to the Thames or Avon. The dredger plied -up and down to prevent the accumulation of mud and refuse, and the -towpaths and bridges were kept in good repair. The railway had not -everything its own way then. The fever of haste had not taken hold of -every part of the community, and a few, at least, could await the -arrival of the barges and so save a considerable sum in the conveyance -of their goods. But now all that is changed. Goods must be loaded, -whirled rapidly away and delivered in a few hours, for no one can wait. -The pace of the freight trains has been increased almost to express -speed. Every possible means that could be thought of have been devised -to facilitate transport, and the barges have disappeared from this -neighbourhood. Here and there at the wharves may still be seen a few -rotten old hulks, falling to pieces and embedded in the mud; the bridges -are shattered and dilapidated and the lock gates are broken. The -towpaths are overgrown with bushes and become almost impassable, and the -channel is blocked up. - -The only person who benefits by the change is the botanist. He, from -time to time, may be seen busily engaged in grappling for rare specimens -of weeds and grasses, or the less learned student of wild flowers comes -to gather what treasures he may from the wilderness: the beautiful -flowering rush, golden iris, graceful water plantain, arrowhead, water -violet, figwort, skull-cap, gipsy wort, and celery-leaved crowfoot. -Formerly, too, the works derived a considerable quantity of water -through the canal, but that has long ceased to be. There is no water at -hand now, and supplies have had to be sought for among the Cotswold -Hills, at a great distance from the town. The engines at the old -pumping station, near the canal path, once so familiar a feature to -travellers that way, are silent now and will be heard there no more. -They, too, have become a thing of the past. - -The factory premises extend along both banks of the canal and are -protected on the far side by a high wall, while that part nearest the -workshop is open to the water's edge. On this side, first of all, is a -high platform, called the stage, which is used to load the ashes and -refuse, slag and clinkers from the furnaces and forges. This refuse is -wheeled out twice daily--at six in the morning and again in the evening -after the furnaces have been clinkered--by labourers, upon whom the duty -devolves. To remove the clinker properly and economically from the grate -of the furnace the fire must have been damped for a short while. This -allows the whitehot coals to cling together underneath, and they form a -kind of arch above the bars. When this has been accomplished the -furnaceman inserts a strong steel bar at the bottom, resting it upon the -"bridge," and, with a heavy sledge, breaks the clinker, working along -from side to side. That is in a compact layer or mass, often six or -eight inches deep, considerably thicker in the corners, and it is very -tough while it is hot. After it has been thoroughly broken up, several -of the fire bars are removed together, beginning at one side, and the -heavy clinker drops through, spluttering and hissing, into the deep -boshes of water disposed underneath. If the fire has not been -sufficiently damped it is loose and hollow, and as soon as the bars are -removed the white-hot coals rush through into the water, raising clouds -of hot, blinding dust and dense volumes of steam. - -Immediately the furnaceman, warned of the fall, springs backwards and -escapes from the pit, or, if he is tardy in his movements, he is caught -in the hot vapour and scalded severely. Sometimes the fall is very -sudden and he has no time to escape. Then his face and arms take the -full force of the rushing steam and he is certain to receive painful -injuries. When the operation of clinkering is over the men bring their -wheel-barrows and, with the aid of long-handled shovels, remove the -refuse from the pits and run it outside and upon the stage. This is hot -work, whenever it is performed; the men are always sure of a wet shirt -at the task. Whatever the weather may be, wet or fine, frost or snow, -they come to it stripped to the waist and quickly run their -wheel-barrows to and fro. If the rain should pelt in torrents it makes -little or no difference to them, they still go on with their work, -half-naked and bare-headed. Hardy and strong as they may be, this is -bound to affect their health, sooner or later. It is not an uncommon -thing to find one or other of them breaking down at an early age, a -physical wreck, unfit for further service. - -The ash-wheelers belong to the same class as the coalies and are -sometimes identical with them. They are usually some of the strongest -men in the shed, new hands, perhaps, who have not yet earned for -themselves an installation into the ranks of the regular machine staff. -Sometimes, however, they have proved themselves smart with the shovel -and wheel-barrow and have been considered too serviceable to shift to -other employment, for, as it is well known that "the willing horse must -draw double," so the workman who is willing to perform a hard duty -without murmuring and complaint is always imposed upon and forced to do -extra. The natural fool or the systematic skulker is pitied and -respected. Once his general conduct is understood he is taken for what -he is worth, and no more is expected of him. In time he is rewarded. He -may come to be a checker, a clerk, or an inspector; while the sterling -fellow, the hard worker, the "sticker," as he is called, may stop and -work himself to death like a slave. Thus, deserving men, because they -have proved themselves adepts at the work, have been kept on the -ash-barrows for ten or twelve years, sweating their lives away for the -sum of eighteen shillings a week. Several, however, disgusted with the -business, have left the shed and gone back to work on the farms, in the -pure surroundings of the fields and villages. This branch of work has -recently been overhauled and estimated at the piece rate, and the wages -somewhat improved, though the amount of work to each man has been almost -doubled. The refuse and clinker from the furnaces are transported to -various parts and used for filling up hollows, and for the making of -banks and beds of yards and sidings. - -Beyond the stage, lodged on the ground, are two old iron vans that were -formerly used in the goods traffic. They have no windows or lights of -any kind, merely a double door opening outwardly. These are the cabins -and stores of the bricklayers, and they contain cement, fireclay, and -firebricks for the furnaces and forges. A permanent staff of bricklayers -is kept in each department at the works to carry out whatever repairs -are necessary from time to time and to see to the construction and -renovation of the furnaces. If there is any building on a large scale -required, such as a new shed, stores, or offices, extra hands are put on -from the town and afterwards discharged when the work is done. This -procedure gives the officials an opportunity of selecting the best men, -so that it often happens that new hands, temporarily engaged, become -fixtures if they have shown exceptional skill at their trade and are -otherwise suitable. In that case some of the old hands must go, and it -needs not to be said that such an opportunity is welcomed by the -foreman, as it provides him with an excuse for removing undesirables -without being too much blamed himself. - -The bricklayers are a distinct class and do not mingle well with the -other men at the works. Their having to do with bricks and mortar, -instead of with iron and steel, seems to exclude them from the general -hive, and the fact of their being dressed in canvas suits and overalls, -and smeared with cement and fireclay, instead of being blackened with -soot and oil, tends to emphasise the distinction. As with the rest of -the staff, they are recruited from all parts of the country, and some of -them have served a rural apprenticeship. In shrewdness and intelligence -they do not rank with the machinists; that is to say, they may be smart -at their trade, but they do not discover extraordinary faculties beyond -that. Perhaps the nature of their toil has something to do with it, for -that is at best a dull and uninspiring vocation. There is no magic -required in the setting together of bricks and mortar, and little -exertion of the intellect is needed in patching up old walls and -buildings. They are nevertheless very jealous of their craft, such as it -is, and deeply resent any intrusion into their ranks other than by the -gates of the usual apprenticeship. Occasionally it happens that a -bricklayer's labourer, who has been for many years in attendance on his -mate, shows an aptitude for the work, so that the foreman, in a busy -period, is induced to equip him with the trowel. In that case he at once -becomes the subject of sneering criticism; whatever work he does is -condemned, and he is hated and shunned by his old mates and companions. -The foreman, too, takes advantage of his position and pays him less than -the trade rate of wages, so that, after all, he is really made to feel -that he is not a journeyman. - -Very often, when there is no building to be done, the bricklayers must -turn their hands to other work, such as navvying, whitewashing, -painting, and so on, all which falls under their particular department. -Armed with pick and shovel, or pot and brush, they must dig foundations -and drains, or scale the walls and roof and cleanse or decorate the -shed. This is always productive of much grumbling and sarcastic comment, -but it is better than being suspended. On the whole the bricklayers have -a fairly comfortable billet at the works and they are not subject to -frequent loss of time through wet weather and other accidents, as are -their fellows of the town, though they do not receive as much in wages. - -It is astonishing what a prodigious amount of work the labourers will -get through in a short time, and apparently with little exertion, when -they are digging out drains and foundations for new furnaces, -steam-hammers, or other machinery. These foundations are generally huge -pits, twelve or fifteen feet deep and double the size square. Stripped -to the waist in the heat of the workshop, and armed with the heavy graft -tool, with a stout iron plate fixed underneath their right foot, they -will dig for hours without resting and yet seem to be always fresh and -vigorous. Occasionally, as they throw up the solid clay, some workman of -the shed will steal along to examine the fossil remains, pebbles, and -flints, that were embedded in the earth, and slip back to his place at -the steam-hammer, preserving some relic or other for future examination. -The sturdy labourer, however, keeps digging out the clay and hurling it -up to the light. He knows nothing of geological data, theories and -opinions, and cares not to inquire. He is there to dig the pit and not -to trouble himself about the nature of soils and deposits, and though -you should talk to him ever so learnedly of old time submersions, -accretions, and formations, he only answers you with a blank stare or an -unsympathetic grin. His private opinion is that you are something of a -lunatic. - -There is one among the bricklayers' labourers that is remarkable. This -is the silent man, generally known as Herbert. The story goes that -Herbert was once in love and thought to take a wife. But the course of -true love did not run smooth in his case, and, in the end, the young -lady jilted Herbert. That is according to the story. It may or may not -have been true; perhaps Herbert could tell, but he is not at all -communicative. Whatever the circumstances were, they made a profound -impression upon Herbert's mind and he has never been the same man since. -Now he does not speak to any except his near workmate, and only then to -answer the most necessary questions. It is useless for an outsider to -attempt to make him speak; he ignores all your attentions. To cause him -to smile would be akin to working a miracle. The set features never -relax. The eyes are vacant and expressionless, the mouth is firm and -stern, and the whole countenance rigid. - -Yet Herbert is a fine-looking man. His features are regular--almost -classic--his face is bronzed with working out of doors, and he is a -picture of health. In height he is medium. His shoulders are broad and -square, his arms strong and muscular, and he has the endurance of an ox. -Would you tire Herbert? That is impossible. Whatever labour you set him -to do he performs it without a murmur. He does the work of three -ordinary men. Must he dig? He will dig, dig, dig, and throw up the huge -spits of heavy clay as high as his head, one might say for ever. Must he -wheel away the debris? He will pile up the wheel-barrow till it is -ready to break down under the weight, and trundle it off and up to the -stage without the slightest exertion and be back again in a breath. He -will lift enormous weights and strike tremendous blows with the sledge. -He is tireless in his use of the pick and shovel; in fact, whatever you -set Herbert to do he accomplishes it all in about a fifth of the time -ordinarily required for the purpose. He is the butt of his masters and -of his work-mates. Whatever uncommonly laborious task there is to be -done Herbert is the man to do it, and the more he does the more he must -do, though he does not know it, or if he does, he shows no indication of -the knowledge. Now and again the foreman stands by and watches him -approvingly, and this stimulates him to fresh efforts. He revels in the -work and, whatever he thinks about it all, he is still silent and -inexplicable. - -This sort of thing is all right from the point of view of the foreman, -but it is very inconvenient and unfair to the other labourers who are -sane in their minds and mortal in their bodies, for everything they do -is adjudged according to the standard of this indefatigable Hercules. -The overseer, used to seeing him slaving endlessly, thinks light of the -others' efforts, and imagines that they are not doing their share of the -toil, so uneven is the comparison of their labours. In reality, such a -man as Herbert is a danger and an enemy of his kind, though as he is -quite unconscious of his conduct and does it all with the best -intentions he must be forgiven. Such a one is more to be pitied than -blamed. - -The foremen of the bricklayers are not bricklayers themselves, and never -have been, but were selected apparently without any consideration of -their specific abilities. This one was a shunter, another was a -carpenter, a third was a waggon-builder, and so on. Perhaps So-and-so -and So-and-so went to school together, or worked formerly in the same -shed; or consanguinity is the cause, for blood is thicker than water in -the factory, as elsewhere. Accordingly, it often comes about that the -most fitting person to take the responsible position is thrust aside at -the last moment for an utter stranger, one who has no knowledge whatever -of the work he is to supervise. With a certain amount of "pushfulness," -however, and an extraordinary confidence in himself and his abilities, -the new man is able to make a pretence of knowledge and, somehow or -other, the work proceeds. Very often it would go on for months just as -well without the foreman to interfere, and in many cases even better, -for it is the chargemen and gangers who have the actual control of -operations and who possess the real and intimate knowledge of the work. - -Should an aspirant to the post of foreman through his own merits be set -aside for a stranger--as is sometimes the case--there is bound to be -jealousy existing between the two for ever afterwards, which now and -again breaks out into heated scenes and may result in brawls and -dismissals. Of the workmen, some will take the one side, and some the -other; they are mutually distrustful, and have recourse to whispering -and tale-telling. If it has been proved that one workman is guilty of -getting another his discharge by any unfair means he is not forgiven by -his mates. The dismissed man, in such a case, will frequently wait for -his informer outside the gates, and will not be satisfied until he has -given him a good thrashing. Perhaps he will walk boldly in through the -entrance with the other men and take him unaware at his work and punish -him on the spot. It is superfluous to say that this is not tolerated by -the officials, and anyone who is so bold as to do it must be prepared to -stand the consequences and appear at the Borough Police Court. - -Now and again a foreman, who has been guilty of some underhanded action, -is taken to task by the exasperated victim and treated to a little -surprise combat of fisticuffs. Perhaps the foreman is a sneak or a -bully, or both, and has carried his tyrannical behaviour too far for -human endurance; or private jealousy may have impelled him to some -cowardly turn or other, and the workman, driven to desperation, takes -the law into his own hands and gives him a thrashing. This--provided the -reprisal was merited--will be a source of huge delight to the other men -in the shed, and everyone will rejoice to see the offender "taken down a -notch," as they say; but if it was merely an exhibition of unwarrantable -temper on the workman's part, the overseer will be commiserated with and -defended. Whether right or wrong the pugnacious one is dismissed. His -services are no longer required at the shed; he must seek occupation -elsewhere. - -Running along for some distance near the canal is a shed in which the -road-waggons are made--trollies, vans, and cars for use in the goods -yards and stations about the line--and inside this, and parallel with -it, is the wheel shop, where the wheels, tyres, and axles are turned and -fitted up for the waggons and carriages. Besides the making of new work -in the first-named of these sheds, there is always a considerable amount -of repairs to be carried out. A great part of this is done outside, in -fine weather, in order to give increased room within doors. - -The road-waggon builders are of a sturdy type. Many of them are inclined -to be old-fashioned and primitive in their methods, and they are solid -in character. This is accounted for by the fact that the greater part of -the older hands received their initial training in small yards, in -little country towns and villages, where they worked among farmers and -rustics. The work they did there was necessarily very solid and -strong--such as heavy carts and waggons for the farms--and everything -had to be done by hand, slowly and laboriously perhaps, but efficiently -and well. This taught them the practical side of their trade, as how to -be self-sufficing and independent of machinery, which are the most -valuable features of a good apprenticeship and are of great service to -the workman in after years. By and by, when the time came for them to -leave the scene of their apprentice days--for few masters will pay the -journeyman's rate of wages to any who, at the end of their term, have -not gone further afield for new experience--they shifted out for -themselves. Some went one way and some another. This one went to London, -that one to Bristol, and others came to the railway town. Whatever -peculiarities of workmanship they acquired in their youth they brought -with them and practised in their new sphere, and so the individual style -is maintained in spite of totally different methods and processes. - -At the present time--in large factories, at any rate--there is machinery -for everything, and this is highly destructive of the purely personal -faculty in manufacture. But in the case of the road-waggon builder, -though a great many, or perhaps all, of the parts have been shaped for -him by steam power, there yet remains the fitting up and building of the -vehicle, which is reasonably a task requiring considerable care and -skill. The iron frame of the locomotive or railway waggon may be clapped -together quite easily, for there is no very elaborate fitting or joining -to be done. Good strong rivets are the chief things required there. The -wooden bodies of the vans and cars, however, must be fitted and built -with the nicest precision and finish, or the materials would shrink away -and the parts would gape open, or fall to pieces. Thus, the road-waggon -builder, as well as the carriage body-maker, must be a craftsman of the -first order, and while some journeymen may be at liberty to sacrifice -their dearly gained experience and individual characteristics in the -face of newer methods and improved mechanical processes, it is well for -him to hold fast to what he has found useful and good in the past. - -The workmen of every shed have their own particular tone and style -collectively as well as individually; different trades and atmospheres -apparently producing different characteristics and temperaments. -Accordingly, the men of one shed are well-known for one quality, while -those of another are noted for something quite different. These are -famed for steadiness, civility, and correct behaviour; those for noise, -rudeness, horseplay, and even ruffianism. The men of some sheds are -remarkable for their extreme docility and their almost childish -obedience to the slightest and most insignificant rules of the factory, -counting every official as a thing superhuman and nearly to be -worshipped. Others are notorious for ideas quite the reverse of this, -for riotous conduct within and without the shed, an utter contempt of -the laws of the factory, for thieving, fighting, and other propensities. -These characteristics are determined as much by the kind of work done in -the sheds and the quality of the overseer, as by the men's own nature -and temperament. Most foremen are excessively autocratic and severe with -their men, denying them the slightest privilege or relaxation of the -iron laws of the factory. Others are of a wheedling, pseudo-fatherly -type, who, by a combination of professed paternal regard and a cunning -manipulation of the reins, contrive to make everything they do appear -just and reasonable and so hold their men in complete subjection. Some -foremen, again, are of the ceremonious order, who, from pure vanity, -will insist upon the complete observance of the most trivial detail and -drive their workmen half-way to distraction. A few, on the other hand, -are generous and humane. They hold the reins slack, and, without the -knowledge of their chiefs, grant a few small privileges and are rewarded -with the confidence of the workmen and a willingness to labour on their -part amounting to enthusiasm. For, as the horse that is tightly breeched -draws none too well, neither do those men work best who are rigidly kept -down under the iron rod of the overseer. Discipline there is bound to -be, as everyone knows, but there is no excuse for treating a man as -though he were a wild beast, or an infant just out of the cradle. -Whatever dissatisfaction exists about the works is chiefly owing to the -behaviour of the officials, for they force the workmen into rebellion. -If the directors of the company are anxious for the welfare of their -staff--as they profess to be--let them instruct their managers and -foremen to show themselves a little more tolerant and kindly disposed to -the men in the sheds. Actions speak louder than words, and kindness -shown to workmen is never forgotten. - -The wheel shop is a large building, containing many rows of lathes for -the wheels, tyres, and axles, which are nearly all tended by boys. The -lines of shafting stretch in the roof, up and down from end to end of -the place, and the pulleys whirl round almost noiselessly overhead. -Everything is spotlessly clean, for there are no furnaces belching out -their smoke, dust, and flames. The temperature is low and the shed, even -in the hottest part of the summer, is cool in comparison with the other -premises round about. In the winter it is heated with steam from the -boilers and the exhaust from the shop engines. This prevents the boys -from catching cold. The heavy steel axles and tyres are exceedingly -chill in the winter, especially in frosty weather. - -The boys come from all parts, from town and country alike, immediately -after leaving school, and go straight to the lathes. There are labourers -to fix the wheels and tyres in the machines, and the boys attend to the -tools, working carefully to the gauges provided. Coming to the work at a -time when their minds are in a receptive state, they soon master the -principal parts of the business and before long become highly skilled -and proficient. Their wages are no more than five or six shillings a -week for a start, with yearly rises of one or two shillings until they -reach a pound or twenty-two shillings. Upon arriving at this -stage--unless work is plentiful--they are usually removed from the lathe -and set labouring, or otherwise transferred or discharged as too -expensive for the work. Sometimes, after this, they migrate to other -towns and earn double or treble the wages they received before, for good -wheel- and axle-turners are in constant demand and a clever workman may -be sure of securing a high rate of remuneration. - -The boys are an interesting group, and one that is well worthy of -consideration. They are of all sorts and sizes, of many grades and walks -in life. There is the country labourer's lad, who formerly worked on the -land amid the horses and cattle; the town labourer's lad, who has been -errand-boy or who sold newspapers on the street corner; the small -shopkeeper's lad, the fitter's lad, tall and pale, in clean blue -overalls, and the enginedriver's lad, fresh from school, whose one -ambition is to emulate his father and, like him, drive an engine, only -one that is two or three times as big and powerful. There are tall and -short boys, boys fat and lean, pale and robust-looking, ragged and -well-kept, with sad and merry faces. And what pranks they play with one -another, and would play, if they were not curbed and checked with the -ever watchful eye of the shop foreman! They are always ready for some -game or other--football, hide-and-seek, or "ierky"--at any time of the -day, and whatever they do, it does not seem to tire them down; they are -still fresh and active, cheerful and vivacious. - -Many of them begin the day well with running regularly to work, perhaps -for two or three miles. At five minutes past six in the morning they -commence at the lathe, and when breakfast-time comes they scamper off, -food in hand, and play about the yard, or in the recreation field -beyond. From nine till one their labour is continuous; there they stand, -bound as with chains to the machines they serve, for ever watchful, so -as not to spoil the cut and waste the axle, which would mean an enforced -holiday for them. When one o'clock comes, smothered with oil and with -faces like those of sweeps--often blackened purposely to give themselves -the appearance of having perspired much--they race off as before, and -play recklessly until it is time to return to the shed. And after the -day's work is finished and they go home in the evening, they wash away -the grime and oil and play about the streets and lanes till bed-time, -utterly indifferent to the wearisome occupation awaiting them on the -morrow. Their sleep is sound and sweet, for their hearts are happy and -light. Of the cares of life they know nothing; the future is full of -hope for them; all the world is before them. Their chief concern is for -the holidays. All these are anticipated and awaited with great joy and -eagerness; it is by this alone that they discover the extreme tedium of -the daily drudgery of the workshop. - -The boys' foreman is an experienced official, shrewd, keen, and very -severe; a good judge of character, cautious, and careful, civil enough, -but unbending in a decision, a very good formative agent, one who will -exercise a healthy restraint upon the intractables and encourage the -timid, but who exploits them all for the good of the firm. His keen eyes -and sound judgment enable him to at once sum up a lad's capabilities. He -takes the youth and sets him where he will show to the best advantage, -instructs him on many of the crucial points, advises him as to the best -means of getting on, and very often furnishes him with hints of a -personal nature which--whatever the lad may think of them at the -time--bear fruit in after life. If the youngster is inclined to be wild -and incorrigible he tries his best to reform him, and gives him sound -advice. He has also been known to administer a corrective cuff in the -ear and a vigorous boot in the posterior, but he usually succeeds in -bringing out the good points and suppressing, if not entirely -eradicating, the bad. - -Whenever he walks up or down the shed the boys fix their attention more -firmly upon their machines, for they feel his keen, penetrating eyes -upon them, and they know that nothing ever escapes his notice. If there -is a slackness at any point the word is passed rapidly on--"Look out, -here's J----y coming," and the overseer is sometimes amused with the -various expedients resorted to in order to deceive him and cover up the -juvenile shortcomings. As to wages, prices, and systems, they are not -altogether his fault. It he could suit himself he might possibly be -willing to pay more, but he is always being pressed by the staff to -reduce prices and expenses, and, like the other foremen, he is not -prepared to offer effective resistance. Being an official of long -standing, however, he is secure in his place, and has no occasion to -betray his hands to the firm, as is too often the case with young -foremen, who wish to secure personal notice and advantage. That is one -of the most damning features of all, and is becoming more and more a -practice at the works. One young "under-strapper" I knew is in the habit -of standing over the boys at the lathe, watch in hand, for four hours -without once moving, and, by his manner and language, compelling them to -run at an excessive rate so as to cut their prices. Without doubt he is -deserving of the birch rod, though the managers, who allow it, are the -more to blame. - -A short way from the canal, north of the road-waggon shed, is the -rubbish heap, at which most of the old wood refuse and lumber, with -hundreds of tons of sawdust, are brought to be burned. At one time all -this was consumed in the boiler furnaces, but since the amount of refuse -has enormously increased it has been found expedient to transport some -part of it there and so do away with it. One small furnace is used for -the purpose, and by far the greater part of it, especially the sawdust, -is burned in big heaps upon the ground. This is a slovenly, as well as a -dangerous method, and the inconvenience resulting to the men in the -sheds is considerable. If the wind is in the west the dense clouds of -smoke sweep along the ground and are blown straight in through the open -doors upon the stampers, and are a source of extreme discomfort and -disgust. There is always plenty of smother in the shed, arising from the -oil furnaces, without receiving any addition from outside. Once the -workshop is filled with the bluish vapour it takes hours to disperse, -for, though there are doors all round and hundreds of ventilators on the -roof, they do not carry off the nuisance. Very often the smoke will -travel from end to end of the shed, like a current of water, but just -as it reaches the doorway and you think it is going to pass outside, it -suddenly whirls round like a wheel and traverses the whole length of the -place, and so on, over and over again. - -If the wind is in the north, then the road-waggon builders must suffer -the persecuting clouds of smoke and be tormented with smarting and -burning eyes at work; and if it should blow from over the town, across -the rolling downs from the south, the smother is carried high over the -fence and sweeps along the recreation field to the discomfort of small -boys and lovers, or of whoever happens to be passing that way. If the -nuisance arose from any other quarter complaints might be made and steps -taken towards the mitigation of it. As it is, no one, not even a member -of the local bodies and the Corporation, summons up the courage to make -a protest, for everyone bows down before the company's officials and -representatives in the railway town and fears to raise objections to -anything that may be done by the people at the works. - - - - -CHAPTER V - - "THE FIELD"--"CUTTING-DOWN"--THE FLYING DUTCHMAN--THE FRAME - SHED--PROMOTION--RIVET BOYS--THE OVERSEER - - -On the north the factory yard is bounded by a high board fence that runs -along close behind the shed and divides the premises from the recreation -grounds, which are chiefly the haunt of juveniles during the summer -months and the resort of football players and athletes in the winter. -Here also the small children come after school and wander about the -field among the buttercups, or sit down amid the long grass in the -sunshine, or swing round the Maypole, under the very shadow of the black -walls, with only a thin fence to separate them from the busy factory. -The ground beneath their feet shakes with the ponderous blows of the -steam-hammers; the white clouds of steam from the exhaust pipes shoot -high into the air. Dense volumes of blackest smoke tower out of the -chimneys, whirling round and round and over and over, or roll lazily -away in a long line out beyond the town and fade into the distance. - -The fence stretches away to the east for a quarter of a mile from the -shed and then turns again at right angles and continues the boundary on -that side as far as to the entrance by the railway. About half-way -across are several large shops and premises used for lifting, fitting, -and storing the carriages; beyond them is a wide, open space commonly -known as "the field." As a matter of fact, the whole area of the yard -was really a series of fields until quite recently. Fifteen years ago, -although the space was enclosed, you might have walked among the -hedgerows and have been in the midst of rustic surroundings. Numerous -rabbits infested the place and retained their burrows till long after -the steel rails were laid along the ground. Hares, too, continued to -frequent the yard until the rapid extension of the premises and the -clearing away of the grass and bushes deprived them of cover. It was a -common thing to see them and the rabbits shooting in and out among the -old wheels and tyres that had been removed from the condemned vehicles. - -If you should follow the fence along for a short distance you might even -now soon forget the factory and imagine yourself to be far away in some -remote village corner, surrounded with fresh green foliage and drinking -in the sweet breath of the open fields. One would not conceive that in -the very factory grounds, within sight of the hot, smoky workshops, and -but a stone's throw from some of them, it would be possible to enjoy the -charm of rusticity, and to revel unseen in a profusion of flowers that -would be sought for in vain in many parts about the countryside. Yet -such is the pleasure to be derived from a visit to this little -frequented spot. The fence, to the end, runs parallel with the -recreation ground alongside a hedgerow that once parted the two fields -when the whole was in the occupation of the people at the old farmhouse -that has now disappeared. In the hedgerow, with their trunks close -against the board partition, still in their prime and in strong contrast -to the black smoky walls and roofs of the sheds opposite, stand -half-a-dozen stately elms that stretch their huge limbs far over the -yard and throw a deep shadow on the ground beneath. At this spot the -field gradually declines and, as the inner yard has been made up to a -level with the railway beyond, when you approach the angle you find -yourself out of sight, with the raised platform of cinders on the one -hand and, on the other, the high wooden fence and thick elms. - -At the corner the steel tracks have had to make a long curve, and this -has left the ground there free to bring forth whatever it will. Here, -also, the trees are thickest, and, within the fence, a small portion of -the original site still remains. A streamlet--perhaps the last drain of -a once considerable brook--enters from the recreation ground underneath -the boards and is conducted along, now within its natural banks and now -through broken iron pipes, into the corner, where it is finally -swallowed up in a gully and lost to view. Stooping over it, as though to -protect it from further injury and insult, are several clumps of -hawthorn and the remains of an old hedge of wych elm. Standing on the -railway track of the bank are some frames of carriages that were burnt -out at the recent big fire. Near them are several crazy old waggons and -vans, that look as if they had stood in the same place for half a -century and add still further to the quiet of the scene. - -It is alongside the fence, and especially about the corner, that the -wild flowers bloom. Prominent over all is the rosebay. This extends in a -belt nearly right along the fence, and climbs up the ash bank and runs -for a considerable distance among the metals, growing and thriving high -among the iron wheels and frames of the carriages and revelling in the -soft ashes and cinders of the track. Side by side with this, and -blooming contemporary with it, are the delicate toadflax, bright golden -ragwort, wild mignonette, yellow melilot, ox-eye daisies, mayweed, small -willow-herb, meadow-sweet, ladies' bedstraw, tansy, yarrow, and -cinquefoil. The wild rose blooms to perfection and the bank is richly -draped with a vigorous growth of dewberry, laden with blossoms and -fruit. - -Beside the streamlet in the corner is a patch of cats'-tails, as high as -to the knees, and a magnificent mass of butter-bur. The deliciously -scented flowers of this are long since gone by, but the leaves have -grown to an extraordinary size. They testify to the presence of the -stream, for the butter-bur is seldom found but in close proximity to -water. Here also are to be found the greater willow-herb with its large -sweet pink blossoms and highly-scented leaves, the pale yellow -colt's-foot, medick, purple woody night-shade, hedge stachys, spear -plume thistles, hogweed and garlick mustard, with many other plants, -flowering and otherwise, that have been imported with the ballast and -have now taken possession of the space between the lines and the fence. - -The shade of the trees and beauty of the flowers and plants are -delightful in the summer when the sun looks down from a clear, cloudless -sky upon the steel rails and dry ashes of the yard, which attract and -contain the heat in a remarkable degree, making it painful even to walk -there in the hottest part of the day. Then the cool shade of the trees -is thrice welcome, especially after the stifling heat of the workshop, -the overpowering fumes of the oil furnaces and the blazing metal just -left behind; for it is impossible for any but workmen to enjoy the -pleasant retreat. No outsider ever gains admittance here, and though you -should often pace underneath the trees in the recreation ground you -would never dream of what the interior is like. Nor do even workmen--at -least, not more than one or two, and this at rare intervals in the -meal-hours--often come here, for if they did they would be noticed by -the watchmen and ordered away. Their presence here, even during -meal-hours, would be construed as prejudicial to the interests of the -company. They would be suspected of theft, or of some other evil -intention, or would at least be looked upon as trespassers and reported -to the managers. In times gone by men and youths have been known to -escape from the factory during working hours and while they were booked -at their machines, by climbing over the fence, and this has made the -officials cautious and severe in dealing with trespassers. It would not -be a difficult matter, even now--and especially in the winter afternoons -and evenings--to climb over the top of the fence and decamp. - -This part of the factory yard is by far the most wholesome of the works' -premises. There is plenty of room and light, and happy were they who, in -the years ago, were told off for service in the field, breaking up the -old waggons, sorting out the timber, and running the wheels from one -place to another. At the time the old broad-gauge system of vehicles -was converted to the four-foot scale, large gangs in the yard were -regularly employed in cutting-down; that is, reducing the waggons to the -new shape. First of all the wood-work was removed; then both sides of -the iron frame--a foot each side--were cut completely away. Two new -"sole-bars" were affixed, and the whole frame was riveted up again. The -wheels, also, were taken out and the axles shortened and re-fitted. The -carpenters now replaced the floors and sides and all was fit for traffic -again. The locomotives, on the other hand, were condemned. The boilers -and machinery were built on too great a scale to be fitted to the -narrow-gauge frames. They were accordingly lifted out and the boilers -distributed all over the system, while the frames were cut up for scrap -and new ones built in place of them. - -The old type of broad-gauge engine has never been beaten for speed on -the line. By reason of its occupying a greater space over the wheels and -axles the running was more even, and there was not so much rocking of -the coaches. The broad-gauge Flying Dutchman express was noted for its -magnificent speed and stately carriage, and for many years after the -abolition of the system stories of almost incredible runs were current -at the works. One old driver, very proud of his machine, was said to -have sworn to the officials that he would bring his engine and train -from London to the railway town, a distance of seventy-seven miles, in -an hour, dead time, with perfect safety, and he was only prevented from -accomplishing the feat by the strong stand made by the officials, who -threatened him with instant dismissal if he should exceed the limit of -speed prescribed in the time-tables. - -At the same time, it is well known that the official time-table was -often ignored, and stirring tales might be told of flying journeys -performed in defiance of all written injunctions and authority. The -signalmen knew of these feats and were often astounded at them, but they -are only human, and they often did that they ought not to have done in -order to shield the driver. The passengers, too, are always delighted to -find themselves being whirled along at a high rate. There is an -intoxication in it not to be resisted, and when they leave the train at -the journey's end, after an extraordinary run, they invariably go and -inspect the engine and admire the brave fellow who has rushed them over -the country at such an exciting speed. - -When the broad-gauge was converted great numbers of men from all -quarters were put on at the works. Every village and hamlet for miles -around sent in its unemployed, and many of the farms were quite -deserted. These were engaged in "cutting-down" or in breaking up the -waggons and engines--little skill being necessary for that -operation--and when, after several years, the system was quite reduced -and slackness followed the busy period, the greater part of them were -discharged and were again distributed over the countryside round about. -It is impossible to go into any village within a radius of eight or ten -miles of the railway town without finding at least one or two men who -were employed on "the old broad-gauge," as they still call it. After -their discharge the majority, by degrees, settled down to farm life. -Many, however, continued out of work for a long time, and some are -numbered among the "casuals" to this day. - -The only tools, besides hammers, required by the cutters-down, were cold -sets to cut off the heads of the rivets and bolts, and punches to force -the stems and stays out of the holes. They were held by hazel rods, that -were supplied in bundles from the stores for the purpose. To bind them -round the steel tools they were first of all heated in the middle over -the fire. Then the cutter-out took hold of one end, and his mate held -the other, and the two together gave the wand several twists round. -After that the rod was wound twice about the set or punch and the two -ends were tied together with strong twine. This gave a good grip on the -tool, which would not be obtained with the use of an iron rod. The -repeated blows on the set from the sledge would soon jar the iron rod -loose and cause it to snap off, while the hazel rod grips it firmly and -springs with it under the blow. - -Formerly all the repair riveting was done by hand. When the hot rivet -was inserted in the hole the "holder-up" kept it in position, either -with the "dolly" or with a heavy square-headed sledge. Then the riveters -knocked down the head of the rivet with long-nosed hammers, striking -alternately in rapid succession and making the neighbourhood resound -with the blows. Afterwards the chief mate held the "snap" upon it and -his mate plied the sledge until the new head was perfectly round and -smooth. The "snap" is a portion of steel bar, about ten inches long and -toughly tempered, with a die, the shape of the rivet head required, -infixed at one end. Now, however, pneumatic riveting machines are used -out of doors. These, being small and compact, can be employed anywhere -and with much fewer hands than were required by the old method. The air -is supplied from accumulators into which it is forced by the engine in -the shed, and it is conducted in pipes all round the factory yards. - -The repair gangs are an off-shoot of the frame shed that is situated at -a distance of nearly half a mile from the field. There the steel frames -for the waggons and carriages and all iron-topped vehicles, such as -ballast trucks, brake and bullion vans, refrigerators and others are -constructed. That is essentially the shop of hard work, heavy lifting -and noise terrific. The din is quite inconceivable. First of all is the -machinery. On this side are rows of drills, saws, slotting and planing -machines; on that are the punches and shears, screeching and grinding, -snapping and groaning with the terrible labour imposed upon them. The -long lines of shafting and wheels whirl incessantly overhead, the cogs -clatter, the belts flap on the rapidly spinning pulleys, and the blast -from the fan roars loudly underground. All this, however, is nearly -drowned with the noise of the hammering. Hundreds of blows are being -struck, on "tops" and "bottoms," steel rails and iron rails, sole-bars -and headstocks, middles, diagonals, stanchions, knees, straps and -girders. Every part of the frame is being subjected to the same -treatment--riveted, straightened, levelled, or squared, most -unmercifully used. Every tone and degree of sound is emitted, according -to the various qualities and thicknesses of the metal--sharps and flats, -alto, treble and bass. There is the sharp clear tone of the -highly-tempered steel in the tools used; the solid and defiant ring of -the sole-bar or headstock, strong and firm under the hammer of the -"puller-up," the dull, flat sound of the floor plates, the loud hollow -noise of the "covered goods" sides and ends, and the deep heavy boom of -the roofs of the vans. Everyone seems to be striking as hard and as -quickly as he is able. All the blows fall at once, and yet everything is -in a jumble and tangle, loud, vicious, violent, confused and chaotic--a -veritable pandemonium. And then, to crown the whole, there are the -pneumatic tools, the chipping and riveting machines. It is dreadful; it -is overpowering; it is unearthly; but it has to be borne, day after day -and year after year. - -Yet even the frame shed must yield to the boiler shop in the matter of -concentrated noise. The din produced by the pneumatic machines in -cutting out the many hundreds of rivets and stays inside a boiler is -quite appalling. There is nothing to be compared with it. The heaviest -artillery is feeble considered with it; thunder is a mere echo. What is -more, the noise of neither of these is continuous, while the operation -within the boiler lasts for a week or more. The boiler, in a great -degree, contains the sound, so that even if you were a short distance -away, though the noise there would be very great, you could have no idea -of the intensity of the sound within. Words could not express it; -language fails to give an adequate idea of the terrible detonation and -the staggering effect produced upon whosoever will venture to thrust his -head within the aperture of the boiler fire-box. Do you hear anything? -You hear nothing. Sound is swallowed up in sound. You are a hundred -times deaf. You are transfixed; your every sense is paralysed. In a -moment you seem to be encompassed with an unspeakable silence--a -deathlike vacuity of sound altogether. Though you shout at the top of -your voice you hear nothing--nothing at all. You are deaf and dumb, and -stupefied. You look at the operator; there he sits, stands or stoops. -You see his movements and the apparatus in his hands, but everything is -absolutely noiseless to you. It is like a dumb show, a dream, a -phantasm. So, for a little while after you withdraw your head from the -boiler, you can hear nothing. You do not know whether you are upon your -head or your heels, which is the floor and which is the roof. The ground -rises rapidly underneath you and you seem to be going up, up, up, you -know not where. Then, after a little while, when you have removed from -the immediate vicinity of the boiler, you feel to come to earth again. -Your senses rush upon you and you are suddenly made aware of the -terrific noise you have encountered. Even now, it will be some time -before the faculty of hearing is properly restored; the fearful noise -rings in your ears for hours and days afterwards. - -And what of the men who have to perform the work? It is said that they -are used to it. That is plainly begging the question. They have to do -it, whether they are used to it or not. It is useless for them to -complain; into the boiler they must go, and face the music, for good or -ill. All the men very soon become more or less deaf, and it is -inconceivable but that other ailments must necessarily follow. The -complete nervous system must in time be shattered, or seriously -impaired, and the individual become something of a wreck. This is one of -the many ills resulting from progress in machinery and modern -manufacturing appliances. - -The personnel of the frame shed is individual and distinct in a very -marked degree. Most of the men seem to have been chosen for their great -strength and fine physique, or to have developed these qualities after -their admission to the work. The very nature of the toil tends to -produce strong limbs and brawny muscles. It is certain that continual -exercise of the upper parts of the body by such means as the lifting of -heavy substances tends to improve the chest and shoulders, and many of -those who are engaged in lifting and carrying the plates and sole-bars -are very stout and square in this respect. There is a number of "heavy -weights," and a few positive giants among them, though the majority of -the men are conspicuous, not so much by their bulk, as by their -squareness of limb and muscularity. A proof of the strength of the frame -shed men may be seen in the success of their tug-of-war teams. Wherever -they have competed--and they have gone throughout the entire south of -England--they have invariably beaten their opponents and carried off the -trophies. - -There was formerly a workman, an ex-Hussar, named Bryan, in the shed, -who could perform extraordinary feats of strength. He was nearly seven -feet in height and he was very erect. His arms and limbs were solid and -strong; he was a veritable Hercules, and his shoulders must have been as -broad as those of Atlas, who is fabled to have borne the world on his -back. It was striking to see him lift the heavy headstocks, that weighed -two hundredweights and a quarter, with perfect ease and carry them about -on his shoulder--a task that usually required the powers of two of the -strongest men. This he continued to do for many years, not out of -bravado, but because he knew it was within his natural powers to -perform. Notwithstanding his tremendous normal strength, however, he was -subject to attacks of ague, and you might have seen him sometimes -stretched out upon the ground quite helpless, groaning and foaming at -the mouth. If he had been working in the shed recently, since the -passing of the new Factory Acts, he would have been promptly discharged, -for no one is kept at the works now who is subject to any infirmity that -might incapacitate him in the shed among the machinery. Later on, when -work got slack, Bryan was turned adrift from the factory, a broken and a -ruined man. All his past services to the firm were forgotten, he was -cast off like an old shoe. However valuable and extraordinary a man may -have proved himself to be at his work, it counts for little or nothing -with the foremen and managers; the least thing puts him out of favour -and he must go. - -The men of the frame shed are of a cosmopolitan order, though to a less -extent than is the case in some departments. The work being for the most -part rough and requiring no very great skill, there has consequently -been no need of apprenticeships, though there are a few who have served -their time as waggon-builders or boiler-smiths. They are not recognised -as journeymen here, however, and so must take their chance with the rank -and file. Promotion is supposed to be made according to merit, but there -are favourites everywhere who will somehow or other prevail. The normal -order of promotion is from labourer to "puller-up," from puller-up to -riveter, and thence to the position of chargeman. Here he must be -content to stop, for foremen are only made about once or twice in a -generation, and when the odds on any man for the post are high, surprise -and disappointment always follow. The first is usually relegated to the -rear, and the least expected of all is brought forward to fill the -coveted position. It may be design, or it may be judgment, and perhaps -it is neither. It very often looks as though the matter had been -decided by the toss of a coin, or the drawing of lots, and that the lot -had fallen upon the least qualified, but there is no questioning the -decision. The old and tried chargeman, who knows the scale and -dimensions of everything that has been built or that is likely to be -built in the shed in his lifetime, must stand aside for the raw youth -who has not left school many months, but who, by some mysterious means -or other, has managed to secure the favour and indulgence of his -foreman, or other superior. Perhaps he is reckoned good at arithmetic, -or can scratch out a rough drawing, though more than likely his father -was gardener to someone, or cleaned the foreman's boots and did odd jobs -in the scullery after factory hours. - -Another reason for the selection of young and comparatively unknown men -for the post of foreman is that they will have a smaller circle of -personal mates in the shed, and, consequently, a less amount of human -kindness and sympathy in them. That is to say, they will be able to cut -and slash the piecework prices with less compunction, and so the better -serve the interests of the company. The young aspirant, moreover, will -be at the very foot of the ladder, hot and impetuous, while the elder -one will have passed the season of senseless and unscrupulous ambition. - -A feature of the frame shed is the rivet boy. It is his duty to hot the -rivets in the forge for his mates and to perform sundry other small -offices, such as fetching water from the tap in the shed, or holding a -nail bag in front of the rivet head which is being cut away, in order to -keep it from flying and causing injury to any of the workmen. The forges -for hotting the rivets are fixtures and are supplied with air through -pipes laid beneath the ground from the fan under the wall. Several boys -usually work from one fire, and there is often a scramble for the most -advantageous position in the coals. An iron plate is used to facilitate -the heating. This has been perforated with holes at the punch to allow -its receiving as many rivets as are required. It is then placed over the -whitehot coke in the forge and the rivets inserted. Each boy has a -certain number of holes allotted to him and he must not trespass on his -mates' territory. - -It sometimes happens that one of the boys proves to be a bully and a -terror and plays ducks and drakes with the rights and privileges of the -others. This is always a matter of great concern to the juveniles, and -they will not be satisfied till the tyrant has been humbled and -punished. They have many minor differences and quarrels among -themselves, and challenges to fight are frequent. Honour looms big in -the eyes of the rivet boys, and they are quick to resent a taunt or -affront and to wipe off all aspersions. Perhaps a sneer has been -levelled at one by reason of his name, his father's occupation, or the -name of the street or locality in which he lives. With true pluck the -matter is taken up. An hour and a place for the meeting are fixed: it is -generally--"Meet me in the Rec at dinner-time." There they accordingly -assemble with their mates and supporters and fight the matter out. It is -usually a rough-and-tumble proceeding, but they do not desist till one -or the other has been worsted and honour satisfied. More than once it -has happened that they have been so intent on the match they have lost -count of the time and have all--a dozen or more--got locked out for the -afternoon. This requires some explanation, and the next day the whole -circumstance has to be related. Here the boys' fathers might interfere -and administer a sound corrective lesson to each one of them. - -Getting locked out is also very often the result of over-staying at -football, which is regularly practised by the youngsters in the -recreation field all the year round. The boys club together and buy a -ball and race out to play every dinner-time. There, for three-quarters -of an hour, they exert themselves to the utmost and are forced to run -back to the shed at the top of their speed, often returning in an -exhausted condition. A spell of five minutes puts them right, however, -and they go on with their work as though they had enjoyed an infinite -period of refreshment. In the evening they race home to tea and -afterwards go out again while it is daylight, never seeming too tired -for sport and play. - -Many queer nicknames, such as "Bodger," "Snowball," "Granny," "Chucky," -and "Nanty Pecker," are in vogue among the boys. These become fixtures -and remain with them for many years. It must not be thought that all the -rivet boys submit to become permanent hands in the shed. A good many of -them, as soon as they are sufficiently old and big, go to the recruiting -sergeant and try to enlist. Some enter the Army and others the Navy; -some go this way and some that. Very often boys who spent their early -days at rivet-hotting in the shed and enter the Service, return in after -years to obtain another start in the old quarters, and grow old amid the -scenes of their boyhood. Some never return at all, but die, either in -battle, of sickness, or other accident. More than one, too, has gone the -wrong way in life and ended in suicide. - -The boys are much given to reading cheap literature of the "dreadful" -type, and they revel in the deeds of Buffalo Bill, Deadwood Dick, and -other well-known heroes of fiction. Sometimes a boy, unknown to his -parents, actually possesses a firearm--a pistol or revolver--and, with a -group of companions, scours the countryside round about in search of -"game." Once, at least, mischief was done in the shape of bursting open -a letter-box with bullets, and at another time a poor calf received a -bullet-shot through the hedgerow. This last-named deed, however, was -purely accidental. Great fear fell upon the juveniles after this -untoward experience and the pistol was forthwith cast into the canal. At -another time a careless lad shot himself through the hand with a pistol -and inflicted a dangerous wound. - -A great change has come over the frame shed during the last twelve -years. The old foreman has gone; a great many of the old hands have -disappeared also, and the methods of work have been revolutionised. The -prices have been cut again and again; a different spirit prevails -everywhere; it is no longer as it used to be. Considerable liberty and -many small privileges were allowed to the men by the governing staff in -those days, and the foreman, if he felt disposed, could do much to make -them comfortable and satisfied. Then the overseer was practically master -of his shed and could make his own terms with the workmen, though it is -only fair to remember that under those conditions he was sometimes -inclined to be summary and despotic. - -The old foreman of the frame shed was an excellent example of this kind -of overseer. As an engineer he was clever, intelligent, sharp-sighted, -and energetic. In addition to this he was a good judge of character, a -natural leader of men, and one strongly sympathetic. If he was in want -of new hands he needed not to ask a dozen ridiculous questions, or to -stand upon any kind of ceremony; he came, saw, and decided at once. One -glance was sufficient for him; he had summed the man up in an instant. -In the shed he was free, easy and spontaneous, praising and blaming in -the same breath. At one moment he was livid with passion; the next he -was kind, conciliative, and condescending. His temper was hot and fiery. -When he frowned at you his expression was as black as a thunder-cloud, -but you knew that everything would soon be well again. His behaviour was -at least open and genuine, and whatever his attitude to his superiors -might have been, he was free from dissimulation with the workmen. -Nothing escaped his attention in the shed. As he walked his eagle eye -comprehended all. If a stanchion or girder was in the least out of -square he perceived it, and it had to be put right immediately. - -He never made himself too cheap and common with the workmen, but held -himself in such a relation to them that he could always command respect. -He often came to the shed late and left early, but there was then no -rigid law compelling the foreman to be for ever at his post, and the -work usually proceeded the same. He was an inventor himself, and he was -always ready to encourage independent thought and action among his -workmen. He recognised merit and rewarded it. He was not jealous of his -workmen's brains, and he was at all times willing to consider an opinion -and to act upon it if it seemed preferable to his own. He was a mixture -of the fatherly ruler and the despot, but he was very proud of his men -and he lauded them up to the skies to outsiders, whenever an opportunity -presented itself. There was nothing they could not make, and make well, -according to him. If he blamed them to themselves he stoutly defended -them against others, and he would not have dreamed of selling and -betraying them to the management, as is commonly done at this time. - -Of the boys he was extremely fond, and especially of such as were -well-behaved and attentive, however ragged and rough their dress might -be, and he often stood and talked to them with his hand on their -shoulder, or gave them pennies or marbles. But if he saw one of the -"terribles" bullying a younger lad he ran up to him and gave him a sound -cuff, or a vigorous kick. Under his foremanship work was plentiful and -wages were high. The shed was nearly always on overtime, and money -flowed like water. The men bore the strain of the overtime complacently. -They worked without fear and turned out a hundred, or a hundred and -twenty waggon frames a week. Those were prosperous days for the frame -shed and many a one saved a little pile from his earnings. - -Together with all this, however, the foreman discovered some remarkable -characteristics and he was possessed of the most amazing effrontery. If -strangers connected with other firms came in to inspect the plant and -process and to know the prices of things, he hoodwinked them in every -possible manner and told them astounding fables. He would take up an -article in his hand, describe it with pride, and tell them it was made -for a fifth of what it actually cost to produce. If the manager came -through and any awkward questions were asked, he skilfully turned the -point aside and motioned secretly to the men to support him if they -should be consulted. He hated all interference and would not stand -patronage even from his superiors, and where argument failed clever -manoeuvring saved the situation. - -Whatever he saw in the shape of machinery he coveted for his own shed. -More than once he was known actually to purloin a machine from the -neighbour foreman's shop in the night and transfer it to his own -premises. Once a very large drilling machine, new from the maker and -labelled to another department at the works, came into the yard by -mistake, but it never reached its proper destination. Calling a gang of -men, he removed the drill from the truck, caused a foundation to be made -for it, fixed it up in a corner half out of sight, and had it working -the next morning. A hue and cry was raised up and down and around the -yard for the missing machine, but it was not discovered till a long time -afterwards. It still stands in the shed, a proof of one of the most -brazen and impudent thefts possible. - -At another time three large drop-hammers were shunted near the shed, and -on seeing them he quickly had them unloaded, but he was not successful -in retaining them. On being discovered he made profuse apologies for his -"mistake" and there the matter ended. At last he fell into the disfavour -of someone and defiantly handed in his resignation. Now everything -proceeds upon formally approved lines, though many a one wishes the old -foreman were still in his place, grumbling and scolding, and pushing -things forward as in the days ago. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - - THE SMITHY--THE SMITH--BUILDING THE FIRE--GALLERY - MEN--APPRENTICES--THE OLDEST HAND--DEATH OF A SMITH--THE - SMITH'S ATTITUDE TO HIS MATES--HIS GREAT GOOD-NATURE--THE - SMITHS' FOREMAN - - -Adjoining the frame-building shed is the waggon smithy, where the -thousand and one details for brake systems for the carriages and -waggons, and other articles and uses are manufactured. Here, also, all -kinds of repairs are executed, and a great number of tools of every -description made for the permanent way men and for other workshops round -about. It is said that the forge is the longest in England, and this is -probably correct. It is slightly under two hundred yards in length, and -it contains one hundred fires. These are built at equal distances, on -each side of the shed, with crowns like large bee-hives, and the -chimneys are joined in with the walls. Every fire is supplied with a -boshful of water in which to cool the various tools, and there is also a -tap and a rubber pipe for damping the coals. - -Behind the forge is a recess for the coke, which is crushed by machines -outside and wheeled in ready for use. Above this is a rack for the tongs -and tools, of which the smith possesses a considerable number. They are -of all sorts and sizes, capable of holding and shaping every conceivable -article. Of tongs there are flat-bits, hollow-bits, and claws large and -small, with sets and "set-tools," "fullers," flatters, punches, -"jogglers," and many others with no specific title but conveniently -named by the brawny fellow who uses them. Standing in one corner, or -soaking in the water of the bosh, are large and small sledges and one or -two wooden mallets. Every fire has its sieve or "riddle," as it is -called, for sifting the coke before it is put in the forge, for every -particle of dust must be removed from the fuel so as to obtain a clear, -bright heat. If there is welding to be done the coke will have to be -broken up small--about the size of a walnut--with the mallet, in order -to concentrate the heat, and to allow of the iron being easily moved in -the fire and well-covered with the fuel. - -The task of making up the fire falls upon the smith's mate or striker. -Perhaps, if the piece of work is of big dimensions, two fires are -needed; if it is small or moderate-sized, one will be sufficient. It is -the mate's duty to get everything ready for the smith. First of all the -clinker is removed and the dust taken out from the centre of the fire -with an iron shovel. The live coals are now raked to the middle and the -blast applied. When this is performed the fresh coke is "riddled" up, -and carefully distributed in the forge. Every smith is very particular -as to the _shape_ of his fire. In general disposition it will be high at -the back with the corners--right and left--well filled, rather full in -front and even in the centre. If the weather is hot and the coke dry it -may receive a good watering--once before the smith begins his heat, and -several times during the operation. A good smith will be sparing of -water, however, for too much of it makes the fire burn too fiercely in -the centre, contracts the area of heat and causes the iron to be dirty -and slimy. The harder the coke, the better it is, and the more brilliant -the heat will be. Soft coke is soon consumed and completely reduced to -dust, while good, hard coke will last a considerable time in the fire. - -It must not be assumed that the smith is idle while his mates are -employed in renovating the forge. He is busy preparing his tools and -taking dimensions of the job to be made, and pondering on the best means -of doing it. For this he usually has a large board whitened with chalk, -upon which he sketches out the article and by means of which he -determines the best method of forming his bends and angles. He may not -be much of an artist, but in his rude way he will make a very -commendable drawing of his job and will thus be enabled to determine -beforehand exactly what to do to effect it, just the time to begin his -tapers and angles, the direction of the bend, and the tools for doing -it. He never leaves the method undetermined till he has his iron on the -anvil, but takes pains to have everything settled and every phase of the -operation well in view before he begins it. It is the inferior or the -unintelligent workman alone that heats his iron and trusts to a chance -idea to complete the job. - -Meanwhile the cloth cap has been removed from the head, and the -waistcoat and braces hung up behind the forge. The long leathern apron -is produced from the wooden tool-chest and tied around the waist, or -fastened with the belt, about three inches of the top of the trousers -being often turned down outside. The smith's trousers are usually of -blue serge, and they are made very loose and baggy, so as to allow of -much stooping. The strikers more frequently use aprons made of canvas or -of old thin refuse leather that has been stripped from the worn-out -carriages and horse-boxes and consigned to the scrap-heap. While the -finishing touches are being put to the forge the burly smith takes his -can and goes to the tap for a drink of water. Arrived there he fills the -vessel, removes the quid of tobacco from his cheek--a great many smiths -chew tobacco--raises the can to his lips, rinses out his mouth once or -twice and spouts the water out again to a great distance. Then he takes -a long drink, fills the can again and carries it back to the forge, -where he hands it to his mates, or sets it down for future refreshment. - -By this time the iron will have been placed in the forge and the blast -applied by the strikers. The sets also will have been ground, the shafts -of the hammers examined and the wedges tightened. The floor, too, will -be cleanly swept round about, for the smith is most particular in the -matter of neatness and will not have loose ashes and cinders, or other -rubbish, lying under his feet. A light, square table, sometimes of wood -and sometimes of iron plate, is set by the anvil, and of a height with -it, to contain the tools. A handful of birch, bound together after the -manner of a little besom, is placed conveniently upon the table. This is -used for brushing the heat when it comes from the coals, and for -removing the dust and scale from the anvil. As the blast rushes through -the pipe from underground and into the forge it roars loudly, sounding -in the coke like a strong wind among trees. Long, yellow flames rise and -leap high up the chimney, and the air around is filled with clouds of -dust and sulphur fumes from the burning coke. As the heat of the fire -increases this diminishes; in a short time the gaseous properties are -entirely consumed and there is no smell of any kind. - -Our smith is a perfect giant in stature. In height he is well over six -feet, solid and erect, with tremendous shoulders and limbs. His head is -massive and square, with broad deep forehead and bushy brows. His grey -eyes, frank and fearless, are rather deeply inset. The nose is Roman and -slightly crooked; the mouth, with thick lips a little relaxed, is -pleasant and kind. He has a heavy, bronze moustache, a clean shaven chin -and plump, ruddy cheeks. The whole countenance is square, and exhibits -the marks of good-nature and honest character. His ponderous arms are -hard and brown, full of rigid bone and muscle, and his hands are large -and horny with continual holding of the tongs and hammer. His breast is -remarkably broad and hairy--his woollen shirt is always thrown open at -work; he has hips and belly like an ox, legs like those of an elephant, -and large flat feet, and he weighs more than eighteen stone. When he -walks his motion is rather slow and deliberate. He goes heavy on his -soles, and his shoulders rise and fall alternately at every step he -takes. - -He is at all times steady and cool, and he seems never to be in a hurry. -At the anvil he gives one the same impression, so that a stranger might -even think him to be sluggish and dilatory, but he is in everything sure -and unerring, never too soon or too late. Every action is well-timed; -nothing is either over- or under-done. He performs all his beats with a -minimum amount of labour. Where a nervous or spasmodical person would -require forty or fifty blows to shape a piece of metal he will -accomplish it with about twenty-five. His masterly eye and calculating -brain are ever watchful and alert. He understands the effect of every -blow given, and while the less experienced smith is still engaged with -his piece nearly black-hot, his is finished, complete, with the metal -still yellow or bright red. He moves always at the same pace, and his -work is of a uniformly superlative character. When strangers are about, -watching him at his weld, he makes no difference whatever in his usual -methods of procedure, but behaves just as coolly and deliberately and -takes no notice of any man. - -Some smiths and forgemen, on the other hand, hate to be watched at work -by strangers--"foreigners," as they call them--and very quickly give -evidence of their dislike and irritation. They will every now and then -dart an angry look at the visitors, and, after using the tools, throw -them down roughly, muttering under their breath and telling the -strangers to "clear off," though not sufficiently loud to be heard. By -and by the unoffending strikers will come in for a castigation; whatever -kind of blow they strike it will be wrong for their mate. At last he -shuts off the blast from the forge, and, laying down his hammer, turns -his back towards the "interlopers," and waits till they have passed on -up the shed. After their departure he resumes his labour and quickly -makes up for the lost time. - -Some smiths, again, though extremely nervous under the eye of a -stranger, do not object to being watched, while others positively like -the attention. Such as these are always anxious, under the -circumstances, to impress the stranger with their great skill and -dexterity in the use of tools and in twisting and turning the iron about -on the anvil. They are the "gallery men." As soon as visitors appear -afar off they begin to prepare for an exhibition. The blast is steadied -down, or shut off, and the fire is cooled round. The tools are all most -conveniently disposed upon the anvil or table, and everything is made -ready for a "lightning" weld. The strikers are as well agreed as the -smith, and brace themselves up for an extra special effort. They wait -till the visitors are nearly opposite them and certain of viewing the -operation. Then on goes the blast, roaring loudly in the firebox, while -the smith, with the perspiration streaming down his brow and cheeks, -turns his heat over and over in the forge and glances quickly across to -take care that he is ready at the right moment. The visitors notice the -unusual activity of the men at the fire and stand still, waiting to see -the heat. This is the signal for the iron to leave the coals. With -exaggerated celerity the sections of metal are withdrawn from the forge -and brought to the anvil. The fused parts are clapped smartly together, -the striker throws down his tongs viciously, grips his hammer and, -following the directions of his mate, rains a shower of blows on the -spluttering iron. The sparks whizz out, and reach the visitors, singeing -the dresses of the ladies--if there happen to be any among them--and -causing them to cry out and step backwards a few paces, while the anvil -rings merrily under the blows. Now the smith lays down his own hammer -quickly and takes up the steel tool for finishing and squaring the heat. -His mate follows, striking rapidly, at all angles, heavy and light, -light and heavy, according to what is required, though the smith utters -not a word during the process, for the whole routine is known by heart. -Over and over the piece is jerked on the anvil--a fine flourish being -given to each movement--until it is finished. Upon its completion the -smith hands it to the striker, who receives it dexterously and places it -on the ground, or in the pile, the pair of them looking several times at -the visitors as much as to ask them if they do not think the job well -and quickly done, and begging a compliment. The visitors usually accord -them an admiring glance in recognition of their prowess and pass on up -the forge. - -The gallery men are smart and quick by nature, and are fairly sure of -being successful in "exhibition" work. The slightest blunder would spoil -the whole act and make them appear ridiculous, consequently none but -those who are really skilful ever attempt the business. The average -smith, however, and especially the one we have in view, never breaks his -rule or goes out of his way to oblige visitors, but continues at a -steady, uniform rate. The workman who is showy and energetic before -visitors is often remiss when they have gone by; it is the continual -plodder that gets through the most work in the long run. The visitor, -moreover, if he is gifted with an ordinary amount of insight and -commonsense, may easily recognise the superior workman and discriminate -between the genuine and the superficial effort. Occasionally, when -strangers pass through, after such a performance as I have described, -the striker, more in jest than in earnest, throws his cap at the feet of -the visitors, suggesting that a tip would be welcomed. It is but fair to -say that the hint is seldom or never taken. - -Though the striker, or inside mate, must perform the task of preparing -the fire for the smith, he is no longer responsible for it. Henceforth -the smith takes it under his care, and only hands it over to his mate -when the heat is finished and a stop has to be made to renew the forge. -If the job upon which he is engaged is of any dimensions and two fires -are needed, that will make it increasingly hard for the strikers. The -heaviest work is naturally more usually assigned to the strongest men, -though the rule of adaptability also holds here and the various jobs are -given to those who have proved themselves to be the most efficient at -them. Of the smiths, some are famed for their skill in one direction, -and some for their ability in another. This job requires strength, that -speed and cleverness, and another needs a combination of all those -qualities and is difficult to do at any time. Occasionally it transpires -that an inferior smith has been kept at one class of work for such a -long time that he gets out of touch with the other jobs in the shed, and -would shape awkwardly if he were suddenly called upon to undertake -something new and unusual to him. This is a mistake not often committed -by the foreman, however. He periodically changes and interchanges the -work and so gets the smiths accustomed to many and miscellaneous toils. - -The skilled and clever smith will be at home anywhere and everywhere. He -will do anything, anyhow, and by any method you please, for he is a -complete master of the trade. He will make all kinds of tools with the -utmost ease and simplicity. He will also forge chains, wheels, joints, -and levers, work in iron or steel, in "=T=" stuff, or angle iron; every -conceivable shape and form of work is subject to his operation. If you -put him at the steam-hammer he is still at home; he will forge out an -ingot or bloom with the best man on the ground. - -All the lightest work falls upon the young apprentices and the very old -men, who are too feeble to undertake heavy and trying tasks, but are yet -far too valuable to be dispensed with altogether. The apprentices -perform such work as simple setting and bending, the making of bolts and -eyes, rings and links for chains and so on. They usually come to the -work at the age of sixteen, and stay for five or six years, when they -voluntarily hand in their notices and migrate to other towns. There they -are received as improvers, or as journeymen, and are forthwith paid the -trade rate of wages. This varies considerably in many localities, and it -is to be noted that railway sheds almost always provide the very lowest -wages. Since the work is constant and sure, however, and is not subject -to the many fluctuations of the contract shop, the stability of -employment is counted a certain compensation for lower wages, and the -majority of smiths accept the conditions philosophically. - -The young apprentices are strong and sturdy, and invariably of a sound -constitution; one never sees a sickly-looking youth taking up the -occupation of smithing. This accounts for the fine physique and often -big proportions of the senior smith; the reason being that the youths -chosen were hardy and suitable, and showed signs of physical -development. The sons of smiths usually choose the trade of their -fathers and follow in their footsteps. There is consequently often a -hereditary quality in the workman; they have been a family of smiths for -generations. - -The smiths, provided they are strong and healthy, are usually retained -at the forge till they have reached the age of seventy when, under the -present rule, they are required to leave. Even this is a kind of -concession to them, for, generally speaking, the other workmen are -turned off long before they reach such an advanced age. The smith's -usefulness, even in his age, is the cause of this; though feeble, he is -still able to do good work and to help with his knowledge and -experience. He is usually employed at tool-making, or at other light -occupations. His poor old hand, almost as hard as iron, shakes with the -weight of the hammer; his head trembles visibly, and his legs totter -beneath him. He comes in early in the morning, in order to avoid the -crush. He brings his meals with him and eats them in the forge, and he -is the last going out at night. In his decline he is forced to live near -the works--only a street or so from the entrance--and even then it takes -him a long time to hobble to and fro. In the evening and at week-ends he -usually stays at home to rest, or he may possibly look in to see a -friend, or to take a mug of ale at the neighbouring inn. - -It is a sad day for him when he receives intelligence of his discharge. -Feeble as he is become, he has a real affection for the smithy, and is -never so happy as when he is at his forge and anvil. As long as he can -drag himself backwards and forwards, see the old faces, and snuff the -breath of the fires, he is content. His health, too, which has been -maintained by the constant exercise of his trade, is passable while he -can do a little work. When he is forced to lie idle, and to forego his -regular habit of early rising and the exertion of his muscles with the -hammer, that suffers as a matter of course. His joints forthwith become -stiff and set; his little store of strength, instead of increasing with -the change, wastes and declines. In a very short while he is dead, and -his old bones are haled away to the cemetery on top of the hill. A -number of his mates and fellow-smiths follow him to the grave and -witness the last rites, not for the sake of formality, but out of pure -friendship and respect. His name is certain to live long in the annals -of the smithy. - -The oldest hand in the forge at the present time is aged sixty-eight, -though there were recently several above this age who have now been -placed on the retired list or superannuated by their societies. He has -led a hard life, and affords a very good example of the average type of -smith. He was apprenticed at Cheltenham and made a journeyman at -Gloucester. From that city he passed on to Worcester, and went thence to -Birmingham, working for about a year at each place. Afterwards he -migrated to Sheffield--the home of furnaces and forges--and shifted -thence in turn to Liverpool, Lancaster, Rotherham, Durham, and several -other manufacturing centres, settling finally in the railway town. He -has brought up a big family and seen them all established in life. Of -his sons several are smiths; one is in America, one in Africa, and one -at home in England. He has saved enough money to buy his house, and he -has a few pounds besides, so that he has no fear of being reduced to -want. He has worked hard and lived well, and he has always drunk his -glass of ale. He is associated with several bodies and committees, and -he has presented a bed to the local hospital out of his earnings, with -the natural condition that smiths have the first claim upon it. Though -his hand is a little unsteady with continual use of the tools, he can -still manage a fair day's work. He is very proud of his trade and takes -great delight in telling you of his travels and adventures. Every summer -he passes the examination of old smiths made by the works' manager to -see that they are fit for duty, and he still looks forward to years of -activity at the forge. - -Nearly all the smiths live in the town and within easy reach of their -work. A few only of their number have had a rustic apprenticeship. The -great majority of those in the shed have learnt the rudiments of their -trade in factories, and have migrated from place to place. By living in -the midst of large towns and cities, they have become almost indifferent -to surroundings and are able to make themselves happy and comfortable in -the most crowded and uncongenial situations. For the beauties of -external nature they care but little; they appear to be wholly wrapt up -in and concerned with their own vocation. They nearly all belong to -unions and organisations, and are the most independent of men, though -they do not make a great parade of the fact. Their independence is born -of self-confidence--the knowledge of their own usefulness and worth, and -the strength of their position. If they should choose to leave one place -they are certain of getting employment elsewhere, for a good smith is -never out of work for long together. Other trades suffer considerably -through slackness of employment, but there is a constant demand for -smiths and hammermen. The fact is that fewer smiths and forgemen are -made, in proportion to their numbers, than is the case with some other -trades. The work is hard and laborious, and the life must be one of toil -and sacrifice. - -Although some smiths drink an enormous quantity of cold water at the -forge there are others who seldom taste a drop of the liquid. If you ask -them the reason why, they will tell you that it is not a wise plan to -drink much cold water at work. They say that it causes cramp in the -stomach, colds, rash, and itching of the skin, and add that it makes -them sweat very much more than they would otherwise do. The more you -drink, they say, the more you want to drink, and it is but a habit -acquired. If you care to use yourself to it you may work in the greatest -heat and feel very few ill effects from it if you are abstemious in the -taking of liquids. At the same time, the majority of smiths do drink -water, and that copiously, and seem to thrive well upon it. Such as do -this, and are fat and well, when spoken to upon the matter, always smile -broadly and tell you it is the result of having a contented mind and of -drinking plenty of cold water. - -It is certain that those who drink most perspire most, but that does not -appear to hurt them in the least, and you often hear it said by a -workman who is not addicted to perspiring freely that he feels very -"stuffy" and congested and that he should be better if he could sweat -more. A delightful feeling is experienced after a good sweating at work. -Every nerve and tissue seems to be aglow with intensest life; the blood -courses through the body and limbs freely and vigorously, and produces a -sense of unspeakable physical pleasure. Sweating as the result of -physical exercise has a powerful effect upon the mind, as well as upon -the body; it clears the vision and invigorates the brain, and is a -perfect medicine for many ailments, both mental and physical. If many of -the languid and indolent, who never do any work or indulge in sturdy -exercise, were suddenly to rouse themselves up and do sufficient -physical labour, either for themselves or for someone else, to procure a -good sweating at least twice a week, they would feel immeasurably better -for it. Life would have a new meaning for them. They would eat better, -rest better, and sleep better. They would feel fresher and stronger, -altogether more active and vigorous, more sympathetic and satisfied. -Though he is, as a rule, quite unaware of it, the workman derives -considerably more physical pleasure from life than do those persons, -mistakenly envied, who do nothing, for everything has a relish to him, -while to the others all is flat and insipid. Truly work is the salt of -life, and physical work at that, though there is a most passionate -desire in many quarters to be well rid of it. - -The majority of the smiths, even though they do not drink much cold -water in the forge, are fond of a glass of ale; there are very few -teetotalers among them. No one would wish to imply by this that they are -"wettish customers." The very nature of their work makes them thirsty, -and though they constrain their appetites while they are at the fires, -nevertheless when they come to the town they feel bound to go in -somewhere or other and "wet the whistle," as they term it. After a hot -turn in the shed the foaming ale goes down with a delicious relish and -the smith feels that he is entitled to enjoy that pleasure, considering -how hard he has toiled all day in the heat and dust. There is also the -evening paper to be read, after which follows a chat with his mate, and -all the hard toil is for the moment forgotten. Rested and refreshed, the -man of the forge goes home to his wife and children and partakes of a -good tea, feeling very fit and on excellent terms with himself and -others. - -It is rather remarkable that smiths do not smoke very much tobacco. In -the use of the weed they are very moderate, though the strikers and -mates easily make up for the deficiency. Every day, after having their -meals in the smithy, they walk out into the town or stand under the -bridge to "have a draw" and read the morning newspaper, returning -leisurely about ten minutes before it is time to start work again. - -To his mates and strikers, while at the forge, the smith is rather quiet -and reserved, often speaking very little and seldom discussing with them -matters apart from the work. This is not out of any undue feeling of -pride in himself or unsociableness, but because he is full of his work, -and disinclined to talk much. Neither is he given to the discussing of -political and social problems and continually seeking an opportunity for -holding an argument with this or that one. It is characteristic of him -to view everything calmly and soberly; he is imbued with the genuine -philosophical temperament. It is a certain and invariable rule that the -one who has the most ready tongue and is always ripe for an argument is -not the most energetic and proficient at his employment. If such a one -as this should desire to entangle the sturdy smith in a cobweb of -discussion he is bluntly and unceremoniously told to "clear out," for he -has no time to listen to such "stuff." Off the premises, however, he is -friendly and indulgent to his mates and strikers. When he meets them in -the town he stops and speaks to them and invites them to have a glass of -ale at his expense. - -The religious beliefs of the smiths are not as well-known as are those -of some classes of workmen, for they are not in the habit of discovering -themselves to outsiders. Though he who has his forge in the village, -under the old elm or spreading chestnut, may go regularly to church, -there is no evidence to prove that those who dwell in the town imitate -him in that respect. Their Sundays appear to be spent chiefly at home in -rest and quietness, in company with their wives and families. A few, -plainly and simply dressed--for the smith heartily hates all foppishness -and superficial ornament--may be seen in the evening walking out towards -the fields. The majority, however, stay indoors and recuperate for the -coming week's work, or merely go to see their friends who live a few -streets away. But if they do not go to church or chapel they are far -from being deficient in charitableness and true piety. They merely aim -to live the best life they can and to do good wherever possible. Their -religion is one of kindness to all; they are at once large-hearted and -broad-minded, honest, just, and liberal. Their sympathy for their -fellows arises largely from the fact that they are well acquainted with -hard toil; they know what it is to work and sweat, to be hot and -thirsty, beaten and tired. Theirs is no gentlemanly occupation, such as -is that of some other journeymen; not merely the theoretical exercise of -a craft, but one that requires good, solid exertion, such as brings out -all that is best in a man. - -A proof of their utter good-nature and kindness to their fellows may be -seen in the fact of their having, for the last twenty years, made a -voluntary weekly offering of a halfpenny per man to the local Cottage -Hospital. This is taken once a fortnight, the condition being that it -must be unsolicited and a straight gift. In twenty years the sum -collected has amounted to over two hundred pounds. This is quite -independent of the annual collections made for charities, in which the -smiths again always head the list by a large margin. There is no other -example at the works of such spontaneous good-nature, and this will -show, more than any words, the true characteristics of the brawny men at -the forges. - -The smiths' foreman is the very personification of his class, and is a -highly interesting study. He is of great stature--he is over six feet in -height--with broad, square shoulders and large limbs; fleshy, but not -corpulent. His forehead is wide and steep; he has bushy brows, iron grey -hair and beard, and red cheeks. His eyes are frank and honest; his -voice deep and gruff, but not unkind; and when he speaks to you he looks -you full in the face. His whole figure is striking; he towers above the -majority of his workmen. His weight, as he tells you himself, with a -mixture of pride and modesty and the suspicion of a smile, is nineteen -stone six. After this he hastens to inform you that he is not the -heaviest at his house, for his good wife turns the scale at twenty-two -stone. He has been once married and is the father of a large -family--nineteen in all--twelve of whom are yet living. His age is well -over sixty, and he will soon have to retire from the forge, though he is -still hale and hearty, fond of a glass of good beer, and, as he -frequently and forcibly tells you, he is "a great eater of beef." - -As for scholarship and culture, he makes no claim to either, for he -never had the opportunity of much education, though he is a famous -smith, and is gifted with the rare faculty of getting his men into a -good humour and keeping them there. He is on good terms with all his -staff; is jealous of their interests, open and honest in his dealings -with them, and he has the satisfaction of being respected in return. He -is one of the old school, of a type that is nearly extinct now; a bold -defender of the rights of smiths, a hard and fast believer in the -hand-made article. Naturally, for him, he is suspicious of all modern -machinery that tends to do away with the trade of the smithy, and he -swears by the most unbreakable oaths that whatever is done by the newer -systems of forging and stamping he is able to equal it on the anvil, -both as regards strength and cheapness. When the managers recently -attempted to bring about sweeping reductions in the prices throughout -the smithy he opposed them at every point, swore that he was master in -his own shed, and that no one but he should be allowed to fix prices. -"When I am gone you can do just whatever you like, but I'm going to -have a say in things as long as I'm about here," said he. On the -managers insisting to cut the prices, he unceremoniously took off his -coat, and, turning up his shirt-sleeves, presented the representative -with a pair of tongs and a hammer and challenged him to have a trial at -the game himself. "Here's my fire, guvnor, and there's yourn. Come on -with you and let's see what you can do, and if you can make it at your -price I'll give in to you, but you'll never do it in the world." Only -one or two prices fell in the whole shed. The managers abstained from -further interference and since that time the smiths have been but very -little molested. - -No one could walk through the forge and observe the splendid physique -and bearing of the smiths, their skill and dexterity with the tools at -the fires and anvil, without a feeling of pride and genuine admiration -for them. They are a fine body of men, and their frankness and -good-nature, their freedom from ostentation, and general -straightforwardness impress one even more than do their physical -qualities, and help to fix them more deeply and truly in his regard and -esteem. They are not little and petty; they are not spiteful and -malicious. They are not jealous of each other's skill and position; they -are no tale-bearers. They seldom quarrel about politics or religion, or -hold any other controversy in the shed or out of it. Their attitude to -each other is fair and unquestionable; they are natural and spontaneous, -very free and generous. If proof is needed of this you have but to come -into the smithy and see for yourselves. You will find it written in -their faces in unmistakable characters. You will discover it in a -greater degree if you converse with them. You will be completely -satisfied as to their genuineness and quite convinced of the justice of -these observations. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - - FITTERS--THE STEAM-HAMMER SHOP--FORGEMEN--THEIR - CHARACTERISTICS--BOILERMAKERS--THE FOUNDRY--THE BLAST - FURNACE--MOULDERS - - -There are two large fitting sheds at the works--for engine- and -carriage-fitting. They differ in several respects but are on the whole -consimilar, both in the nature of the work done and in the composition -and individuality of the staffs employed. The duties of the fitters are -very well indicated by their denominative: they prepare and fit together -all the machinery parts for the locomotives and carriages as well as the -steam-brake details and other apparatus of a complicated nature. The -sheds also serve as centres for supplying the other shops with their -small staffs of fitters who superintend repairs to the local machinery, -attend to the steam-hammers, fix new shafting, and so on. - -The fitting sheds are large buildings and are packed with machinery of -every conceivable shape and kind. Within them are lathes large and -small, machines for slotting, shaping and drilling, drills for boring -round and square holes, punches and shears, hydraulic tackle, and -various other curious appliances almost incapable of description. There -are hundreds of yards of steel shafting, pulleys and wheels innumerable, -and miles of beltage. The space between the roof and the floor seems to -be entirely occupied with swiftly-revolving wheels and belts. To view -the interior is like peering into a dense forest where all is tangled -and confused and everything is in a state of perpetual motion. At the -same time there is a minimum of noise. Here are no steam-hammers beating -on the stubborn masses of iron and steel and making the foundations of -the earth tremble beneath you, no riveters' hammers battering on the -hollow plates of the frames and boilers, and no pneumatic tools ringing -out sharply and driving one to distraction with the unspeakable din. The -wheels revolve almost without sound; the shafting turns and spins -silently. The lathes are nearly noiseless in operation, and the drills -only creak a little now and then as a small portion of the detached -metal becomes blocked underneath the tool and runs round with it. The -greatest noise is made by those who are busily chipping at the benches; -otherwise there is comparative quiet when we remember the tremendous din -of the neighbouring workshops. - -As there are no furnaces or forges in the fitting shed, and abundant -ventilation, the air is cool and free from smoke and fume. The work is -less laborious than is that of the smithy or frame shed, and the men are -not required to perspire much. Both the fitters and the machinemen wear -cloth suits, with a thin blue jacket or "slop" and overalls, and you -rarely see them stripped or with their shirt-sleeves turned up. This is -so much the rule that if they should be seen to take off their coats at -a job in either of the outlying sheds the circumstance will be noted as -of unusual occurrence by the rank and file. They will immediately raise -a good-natured laugh and jokingly tell them to "put their jackets on if -they don't want to catch a cold." One local fitter, by reason of his -great fondness for carrying a drawing with him wherever he goes and the -readiness and ease with which he has resort to it in order to explain -away the most trivial detail, has earned for himself the title of "The -Drawing King." A second, as the result of his artificial activity with -the callipers, is styled "Calliper King," while a third, by his -volubility, has secured the expressive nickname of "Fish-mouth." - -An amusing and true story is told of a chargeman of the fitting shed. He -was lying seriously ill and believed himself to be at the point of -death. While in that condition he was conscience-stricken at the thought -that he had had one or two very good prices for work in the shed. He -accordingly sent for his foreman to come and visit him. When he arrived -the sick man unburdened his soul and begged him to cut the prices -forthwith; he said he "could not die with it on his mind." In due time -the prices were cut. The old fellow's period had not yet come, however. -He got better and had the satisfaction of returning to the shed and -working at the reduced rates, the laughing-stock of his companions. - -The fitters are usually looked upon as the men _par excellence_ of the -shed. Like the smiths, they have usually travelled far. Some have -visited every part of the kingdom, while others may have served -abroad--in America, at the Cape of Good Hope, in China, or Egypt. A few -have been artificers in the Navy or in the Mercantile Marine; here is -one, for instance, who, by reason of his nautical experiences, has -gained the nickname of "Deep Sea Joe." It will commonly be found that -those who have gone furthest from home are not only the best workmen--as -having had a more varied and extensive experience--but they are also -more broad-minded and sympathetic towards their mates and labourers. - -The majority of the fitters are members of Trades Unions, and of all -other classes at the works, perhaps, they take the greatest pains to -protect themselves and their interests. By contributing to the funds -of their organisations they are insured against accidents, strikes, -or dismissal, and are thus placed in a position of considerable -independence. They are required to serve an apprenticeship of five or -seven years' duration before they are recognised as journeymen and they -are, by a common rule, compelled to go further afield in order to obtain -the standard rate of wages. Nearly all the foremen of the different -sheds are appointed from among the fitters; whatever qualities an -outsider may discover he stands but little chance of being preferred for -the post. - -Before a fitter has been promoted to the position of foreman he is a -bold champion of the rights of Labour, one loud in the expression of his -sympathy with his fellowmen, a staunch believer in the liberty of the -individual and a hearty condemner of the factory system. If he has been -appointed overseer, however, there is a considerable change in his -manner and attitude towards all these and kindred subjects. A great -modification of his personal views and opinions soon follows; he begins -to look at things from the official standpoint. He is now fond of -telling you that "things are not as they used to be." Possibly they are -not, as far as he himself is concerned, but there is another view of the -situation. At the same time, he will be fairly loyal to his old mates, -the journeyman fitters, and treat them with superior respect. To the -labourers, however, he will not be so well-disposed. He will ignore -their interests and rule them with a rod of iron. - -I have said that steam-hammer forging is on the decline in the railway -town. The chief cause of this is the recent development of the process -of manufacturing malleable cast steel, which has largely taken the place -of wrought iron forging both in the locomotive and elsewhere. Formerly -all wheels were forged in sections and were afterwards welded up, and -the work provided constant employment for the steam-hammer men. Now they -are obtained elsewhere, more cheaply, it may be, though they are of an -inferior quality. Engine-cranks also, which at one time were made -exclusively on the premises, are nearly all bought away from the town, -and this was a second great loss to the shed. All that remains is the -manufacture of the less important details, such as connection rods and -levers, with a few special or repair cranks now and then. - -The steam-hammer shed has thus been deprived of much of its importance. -The big machines, capable of striking a blow equivalent to a hundred or -two hundred tons' pressure, have been removed and put on the scrap-heap, -and their places have been filled by other and less powerful plant. The -old forgemen, too, with their mates who worked the furnaces, are -missing. Of these, some are dead, some have been discharged, while -others have been reduced and are scattered about the yard. He who -formerly shouted out his orders at the steam-hammer and controlled the -mighty mass of iron or steel with the porter, turning it round and round -to receive the tremendous blow, is now hobbling about with a shovel and -wheel-barrow, cleaning up the refuse of the yard, in receipt of a -miserable pittance. Perhaps he is lame as the result of a blow, or he -has a withered arm through its having been "jumped up" with the driving -back of the porter, or he may have lost an eye. A portion of steel has -fled from the hammer rod, or from the "ram," and struck him in the eye -and he is blind as a consequence. - -Several years ago there was at the factory a splendid forger, a cool and -highly-skilful workman, and one possessed of fine physique. He was tall, -square and broad built, full of bone and muscle, solid and strong, and, -though of seventeen or eighteen stone in weight, he was very nimble and -of unerring judgment. One day he received the offer of a job in the -Midlands, at nearly double the wages he was getting in the railway town, -and he decided to accept the post. Accordingly he left the shed and took -over his new duties. He had not been away long, however, before he met -with a serious accident that quite incapacitated him from following his -occupation as a forgeman. A careless or unskilful hammer-driver had -struck a terrific blow out of time, and the porter-bar, driven out -suddenly, forced the forger's hand and arm violently to the shoulder, -completely crippling him. A ruined man, he came back to the town and -gained a wretched livelihood by helping to serve the bricklayers and -masons with his one arm. - -The steam-hammer forger is one of the most skilful and useful, as well -as the most interesting of men. He may possibly have learned his trade -in the town, or he may hail from Sheffield, Middlesborough, Scotland or -Wales. All these places are noted for extensive manufactures in iron and -steel and for the efficiency of their workmen, and especially of their -forgers and furnacemen. If any forger in the shed is reputed to have -come from the Midlands, the North, or the iron region of Wales, he is -sure to be considered something of a prodigy. He comes bearing with him -a part of the laurels of his township and all eyes will be upon him to -see how he acquits himself of the responsibility. Very often, however, -he quite fails to fulfil the expectations entertained of him and is -easily beaten by the local men. After all, it was but the name; he is no -better than many who have learned their trade in the shed. Perhaps he is -not even as efficient as they, though he did come from "Ironopolis" and -forged very many tons of steel ingots in an incredibly short space of -time, though this happened "years ago," if you chance to press him at -all concerning the matter. - -The forger is not always a man of big physical proportions. On the -contrary, he is more usually of a medium, or even of a diminutive type; -you seldom or never find one as stout and heavy as is the average smith. -The nature of the toil forbids this. The smith, at his work, is more or -less stationary. His forging, moreover, is not so heavy, nor is he -exposed to such great heat. The forgeman's ingot may weigh four or five -tons, all blazing hot, with a porter-bar of thirty hundredweight or more -attached, and though this will be suspended from the crane and he will -have several mates to help him, it will yet require the whole of their -powers to remove it from the furnace to the hammer and to turn it over -or push it backwards and forwards to receive the ponderous blow. But if -the forgeman is inferior to the smith in the matter of stature and bulk, -he easily beats him in strength. He is a very lion in this respect. -Underneath his thin, shrunken cheeks and skinny arms are sinews almost -as tough as steel itself. In the most blinding and deadly heat of the -furnace, with three or four tons of dazzling metal exactly in front of -him and the sweat pouring out of the hollows of his grimy cheeks and -running down his nose and chin to drop in a continual stream on the -ground beneath, he still pushes, heaves, and shouts loudly to his mates, -and works and slaves quite unconcernedly. He is almost as fresh at the -end of the operation as he was at the beginning. Nothing seems to tire -him down; he is for ever active and vigorous. - -The forgeman often proves to be a rather irritable individual, one sharp -and sour to his mates and hasty in his temper. His companions at the -hammer--with the exception of the furnaceman--are so many children to -him; he orders them here and there with the slightest ceremony and -shouts out his orders at the top of his voice. At every command he -utters they hasten to obey, fearing his testiness, and when he roars out -at them they shake in their boots. Perhaps they are slow in handing him -a tool, or they have applied the wrong gauge, or the hammer-driver has -struck too hard a blow. Whatever it is, the forgeman's wrath is aroused -and they must suffer for it. In his anger he calls them many names that -could not be styled complimentary and withers them with looks. Then, -whatever kind of blow the hammerman strikes, it will be wrong. If it is -light, he wanted it heavy; if heavy, he required it light--the mere -suggestion of a blow. He will often, in the same breath, roar out at the -top of his voice--"Hit 'im! Hit 'im! Light! LIGHT! LIGHT!" and will -immediately explode with passion because his order was not acted upon to -the letter. By and by the exasperated hammer-driver will venture to -reply to his autocratic mate, and a smart battle of words ensues, in -which the forgeman, however, usually comes off best. The old furnaceman, -greyheaded, or totally bald with the heat, will fire away with his coals -and wink at the gaugeman now and then, but never a word will he utter. -He knows his mate thoroughly, and understands his temper perfectly. -Accordingly, he hears all and says nothing; it makes but little -difference to him which way the forging goes as long as he has performed -his heat properly. Perhaps, after this, things may run a little more -smoothly for a time, or matters may even become worse. I have known -mates to work at the same hammer and not speak to each other for a year, -not even to give the necessary instructions as to carrying out the -forging. - -Though there could be no excuse for this foolish exhibition of -ill-nature, many apologies may yet be made for the nervous and irritable -forgeman. In the first place, his work is enormously hard and exacting; -and in the second, there is a great responsibility resting upon him -which is not shared by his workmates. The value of the forging in his -hands is often considerable, and the least error on the part of his -furnaceman or hammer-driver might completely spoil it. If the metal -should be in the slightest degree overheated it would burst all to -pieces at the first blow of the hammer, and if the hammer-driver should -happen to strike a heavy blow at a critical moment, he might spoil the -piece in that way, or otherwise necessitate a considerable amount of -labour to get it into shape again. All this is a matter of serious care -to the forgeman, and as his mates are very often raw hands or careless, -dull-headed fellows, it is not to be wondered at that he should now and -then discover some perverseness of temper. - -It is interesting to note the style of working adopted by different -forgers. This, of course, will vary with the man's capability for the -job, his gift, his skill acquired, and his natural temper. All forgers -are not possessed of a uniformity of skill and capacity, any more than -are all musicians and painters equal in their arts; wherever you go you -will find good, bad and indifferent workmen. It may at once be said, -however, that bad forgemen are not tolerated for any length of time. If -they cannot handle the porter and bring their ingot or bloom to a -successful finish they are quickly removed and better men put in place -of them, for iron and steel ingots are too valuable to be wasted with -impunity. As a rule, the quiet workman is the best; that is, he who -talks least to his mates, and who does not bawl out every order at the -top of his voice. Such a one will often remove his bloom from the -furnace, bring it to the hammer and complete it without speaking a word. -A nod of the head or a few motions of the hand will be sufficient; his -mates understand him perfectly and everything proceeds without a hitch. -The hammer-driver, encouraged to use his discretion, knows exactly what -kind of a blow to strike--heavy or light, light or heavy--when to stop -and when to begin. The grimy mate, usually styled the donkeyman, stands -by with the gauges; at each pause he fits them to the white-hot mass of -iron or steel and again the hammer descends, regularly and evenly. The -tremendous "monkey" goes high up, almost out of sight overhead, and -glides noiselessly downwards till it beats the metal, making the pulley -chains rattle and jingle and the whole shed to totter and tremble. I -have often sat on a gate, or under the trees in the fields on a still -evening, towards midnight, and counted the blows struck on an obstinate -forging in the shed five miles distant. - -It is a pleasure to watch the skilful forgeman perform his heat and -shape the ponderous bloom under the steam-hammer. If you observe him -closely you will see that he scarcely moves his body. He stands in one -position, easily and naturally, all the time, in a slightly stooping -attitude, yet he has full power over the heavy weight in his hands. When -he shifts the porter, or turns the forging round, his arms are the -instruments; it is all performed deftly and simply, with a minimum of -exertion. There is a style in it the most casual observer must readily -perceive. He cannot help being struck with the extreme simplicity and -attractiveness of the whole operation, and he will at once recognise the -skilful forger from the unskilful, the gifted craftsman from the mere -amateur or improver. - -The inferior forgeman will be full of excitement, noise and bustle. He -will peer into the furnace half-a-dozen times before he is satisfied as -to the heat of the bloom, and grumble and scold the furnaceman all the -while. Then, after darting to and fro, backwards and forwards, kicking -things out of his way and seeing to this and to that, he bawls out to -his mates to "pull up, and get on the pulley chain." After a -considerable amount of pulling and shoving, grunting, sweating, twisting -and turning the ingot, he at last succeeds in bringing it to the hammer, -having lost a great part of the heat in the transit. Even now he is -undecided as to how to begin the shaping of the piece and has to -consider a moment or two before giving the word to start. At last he -shouts out to the driver, and the preliminary blows fall. A dozen times, -where there is no need of it, he stops the hammer and makes his mate try -the gauges. Then he goes on again, thump, thump, thump, now shouting out -"Light!" at the top of his voice, following up with a very loud "Whoa!" -If his mate happens to be in the way he gives him a rough push and tells -him to "get out," takes up the gauges and fits them himself and -afterwards throws them down with violence, and repeats the performance -till the bloom is in some manner completed. When the porter-bar has been -lopped off and the forging placed on the ground he examines it several -times, going to the furnace and coming back to view his half-finished -labour and making as much fuss as though he had just forged a -battleship, till even the door-boy is disgusted and passes sarcastic -remarks upon his ceremonious chief. Considerably more slotting and -shaping will always be required on his piece than on that of the other -forgeman, and his work will be left till last in the machine shop. The -skilful forger will shape his bloom perfectly, so that there will be but -a very small amount of facing to do to it; his work will be sure to -receive praise, while the other's will as certainly be execrated. - -The men of the steam-hammer shed differ from the rest of the factory -hands in having to work a twelve-hour day. Very often the heats are -ready to draw out at meal-times, and it would be ruinous to leave them -to waste in the furnace while the men went home to breakfast and dinner. -Accordingly, the forger and his mates boil water in a can on the neck of -the furnace, or over a piece of hot metal, and make their own tea to -drink. Occasionally the mid-day meal is brought to the factory entrance -by the forgeman's little son or daughter, or he may bring in a large -basin full of cooked meat and vegetables and warm it up himself. Perhaps -the fare is a rasher of bacon. This the workman brings in raw and either -roasts it over the furnace door, or on a lump of hot iron. Perhaps he -uses a roughly-made frying-pan; or he may place it in the furnaceman's -shovel in order to cook it. If the furnaceman sees him, however, he will -certainly forbid this, for heating the shovel will spoil the temper of -the steel and cause it to warp. He will say, moreover, that coal charged -into the furnace with a shovel that has had "that mess" in it will never -heat the iron, and I have more than once seen the half-cooked food -unceremoniously turned out into the coal-dust. A common name for the -roughly-made frying-pan is a "rasher-waggon." - -At night, when the day's work is over and everything has been left neat -and tidy for the succeeding shift, the forger stows his leathern apron, -cap and jackboots, rinses his hands in the bosh, and leaves the shed, -walking a little in advance of his mates and preserving the same temper -he has displayed at the toil. His mates, however, together with the -ingenuous and mischievous door-boy, are not so conventional in their -behaviour. Since they are free to go home and roam the streets or -trudge off into the country once more, they indulge in games and fun -before they leave, and sing and whistle to their heart's content. -Meanwhile the old furnaceman has damped his fire and made everything -ready for the mate who succeeds him. Now he, too, swills his hands in -the bosh and gives his sweaty old face an extra special rub with the -wiper, puts the muffler around his neck, slips on his jacket, and, -taking his dinner-can under his arm, proceeds through the tunnel and out -into the town. - -Very few of the forgemen were born in the town; they have nearly all -come in from the villages round about and become urbanised. After their -toils in the hot shed they do not want to have to journey far to their -homes. Their dwellings are consequently usually within easy distance of -the forge, though here and there is to be found one who has the courage -to continue in his native village. As their wages are above the average -paid at the works--though the rate is not nearly as high as it is at -most steam-hammer sheds--the forgers are enabled to indulge themselves -in the matter of living. Their food will accordingly be of the very best -quality, and when that has been paid for there is yet a fair supply of -pocket money remaining. Most forgemen are fond of a glass of ale; it is -a rare thing to find a teetotaler in their ranks. They are much given to -talking of their achievements at all times and in all places, and they -occupy long hours in telling of the famous jobs they have done on many -occasions--a special crank for this or that engine, a big piston-rod or -monkey for an outside firm, or a mighty anchor for an ocean-going -vessel. - -In point of real usefulness and importance the boilermakers stand second -to none at the works. Though they may not be as highly skilled as are -the fitters individually, collectively they form a much more imposing -and vigorous body, and one that is far more essential to the absolute -needs of the firm. To whatever extent the forger or fitter may be done -without, or unskilled men put in place of them, that is not possible in -the case of the boilersmith. His labour, as well as being very -important, is distinct from that of all others at the factory; his is an -exclusive profession. In the making of locomotives for the line the -boiler is by far the greatest item, and it is very difficult and -expensive to construct. The work must be performed with exquisite care -and everything must be conscientiously well done. There must be no -shoddy work in a boiler; no "nobbling over," concealment of flaws, or -deception of any kind, or disastrous consequences would be inevitable. -The plates must all be admirably shaped and fitted, the bolts and stays -very strong and sound, and the whole most carefully adjusted and -riveted. The time required for the construction of a first-class boiler -for a locomotive is about six months, and the cost is near about a -thousand pounds. All the inner plates are of copper, which is used in -order to allow of regular expansion and contraction. The tubes are of -iron or steel, and number several hundreds. Tubing is a branch of work -distinct from boilermaking properly so-called, and is undertaken by -those less skilful than are required for the other processes. - -Boilermakers are divided into two classes--the platers and the riveters. -Those of the first grade prepare the plates, perform the marking-off and -cutting-out, see to the drilling of the holes and afterwards bolt the -parts together. The riveters follow and make everything solid and -compact. Nearly all the riveting is done by hand; very little is left to -the chance work of the machine, which is often faulty and unreliable. -Rivets put in by hand are far more trustworthy than are those done by -the machine. The hammered heads will be tougher and more durable than -those that have been squeezed up by the hydraulic apparatus. - -The two grades of boilermakers are kept separate and distinct. Every man -is provided with a card certifying to which class he belongs, whether to -the platers or riveters, and he can--as a general rule--only obtain a -job upon that kind of work specified by his ticket. Similarly, if he has -been employed on repair work for any length of time he will have great -difficulty in getting re-admittance into the ranks of those engaged on -the new boilers. The trade throughout is jealously guarded and -protected. The rules are well-defined and published far and wide; there -is no setting aside the regulations. Notwithstanding the division of -work on a boiler the efficient boilersmith is qualified to construct one -throughout, from the marking of the plates to the insertion of the -tubes. The valves and other fixings are usually attached by the fitters. - -The din of the frame shed and the unearthly noise of the pneumatic -apparatus on the headstocks and plates is not to be compared with the -tremendous uproar of the boiler shop. Here are no less than two hundred -huge boilers, either new ones being made, or old ones undergoing repairs -and engaging the attentions of four or five hundred boilersmiths, to say -nothing of tubers and labourers hammering and battering away on the -shells and interiors. There are boilers in every stage of construction -and in every conceivable position on the stocks. Some are upright, some -are upside down, some are standing on end, some lying on their sides, -and others are scattered broadcast. The workmen swarm like ants -everywhere, crawling over the tops, inside and out, in the smoke-box -and fire-box, and lying on their backs underneath. Hundreds of tools are -in operation at once. Hundreds of hammers are falling, banging and -clanging perpetually, with an indescribable noise and confusion. If you -would be heard you must shout at the top of your voice and make yourself -hoarse in the attempt. The boilersmiths, who are used to the conditions, -do not try to address each other at their work; they have discovered an -expedient. Instead of straining their throats and lungs in the vain -effort to make themselves heard they simply motion with the head or -hands; their mates come to know what is required and obey the -telegraphic intimation, and so the work proceeds. - -The boilermakers are a bold and hardy class, sturdy in their views and -outlook, and very independent. As in the case of the fitters, smiths, -and other journeymen, they have travelled far and wide and become -acquainted with many workshops and sets of conditions. Very often they -will have tramped the whole country, from end to end, in search of -employment, for though as a class they are indispensable their ranks are -often over-crowded, and when trade is slack the services of many of them -are dispensed with. As with the majority of other journeymen, if they -are thrown out of employment, though they may be idle for a long time -and reduced to dire straights, they seldom deign to do other work, but -shift from place to place and beg food along the highways and through -the villages. Though verging on starvation they cannot, even for a short -period, be prevailed upon to abandon the idea of their trade, but still -crowd around the factory doors and hope for a revival of the industry. - -A short time ago a party of boilermen, who had been discharged from the -town, made weekly visits to the villages round about pretending that -they had walked from Sunderland and Newcastle--where a big strike had -been declared--and calling themselves a deputation empowered to collect -money for their mates at home in the North. The spokesman, a voluble and -impudent scoundrel, told impressive stories of hardships and suffering -and drew a great many coins from the credulous and sympathetic rustics. -By and by, however, a second party, with exactly the same story, came on -the scene and professed to be highly indignant on being told that they -had been anticipated in their office as collectors. The second batch of -visitors did not solicit money; they demanded it, and any who refused -were subjected to abuse and threatening language. At last the suspicions -of the villagers were aroused. They doubted the genuineness of the tales -of distress and of the long march from far-off Sunderland, and closed -their doors to the importunate strangers. Very soon trade in the railway -town revived; the majority of the men were reinstated and the -countryside knew them no more. - -The iron foundry is but a few yards from the boiler shed; you may very -quickly be introduced to it, with the noise of the hammers and the -clatter of the pneumatic apparatus still ringing loudly in your ears. -After the din of the boiler shop the quietude of the foundry will be the -more remarkable. Here are no plates to be beaten, no rapidly revolving -pulleys and shafting, and no uproar. All that can be heard is the dull -roar of the blast furnace half-way up the shed, and the subdued noise of -the traversing table in the roof above you. The floor is of soft, -yielding sand, similar to that of which the moulds for the castings are -made, and it is noiseless under the feet. The men sit or kneel on the -ground, with their patterns beside them, and construct the duplicates to -receive the molten metal. As soon as the moulds are finished the dark, -grimy labourers bring the molten liquid, either carrying it in a thick -iron vessel lined with firebricks and having a spout on one side--as you -would carry a stretcher--or wheeling it along in a big cauldron that -swings like a pot, and pour it in through a small space left for that -purpose. - -The chief interest to the visitor centres in the furnace that contains -the molten fluid. This is a large, cylindrical structure, enclosed in a -steel frame, towering high into the roof and emitting a terrific heat -all around. Near the top is a large platform, reached by an iron -stairway, up which you are invited to mount by the grimy furnaceman, -more often in jest than in earnest, for the heat there is overpowering. -The handrail of the stairway seems nearly red-hot, and the air, puffed -out from the furnace, strikes you full in the face, so that you are -almost suffocated with it. On the platform is the feeding-place where -the fuel and metal are charged--coke to produce the heat and material -for the molten fluid, either old broken up castings, or bars of new pig -iron. Both iron and coke are thrown in and fused up together. The fluid -metal collects and flows out in front, while the debris of the -coke--what little remains after combustion--is ejected through a small -aperture at the rear. The iron, by its weight, sinks to the floor of the -furnace, while the filth and ashes of the coke remain floating on the -top--there is no fear of the two intermixing. An iron conduit, working -on a hinge, conveys the liquid metal into the pots for the moulds. When -the vessels are filled the shoot is raised, and this stops back the -metal that goes on accumulating till the next pot is in position. - -There is a great attractiveness in the operation of filling the vessels -with the molten fluid that, yellowish-white in colour, flows like water -from the interior, sparkling and spluttering as it drops into the -receptacle beneath. The heat is very intense at all times, and the toil -continuous; hundreds of moulds are waiting to be filled from the -furnace. Having occasion to visit the shed recently I pushed a way -through the crowd of labourers waiting to have their pots filled and -stood beside the furnaceman as he was running out the metal. He took no -notice of my presence, but kept his eyes fixed upon the conduit. - -"Very hot to-day!" I shouted. - -"Yes, 'tis," he replied, without turning round. - -"How much metal does the furnace hold?" - -"Don' know." - -"What's your heat?" - -"Don' know." - -"How many tons of metal do you run out in a day?" - -"Don' know." - -"You must have an idea." - -"Don' know. Got no time. We're busy." - -"Are you always on at this rate?" - -"We kips on till us stops, same as the rest on 'em, an' has a sleep in -between." Then, turning round to one of the new arrivals he -shouted--"What! bist thee got back 'ere agyen, Charlie? Thee't eff to -wait a bit. I got none for thee yet awhile." Charlie nodded and grinned, -with the sweat streaming down his nose and chin; the whole company -smiled appreciatively. Perhaps Charlie was carrying metal for one of the -less important moulds, and was used to being put aside and made to wait -a few moments, or he may have been one of the day men, of whom there are -but a small number in the shed. Nearly everything is done at the piece -rate; a few special jobs alone are done according to the day work rule. -Under these circumstances Charlie might have no objection to waiting -five or ten minutes. - -Most of the moulders dwell in the town, though many of the labourers -prefer to inhabit the region round about the borough, in those villages -of easy access to the railway centre. Some of the journeymen have served -their apprenticeship at small country towns and villages--perhaps in the -same county and district--at which agricultural machinery is -manufactured. Such as these will be sure to import local methods and -characteristics and they will always retain some part of their -individual style acquired during their term of apprenticeship. Though -the difference of method may not be very great, it will be productive of -good results; it is by a combination of several practices and systems -that perfection is ultimately attained. Very often, in the midst of a -teasing operation, a mate or passer-by may suddenly call to mind a -similar difficulty he had in some far-off village yard and thus he will -be able to supply the key to the situation. According to the theory of -the works' officials, no difficulties should ever be encountered--they -should not even exist. In practice, however, difficulties will often be -met with, and when the workman is compelled, by the lowness of his -prices, to push ahead at a great speed he is sometimes apt to become -confused with a difficulty and to overlook a point that, to the leisured -overseer, will be quite obvious and simple. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - - GETTING TO WORK--THE AWAKENING IN THE COUNTRY--STEALING A - RIDE--THE TOWN STIR--THE ARMY OF - WORKMEN--"CHECKING"--EARLY COMERS--CLERKS AND - DRAUGHTSMEN--FEATURES OF THE STAFF - - -At an early hour the whole neighbourhood within a radius of five or six -miles of the factory is astir; there is a general preparation for the -coming day's work. The activity will first begin in the villages -furthest from the town. Soon after four o'clock, in the quiet hamlets -amidst the woods and lanes, the workmen will leave their beds and get -ready for the long tramp to the shed, or to the nearest station touched -by the trains proceeding to the railway town. Many of the younger men -have bicycles and will pedal their way to work. They will not be forced -to rise quite as early as the rest, unless they live at a very great -distance. A few workmen I know have, for the past twenty years, resided -at not less than twelve miles from the town and have made the journey -all through the year, wet and dry together. The only time at which they -cannot get backwards and forwards is when there are deep floods, or -after a heavy snowstorm. Then, if the fall has been severe and the water -or snow lies to any depth on the roads, they will be compelled to walk -or to lodge in the town. Sometimes the fall of snow has taken place in -the night and the workman, under these circumstances, will be forced to -take a holiday until it melts and he is able to journey along the road -again. - -I have heard many accounts, from workmen who had long distances to walk -to the factory, of the great and terrible blizzard of 1881, when the -drifts in many places along the highways were from sixteen to twenty -feet deep. One sturdy fellow took great pride in relating how he made -the journeys daily--of six miles each way--during the whole time the -snow lay on the ground, though many were frozen to death in the -locality. Another workman whom I knew walked regularly to and from the -village for fifty years, and at the end of that time bethought himself -to get a tricycle. It was amusing to see him, with snow-white hair and -the perspiration pouring down his weather-beaten old face, pedalling -home from work after a very hot and scorching day at the rolling mills. -What with the fatigue of the day's work and the extraordinary exertions -required to propel the machine, he was very nearly exhausted by the time -he reached home. Everyone along the highway turned to have a second view -of the old man as he trundled his machine along, puffing and blowing -with the effort, his face red and fiery; but he was not to be deterred -from the innovation. It is probable that walking would have been the -easier way of getting backwards and forwards, for the machine was nearly -as heavy as a farm cart. There was a slight saving of time, however, and -it is a common saying among work-people of all sorts that "Third-class -riding is better than first-class walking." After the old man's death -the tricycle became the property of a band of farm boys who used it as a -training machine; it was for a long time a source of fun and amusement -to the villagers. - -Very often, in the remote villages, where there is no access to the -stations at which the factory trains call, a party of workmen club -together and hire a conveyance to bring them daily to the town; or they -may subscribe the money and buy a horse and cart and contribute equally -towards the expense of keeping them. An arrangement is made with the -proprietor of a public-house in the town. The horse is stabled and the -vehicle stored for a small sum, and the men ride backwards and forwards, -comfortable and independent. It was the custom, years ago, during -haymaking and harvest-time for farmers to come in with conveyances from -the outlying villages and meet the men and drive them home. They went -straight from the factory to the farmyard or hayfield, and, after a -hearty tea in the open air, or a square meal of bread, cheese and ale, -turned in and helped the farmer, both enjoying the change of work and -earning a couple of shillings a night as additional wages. This practice -was very popular with the factory men, who never ceased to talk about it -to their town mates in the shed and rouse them to envy with the frequent -narration. Of late years, however, the custom has died out. Labour is -too cheap and machinery too plentiful for the farmer to have any -difficulty in getting his crops together nowadays. - -The majority of the villagers, though compelled to leave home for the -town at such an early hour, will yet rise in time to partake of a light -breakfast before starting for the shed. The country mothers are far more -painstaking in the matter of providing meals than are many of those in -the town; they think nothing of rising at four a.m. in order to boil the -kettle and cook food for their husbands and sons. Though the goodman may -protest against it and declare that he would rather go without the food -than give his wife so much trouble, it makes no difference. Every -morning, at the usual hour, the smoke goes curling up from the chimney; -a cup of hot, refreshing tea is invariably awaiting him on the table -when he arrives downstairs. After the repast he starts off in abundant -time and takes his leisure on the road; one rarely sees a countryman -hurrying to work in the morning. - -The boys, on the other hand, will not be as punctual in starting off to -work; they will usually be late in setting out, very often delaying till -the last moment. They will, moreover, often loiter on the way -bird's-nesting or reading, or perhaps they may start into the farmer's -orchard and carry off the rosy-cheeked apples to eat in the shed or to -divide out among their mates and companions. At one time there were -three brothers of one house in the village, all working in the factory, -though they never under any circumstances went to the town together. The -eldest of the three always led the way, the second following five -minutes later, and the youngest brought up the rear at a similar -interval. The return home at night was made in the same manner: it is -unusual to see the members of a family or household going to work -together. - -Very often the village resident will work for an hour in his garden or -attend to his pigs and domestic animals before leaving for the railway -shed. If the neighbouring farmer is busy, or happens to be a man short, -he may help him milk his cows or do a little mowing with the scythe and -still be fresh for his work in the factory. I have known those who, -during the summer months, went regularly to fishing in the big brook, or -practised a little amateur poaching with the ferrets, and never missed -going to gather mushrooms in the early mornings during autumn. - -Several boys of the village, especially on the dark winter mornings, -used to watch for the freight-trains that sometimes stopped at the -signal station and steal a ride down to the works, hanging on to the -rails of the brake van, or clinging to the buffers. The practice was -attended with considerable risk, and the punishment, had they been -detected, would have been sharp and severe. It was difficult to see them -sitting in the shadow of the tail lamps, however, though once or twice -we were reported by the signalmen and chased by the goods guards. At one -time the train ran through the station without stopping, with three -youngsters clinging to the rails of the guard's van, and it was only -checked by accident twelve miles higher up the line. A great chase -across fields in a drenching downpour of rain followed, but the goods -guard had to own himself beaten and returned to the van. One of the boys -was fond of lying down between the metals, and of allowing the trains to -thunder along above him--certainly a dangerous proceeding, though he did -not think so at that time. All these practices are well-nigh impossible -now. Greater care is taken to keep trespassers off the line and the -modern system of transverse sleepers for the track hardly permits of -lying down between the metals. - -One morning, nearly dark, as a village lad was going to work down the -line, he was much frightened at seeing a man behaving in a mysterious -and suspicious manner underneath one of the bridges. He appeared to be -selecting a spot in which to lie across the rails, and as there was a -fast train approaching close at hand, the youngster soon became -considerably alarmed. To his relief, however, as the engine drew near, -the unknown one got off the track, ran up the bank and disappeared. At -the same spot, soon afterwards, a young man, suspected of a criminal -offence, threw himself in front of an express and was cut to pieces. -After that occurrence we boys shunned the line, for that winter at -least, and passed to work along the highway. We had many narrow escapes -from being knocked down by engines, trains and waggons in the station -yard at different times. One morning, being very late, I ran between -some waggons that were being shunted, when only a very narrow space -remained before the vehicles closed up. In spite of warning shouts, I -skipped through quickly, but as I cleared the rails an old shunter, who -was waiting on the other side, swung his arm round and struck me a -terrific blow behind the ear with his open hand, and loudly scolded me -for taking such risks. Half stunned with the blow, I ran off, and freely -forgave the old man for his well-meant chastisement. I often meet him -now in the town, many years after the escapade, and always remember the -incident, though he has doubtless forgotten it long ago. - -By five o'clock the people of the inner circle of the radius without the -town are well awake, and twenty minutes later the dreaded hooter bellows -out, like the knell of doom to a great many. The sound travels to a -great distance, echoing and re-echoing along the hills and up the valley -seventeen or twenty miles away, if the wind is setting in that -direction. This is the first warning signal to the workman to bestir -himself, if he has not already done so; to awake from dreams to -realities, to shake off the warm, comfortable bed-clothes and don his -working attire. It is now the turn of the town dweller to stir. Very -soon, here and there, a thin spire of smoke arises from the chimney, -telling of the early cup of tea in preparation. The oldest hands, a good -many of them grey and feeble, are to be seen making their way towards -the entrances to the works. It will take some of them quite half an hour -to reach the shed, though that is no more than three-quarters of a mile -away. By and by others will come from their houses and join those who -are just arriving from the country. These are the town's early risers. -Some time will elapse yet before the regular stream comes forth to fill -the street and make the pavements ring with their countless footsteps. -Although a few may prefer to come leisurely to work and perhaps wait in -the shed some ten minutes before it is time to start at the machines, -the great majority loiter till the very last minute and spend not a -second of time, more than they are absolutely bound, upon the company's -premises. - -At ten minutes to six the hooter sounds a second time, then again at -five minutes, and finally at six o'clock. This time it makes a double -report, in order that the men may be sure that it is the last hooter. -Five minutes' grace--from six till six-five--is allowed in the morning; -after that everyone except clerks must lose time. As soon as the -ten-minutes hooter sounds the men come teeming out of the various parts -of the town in great numbers, and by five minutes to six the streets -leading to the entrances are packed with a dense crowd of men and boys, -old and young, bearded and beardless, some firm and upright, others bent -and stooping, pale and haggard-looking, all off to the same daily toil -and fully intent on the labour before them. It is a mystery where they -all come from. Ten thousand workmen! They are like an army pressing -forward to battle. Tramp! tramp! tramp! Still they pour down the -streets, with the regularity of trained soldiers, quickening in pace as -the time advances, until they come very nearly to the double and finally -disappear through the entrances. Some of the young men's faces are -ghastly white, very thin and emaciated, telling a story of -ill-health--consumption, very likely--while others are fresh and -healthy-looking--there are fat and lean among them. Some there are still -bearing traces of yesterday's toil--large black rings around the eyes, -or sharp lines underneath the chin and continued round the back of the -neck. A little more soap and water would have removed them, but in all -probability the youngster was extra tired, or in a great hurry to get -off to play, or go a-fishing, and so could not endure a tedious toilet. -Others, again, come blundering along with eyes only half open--having -obviously missed the morning swill--with their shirt unbuttoned at the -neck, their boots not laced up, untidy and unkempt, and in a desperate -hurry. This one is bare-headed, that one carries his hat in his hand, -and another wears his hind before. Many have had no time even to look -for their working clothes, but have clapped on the first that met their -eyes on arising from bed; you often see one enter the shed dressed in -odd garments, and sometimes wearing a shoe of a sort. - -The boys and youths are usually the last. They always experience greater -difficulty in leaving the comfortable bed, and the _pater familias_ will -often have had trouble in inducing them finally to wake up and think -about work. They do not realise the seriousness of the business as he -does, and are very careless on first awaking. By and by, however, the -truth dawns upon them; up they scramble, dress, and run out of doors and -up the street, and very often do not stop till they come to the shed. I -have many a time, as a boy, run from the village to the factory, four -miles distant, in thirty-five minutes, as the result of oversleeping. -When the youngsters reach the shed, after a long run, they will require -a spell of a few minutes before they can start work, and the forgers and -hammermen will often have to shout at them several times before they are -sufficiently rested to begin. - -A great many of the crowd bring their breakfast and dinner with them, -either to eat it in the shed, or in the mess-rooms provided for the -purpose. Some of the men carry it in a canteen, held under the arm or -slung with a string over the shoulder and back. Others bring it tied up -in red handkerchiefs, and very many, especially of the town dwellers, -wrap it up in old newspapers. The country workmen are more particular -over their food than are their mates of the town. Though their fare will -be plainer and simpler--seldom amounting to anything more tasty than -bread and butter, cheese or cold boiled bacon--they will be at great -pains to see that it is very fresh and clean. - -That which strikes one most forcibly about the morning crowd is the -extraordinary quiet and soberness, both of the men and the juveniles. -They seldom speak to each other as they hurry along through the streets -and tunnels towards their several destinations--not even those who toil -side by side at the same forge or machine, however much they may talk -later on in the day. They do not--except in somewhat rare -instances--even wish each other "Good morning." If they happen to speak -at all it will usually be no more than to utter a curt "Mornin'," which -is often responded to with a very impolite and often positively churlish -"'Ow do!" And as for a smile! A morning smile on the way to work is -indeed a rarity. Now and then the careless-hearted lads may indulge in a -little playful banter, though even this is not common, but the men never -smile in the early morning. There is the day's work to be faced, the -smoke and heat, the long stand at the machine, the tedious confinement, -the hard word and bitter speech, the daily anxiety, the unnatural combat -for the necessaries of life, and it all looms big on the horizon. By and -by, as the day advances and the hands of the clock slowly but surely -record the death and burial of the hours, the set features will relax, -and the tongue will regain its office. The fire of human sympathy will -be rekindled and man and boy will be themselves again. But this will be -not yet. For the present everyone is concerned with his own necessity. -He is marching to battle, the issue of which is doubtful and uncertain. -When the first victory has been won, which is at dinner-time for him, he -will dissolve and be natural and genial, but not now. It is noteworthy -that the country workmen will prove to be more sympathetic than those of -the town. Many of them will bid "Good morning" to everyone they meet, -whether they know them or not. They do not stand upon any kind of -formality; answered or not they persist in the salutation, and always -add the christian name of the individual where it is known to them. - -In the street, near the entrances, are coffee stalls, where, for the -modest sum of a halfpenny, the workmen may obtain a cup of the steaming -beverage, which is usually of a weak quality and not at all likely to -derange the stomach of the individual who swallows it. Another halfpenny -will purchase a bun or scone, a slice of "lardy" or currant cake, if -anyone shall desire it, so that there is no need for any who can afford -a copper each morning to go hungry to work. Some workmen bring food from -home in their hand and eat it standing by the stall, where they have -stopped to partake of a cup of tea or coffee. - -It is pathetic, especially on cold, wintry mornings, to note the rivet -boys and others of the poorest class as they approach the entrance by -the coffee stalls. Their eyes are fixed longingly on the steaming urns -and piled-up plates of buns; they would like to gulp down a good big cup -of the liquid and munch several of the cakes. But such luxuries are not -for them. They have not a halfpenny in the world, so they content -themselves with a covetous look and pass on to the labour. Now and then -a father, with his little son, will stop to share a cup of coffee, or -they may have one apiece, but this is not a common occurrence. All the -money is needed elsewhere--for clothes, boots, and household -requirements. The better class of work-people--journeymen and such -like--never drink tea or coffee at the stalls. That is beneath their -dignity. They do not like to be seen breaking their fast in public, and -they speak of the beverages as "messes" and "slops." A few of the -workmen will loiter about the street till six o'clock, by which time -some of the public-houses will be opened. They will require a mug of ale -or a little spirit to put them in order; perhaps they were drunk -overnight and want a "livener" before starting in the morning. - -At about three minutes past six a smart rush for the entrance is made, -and those bringing up the rear will be forced to put on a good spurt in -order to gain the shed in time. They have either dawdled about at home, -or were late in rising; whatever the reason may be, every morning finds -them in the same predicament. The same workmen are always first or last; -year in and year out there is little variation in the individual -time-table. What a man is this morning he will be to-morrow morning; -there is no change week after week or month after month. Moreover, he -that is late at the first beginning of the day's work will most -certainly be in the same position at breakfast-time and dinner-time, -too. He will come to be noted for that characteristic; he is bound to be -late in any case. Such men always parcel out their time with exquisite -nicety, so that when the hooter begins to sound they have about twenty -yards to run in order to reach the check-box. Immediately after the -rear part of the crowd has disappeared within the entrance the -ponderous doors are closed with a loud bang, and the town without looks -to be deserted. The men inside the yard scatter, some this way and some -that, and are soon out of sight in the different sheds. All that can be -seen now are a few clerks sauntering along, usually wearing a flower in -their button-hole, and glancing at the morning newspaper. - -Every workman is provided with a brass check or "ticket," round in shape -like a penny, or oblong, with a number stamped upon it, corresponding to -his name in the register. This has to be placed in the check-box each -time the man enters the shed, and it is the only accepted proof of his -attendance at work or absence from it. If he loses or mislays the ticket -he will be fined a sum equal to half an hour's wages, whether he likes -it or not, and he will consequently often be forced to pay fourpence or -fivepence for a portion of metal that is worth no more than a farthing. -This will be the price of having his name registered, or, if he is -dissatisfied with the arrangement, he can return home and wait till -after the next meal-time. Similarly, in the morning, after the five -minutes' grace, whoever is late is charged quarter of an hour for the -first five minutes, and half an hour for the next, _i.e._, till -six-fifteen, though there is no reason whatever why a workman should be -fined so heavily. A fairer thing to do would be to fine all latecomers a -quarter of an hour's wages and allow them to check till quarter-past -six. This is the latest time for checking the first thing in the -morning. No workman is admitted later than that hour, but must wait till -the re-start after breakfast. - -The country workmen will be among the first arrivals at the shed, though -they are not usually the earliest comers of all. Some of the townsmen -are early risers, and come regularly to the premises half an hour -before it is time to begin work. It is remarkable that those who are -addicted to very early rising, that is, earlier than is really -necessary, will most certainly be found to be deficient in brains and -intellect. You will invariably find such ones to be dull-witted, and -lower in the mental scale than are many who hurry and come late to -business. The old adage-- - - "Early to bed and early to rise, - Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise," - -may be true enough in all three particulars, but it does not necessarily -follow that a strict observance of the rule will also endue him with a -plentiful supply of brains and intellectual keenness. Healthy it will -certainly make him. The application of a little common-sense will easily -demonstrate that one reason of his retiring early is the fact that he -has no mental pursuits, nothing in which to interest himself outside his -daily occupation, so that he is already deficient, and must perforce -betake himself to bed. Being free from mental worry and not troubling -about intellectual hobbies, he will sleep soundly, enjoy the maximum -amount of rest, and wake up fully refreshed and vigorous in the morning. -All that such men as these think of is their day's work, their food and -sleep; they have no other object or ambition in life. - -As to the entire wisdom of the rule, that is another matter. It was -counted sufficiently wise formerly, but we of this day are made of -sterner material. Horses and oxen work hard, rest well, enjoy very good -health, and appear to be satisfied, if not actually happy, but one man -is of more value than many horses or oxen. Work and sacrifice are the -only things that will raise a man in the estimation of the world and set -him up as a worthy example to his fellows. To those who are content -merely to live, and not to shine, may be addressed the words of the Ant -spoken to the Fly in the Fable: _Nihil laboras; ideo nil habes_--"You do -nothing, and consequently you have nothing." At the same time it must be -admitted that those who retire early and rise early nearly always prove -to be the strongest workmen; they will be capable of great physical -exertions and staying powers. But when all has been said, such men are -rather to be pitied than envied. They are little more than mere tools -and the slaves of their employers--the prodigal squanderers of their -powers and lives. - -It is a privilege of the shop clerks to arrive a little later than the -workmen, and to leave a little in advance of them at meal-times and in -the evening. The members of the principal office staff enjoy a still -greater dispensation, for they do not begin work at all before nine -o'clock in the morning and finish at five-thirty in the afternoon. The -clerks are the most numerous of all the trained classes at the factory. -With the draughtsmen they form an imposing body, yet though they rank -next the foremen and heads of departments, they are not taken very -seriously by the rank and file, except when they appear in the shed with -the cashbox to pay the weekly wages. - -For the sake of distinction the shop clerks are called the "weekly -staff," and the managers and other clerks, with the draughtsmen, are -denominated the "monthly staff." The first-named of these are paid -weekly with the workmen; the others receive their salary once a month. -The shop clerks are chiefly recruited from the personnel of the sheds, -while those of the monthly staff are chosen from over a wider area. In -the case of them considerably more training and experience will be -required. They must be possessed of specific abilities, and have gone -through classes and taken examinations in order to qualify for the -positions. It is usual for the more intelligent lads at the higher -elementary schools of the town to be recommended to the chiefs of the -factory offices. If their qualifications are considered satisfactory, -they are started in one or other of the clerical departments and -instructed in the several duties. By entering the offices young, and -passing from point to point, they have every opportunity of becoming -proficient, and are in course of time promoted according to their -abilities. - -The clerks of the sheds naturally enjoy the confidence of the overseers. -They know everything pertaining to piecework prices and output, and are -consequently able to furnish the chief with whatever information he -desires upon any point. In addition to the clerk there is a checker, who -books every article made and supervises the piecework outside the -office, and, as if that were not sufficient, a piecework "inspector," -who is commissioned with the power to report upon any price on the spot -and to make any reduction he thinks fit. All these co-operate and -together supply particulars of the workman and his job, how much he -makes on a shift, the precise time it takes him to finish an article; -and if it is necessary one or the other stays behind after working hours -and computes the number of forgings, or other uses made, and is a -perfect spy upon his less fortunate mates of the shed. - -An unscrupulous clerk may thus work incalculable mischief among the men. -He often influences the foreman in a very high degree, or he even -dictates to him, so that you sometimes hear the clerk spoken of as the -"boss" and the foreman himself styled the "bummer." Under such -circumstances it will not be wondered at that the clerk is sometimes an -unpopular figure in the shed and is looked upon with disfavour, though -very often unjustly so. A great deal depends upon the temper and -honesty, or dishonesty, of the overseer, for the clerk, in most cases, -will take the cue from him. If he is honourable and "above board," he -will not tolerate any covert dealings and tale-bearing. If, on the other -hand, he is shifty and cunning, he will encourage all kinds of slimness -and questionable proceedings on the part of his clerks. - -The members of the monthly staff and draughtsmen occupy quarters grouped -around the managers' offices, and do not often appear in the workshops. -When they do so it will be on account of some extraordinary business, or -they may come in with the foreman to take a look round and view the -machinery. They usually bring a book or drawing in their hand, or under -the arm, so as to have some kind of excuse in case they should be -challenged by a superior, for even they are not allowed to go wherever -they will. I have known draughtsmen to come regularly to the shed -provided with a tape-measure, books, and plans, and take the dimensions -of a machine again and again. No doubt they were in need of a little -exercise and anxious to see the stampers and forgers at work. - -Very few clerks, in spite of their leisure and opportunities, are -bookish or endowed with a taste for literature; out of over a thousand -at the factory less than twenty are connected with the Literary Society -at the Works' Institute. The students and premiums have their debating -classes on matters connected with engineering. They meet and read papers -on technical subjects, but have little interest in anything natural or -_spirituel_. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - - FIRST OPERATIONS IN THE SHED--THE EARLY DIN--ITS EFFECT ON - THE WORKMEN--CHARGING THE HEATS--THE OIL FURNACE--THE - "AJAX"--HARRY AND SAMMY--THE "STRAPPIE"--HYDRAULIC - POWER--WHEEL-BURSTING - - -Arrived in the shed the workmen remove their coats and hang them up -under the wall, or behind the forges. If any shall be seen wearing them -by the foreman when he enters they will be noticed and marked: it is a -common rule, winter and summer, to take them off on coming into the -workshop, except in places where there are no fires. A terrible din, -that could be heard in the yard long before you came to the doors of the -shed, is already awaiting. Here ten gigantic boilers, which for several -hours have been steadily accumulating steam for the hammers and engines, -packed with terrific high pressure, are roaring off their surplus energy -with indescribable noise and fury, making the earth and roof tremble and -quiver around you, as though they were in the grip of an iron-handed -monster. The white steam fills the shed with a dense, humid cloud like a -thick fog, and the heat is already overpowering. The blast roars loudly -underground and in the boxes of the forges, and the wheels and shafting -whirl round in the roof and under the wall. The huge engines, that -supply the hydraulic machines with pressure, are chu-chu-ing above the -roof outside; everything is in a state of the utmost animation. If you -were not fully awake before and sensible of what the day had in store -for you, you are no longer in any doubt about the matter. All -sluggishness, both of the mind and body, is quickly dispelled by the -great activity everywhere displayed around you. The very air, hot and -heavy, and thickly charged with dust as it is, seems to have an -electrical effect upon you. You immediately feel excited to begin work; -the noise of the steam, the engines, the roar of the blast, and the -whirling wheels compel you to it. - -At the same time the morning freshness, the bloom, vigour, the hopeful -spirit, the whole natural man will be entirely quelled and subdued after -the first few moments in this living pandemonium. Wife and children, -friends and home, town and village, green fields and blue skies, the -whole outside world will have been left far behind. There is no -opportunity to think of anything but iron and steel, furnaces and -hammers, the coming race and battle for existence. Moreover, as -everything is done at the piece rate, the men will be anxious to make an -early start, before the day gets hot. It is especially true of the -stampers and hammermen that "A bird in the hand's worth two in the -bush," and a good heat performed before breakfast is far better than -depending upon exertions to be made at a later part of the day. - -So, before you can well look around you, before the foreman can reach -the shed, in fact, the workmen are up and at it. Those who are earliest -on the place usually make the first start. They, and especially the -furnacemen and forgemen, often begin before the regulation hour, and -make haste to get their fires in a fit condition to receive the metal. -First of all, the coal furnaces have to be clinkered. A large steel bar -and a heavy sledge break the clinker; the fire-bars are withdrawn, and -down plunges the white-hot mass into the "bosh" of water beneath. When -this is performed new fuel is laid on, light at first, and sloping -gently to the rear wall. The corners are well filled; the floor of the -furnace, recently levelled with fresh sand, is firmly beaten down with -the heavy paddle, and all is ready to receive the ingots or blooms. - -Immediately the forger and his mates swarm round with the metal, either -using the crane and pulley, or charging it in upon the peel. The -chargeman grunts and scolds and the furnace door is raised, lighting up -the dark corners behind the forges. Now the hammer-driver winds the -wheel that opens the valve, and fills his cylinder with the raucous -vapour; the heavy monkey travels noiselessly up and down, preparing to -beat the iron into the shape required. Little by little, as the steam is -absorbed by the engines and hammers, the din of the boilers subsides. -The tremendous amount of power required to drive the various machines -soon reduces the pent-up energy, and by and by the priming ceases -altogether. The steam will continue gradually to diminish until the -first meal-hour, when it will have reached a low figure, as indicated by -the pressure gauge. During the interval, however, it will have risen -again, and long before it is time to recommence work the boilers will be -roaring off their superfluous energy with the same indescribable din and -fury. - -To obviate the noise of the simultaneous priming of the boilers an -escape valve was recently constructed, and a pipe affixed to carry it -through the roof. Owing to the incapacity of the tube, however, the -noise, instead of being diminished, was considerably intensified. People -heard it in every quarter of the town and thought it was an explosion. -No one in the vicinity of the shed could sleep at night, so at last -complaints were made to the manager, and the use of the valve was -discontinued. - -Now the oil furnaces will have been lit up and the smiths' forges -kindled. The two foremen will have arrived and made their first -perambulation of the shed, and everything will be in a state of bustle -and confusion. Certainly the sparks will not be flying, nor the anvils -ringing yet. It will take fully twenty minutes to get everything into -order and to produce the first heat. But there is a deadly earnestness -evident all round. It will not be long before the busy Titans are -stripped to the waist, turning the ponderous ingots and blooms over and -over, and raining the blows upon the yielding metal. - -The oil forge hails from the other side of the Atlantic, and is an -innovation at the shed. It is attached to machinery of the American -type, and is well suited for the game of hustle. It is not very large, -and occupies but a small space anywhere, but it has this advantage, that -it may be moved to any position; it is not a fixture, as are the other -furnaces. It is oblong in shape, with an arched roof; and the heating -space is not more than several cubic feet. The front is of brick, with -as many apertures as are required for the bars of metal, and the back -and ends are enclosed in a stout iron frame. The oil--derived from -water-gas and tar--is contained in a tank as high as the roof, fixed -outside the shed, and is conducted through pipes to the furnace. A -current of air from the fan blows past the oil-cock and drives the fluid -into the furnace. The heat generated from combustion of the oil is -regular and intense; the whole contrivance is speedy and simple. - -This is so, however, only when the oil is good and clear. Then there -will be scarcely any smoke or fume. The slight flame emitted from the -vent-hole on top will be of a copperish colour, and the interior will -glitter like a star. The furnace will go right merrily; there will be -no need for the workman to wait a moment. But when the oil is cheap and -inferior, or absolutely worthless--as it often is at the shed--the -system is a most foul and abominable nuisance. As soon as the forger -attempts to light up in the morning, tremendous clouds of black, filthy -smoke pour out of every little crack and hole and mount into the roof. -After striking against the boards and rafters this beats down to the -ground again and rolls away up the shed, filling the place from end to -end, half suffocating the workmen with the sickening, disgusting stench, -and making their eyes smart and burn. Several times during the operation -of lighting up, by reason of the irregular flow through the feeder, the -oil in the furnace will explode with a loud bang, shooting out the -flames and smoke to a great distance, and frequently blowing the whole -front of the forge to pieces, to the great danger of the stampers and -the amusement of the other workmen and smiths--for the oil system of -heating is not at all popular with the men of the shed. - -The stampers' furnaces, to the number of five or six, are behaving in -the same manner, and as there are no chimneys to carry off the smoke the -whole smother is poured out into the shed. This will very soon be more -than the average man can stand. With loud shouts and curses, down go -hammers and tools; the blast is shut off from the fires and a rush is -made for the open air until the nuisance is somewhat abated. The -overseer walks round and round, viewing the scene with great ill-temper, -defending the oil and the furnaces, and blaming the lighters-up for -everything, at the same time darting angry looks at those who, half -suffocated, have sought refuge outside. So, no matter what the time of -year may be, whether summer or the dead of winter, when the chilling -winds drive through upon the stampers shivering at their fires, he has -every door and window thrown open, and often does it himself and stands -like a sentinel in the doorway, that no one shall close them up till he -is quite satisfied. If he moves away and the half-frozen workmen steal -along and adjust the doors, he returns, closes them entirely, and forces -the stampers to endure the whole smother, because they dared to meddle -with the doors when he had opened them. - -By and by, as the heat in the furnaces increases, the smoke will -diminish somewhat, though as long as the oil is inferior they will -continue to emit a dirty cloud accompanied with deadly fumes and intense -volumes of heat, which are forced out by the blast to a distance of -several yards, making it impossible for the youth to get near enough to -attend to his bars without having his arms and face scorched and burnt. -The roof and walls, for a great distance around, are blackened with the -soot. There is no mistaking the cause of it, though it is a favourite -recommendation of the oil furnaces that they consume every particle of -their vapour. When the oil is of a sufficiently good quality this -actually happens; it is only when the fuel is cheap and bad that -considerable unpleasantness arises. - -Our entry to the shed was made through the large door in the north-west -corner, near which the first oil furnace is situated. This furnace is -attached to a new kind of forging machine conveniently named the "Ajax," -by reason of its great strength. Ajax was the name of two of the mighty -ones who fought before Troy, but the manufacturer does not inform us -whether the machine is named after Ajax, the son of Telamon, or he that -was the son of Oileus, though perhaps the latter is intended. Standing -alongside the oil furnace is the first of the drop-stamper's forges, and -next to that, in a line, are the three drop-stamps themselves. Opposite -the Ajax is the foreman's office--a two-storied building--and a little -to one side, straight from the door, is a coal furnace, upon which is -superimposed a large "loco" boiler. This reflects a tremendous heat all -round, and, together with the furnaces and forges, makes that part of -the shed, though near to the door, almost unbearably hot, so that it has -come to be called "Hell Corner" by the workmen. - -The line of hammers and furnaces is continued up the workshop to the far -end under the wall. There also, fixed to the masonry, are the main -shafting and pulleys, whirled round at a tremendous rate by the engine -in the "lean-to" outside. At the end of the line stand the heavy -steam-hammers and, under the wall outside, the blower house, containing -machinery for forcing the air for the smiths' fires. A huge stack of -coal and coke is visible through the door at the other end. A small -single fan is attached to the oil furnace with the Ajax in order to -supply it with air. This travels at a high rate of speed and makes a -loud roar, thereby adding to the confused din of the hammers and other -machinery. Standing further out in the shed is a second row of smaller -steam-hammers and forges with drills, saws, shears, pneumatic apparatus, -other oil furnaces, and the American stamping-hammers with their -trimmers and appliances. Beyond them is an open space reserved for -future arrivals in the shape of manufacturing plant, and towards the -south wall are two lines of powerful hydraulic machines and presses with -furnaces and boilers attached for heating the plates of metal for -punching and welding. - -The Ajax machine operates by up-setting. It is worked by youths, one of -whom heats the rods of metal, while the other sets them in the dies and -presses the treadle that brings the machine head forward. As soon as -the furnace is sufficiently hot fifteen or twenty bars are thrust -through the brickwork in front of the forge, the lubricators are filled, -the belt pulled over, and the work begins. The belts flap up and down on -the pulleys with a loud noise, the cog-wheels rattle and clank, the -"ram" travels backwards and forwards incessantly, clicking against the -self-act, the furnace roars and the smoke and flames shoot out. When the -bars are white-hot the assistant hands them along; his mate grips them -and inserts them in the dies, then presses the treadle with his foot. -Immediately the steel tools close up and the ram shoots forward; in -about two seconds the operation is complete. Very often the water, -running continually over the tools to keep them cool, becomes confined -in the dies as they close. The heat of the iron converts it into steam, -and, as the ram collects and forces the material, it explodes with a -loud report, almost like that of a cannon. Showers of sparks and hot -scale are blown in all directions, and if the operator is not careful to -stand somewhat aside, his face and arms will be riddled with the tiny -particles of shot-like metal ejected by the explosion. It is not -uncommon to see his flesh covered with drops of blood from the accident. -The bits of metal will adhere tightly underneath the skin, and must be -removed with a needle, or otherwise remain till they work out of their -own accord. - -Both youths of the Ajax dwell in the town, and are known about the -corner by the names of Harry and Sammy. Harry's father was an -infantryman, and Sammy's parent served in the Navy. There is a little of -the roving spirit about both of them--each possesses a share of the -paternal characteristic. Harry's father, however, is an invalid, and he -is forced to stay at home and help keep him and his mother, otherwise -he would long ago have bidden farewell to the shed, Ajax and all. Sammy, -on the other hand, is free and unfettered, but though he has made many -attempts to enter the Navy, they were all in vain. First, he was not -sufficiently tall or broad in the chest, and later, when, after a course -of exercises with dumb-bells, he was able to pass the examinations, he -was refused on account of his teeth, which were badly decayed. This was -a great disappointment to Samuel. He sulked about for several days -afterwards, quarrelled and fought with his mate, and was generally -inconsolable. The boys' chargeman had to intervene as peacemaker and he -comforted Sammy, who shed a few tears and finally became reconciled to -the forge again, though he often defiantly affirmed that he would not be -beaten, not he! He would go to Bristol and get a job aboard ship; he -would not stop there in that hole all his life! - -Both Sammy and Harry dress much alike, and they resemble each other in -their habits. They are both nimble and strong, active, energetic, and -high spirited. Both have commendable appetites, and they are especially -fond of drinking tea. They have a passionate regard for sports, -including boxing and football, but, over and above all this, they are -hard workers; every day they are sure of a good sweating at the furnace -and Ajax. Both wear football shirts--Sammy a green one and Harry a red -and white--in the forge, and they have football boots on their feet. If -you should turn out Sammy's pockets you would be sure to find, among -other things, half a packet of cigarettes, a pack of cards, a mouth -organ, a knife, a comb, and a small portion of looking-glass. A great -many of the town boys and young men carry a small mirror in their -pockets, by the aid of which they comb and part their hair and study -their physiognomies. At meal-times, as soon as the hooter sounds, they -hasten to the nearest water-tap, give their faces a rough swill and, -with the aid of a portion of looking-glass, examine them to make sure -that they are free from the dust and soil of the smoky furnace. - -Though the companions of Ajax work hard and perspire much they do not -become very tired, apparently, for after the most severe exertions they -are still ready to indulge in some sport or other, and run and play or -wrestle and struggle with each other on their way down the yard. Arrived -home they have their tea, wash and change, and come back to the crowded -parts of the town to see and be seen and be moved on by the policeman, -returning late home to bed. In the morning they will often be sullen and -short-tempered. This invariably wears off as the day advances, however, -and they will soon be up to the usual games, singing popular songs and -imitating the comic actors at the theatre, where they delight to go once -or twice a week. - -Close behind the oil furnace, in a recess of the wall, is the fan that -drives the blast for this part of the shed, supplying four forges -altogether. The fan itself is of iron, enclosed in a stout cast-iron -shell or case, and is driven from a countershaft half-way up to the main -shafting. Multiplication takes place through this from the top pulley, -and whereas the main shaft will make but one hundred and twenty -revolutions a minute, the fan below will, in that space, spin round two -thousand times. As the engine is running day and night, for more than -twenty hours out of the twenty-four, the number of revolutions made by -the fan will be over two millions daily. Although, viewed on paper, -these figures appear high, yet, if you should stand near and watch the -fan itself, it would seem incredible to you that it would require such -a long time in which to complete them. The speed is terrific, and this -you may know by the sound, without troubling to look at the gear. The -rate of the belts, from the pulleys on to the countershaft, is a further -proof of the tremendous velocity of the machine. Although strained very -tight on the wheels they make a loud noise, flapping sharply all the -while; one may easily gauge the speed of an engine by the sound of the -belts alone. The fan itself, at normal times, emits a loud humming -noise, like that of a threshing-machine, but when the speed of the -engine increases through the relaxation of some other machinery, or the -sudden rise of steam pressure in the boilers, it seems to swell with a -dreadful fury, and assails the ear with a vicious and continuous -_hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo, HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO_, like some savage beast -ravenous for its prey. The oscillation of the fan is imparted to -everything around. The very ground under your feet trembles, and if you -should place your hand upon the outer shell, or on the wooden guard -around it, you would experience something like an electric shock, -strangely pleasant at first, but very soon necessitating the removal of -your hand from the vicinity. - -It is dangerous to meddle with the fan while it is in motion. A stout -wooden guard is erected around it to prevent any object from coming into -contact with the wheels or the interior. If a nut or rivet head should -happen to fly and be caught in it, the shell would immediately burst. -Very often excessive speed alone will cause a fan to explode. The effect -is similar to that of a steam or gas explosion; the heavy cast-iron -frame will be shattered to bits, and hurled to a great distance. I -remember one in the smithy that exploded and blew up through the roof, -making a huge rent. For safety's sake the fans are often constructed -underground in order to lessen the danger of explosion, if one should -happen. - -It is remarkable that while the pulley on the countershaft is travelling -at a tremendous speed, so that the spokes are generally invisible, and -there appears to be nothing but the rim and centre whirling round, if -you look up quickly you will see one spoke quite plainly as it flies -over, then it will be entirely lost to view with the rest. The space of -time during which it is visible is exceedingly short--it could be no -more than a fraction of a second--yet in that brief period the eye -perceives it clearly and distinctly: it is something similar to taking a -snapshot with a camera. - -Formerly, when all the belts were of leather and thickly studded with -large broad-headed copper rivets, the boys used to draw near to them and -take small lessons in electricity. This could only be done in the case -of belts that travelled at a very high rate of speed, such as the one on -the fan or the circular saw. Standing dangerously near the wheels they -held a finger, or a knuckle, very close to the belt in motion, and were -rewarded with seeing a small stream of electric sparks, about as large -in volume as the stem of a needle, issuing from the finger-tip or -knuckle, accompanied with a slight pain like that produced by the prick -of a pin. The velocity of the belt, with the copper, attracted the -electricity within the body and drew it out in a tiny visible stream -from the flesh. All the belts for high speed work at this time, however, -are made of another material, _i.e._, a preparation of compressed -canvas, without rivets. Instead of being laced together they are fitted -with a steel-wire arrangement for connection. The ends are inserted, as -you would bend the fingers of both hands and thrust them one between the -other, and a piece of whalebone is pushed through. Slight as this may -seem to be, it is yet capable of withstanding a great strain, and the -whole runs much more smoothly than did the old-fashioned leather belts. - -A man is specially kept to attend to everything pertaining to the belts. -He is known to all and sundry as the "strappie." Directly anything goes -wrong with the connections he appears on the scene smothered in oil from -head to foot, and looking very cloudy and serious. He is usually in a -great hurry and is not over-polite to anyone. First of all he gives the -signal to have the engine stopped. As soon as the shafting is still, -armed with a very sharp knife, he climbs up the wall, in and out among -the wheels, and unceremoniously cuts away the defective belt. Arrived on -the ground again, he draws out the belt, motions "right away" to the -engineman, then rolls it up and disappears. In a short while he comes -back with it strongly repaired, or brings a new one in place of it. The -shafting is stopped again, and up he mounts as before. When he has -placed it over the shaft and connected the ends, he pulls it half-way on -the wheels and ties it loosely in that position with a piece of cord. As -the engine starts the belt assumes its position on the wheel -automatically; the piece of cord breaks, or becomes untied, and falls to -the ground, and everything goes spinning and whirling away as before. If -a belt is merely loose the strappie brings a potful of a substance he -calls "jam," very resinous and gluey, some of which he pours on the -wheel and belt while in motion. This makes the belt "bite," or grip -well, and brings the machine up to its maximum speed with the shafting. - -Sometimes, if the shafting has not been oiled punctually, it will run -hot, or perhaps a small particle of dust will obstruct the oil in the -lubricator and produce friction. News of this is soon published abroad -by a loud creaking noise that everyone can hear. The workmen take up -the cry and shout "Oil, oil," at the top of their voice; then the -engine-driver comes forth with his can and stops the screeching. -Occasionally the spindle of the fan will run hot, and especially so if -the belt happens to be well tight. This, by reason of its great speed, -will soon generate a fierce heat; I recently ran to attend to it and -found the spindle of the fan a bright red-hot. Thanks to the warning of -the belt, which was slipping owing to the greater exertion required -through tightening of the bearings by expansion, I was just in time to -prevent an accident. In another moment the fan might have been a total -wreck. - -Through a doorway in the wall, in an extension of the shed, stand -several boilers used as auxiliaries, and, near to them, are two powerful -pumping engines and their accumulators, which obtain the pressure for -the whole hydraulic plant of the department. The engines are of a -hundred and twenty horse-power each, and are fitted with heavy -fly-wheels that make forty revolutions a minute at top speed. These draw -the water from a neighbouring tank and force it into the accumulators, -from which the pressure is finally derived. The accumulators are -constructed in deep pits that are bricked round and guarded with iron -fencing. They are large weights of fifty tons each--there was originally -one of a hundred tons--and are built about a central column of iron or -steel standing fifteen or twenty feet above the floor level. Contained -in the lower part of the weight is a cylinder; into this the water is -forced by the engines and the pressure obtained. The power of the water, -when a sufficient volume has accumulated, raises the weights high into -the roof and keeps them there, with a little rising and falling, -corresponding to the action of the presses in the shed. When the weights -have risen to a certain point they operate a self-act, and the engines -stop. Similarly, when they sink below the point they displace a second -small lever that communicates with the engine valves and re-starts the -pumps. The pressure put on the water is enormous; it often amounts to -two thousand pounds per square inch. Since the operation of water is -much slower than that of steam, however, the power is not nearly as -effective. It would be impossible by its agency to drive machinery at a -high rate without the use of gear, though for punching, pressing, and -welding some kinds of work the system is admirable and unsurpassed. - -The engine that drives the lesser machinery of the shop stands in a -"lean-to" and is not nearly as powerful as are those that operate the -pumps. A little higher up, in another small lean-to, is a donkey engine -that drives the "blower," which produces blast for the forges and fires. -This machine is vastly superior to the old-fashioned fan, and the speed -of it is quite low; there is no danger of explosion or other rupture. It -is a pleasure, since so much manufacturing plant is introduced to us -from foreign countries--America, France and Germany--to reflect that the -idea of the blower is English. There is a considerable amount of -American-made machinery at the works, and the percentage of it increases -every year, though it is often far from being successful. At the same -time, it must be conceded that our kinsmen over the sea are very clever -in the designing and manufacture of tools and plant, and many of their -ideas are particularly brilliant. The English maker of manufacturing -tools follows at some little distance with his wares. These, though not -actually as smart as the others, are yet good, honest value, the very -expression of the Englishman's character. The chief features of American -machinery are--smartness of detail, the maximum usefulness of parts, -capacity for high speed and flimsiness, styled "economy," of structure: -everything of theirs is made to "go the pace." English machinery, on the -other hand, is at the same time more primitive and cumbersome, more -conservative in design and slower in operation, though it is trustworthy -and durable; it usually proves to be the cheaper investment in the long -run. One often sees American tackle broken all to pieces after several -years' use, while the British-made machine runs almost _ad infinitum_. -At a manufactory in Birmingham is an old beam engine that has been in -use for more than a century and a half, and it is almost as good now as -when it was new. The same may be said with regard to English-made -agricultural machinery. A modern American mower will seldom last longer -than four or five years, but I know of English machines that have been -in use for nearly thirty years and are as good as ever, generally -speaking. - -One man attends to the engines that drive the shop machinery and the -"blower." It is his duty to see that the shafting is kept clean and the -bearings well oiled, to watch over the belts and to notify the strappie -when one becomes loose or slips off the wheel. Dressed in a suit of blue -overalls, and equipped with ladder and oil-can, he remains in constant -attendance upon his engines and shafts. He will also be required to keep -a watchful eye upon the valves, to regulate the steam to the cylinders, -and to maintain a uniform rate of speed for the lathes and drills. -Occasionally, if the pressure of steam in the boilers should rise very -suddenly--which sometimes happens, as the result of a variable quality -of coal and the diversity of heats required by the furnacemen--the -engine, in spite of the regulators, will rapidly gain speed and "run -away," as it is called. This may also result from the disconnecting a -particular machine engaged on heavy, dragging work, such as the saw, or -fan, both of which require great power to drive them at their high rate -of speed. - -Considerable danger attaches to the running away of an engine, -especially where it is provided with a heavy fly-wheel. This, if it is -whirled round at an excessive speed, is liable to burst, and the -consequences, in a crowded quarter, would be disastrous. The danger of -bursting lies in the tremendous throwing-off power generated from the -hub of the wheel, about the shaft; as the sections forming the circle of -the wheel are brought rapidly over there is a strong tendency for them -to be cast off in the same manner as a stone is thrown from a sling. If -the wheel is exactly balanced, however, and every part of precisely the -same weight, so as to ensure perfectly even running on the shaft, the -danger of bursting will be small. Grindstones burst much more commonly -than do metal wheels. There is not the same consistency in stone as in -iron; moreover, there may be a flaw somewhere that has escaped the eye -of the fitter or overseer. Consequently, if the speed of the engine -driving the stone should be immoderately increased, it will not be able -to withstand the throw-off, and will fly to pieces, inflicting death, or -very severe injuries upon all those in the vicinity. - - - - -CHAPTER X - - STAMPING--THE DROP-HAMMER STAFF--ALGY AND CECIL--PAUL AND - "PUMP"--"SMAMER"--BOILERS--A NEAR SHAVE - - -The drop-stamps stand in the corner, close under the wall. They are -supplied by three coke forges, and by the coal furnace before mentioned. -A drop-stamp, or drop-hammer, is a machine used for stamping out all -kinds of details and uses in wrought iron or steel, from an ounce to -several hundredweights. It differs from a steam-hammer properly so -called in that while it is raised by steam power it falls by gravity, -striking the metal in the dies by its own impetus, whereas the -steam-hammer head is driven down by a piston. Three hands are employed -at each machine. They are--the stamper, his hotter, and the small boy -who drives the hammer. A similar number compose the night shift; the -machines are in constant use by night and day. All the work is done at -the piece rate, and the prices are low; the men have to be very nimble -to earn sufficient money to pay them for the turn. - -The hands employed on the drop-hammers are of a fairly uniform type, -though there are several distinguished above the others by reason of -their individual features and characteristics. Chief among them are the -two young hammer boys, Algy and Cecil, Paul the furnaceman, and a youth -who rejoices in the preposterous nickname of "Pump." Algy drives the end -drop-stamp for the chargeman and Cecil the next one to it, larger and -heavier. Algy has several nicknames, one of which, from his diminutive -stature, being "Teddy Bear," and the other, carrying with it a certain -amount of sarcasm, is plain "Jim." Sometimes, also, he is called "Dolly" -or "Midget." Cecil boasts of a string of christian names, the correct -list being Cecil Oswald Clarence. Questioned concerning the other -members of the family he informs you that his brother is named Reginald -Cuthbert, his schoolgirl sister May Alberta, and his baby sister Ena -Merle. From some cause or other he himself has not obtained a regular -nickname; he is rather summarily addressed by his surname. No one in the -shed ever deigns to call him by his christian name, it is too unusual -and high-sounding, too aristocratic and superb. Bob or Jack would have -been preferable; scarcely anyone at the works goes beyond a monosyllable -in the matter of names. - -The boys are of the same age--fifteen or thereabout--but they are -dissimilar in stature and in almost every other respect. Algy is short -and small, plump and sturdy, while Cecil is inclined to run. He is tall -for his age, and very thin. His body is as flat as a man's hand; he has -no more substance than a herring. Algy's features are round, regular, -and pleasant; he is quite a handsome boy. His forehead slopes a little, -his nose is perfect in shape. He has frank, grey eyes sparkling with fun -and good-nature, a girlish mouth, and small, pretty teeth. Cecil, on the -other hand, is not what one would style handsome. He has thin, hollow -cheeks and small, hard features. His forehead is narrow, and his eyes -are rather large and searching--expressing strength and keenness. His -mouth is stern, and his lips pout a little: they are best represented by -the French _s'allonger--les lvres s'allongent_, as Monsieur Jourdain's -did in Molire, when he pronounced the vowel sound of u. He has a -particularly fine set of teeth, and he has a way of grizzing them -together and showing them when in the act of making a special exertion -that gives him a savage expression. - -Both boys are pale. Algy's face, when it is clean, shines like a glass -bottle; Cecil's skin is inclined to be yellow. Both have dark rings -around the eyes, especially Cecil, who is the more delicate of the -two--they are neither very robust-looking. Their hair is very long, and -it stands out well from underneath their cloth caps and stretches down -the cheeks before the ears. They are consequently often assailed with -the cry--"Get yer 'air cut," or--"You be robbin' the barber of -tuppence," or--"Tell yer mother to use the basin," suggesting that the -boys' hair is cut at home. It is a common charge to lay to small boys in -the shed that their mothers used to put a basin over their heads and cut -the hair around the outside of it. Both boys wax indignant at being -taunted about the basin, and reply to the other remark with, "You gi' me -the tuppence, then, an' I'll have it cut." Occasionally, more by way of -being sarcastic than out of any desire to show good-nature, the stampers -will make a collection towards defraying the barber's expenses, and the -next morning the boys will turn up at the shed nearly bald: they have -had their hair cut this time with a vengeance. - -Several times Algy has come to the shed wearing a pair of wooden clogs, -but, as everyone teased him and called him "Cloggy," he cast them aside -and would not wear them any more. Clogs belong rather to the Midlands -and the North of England, and are very rarely seen in the railway town. -The least respectable of all the boys' clothing are their shirts. They -are usually full of big rents, being split from top to bottom, or torn -quite across the back, the lower part falling down and exposing the -naked flesh for a space of a foot, and they are of an inscrutable -colour. One day an entire sleeve of Algy's shirt dropped clean away, and -Cecil's was rent completely up one side so that his entire flank and -shoulder were visible. Though the stampers laugh at Cecil and sometimes -grip hold of whole handfuls of his flesh, where the shirt is torn, he is -not very much disconcerted. Algernon blushed considerably, however, when -his mate quietly told him one day that he could see his naked posterior -through a rent in his trousers. - -Although the boys' clothing is untidy and dilapidated they are not kept -short of food, and their appetites are truly enormous. They bring large -parcels of provisions to the shed--thick chunks of bread and butter, -rashers of raw bacon, an egg to boil or fry, and sometimes a couple of -polonies or succulent sausages. The whole is tied up in a red -dinner-handkerchief or wrapped in a newspaper; you would often have a -difficulty in getting it into an ordinary-sized bucket. The youngsters -have to stand a great deal of chaff over their parcels of provisions. -The men often take them in their hands and weigh them up and down, -showing them about the shed, and asking each other if they do not want -to buy a pair of old boots. At breakfast- or dinner-time the lads obtain -a roughly-made frying-pan, or take the coke shovel, and, after rubbing -it out with a piece of paper, cook their food, usually frying it -together and dipping their bread in the fat alternately. Then, if it is -fine, still stripped of their waistcoats, they go out in the yard and -sit down, or crouch by the furnace door and clear up the food to the -last morsel; they will often not have finished when the hooter sounds -the first time to warn the men to come back to the shed. When the meal -is over, if there is yet time, Algy will produce from his pocket some -literature of the Buffalo Bill type, or a school story, of which he is -fond, and read it. Cecil will not deign to look at "such stuff," as he -calls it, but will borrow a newspaper, or some part of one, from his -mates, and greedily devour the contents of that. - -Though neither of them has left school for more than a year, or, at the -outside, fifteen months, they have forgotten almost everything they -learned, even to the very rudiments in many cases. Their knowledge of -grammar, arithmetic, poetry, geography, and history has entirely lapsed, -or, if they remember anything at all, it will be but a smattering of -each. To test their memory and knowledge of these matters the boys' -chargeman occasionally offers them prizes, and enters them into -competition with other lads of the shed, some of whom have not been away -from school for more than five or six months, but one and all show a -deplorable lack of the faculty of retention. Whether it is the result of -too much cramming by the teacher, or whether it is that the rising -generation is really deficient in mental capacity, they are quite -incapable of answering the most simple and elementary questions. The -chargeman's plan is to offer them pennies for the names of half-a-dozen -capitals of foreign countries, half-a-dozen foreign rivers, six names of -British kings or British rivers, the capitals of six English counties, -or the names of the counties themselves, six fish of English rivers, six -wild birds, half-a-dozen names of wild flowers, the capitals of British -colonies, the names of six English poets, or a few elementary points of -grammar, and so on. - -The answers, when any are vouchsafed, are often ludicrous and amazing: -the intellectual capacity of the boys is certainly not very brilliant. -During these tests the chargeman was astonished to learn that Salisbury -is a county, Ceylon is the capital of China, and that Paris stands on -the banks of the river Liffey. As for the preterite tense, not one had -ever heard of it. Only one out of six could give the names of the six -counties and kings complete, though another of the lads had strong -impressions concerning a monarch he called the "ginger-headed" one, but -he could not think of his name. Not one could furnish the requisite list -of fish, fowl, and natural wild flowers, but little Jim, struck with a -sudden inspiration, shouted out "jack and perch," for he had recently -been fishing in the clay-pits with his brother. The others frankly -confessed they did not know anything about the matter; if they had ever -learned it at school they had forgotten it now. Anyway, it was not of -much use to one, they said, though it was all right to know about it. -Not one of the half-dozen, though all were born in the town, could give -the name of a single Wiltshire river. - -Paul is not permanently attached to the furnace in the corner, but came -to fill the place of one who had met with an accident. As a matter of -fact, Paul is everybody's man; he is here, there, and everywhere. He can -turn his hand to almost anything in the second degree, and is a very -useful stop-gap. Forge he cannot, stamp he cannot, though he is a -capital heater of iron, and makes a good furnaceman; he is a fair -all-round, inside man. But somehow or other, everyone persists in making -fun of Paul, and contrives to play pranks and practical jokes upon him. -Whatever job he is engaged upon his mates address ridiculous remarks to -him; they will never take him seriously. Some one or other, in passing -by, will knock off his hat; this one gravely takes him by the wrist and -feels his pulse, and that one will give him a rough push. Another puts -water over him from the pipe, pretending it was by accident; whatever -reply he makes his mates only laugh at him. As a rule, Paul takes it -all in good part, though sometimes he will lose his temper and retaliate -with a lump of coal, or any other missile upon which he can lay his -hands. - -Paul would be the tallest man in the shed if it were not that he stoops -slightly as the result of having had rheumatics. As it is, he is quite -six feet in height, bony, but not fleshy, with broad shoulders and large -limbs. As he walks his head is thrown forward; he goes heavily upon his -feet. His features are regular and pleasant; he has grey eyes and bushy -brows. His skin is dark with the heat and grime of the furnace; his -expression is one of marked good-nature. In appearance he is a perfect -rustic; there is no need to look at him the second time to know that he -dwells without the municipal border. It is this air of rusticity, -combined with his simplicity of character and behaviour, that makes Paul -the butt of the other workmen. They would not think of practising their -clownish tricks upon others, for there are many upon whom it would be -very inadvisable to attempt a jest without being prepared for a sudden -and violent reprisal. - -Paul's home is in the village, about three miles from the town. There he -passes his leisure in comparative quiet, and, in his spare time from the -shed, cultivates a large plot of land and keeps pigs. This finds him -employment all the year round, so that he has no time to go to the -public-house or the football match, though he sometimes plays in the -local cricket eleven. He takes great interest in his roots and crops, -and almost worships his forty perch of garden. During the summer and -autumn he brings the choicest specimens of his produce in his pocket and -shows them to his mates in the shed; he usually manages to beat all -comers with his potatoes and onions. - -In spite of Paul's simplicity of behaviour, one cannot help being -attracted to him by reason of his frankness and open-heartedness; he -would not think of doing anything that is not strictly above board. -Though rough and rude, blunt and unpolished, he is yet very honest and -conscientious. Certainly he is not as sharp and intelligent as are many -of the town workmen, but he is a better mate than most of them, and when -it comes to work he will stand by you to the last; he is not one to back -out at the slightest difficulty. - -How Pump came to be Pump is a mystery; no one knows the origin of the -nickname. "They called I Pump a long time ago," says he. Very likely it -was given to him extemporaneously, with no particular relation to -anything; someone or other said "Pump," and the name stuck there at -once. Pump is just under eighteen years of age. He drives the heavy -drop-stamp on the day-shift, and, owing to certain characteristics of -which he is possessed, he always attracts attention. He is very loud and -noisy, full of strong words and forcible language, though he is -extraordinarily cheerful and good-natured. He is short in stature, very -strong and much given to sweating; in the least heat his face will be -very red and covered with great drops of perspiration. His forehead is -broad and sloping, he has immense blue eyes, tapered nose, bronze -complexion, a solid, square countenance, and a tremendous shock of hair. -In driving the hammer he has acquired the unusual habit of following the -heavy monkey up and down with his eyes, and the expression on his face, -as he peers up into the roof, induces many to stop and take a peep at -him as they pass by. To all such Pump addresses certain phrases much -more forcible than polite, and warns them to "clear out" without delay -if they do not "want something." They usually respond with an -extra-special grimace, or work their arms up and down as though they -were manipulating the engine from which he derives his nickname. - -As a mate Pump is variable. With the men of one shift he can agree very -well, but with the others he is nearly always at loggerheads. The fact -is that Pump's stamper on one shift does not like him, and will not try -to like him, either. He quite misunderstands his driver's -characteristics, and will not see his good qualities underneath a -certain rugged exterior. Accordingly, they quarrel and call each other -evil names all day. Very often the stamper will throw down his tongs and -walk off. Thereupon Pump lowers the hammer defiantly, folds his arms, -and tosses his head with disgust, while the furnaceman, waiting with his -heat, calls to them to "come on." Now the stamper picks up his tongs -quickly, shouts loudly to Pump, "Hammer up, there!" and on they go -again, the stamper snorting and muttering to himself, and glaring -fiercely from side to side, while Pump bursts into song, with a broad -grin on his countenance. Sometimes the stamper, in a towering fury, will -come to the chargeman and swear that he will not hit another stroke with -"that thing there," and demand another mate forthwith, but with a little -tact and the happy application of a spice of good-humour, the situation -will be saved, and everything will go on right merrily, though the old -trouble will certainly recur. Pump confides all his troubles to the -chargeman and sheds a few tears now and then. He is full of good -intentions and tries to do his level best to please, but he cannot avoid -friction with his fiery and short-tempered mates of the fortnightly -shift. - -He has one very special and ardent desire, which is to go on night -duty; he is for ever counting up the days and weeks that must pass -before his birthday will arrive, and so raise him to the age necessary -for undertaking the shift. In common with most other youths, he looks -upon the night turn as something "devoutly to be wished," but I very -much fear that a few weeks of the change will modify his opinion of the -matter, if it does not entirely disillusion him. Notwithstanding a -certain amount of novelty attaching to the working on the night-shift, -it is attended with many hardships and inconveniences. The greater part -of those who have to perform it would willingly exchange it for the day -duty. - -There was at one time another highly distinctive "character" attached to -the drop-stamps. He revelled in the nickname of "Smamer." Where he -obtained the pseudonym is unknown, though it is notable that the word -has an intelligible derivative. Smamer is undoubtedly derived from the -Greek verb [Greek: sman] = sman, meaning _to smear_, and, afterwards, -from [Greek: smama][1] = soap, so that the nickname is meant to -designate a smearer. As there are many who are in the habit of smearing -their faces with soap, the nickname would seem to have a very wide and -universal application. Be that as it may, our Smamer was a smearer of -the first order; he usually stopped at that and did not care to -prosecute the matter further. His face daily bore traces of the initial -process of washing, and that only; it was a genuine smear and little -besides. Whoever first honoured him with the appellation was a person of -discernment, though he might not have been aware of the origin of the -word. You often hear a workman say that So-and-so is "all smamed up" -with oil or some other greasy substance. - - [1] Classical, [Greek: smn, smma] - -Smamer was one of the forge hands and heated iron for the middle -drop-stamp. His home was in the country, several miles from the town; -winter and summer he tramped to and from the shed. For several years -after his father and mother died he lived in the cottage by himself, -tilled his own garden, prepared his food, performed his housework, made -his bed, and did his own washing, though he was no more than nineteen -years of age. He was noted for his eccentric mode of living. Whatever -the weather might be he scarcely ever wore an overcoat. He often came to -work wet through to the skin, and reached home at night in the same -condition, where he received no welcome of any sort, but had to light -his own fire before he could dry his clothing or prepare his meal. To -every inquiry as to whether he was wet or not he made one reply; he was -"just a little bit damp about the knees," that was all. - -In manner he was quiet and rather sullen; he was never very -sweet-tempered, though he was a quick and clever heater of iron and a -very good mate. About his native village he was rough and noisy, fond of -fighting and disturbance. He was frequently in conflict with the police, -and often on the point of being summoned before the Bench for some -offence or other, but he usually scraped out of the difficulty at the -last moment, either by means of apologies, or by making some kind of -restitution to the injured party. At week-ends, with a band of -associates, he paid visits to the neighbouring villages and fought with -the young men, until the whole of them became so well-known to the -police that wherever they went they were recognised and promptly hustled -off in the direction of their native place. - -During the autumn months Smamer visited all the orchards along the road -on the way to work, and came to the shed with his pockets crammed full -of apples. These he used to divide out among his mates, who ate them -with little or no compunction; there is small searching of conscience -among the boys of the factory, especially when the contraband happens to -be sweet, juicy apples plucked from the farmer's trees. Very soon, -however, the habit of the life began to tell upon him. His continually -getting wet, and the having no one to provide him with any kind of -comfort, ruined his constitution; in a few months he wasted away and -died. A small party of mates from the shed attended the funeral at the -little village churchyard: that was the end of Smamer. His place at the -forge was soon filled; he was not missed very much. Everyone said he had -but himself to blame; there was no sympathy meted out to him. His -brother, who also worked on the drop-stamps, had been killed by a blow -on the head with a piece of metal from the die only a short while -before. They lay side by side in the little walled enclosure, for ever -oblivious of the noise and din of the thunderous hammers and the -grinding wheels of the factory. - -There are several others, distinguished with titles of an expressive -kind, working on the drop-stamps. Of these one answers to the nickname -of "Bovril," one is "Kekky Flapper," one is "Aeroplane Joe," one -"Blubber," and another is known about the shed as "Wormy." How they came -to possess such inglorious appellatives cannot with certainty be told; a -very little will suffice to brand you with an epithet in the work-shed. -In addition to these, in the vicinity of the drop-stamps in the corner -are an ex-groom, a grocer, a musical freak, a comedian, a photographer, -a boy scout, a territorial, a jockey, a cowman, a pianoforte maker, and -a local preacher. - -Situated over the coal furnace that feeds the big drop-stamps is a -boiler of the "loco" pattern, one of those responsible for the -tremendous din that is raised every day at meal-times when the steam is -not required for the engines and hammers. These boilers have all served -their time on the line--in passenger or goods traffic--and, after their -removal from the engine frames, they have become distributed over the -company's system and throughout the factories. The distance a boiler is -required to travel under steam on the railway is about thirty thousand -miles; after completing this it is superseded and removed from the -active list on the permanent way. By the time the boiler and engine have -travelled together so many miles they will be half worn out. The wheels, -by reason of the frequent application of the brakes and "skidding" on -the rails, will be grooved and cut about, and the machinery will require -new fittings and bearings. After the boilers have been removed from the -frames they are overhauled and tested and then sold out to the different -sheds and stations, wherever they may happen to be wanted. - -The method of transacting business between the different sheds and -departments at the works is exactly like that employed by outside firms -and tradesmen. Bills and accounts are rendered, and the whole formula of -hire and purchase is entered into by the different parties; everything; -in fact, except the actual payment of money, is duly carried out. The -sheds are required to show a balance on the right side at the end of -each year; percentages are charged for working expenses, and all the -rest is profit. Thus, some sheds will show profits of many thousands of -pounds annually, though upon paper only; the surpluses do not exist in -reality. - -Although the new boiler costs 1,000 it is sold to the shed second-hand -for 200, so that the cost of ten for the workshop was only 2,000. The -charge for setting, and fitting, and also for repairs and cleaning, -however, is very great; a big sum is needed to keep them in a fit -condition for work. After they have been erected above the furnaces they -are covered with a thick jacket of a compound of magnesia and fibre, to -enable them to retain the heat, and they are afterwards painted black, -so as to harmonise with the general environment. The steam pressure of -the repaired boiler is usually fixed at about a hundred and twenty-five -pounds per square inch. The capacity of each boiler is very great, and -the composite power of the whole set formidable; if one of them should -happen to explode the result would indeed be disastrous. A small staff -of men superintends them by day and night, and greater care is taken of -them than was the case formerly. I can remember when the shed was -several times within a hair's breadth of being blown up and forty or -fifty men hurled to perdition. - -A few years ago, instead of trustworthy men being appointed to -superintend the boilers, they were consigned to the charge of several -youths, who were very careless and negligent in their work, and who -seemed to have no idea whatever of the tremendous responsibility resting -upon them for the safety and welfare of the life in the shed. Provided -with mouth-organs and bones, or Jew's harps, they would play and skylark -about for a long time and leave their boilers unattended at considerable -risk. I have often known them to be away from their posts for an hour at -a stretch, and to allow the water in the boilers to become almost -entirely evaporated before they returned to fill them up again, which, -as everyone knows, is an exceedingly dangerous practice. By the common -regulation attaching to boilers, the water should never be permitted to -fall below that point when it is visible in the gauge-glass. If it is -allowed to do so the position becomes dangerous immediately, and, to -obviate accident, the bars of the furnace fire should be withdrawn and -no cold water admitted. - -Once a youth--a wild, reckless fellow--was absent from the boiler an -unusually long time in the middle of the morning before dinner. The -stampers watched the water in the gauge-glass drop little by little and -finally vanish, and still no one came to attend to it. Being a little -anxious about it I sent several men and boys to try and find the -boilerman, but without avail. His mates were nowhere to be found either, -and the foreman was away from the shed at the time. From being anxious I -soon felt alarmed. The matter was becoming serious, and we were not -allowed, under any circumstances, to meddle with the injectors -ourselves. - -As I was warning all men in the locality of the danger the boilerman -arrived, a little frightened, but in a desperate mood. I advised him to -take the usual course in such a case, to have the fire withdrawn from -the furnace and allow the boiler to burn, but as this would have meant -certain dismissal for him he decided to risk everything and fill up the -boiler or explode it. As he was determined in his foolhardy resolution -we collected our mates and left the shed, retiring to a safe distance. -By good fortune, however--by pure luck, and nothing else--the boiler -received the water safely, though with a great deal of shuddering, and -the danger was past. To make the best--or the worst--of it, there were -three men on the back of the boiler at the time, laying on the coat of -magnesia, for it had not been erected many days. Although we gave them -warning of the danger they took not the slightest notice, but kept -working away, in a hurry to get the job done, for it was piecework. If -the boiler had exploded, packed as it was with terrific pressure and -priming furiously, they would have been blown to atoms. - -The bold and daring of the shed indulge in many jeers and -uncomplimentary remarks, if some others, in the face of real danger, -should adopt precautionary measures and take heed of their safety, but -experience has taught me that it is better to be apprehensive and -cautious and to take pains to safeguard oneself than to score a cheap -victory by bravado and carelessness. When danger threatens in the -factory, the best course is to stand quite clear at all costs; it is -then no shame to put into practice the words of the old proverb, -slightly amended: "He that works and runs away will live to work another -day." By far the greater proportion of the accidents that happen daily -at the works are the direct result of inattention, of not taking notice -of warnings uttered by others, and the failure to exercise the instinct -of self-preservation natural to each individual. It is not that the men -are absolutely careless of themselves; it is rather that the care they -do take is not considerable or sufficient. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - - FORGING AND SMITHING--HYDRAULIC - OPERATIONS--"BALTIMORE"--"BLACK SAM"--"STRAWBERRY" AND - GUSTAVUS--THE "FIRE KING"--"TUBBY "--BOLAND--PINNELL OF - THE YANKEE PLANT - - -The drop-stamps and forgers, together with the plant known as the Yankee -hammers--so called by reason of their having been introduced from the -other side of the Atlantic--are the life and soul of the shed. The -hydraulic machines, through their noiseless and almost tedious operation -and the considerably less skill required on the part of the workmen in -carrying out the various processes, are dull and tame in comparison with -them. The steam-hammers, both by their noise, speed, and visible power -and by the alertness and dexterity of the stampers and forgers, are -certain to compel attention. There is a great fascination, too, in -standing near the furnace and watching the sparkling, hissing mass of -metal being withdrawn by the crane, or seeing the heated bars removed -from the oil forge and clapped quickly on the steel dies to be beaten -into shape. No one can withstand the attraction of the steam-hammers; -even those who have spent a lifetime in the shed like to stand and watch -the stampers and forgers at work. - -Forging and smithing are, without doubt, the most interesting of all -crafts in the factory; other machinery, however unique it may be, will -not claim nearly as much attention. Visitors will pass by the most -elaborate plant to stand near the steam-hammers, or to watch the smith -weld a piece of iron on the anvil. The small boy who has just been -initiated into the shed, the youth, the grown-up man, and the -grey-haired veteran are bound to be attracted by the flashing of the -furnace and the white-hot metal newly brought out. They are greatly -delighted, too, with the long, swinging blow of the forging hammers, or -the short, sharp stroke of the stampers; to watch the metal being -transposed and conforming to the pressure of the dies, to see the sparks -shooting out in white showers, and the men sweating; to feel the earth -shaking, and to hear the chains jingling, the steam hissing and roaring -and the blows echoing like thunder all the time. To stand in the midst -of it and view the whole scene when everything is in active operation is -a wonderful experience, thrilling and impressive. You see the lines of -furnaces and steam-hammers--there are fifteen altogether--with the -monkeys travelling up and down continually and beating on the metal one -against the other in utter disorder and confusion, the blazing white -light cast out from the furnace door or the duller glow of the -half-finished forging, the flames leaping and shooting from the oil -forges, the clouds of yellow cinders blown out from the smiths' fires, -the whirling wheels of the shafting and machinery between the lines and -the half-naked workmen, black and bare-headed, in every conceivable -attitude, full of quick life and exertion and all in a desperate hurry, -as though they had but a few more minutes to live. And what a terrific -din is maintained! You hear the loud explosion of the oil and water -applied for removing the scale and excrescence from the iron, the ring -of the metal under the blows of the stampers or of the anvil under the -sledge of the smiths, the simultaneous priming of the boilers, the -horrible prolonged screeching of the steam-saw slowly cutting its way -through the half-heated rail, the roaring blast, the bellowing furnace, -the bumping Ajax, the clanking cogwheels, the groaning shears, and a -hundred other sounds and noises intermingled. There is the striker's -hammer whirling round, this one pulling and heaving, the forgeman -running out with his staff, the stamper twisting his bar over, the -furnaceman charging in his fuel, the white slag running out in streams -sparkling, spluttering, and crackling, the steam blown down from the -roof through the open door, the thick dust, the almost visible heat, the -black gloom of the roof and the clouds of smoke drifting slowly about, -or hanging quite stationary like a pall, completely blotting out the -other half of the shed, all which form a scene never to be forgotten by -those who shall happen to have once viewed it. - -The hydraulic work, on the other hand, though interesting, is not -engrossing. There is a lack of life and animation in it; it is not -stirring or dramatic. The huge "rams" of the presses, though capable of -exerting a pressure equal to two hundred tons weight, descend very -slowly; the quick, alert steam-hammer could strike at least ten or a -dozen blows while the ram is once operating. So rapid is the blow of the -steam-hammer that the pressure raised in the metal by the impact of the -dies is often still unspent when the hammer rebounds, so that, as the -dies separate, if the metal is very hot, it explodes and flies asunder. -The speed of the rebound may be gauged by the fact that the stamper can -actually see the flow of metal in the dies from the blow after the -hammer has left it. The metal, as the result of this, will frequently -overflow the edge of the bottom die, and when the hammer descends again -the top die will have to shear away a quarter, or half an inch. - -It is instructive to note the effect of the blows on the hot metal. -Continual beating it will quickly raise the temperature of the iron or -steel; I have many times raised the heat of a piece in operation from a -dull yellow to a brilliant welding pitch during the delivery of three or -four blows. Hammers have recently been invented that, with continually -beating on cold metal, will make it sufficiently hot to allow of drawing -and shaping; but though such machinery is interesting, it is not of much -use for serious manufacture. Compressed air, directed on metal of a dull -yellow heat, will soon considerably increase its temperature; you may -easily burn a hole quite through a six-inch steel bloom by the method. - -The flying of sparks through the air will greatly intensify their heat; -after travelling a few yards they will become very dazzling and -brilliant and explode like fireworks. Sometimes a piece of this -superfluous metal, an ounce or more in weight, forced out from the die -with the blow, will shear off and fly to a great distance--often as much -as sixty or seventy yards. This, at the moment of leaving the die, may -be no more than a dull yellow, but by the time it falls to the ground it -will be intensely hot and will throw off a shower of hissing sparks. The -shearing-off of the bur is a source of great danger to the workmen. I -have several times been struck with pieces and been brought to the -ground in consequence; the effect is almost as though you had been -struck with a bullet from a gun. - -Nothing of this kind is ever possible with the hydraulic machines. If a -weld is to be made it must be performed with one stroke of the ram; -after the top die leaves the metal it will be too cool to receive any -benefit from a second application of the power. Welding by hand or steam -power is always preferable to that performed by hydraulic action; a -joint that is made with six or ten small quick blows will be far more -effective and durable than where the iron has been simply squeezed -together by one operation of the ram. As soon as the hydraulic dies meet -the metal is considerably chilled. Instead of intensifying the heat, as -in the case of the steam-hammer, the cold tools greatly lessen it. The -weld, when made, will most certainly be short and brittle. - -Some portion of the personnel of the shed has already been given, but of -the hundred and fifty comprising the permanent staff of the place -several are conspicuous among the rest for strangeness of habit, queer -characteristics, or strong personality. The men are a mixture of many -sorts and of several nationalities--English, Scotch, Welsh, and Irish. -There is the shaggy-browed, fierce-looking son of Erin; the canny Scot -from Motherwell over the border; the gruff and short-tempered old -furnaceman from Dowlais; the doughty forger from Middlesborough; the -cultured cockney with his superb nasal twang; the Lancastrian with his -picturesque brogue; a representative of distant Penzance; an ex-seaman, -nicknamed "The Jersey Lily," from the Channel Islands, and those hailing -from nearly every county in the Midlands and south of England, from -"Brummagem Bill" to "Southampton Charlie." There are ex-soldiers and -sailors with arms and breasts tattooed with birds, flowers, serpents, -fair women and other emblems, and who have seen service in the East and -West Indies, China, Egypt, or the Transvaal; those who constantly pride -themselves on having once been in gentlemen's service--though they do -not tell you how they came to leave it! butchers and bakers, -professional football players, conjurers, bandsmen, and cheap-jacks. - -"Baltimore" works the middle drop-stamp, about halfway up the shed, and, -in the line of smaller steam-hammers opposite to him, toils a mulatto -known to everyone about the place as "Black Sam," or "Sambo." They are -old hands, having both come to the premises as boys, where they have -since been, except for the time when "Balty" was absent for the annual -training in the local Militia. It is not explained how he came to -receive the nickname. Black Sam is so called from his very dark -complexion, his short, black, curly hair and large, dark eyes. Baltimore -is rather ordinary in appearance. His forehead is low, his cheek-bones -high and his nose irregular. His lips are thick, he has a pointed chin -and lantern jaws. He is of medium height, square and broad shouldered. -As he walks his shoulders sway to and fro and up and down, keeping time -with his footsteps; he is exceedingly unmilitary both in physique and -movement. - -It was by reason of these characteristics that Baltimore obtained the -attention of his shopmates. They all laughed rudely to see him in the -old-time Militia uniform--scarlet tunic much too big, with regulation -white belt, baggy trousers too long in the legs, heavy bluchers on the -feet and, instead of the swagger headgear worn in the Service to-day, -the old Scotch cap with long streamers behind and a little swishing cane -in the hand or under the arm. It is carefully handed down and passed -from one to the other that when Balty was at home on furlough all the -small boys of the street would gather round him, sniggering and jeering, -and making fun of his cut and appearance, and it is said furthermore -that he used very unceremoniously to drive them away with his cane -crying--"Get out, you young varmints! 'Aven't you never seen a sojer -before?" In the shed and at the furnace he continued to attract -attention and be the subject of jocular remarks made by his workmates. -They never would take him seriously, not even though he came in time to -work one of the biggest drop-stamps and be reckoned among the honourable -company of forgers. - -To all the superfluous attentions and mock regard of his fellow-mates -Baltimore preserves a good-natured and even an indulgent attitude; he is -not at all disconcerted with their wit and sarcasm. Though not one of -the most skilful of workmen, he is very shrewd and painstaking; his -whole heart and soul are in the business. From morning till night he is -toiling and sweating over his blooms and forgings, and when he is off -the premises he is still concerned with his occupations at the hammer. -He will sometimes tell one of his mates how he lay awake the greater -part of a night working out in his mind some problem connected with a -difficult piece of forging and then came in the next morning and -triumphantly finished the job. - -Sambo's father was an army veteran, a sergeant, who took for his wife an -Indian woman and became the parent of a family, of whom Samuel is the -eldest. He is of medium height, thin, but very erect, with low shoulders -and long neck. The forehead is sloping, the nose rather thick. He has -large dark eyes with tremendous whites, short woolly hair, high -cheekbones, skin very dark and sallow. The whole countenance is long and -the head angular; he has the clear characteristics of the half-cast. The -general opinion is that Sambo is out of place in the shed. He ought -rather to have been trained for a life on the stage; without doubt he -would have made a good pantomimist. Both his appearance and manner are -comical; he causes everyone to smile by reason of his ludicrous -expressions and grotesque facial contortions. - -Sambo is quite aware of his own funniosity and readily lends himself to -the amusement of the small fry that sometimes come to gaze upon him. -Snatching up a shovel, he claps it to his shoulder as though it were the -traditional nigger's instrument and, rolling his eyes and turning up the -whites of them, pretends to be fingering the banjo while he sings a few -lines of the "Swanee River" or other coon song. Sambo has always been -the butt of the rougher section in the shed and has been forced to -suffer many indignities. It was a common thing for the bullies of the -place to throw him on the ground and disgrace him. This they continued -to do long after he had married and become the father of children. - -Working just beyond Sambo, at the next furnace, is the very shadow of a -man--a mere frame, a skeleton, which a good puff of wind might very -likely throw down. He is stripped to the waist and hatless. His hair is -long and it stands upright. His flannel shirt is thrown open; his -trousers merely hang on him, and he is as black as a sweep with the -smoke and grime of the furnace. This is "Strawberry," sometimes also -known as "Gooseberry." His features are remarkably small and fine, and -his neck is no bigger round than a span. He does not appear strong -enough to do any work, but, for all that, he is very tough and wiry. -Many a one laughs at him and tells him that he is melting away "like a -tallow candle," but he answers them all boldly and tells them, with a -merry twinkle in his tiny dark eyes, that he is all right. "You look -after yourself, mate, and don't fret about me," says he. - -Strawberry was at one time a cobbler, and used to get his living by the -patching up and renovation of old soles. Long after he entered the shed -he kept up the employment in his spare time, but by and by he -discontinued the work and betook himself to the more genteel though less -lucrative pursuits of flute-playing and photography. For a time he -donned uniform and played in the local band, and then, after a while, -that had to be discontinued. Now all his thought and care is to take -photographs and make models of steam-engines, magic lanterns and -cinematographic instruments. Mounted on a cycle, and provided with a -camera, he scours the country round at week-ends for customers and comes -home and does the developing and printing on Sundays. He is thoroughly -versed in time exposures and the various mysteries of photographic -development. Wherever he goes he carries a book of instructions in his -pocket, and if you stop to speak with him for a moment he is sure to -tell you of some new lens or snap-shot arrangement he has lately made, -or wearies you nearly to death with an attempted explanation of the -compounds in his home-made developers--"Hypo-tassum" something or other, -and the rest of it. - -Another of Strawberry's hobbies is the blind poring over fusty books, -several hundreds of years old, bought at auctions and usually fit for -nothing but the fire or dust-heap. These he treasures with great care, -and he is frequently trying to expound the contents of them to his -workmates, and to any others who will suffer to listen to him for a few -moments. His latest passion is to seek out old caves, ruins and -legendary sites; he is musician, artist, engineer, archologist and -antiquarian combined. What he will become ultimately no one knows. I -much fear, however, that he will suffer the furnaceman's fate in the end -and perish of the smoke and heat of the fires. - -Strawberry succeeded Gustavus, who died under very sad circumstances. -Poor Gus was most unfortunate, though such cases as his are not of -uncommon occurrence. He had been through the war in South Africa, and -had fought there for his country. He had not been long on the furnace. -His health was not good at the best of times. If regard for a man's -health were had at the time of putting him on a job Gus would never have -gone to the fires, but there is a ruthless, and very often a sinister, -disregard of a man's physical condition when he is wanted to fill a -difficult post. About a year before Gus's wife contracted milk fever, -after confinement. This affected her reason and she had to be removed; -her case was pronounced hopeless--absolutely hopeless. This came as a -great shock to Gus; there were five little children, all babies, one of -them new-born. He had no friends to come and take care of them and he -was poor--very poor. Accordingly, with a little assistance from the -neighbour, he determined to look after them himself. The oldest boy -prepared the meals by day; Gus saw to the general needs at night and did -the washing Sundays. Very soon one of the mites fell ill and had to go -to the workhouse hospital. All the others but one suffered sickness, and -Gus very soon followed suit. Worn out with the day's work at the furnace -and obliged to toil and watch half the night over his infants, he soon -fell a prey to ill-health, and was compelled to stop at home from work. - -Then the little stinging insects of the shed began to cavil and sneer. -"He's oni shammin'. Ther's nothin' the matter wi' he. He's as well as I -be. He oni wants to shirk the furnace. Kip un to't when a comes in." By -and by Gus started work again, but not till the overseer had played a -treacherous trick upon him and tried to have him rejected at the medical -examination through an innocent and incautious remark he had chanced to -let fall concerning himself. The fact of the matter was, Gus was a -broken, ruined man. His general health was gone. His sight was failing; -his constitution was wrecked. For several weeks he dragged himself to -work, in a last desperate effort to keep a home for his babes and supply -them with food, though anyone might have seen that he was in positive -torture all the while. At last he could bear up no longer. He came to -work the fore part of the week, then stopped at home; in three days he -was dead. His little boys and girls went to the workhouse, or to -charities. One has to die before his mates in the shed think there is -anything the matter with him. Then, in nine cases out of ten--especially -if he happens to be one of the poorest and most unfortunate--he is -mercilessly sneered over. Probably that was his own fault. They even -blame him for dying; in three days he is almost totally forgotten. Cruel -hearts and feelings are bred in the atmosphere of the factory. - -There is one "Fire King" and only one; all the others are mere -apprentices--nobodies. He comes from "The Noth," from Middlesborough, of -great iron fame. Without doubt he is a marvel. He is always talking -about the "haats" they used to draw "way up there." It was prodigious. -There is nothing like it down south. "Wales! I tell you Wales is a -dung-hill; they can't do it for nuts." He looks at you with -inexpressible scorn. Then he plunges the bar into the furnace hole and -stirs up the coals, "stops up" again, peers through the iron door and -comes back mopping his face with the wiper. "I tell you tha be a lot o' -cow-bangers about here. Tha never sin a furnace nor a haat afore. When I -was at Sunderland"--here he gives an especially knowing wink, and -scratches one side of his nose with his forefinger, drawing his head -near to your ear and speaking in an undertone--"when I was at -Sunderland, though I says it myself, there wasn't a man on the ground -as could hold a candle to Phil Clegg. The manager allus used to stop and -talk to me about the haats, and slip a crown piece into mi hand for a -drink. 'Clegg,' says he, 'I've learned from you what I never knew -before.'" All this is accepted with reserve in the shed. It may or may -not have been true; one is not compelled to believe all the -extraordinary reports circulated by the forgers and furnacemen. - -Some years ago the doughty one was set to do some initial forging in -steel blooms and spoiled three parts of the material by overheating. -"Bad steel! damn bad steel! 'Twunt stand a bit o' haat," said he. The -matter was accordingly reported to the managers, and word was sent to -the firm that had manufactured the blooms--"Bad steel! Bad steel!" -passed all along the line. Then the manufacturers' representative came -to inspect the process and to report upon the quality of the metal. The -Fire King scraped his leg and scratched his nose and talked much of -"kimicals," winking at his mates and getting his metal to a fizzing -heat. "Too hot, too hot," said the representative. "Aye! man, but we -must get it so hot or the hammer wunt bate it down," the Fire King -replied. "Get a heavier hammer," said the inspector, touching the spot -immediately, and walking off in disgust. The steel was all right, it was -merely overheated. Thereafter the Fire King's prestige visibly -diminished. He became the scorn of the furnaces; he was humbled and -disgraced for ever. He was subsequently put in charge of the damping-up -of the furnaces, and he styled himself foreman of the night shift there, -which was one, besides himself. - -After all, "Tubby" is the best furnaceman. He hails from Wales, "the -true old country, where the men comes from," according to him. Tubby is -short, fat and round, about the size of a thirty-six barrel, and he is -extremely short-legged. His head is quite bald and shines well. His -features are regular and well-formed. He has an aristocratic nose, thick -neck, and shoulders shapeless with fat. At the fire he strips off his -outer shirt and only retains his flannel vest. The sleeves of this are -cut short to the shoulders and it is fastened at the neck by means of -strings threaded with a bodkin. He drinks an enormous quantity of cold -water, and it is singular that he never uses a cup but swallows it from -the large two-gallon pot. To this habit he attributes his uncommonly -good health and fine proportions. - -He is a genius at the fire. Whether the furnace be in a good or bad -condition he will soon have it as radiant as a star, and he is -marvellously cool at it. His speech has a strongly Welsh accent and he -talks with great rapidity, especially when he happens to become excited. -At such times it is difficult to understand him; he pours out his words -and sentences like a cataract. - -Notwithstanding the old furnaceman's skill and general inoffensiveness, -he could not escape a little practical joking at the hands of the -youths. In the shed was an iron bogie, in the shape of a box, just big -enough to contain his Falstaffian body. When he was on night duty he -always seized upon this as a sleeping bunk for meal hours. Resting it -upon the handles forward he sat in it, with his head at the back and his -feet hanging over the front, and slept profoundly, with his arms folded -and a coat drawn over his face. When he had fallen asleep several -hard-hearted youths came up quietly and attached a strong rope to each -handle of the bogie. They then raced off with it as fast as they could -travel, going out of the shed and returning by a roundabout route to the -furnace over bricks and stones, steel rails, and anything else that -happened to be in the way. The jolting was terrific, but the bogie was -drawn at such a rate that poor Tubby dared not attempt to get out and -was forced to endure it as best he could. Arrived back at the furnace -the youths speedily decamped and Tubby never knew for certain who had -perpetrated the joke upon him in the darkness. - -_Dominus vobiscum. Et cum spiritu tuo. Domine sanctorum._ The old -ash-wheeler leans on his shovel and thus addresses you with profound -gravity, as though he were the reverend Father himself ministering to -his flock in the church. Boland is an Irishman and hails from far -Tipperary. He brought his old mother over to England many years ago and -has since dwelt in the railway town. He is a typical Hibernian. He is -square-set and distinctive in feature, with heavy brows, thickish nose, -strong eyes, and firm, expressive mouth. Notwithstanding the fact that -he is slighted by the critical of the shed he has a good many virtues; -underneath his rough exterior is concealed a wealth of kindness and -good-nature. In common with the bulk of his race he is a Catholic in -religion. If you should approach him on the subject you would be -surprised at his interest in and affection for his Church and doctrine: -he is immovable in his simple and childlike faith. In speaking of any -matters connected with it his voice will be solemn and hushed; he is -filled with reverence and awe. Though not a very constant church-goer he -yet manages to attend at festival times and pays considerable attention -to the sermon. He will always tell you the text, and in summing up the -Father's oratorical abilities he tells you, as a climax, that he can "go -back in history two hundred years." - -The last and most important of all to be dealt with is Pinnell, of the -Yankee Plant. He is by far the hardest working man in the stamping shed. -In the first place he cannot help being a hard worker, for it is his -nature so to be. Rest and he are most inveterate enemies. He _must_ -find something or other to do; he could not be idle though he tried -never so hard. In the second place he is bound to work hard. The job -requires it, or, at any rate, the "super" requires it, which is a -slightly different matter. Pinnell used to work one of the small -drop-stamps and was always remarkable for his conscientiousness and -dogged perseverance. He was the first to start work and the last to -finish. He would never take a moment's spell. If there had been no work -he would promptly have made some, and have kept plodding away at his -forge and stamp. Accordingly, when the miraculous tools from the other -side of the Atlantic--which, in the opinion of the Yankee innovator, -were going to smash up the other section altogether and displace half -the men in the shed--were introduced, Pinnell was the man selected to -start the process and lead the way for others. He had to demonstrate -what the machines were capable of doing, and upon his output would be -based the standard of prices for those to follow after or work beside -him. - -The introduction of the Yankee hammers and the oil furnaces for heating -was the beginning of hustle in the shed. Everything was designed for the -man to start as early as possible, to keep on mechanically to and from -the furnace and hammer with not the slightest pause, except for meals, -and to run till the very last moment. His prices were fixed accordingly. -Every operation was correctly timed. The manager and overseer stood -together, watches in hand. It was so and so a minute; that would amount -to so much in an hour, and so much total for the day. If Pinnell flagged -a little--it is dreadful to have to keep hammering away for hours in an -exhausted condition, with never a moment's pause--if he flagged a -little, or checked the oil somewhat in the forge, the overseer promptly -set it going again and pricked him on to greater effort, answering his -words--if he ever dared utter any--with a wheedling and plausible -excuse, and telling him it was not at all hard; "Just a busy little -job," and so forth. If nature required that he should leave the forge -and walk across the shed, that was the subject of a note--"One minute -and three-quarters gone." Did he think he could beat the records of all -the other men at the stamps? The manager hoped he would try hard to do -so, he wanted the machine to be quite first in output. The prices were -weighed, chiselled, and pared with great exactness, even to the -splitting of a farthing: "A halfpenny is too much for this job; I shall -give you three-eighths." Moreover, the overseers only timed him in the -morning, after breakfast, which is the most active part of every day, -and when all are fresh and fit for work, or never, so that the prices -were fixed at a time when everything was going at its best. It is -impossible to maintain the same speed in the afternoon, or even during -the latter part of the morning towards dinner-time, that one is capable -of after breakfast. - -So Pinnell was little by little broken in to the new conditions. -Whatever protests he made were of no avail. If the acute manager -happened to make a slight misjudgment and give him a fair price for a -job, one or other of the shed overseers--though always very flip with -him to his face--rushed off privately and informed about it, and had it -cut down to the dead level. Very often the overseers competed with each -other to see which could make the lowest quotation in order to get into -favour with the managers. Once, after playing an underhanded game in the -fixing of prices, the foreman even induced Pinnell to leave his hammer -and forge and go and protest to the manager himself, though he knew -very well the matter was nothing but a farce. When the deluded one -arrived at the office he was received with studied courtesy. A little -arithmetic was entered into, and it was proved beyond all doubt that the -job was well, and even generously, paid for. Accordingly, feeling rather -foolish at his boldness in going to the manager and his failure to -succeed in the matter, Pinnell returned to his work, while the overseer -stood in hiding and watched him back to his hammer, laughing at his -simplicity. - -When at last he found that there was no escape for him, he settled down -in despair, and decided to bury himself at the toil. So exacting is the -labour it admits of no interest whatever in anything else. It is a body- -and soul-racking business, just that which keeps the whole man in a -crushed and subdued state, and makes him a very part of the machinery he -operates. It was nothing but the man's natural zeal for work and grit -that kept him at the task. Night after night he went home to his wife -and children as tired as a dog, too tired even to read the newspaper, or -write a letter. He simply sat in the chair or lay on the couch till -bed-time, completely worn out with the terrible exertions. - -Very soon the abject misery of his condition found expression in words -to his workmates. He was continually wishing himself dead. He said he -should like to die out of it. Life was nothing but a heavy burden, and -there was nothing better in sight in the future; only the same killing -toil day after day. He often wondered _when_ he should die. He had heart -enough for anything, but somehow he felt he could never keep it up, and -everyone told him he was "going home sharp." At the same time, nothing -would prevent him from turning up at the hammer day after day; ill or -well he was sure to be at his post. Sometimes, when his wife exhorted -him to stay at home and recuperate and locked the doors against him, in -the early morning he escaped to work through the window. There was no -detaining him at all; he felt bound to come to the shed and endure the -daily punishment. To intensify his sufferings everyone told him it was -his own fault. He had no one to blame but himself; he should not have -been such a fool as to lend himself so easily to it, they said. - -So, eternally tired with the work--he has two forges to attend to, he -heats all his own bars, drives his own hammer with the foot and operates -the heavy trimmer by the side of it in the same manner--half-choked and -blinded with the reeking smoke and fumes of the oil, sore-footed with -using the treadle, his arms blistered and burnt with the scale and hot -water from the glands and valves--they are very often in bandages--his -hands cut and torn with the sharp ends of the bars, or burned with the -hot ones that sometimes shoot out from the die and slip white-hot -through his palm and fingers, beaten and distressed with the heat, the -gazing-stock of everyone that passes through the shed and who look upon -him as a freak and a marvel, he keeps plodding away, a much be-fooled -and over-worked individual, the utter victim of a cruel and callous -system. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - - FIRST QUARTER IN THE FORGE - - -"Hey-up!" - -"What's up?" - -"Wake up!" - -"What's the matter?" - -"Get up!" - -"Go to hell!" - -"You-u-u! Tell me to go to hell, will you? I'll smash you. -I'll--I'll----" - -"Come on, then! Try it on! I'm not afraid of you! You're nobody!" - -"Well, wake up! and jump about when I tell you." - -"Wake up yourself, whitegut!" - -"Who are you calling whitegut, eh? Who are you calling whitegut?" - -"Who shot the sheep and had to pay for it?" - -"Blast you! I've had enough of your jaw. I'll put your head in that -bucket of oil." - -"_Will_ ya? You got to spell able first." - -Scuffle, in which the younger is thrown down to the ground, after which -he gets up and runs away, crying: - -"Baa-a-a!" - -"I'll give you 'Baa-a-a!' Wait till I get hold of you!" - -"Baa-a-a! Baa-a-a!" - -"Take that! you-u-u!" throwing a lump of coal that misses him and goes -flying through the office window. - -"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! - - 'Everybody's doing it, doing it, doing it; - Everybody's doing it now.'" - -"Yes, and you'll be doing it directly! 'Tis all your fault. If you was -to look after your work instead of acting about so much that wouldn't -have happened. Blasted well light that fire up!" - -"Here's the gaffer comin'." - -"A good job too! I don't trouble." - -"What the hell's up this end? Ya on a'ready this mornin'? I'll send the -pair of you home directly." - -"'Tis my mate here. He's the cause of everything. He's no good to me. He -won't do nothing." - -"D'ye hear this?" - -"I allus does mi whack." - -"Don't talk to me. Hello! What's this 'ere? Who bin smashin' the window? -Ther'll be hell to pop over this. If I reports ya you'll be done for, -both on ya." - -"Please, sir, I kicked a piece of coke and it went through the pane." - -"Hey?" - -"The hammer fled off the shaft and went through the window." - -"Why the devil don't you look after the shaft then, and keep the wedges -tight. You'll knock somebody's head off presently. I daresay you was at -that blasted football again. The first I ketches at it I'll sack. Have -un clean off the ground. I'll give un football!" - -"Light that fire up, Laudy!" - -"Got a job on over 'ere, gaffer." - -"Wha's the trouble?" - -"Top cylinder busted, ram cracked, and the crown of the furnace fell -in." - -"How did that happen?" - -"Night chaps, I s'pose. 'Twas done when we got here this mornin'." - -"You're out for the rest o' the wik then. Set yer mind at rest on that. -Damn it! Everything happens on nights. This blasted night work's a -nuisance. Go and tell Deep Sea and fetch the brickies, and get they on -to't. Wher's yer mates?" - -"Waitin' instructions." - -"They can go home, and stop ther' if tha likes. Got nothin' for 'em to -do. Go and tell 'em." - -"Sign this order, sir." - -"Come on then, quick! No time to mess about with you. Hello! Bailey's -Best! Wha's this for?" - -"Leg irons." - -"You don't want best for them. Cable's good enough for they. What ya -thinkin' about?" - -"Have a look at this 'ere die, guvnor?" - -"Wha's up wi' he?" - -"Wants dressin' out, or else re-cuttin'." - -"Spit in him, and get yer iron hot!" - -"Wanted on the telephone, quick! Number fifteen shop." - -"Got no coke out at the hip, gaffer!" - -"The water tank's half empty." - -"The glass on the boiler's smashed." - -"Please, sir, the chargeman's out, and he got the key of the box." - -"And my mate bin an' squished the top of his finger half off." - -"Damn good job, too! How many more on ya?" - -"Are you coming to answer number fifteen?" - -"Oh, be God!" - -"Another day doin' nothin'. You can never start till the middle o' the -wik." - -"Steady on with that oil, Laudy! Steady on, I tell you! He'll go off -directly." - -"_BANG!_" - -"There! What did I tell you!" - -"Oh, Christ! My eyes got it." - -"Serves you damn well right! I told you on it. You got the front half -out now. Get some oily waste." - -"There's plenty here." - -"You haven't got the back stopped up yet. Get some wet sand and stop -that hole up. Now then! Be quick with you!" - -"Steady on a bit, then! I don't want to get burned to death." - -"Serve you right if you was to!" - -"Steady on, I say! Damn well do it yourself then! I'm not going to get -myself burned." - -"I shut him off. Make haste with you. Ya ready?" - -"Right." - -_Foo-oo-oo-oo-oo._ - -"What a blasted smoke! Shut some of that oil off." - -"Let it alone! That won't hurt. We wants to get on." - -"It gets down my inside. I shall spew in a minute." - -"That'll do you good." - -"Shut some of it off." - -"Let it alone, I tell you!" - -"I'm not going to be pizened." - -"'Tis no worse for you than 'tis for me." - -"I can't see two yards." - -"Hello! Hello! What the hell's on there?" - -"'Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!" - -"Steady on with that oil, mate! We gets all the smoke here." - -"I can't help it." - -"Yes you can help it, too! Shut some of that oil off." - -"That won't make no difference." - -"Wind off, mate! and hammer down. This is a bit too thick. Hey! Gaffer! -Are we expected to work in this?" - -"That'll kill the worms in yer guts." - -"I can't stand this. My head aches splittin'. I'm half-smothered." - -"We don't care a damn about the smoke, mate, as long as we can get the -iron hot. 'Tis no worse for you than 'tis for the rest. If you don't -like it you can stop out. There's plenty more to take yer place." - -"That's all you get for your trouble! Wants the inspector in here. It's -worse than bein' up the chimmuck. Go on, mate! Hammer up, Jim." - -"He'll be all right directly, old man. He ain't got hot yet." - -"Hot, be hanged! He ought to be dropped in the middle of the sea, and -you along with him! The pair of you ought to be down with the -_Titanic_." - -"Don't talk wet!" - -"Come on, Laudy! and put some pieces in the fire." - -"I ain't filled the lubricators yet." - -"Ain't filled the lubricators! What ya bin at this half-hour?" - -"God! Give us a chance." - -"'Twill be breakfast-time before we makes a start." - -"I wish 'tood be! I wants mine." - -"What the hell a' ya talkin' about?" - -"Baa-a-a!" - -"Now then! You knows what I told you! Get and put some pieces in the -fire." - -"Can't find my tongs now." - -"Where did you leave 'em last night?" - -"Chucked 'em down." - -"What's this here?" - -"That en' them." - -"Damn well go and look for 'em then. You'll lose your head directly." - -"Strike a light, mate! That key's in there tight." - -"Look out! Hold that bar up." - -"I wants the tongs first." - -"I shan't hit you." - -"I don' know so much." - -"Come on! A couple o' blows'll do the trick." - -"Not in these trousers!" - -"Old Ernie's thinkin' about the Tango." - -"The tangle, more likely." - -"Don't you worry, mate!" - -"Ya got him?" - -"Right!" - -_Slap, slap, slap._ - -"Whoa! Wait a minute. That hammer's comin' off." - -"Hold him up." - -"Is he shifted?" - -"He's gone a bit, I think." - -"Hold your hand the other side, and feel him." - -"Now go on. Steady, mate!" - -_Slap, slap._ - -"Ho! Hooray!" - -"What did I tell you?" - -"Everybody's doin' it, doin' it, doin' it." - -"Our mate's strong this mornin'. He bin eatin' onions." - -"Give us a bit of that packing. That thin piece! Now get the pinch bar, -and prise the monkey up." - -"How's that?" - -"A bit higher. Right! That'll do." - -"Key in?" - -"Ah! Slap him in." - -"Give us the sledge." - -"Get that big un." - -"Shaft's broke in two." - -"Get the furnace one, then." - -"How about packing?" - -"Same as before." - -"Look out, then!" - -"Blow up, mate?" - -"Right away with you." - -"How tight do you want him?" - -"As tight as you can get him. Slip him in. That'll do now." - -"Hey-yup! Hammer up. He's burned a bit, mate." - -"Be hanged! You only got half a piece." - -"Can't help it. That was stoppin' to get the key out." - -"Go on. Hit him!" - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -"Whoa! That'll do." - -"What's the dies like, chum?" - -"All right now." - -"Blow up?" - -"Ah! Let's have you." - -"Tool up, mate!" - -"The chain's twisted." - -"Can't you see it's upside down! D'you want to smash the bounder? Now go -on." - -_Bang._ - -"Light again." - -_Bang._ - -"That'll do. Oil up." - -[2]"Pi, Pi, Balli! Let's have you! whack 'em along there!" - - [2] [Greek: pai, pai balle] = Boy! boy! whack 'em along. - -"Hullo!" - -_Whizz._ - -"As quick as you like, mate! We've got to move to-day. Hit him, there!" - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -"Whoa! Tool up, quick! Light, now!" - -_Bang._ - -"One more. Light!" - -_Bang._ - -"That got him." - -"Pi, Pi, Balli! All hot! All hot! Let's have you!" - -_Whizz._ - -"Hooray!" - -"Not much afore breakfast, but look out aater!" - -"Wormy's makin' some scrap on the next fire. Look at 'im!" - -"Rat, O! Rat, O! Get that rat out o' the fire, old man." - -"Don't burn 'em! Don't burn 'em!" - -"Another snider, O!" - -"The blasted jumper won't work." - -"Oil they tongs a bit." - -"Pizen that rat in the fire." - -"Go to the boneyard and dig Smamer up, and fetch he back." - -"What the hell are ya talking about? Don't you never spile one?" - -"Hair off! Hair off!" - -"Don't get your bracers twisted." - -"Tell him off, kid." - -"I'll put my hand in your mouth directly." - -"You're the finest worm I've ever seen." - -"Come on here, and not so much of your old buck!" - -"Get out of the road, and let Pep have a try." - -"Damn well get away from here! Who the hell can hot iron with you about? -Your face is enough to spoil anything." - -"Get 'em hot! Get 'em hot!" - -"Get hold of that lever, you reptile!" - -"I've seen better things than you crawling on cabbages." - -"How's that? Will that do for you?" - -_Whizz. Slap._ - -"Get that muck out o' your fire." - -"Hit him hard! Right up." - -_Bang, bang, bang. Knock._ - -"Keep off the top!" - -"You said right up." - -"Shut some of that steam off." - -"Steam's all right." - -"Shut it off, I tell you!" - -"Shut it off yourself! Mind the tongs, or you'll get it." - -_Bang, bang, bang, bang._ - -"Don't answer me back or I'll flatten you out." - -"Nothing's never right for you. You ought to be in a bigger town." - -"Tool up, there!" - -"Rope's off the wheel, mate!" - -"Shut the blasted wind off." - -"He's cut all to pieces." - -"Tha's knockin' the top. I told you of it. I shall ast the gaffer for -another mate. This'll take us till dinner-time. Go and get the spanners, -and ast Sid for a new rope, and look sharp about it!" - -"Now, Laudy! Wake up with you! We shan't earn damn salt." - -"I don't trouble. I can't help it." - -"Well! Come on, then." - -"Tongs won't hold 'em." - -"Get another pair." - -"Which uns?" - -"There's plenty more about." - -"I'm sick o' this job." - -"You don't like work." - -"'Cause you're so fond of it!" - -"Don't waste them ends off. They won't fill up as it is." - -"I reckon the fella as started work ought to come back and finish it." - -_Crack._ - -_Boom._ - -_Bump._ - -"Don't burn the damn things! Look at that! All over me." - -"My clothes is afire." - -"What's yer little game there, eh? Med as well kill a fella as frighten -him to death." - -"Oo! My grub got it!" - -"Get these others out first." - -"What O! I'm not goin' to see _my_ grub burn. What do _you_ think?" - -"All the damn lot'll be spoiled." - -"I don't care a cuss! I got some tiger in there." - -"Steady that oil a bit." - -"God! Doan it stink!" - -"Shut some of it off, I tell you. It's running all over the place." - -"Half on it's water." - -"That second one there, and keep to the top row." - -"Hey-up!" - -_Crack._ - -"Why don't you be careful?" - -_Snap. Bump._ - -"Back tool's jammed now." - -"The safety bolt's broke." - -"Shut the belt off." - -"Look out, then!" - -"Stop the oil, and pull them others out." - -"Let 'em alone! We shan't be a minute." - -"Well! Jump about then." - -"Here's Calliper King comin'!" - -"Tell him to clear off. We can do very well without him. That fellow -makes me mad." - -"If you was to put the spanner on the nuts sometimes you wouldn't get -half the trouble." - -"All right, mate! There's no damage done. We can't think of everything." - -"Your bearings are hot." - -"They'll get cold directly." - -"You might get them seized." - -"Damn good job! Shove some oil into 'em, kid!" - -"Who are you calling kid?" - -"Look out, there!" - -"I shall report you, mind!" - -"You can please yourself. 'Twon't be the first time. If you'll only keep -out o' the road we shall be all right. Blow up, Laudy!" - -_Foo-oo-oo-oo-oo._ - -"Pull the belt over." - -"Right?" - -"I'm ready." - -"Take him, then." - -_Crack._ - -_Click, clack. Bump._ - -"How's that?" - -"That got him. Now we shan't be long!" - -"Yip ho! All new uns!" - -"I got that pistol in my pocket." - -"Is he any good?" - -"Kill at hundred and twenty." - -"What? Inches?" - -"Inches be damned! Yards, man!" - -"You never killed anything with him." - -"Ain't he, though? I know he have." - -"What have you killed? A dead cat?" - -"Dead cat! You're afraid to let me try him on you." - -"You couldn't hit a barn door." - -"I tell you what I done." - -"What's that? Oh! I know. Who shot the sheep? Baa-a-a!" - -"Shut your blasted head!" - -"Pride o' the Prairie! Got any cartridges?" - -"Half a boxful." - -"Slugs or bullets?" - -"Slugs." - -"Let's have a look!" - -"Get this work done first. 'Twill be breakfast-time directly." - -"Hey-up! He's slightly wasted." - -"I should blasted well think so." - -_Crack._ - -_Boom._ - -"Hello! There's another snider!" - -_Bang._ - -"Keep him there! We don't want your scrap." - -"Pi, Pi, Balli! Tha's a good heat, mate!" - -"We haven't done anything yet." - -"What! Tell somebody else that yarn! Hear that, Jim?" - -"Wha's up?" - -"Chargeman says we ain't done nothin' yet." - -"More we ain't, have us?" - -"Have us not! Tha's only a rumour." - -"I didn't think we had." - -"You bin asleep an' only just woke up. All good uns, too." - -"We shall want 'em, bi what I can see on it." - -"What d'ya mean?" - -"Look at the next hammer! They won't start to-day." - -"How's that, mate?" - -_Whizz._ - -"Mind my toe." - -"Good shot, that!" - -"Cool your tongs out." - -"Have a drink." - -"Put it on the anvil." - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -"Whoa! Tool." - -"Ain't he slippy!" - -"Light blow." - -_Bang._ - -"That takes a bit of doing, one hand!" - -"Come on, Lightning!" - -"Unknown swank!" - -"All hot! All hot!" - -"You'll get the price cut directly." - -"Come and see the boys!" - -"I'm a-lookin' at ya!" - -"Ain't a burned one yet." - -"Don't make a song about it." - -"You got a good mate on the hammer." - -"Fifty without stoppin' the wind. All new uns!" - -"See who you are!" - -"Stand back, and mind the mallet! There's one for you, Wormy!" - -"Take a couple, mate?" - -"Come on with 'em." - -_Slap, slap._ - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -"Fire's gettin' low. Wants some more coke up." - -"Wher' d'ye want thase few pieces, Willums!" - -"Tip 'em up anywhere, Mat!" - -"All you'll get to-day." - -"You're talking wet. They won't last five minutes." - -"You'll hef to see gaffer, then. We got to change knives." - -"Get out of the road, or you'll get your whiskers singed." - -"Dossent thee fret thy kidneys. This is too damn hot for me. You got no -room to mauve." - -"Somebody got to do a bit." - -"Thee dossent do't all." - -"You'd have to go home if I did." - -"Top hammer's stopped now. Middle un's ready." - -"What's up a-top? Going to start, there? See that rope's all right! Have -the sharp edges took off the wheel." - -"We be done for." - -"What's the matter?" - -"Top block broke. Only had forty more to do." - -"Ram up, and get your dies out. Give a hand there, mates." - -"'Tis all bad luck this mornin', ain' it?" - -"'Tis the chaps as make the luck. What do you think? We get on all -right." - -"Here's the bummer in a tear." - -"Why the hell don't you be careful! You'll break all the tackle in -creation. First one thing and then another. Ropes and wheels and dies. -You wants to go home for a month. That 'ood teach 'e a lesson. You don't -trouble a damn for nothing." - -"I asked the fitters to see to it, and they wouldn't come." - -"That block was never strong enough for the job." - -"Go an' fetch Moses. What ya goin' to put in next?" - -"Pull-rod levers. Die seventy-two." - -"Don' want them. Put in hunderd an' one." - -"Chargeman says levers. Wanted urgent. Chaps bin up after 'em." - -"Let 'em wait. I'm the foreman. You knows that." - -"All right. Don' make no difference to me." - -"Did you send for me?" - -"I did. Get on wi' new blocks for piston rods." - -"Any alterations?" - -"Not as I knows on." - -"We've had complaints about the others." - -"I don't care. Let 'em file 'em. The devils be never satisfied." - -"Better have 'em a bit stiffer?" - -"They'm stiff enough. They wasn't set level." - -"They was as level as a billiard table, gaffer!" - -"I could a' shoved my finger underneath 'em." - -"I had 'em packed tight everywhere." - -"Then you didn't have yer iron hot. 'Tis no good to arg' the point. Take -care wi' the next lot, mind!" - -"Let him go to hell! He'd make anybody a damn liar. Key out. Hang on to -that spanner. Damp up, and shut the blower off. Fetch the iron trucks. -We shall want some help to get these out o' the way." - - "Billy, sing that song, - That good old song to me!" - -"Now, Jacko! Give us a hand here." - -"I can't. My leg's bad." - -"That won't hurt your leg, will it? I wants your hand, not your leg. -'Tis all in the gang." - -"I got one stuck on the jumper." - -"All right. Blind you! We'll do it ourselves. This _is_ a show! Come on, -mates! Keep the handles down, and mind he don't tip." - -"Give him a blow on that bar to get him off the jumper, can't ya; and -don't stick up there doin' nothin'. You ain't heard our mate's new -nickname, have you, Wormy?" - -"No. What's that?" - -"Flannel. Know why that is?" - -"No." - -"Cos water allus makes him shrink. Look at him! The only curly-headed -boy in the family!" - -"You hump-backed, monkey-faced baa-boon! You broke loose from the Zoo, -you did. I won't hit another stroke for nobody, now, damn if I do!" - -"Get out! I'll spiflicate you!" - -"I'll bash the tongs across your head." - -"What ya goin' to do? Take that! _Now_ what ya goin' to do? I've had -enough of your jaw." - -"Let the kid alone, can't you!" - -"I'll get my own back on him, before night, see if I don't. I'll drop -the hammer on his head." - -"Fetch him out, Wormy!" - -"Hey-yup!" - -_Whizz-z-z._ - -"Keep that hammer still, will ya! Hit him if you dares! Now go on. -Steady!" - -_Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang._ - -"Whoa! whoa! steady! steady! Light when I tell ya!" - -_Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang._ - -"Blast you! What a' you doin'? You smashed him all to pieces." - -"I told you I'd do it." - -"Workin' your breakfast-time, there?" - -"Goin' to keep on all day?" - -"Ain't you goin' to chuck up?" - -"How's the balance?" - -"What! only just started?" - -"Whack 'em along!" - -"How many more?" - -"Work 'em out!" - -"What time is it?" - -"'Ere's old Sid with the checks!" - -"What's up, Flannigan?" - -"Only wants two minutes!" - -"Flatfoot's gone by." - -"You're on late, mate!" - -"What's going to happen?" - -"Got a book-ful?" - -"Tool up, there!" - -"Put him up yourself!" - -"Put that tool up, Wormy, and catch hold o' that lever." - -"Light blow!" - -_Bang._ - -"Whoa! That'll do." - -"What cheer, Sid!" - -"Stand back, here, and let's get by." - -"Wants a lot o' room for a little un, don't ya?" - -"Not so much as you. Not so much as you. My time's precious, not like -yourn. We got summat to do, we have." - -"Ah! Sit on your backside an' count they checks out, that's all." - -"Goin' to have your bit o' brass when I offers it to you?" - -"Put him on the anvil." - -"Shan't! Take him in your hand. Lose him, and then blame me." - -"My hand's oiley!" - -"Don' matter! Wipe him in your breeches, can't you? Come on, kidney -bean-stick!" - -"Little fat maggot!" - -"Go on, bones!" - -"Pimple on a cabbage!" - -"Alpheus!" - -"Sideus!" - -"_Nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit!_" - -"[Greek: sphragidonuchargokomts]." - -"Lend my father your wheelbarrow!" - -"Using your knife breakfast-time, kid?" - -"No! I got bread and scrape." - -"Who got the frying-pan?" - -"You can have him for a fag." - -"I got a bit o' dead dog, I have." - -"What d'ya call it? Looks like a bit of Irish." - -"That never died a natural death!" - -"That drove many a man up a tree!" - -"Lend us that catalogue of firearms, Dick!" - -"He's underneath the bucket." - -"How much longer ya going to keep on?" - -"I wants to get my blocks right afore breakfast." - -"Laudy! You left that rotten stinking oil on." - -"No, I didn't!" - -"Yes you did! Stop it off, and put that board in the hole!" - -"I tell you it's shut off. That's only the stink you can smell." - -"It makes me feel rotten. I shan't want any grub." - -"Ain't it damn hot! We shall be dead afore night." - -"Hit him, Wormy!" - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -"Whoa!" - -"What's the die like?" - -"Wants to go over a bit yet." - -"Chuck it up!" - -"Lie down, can't you!" - -"Mind your own business!" - -"Put him through the tool." - -"Got the coke ready for after breakfast, Jim?" - -"Ah!" - -"I'm going to put you through your facings, by and by." - -"I don't trouble! I ben' a-goin' to work no harder for nobody." - -"Look out for Ratty! He's peepin' about. He's going to report the first -one as puts his coat on afore the hooter goes." - -"He's worse than old Wanky!" - -"'Tis all damn watchmen here!" - -"How's the minutes?" - -"It's quarter past." - -"There's the buzzer!" - -"There he goes!" - -"Tools down, mates!" - -"Whack 'em down!" - -"Hooter!" - -"Hoo-ter-r!" - -"Hoo-oo-ter-r-r!" - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - - THE NIGHT SHIFT--ARRIVAL IN THE SHED--"FOLLOWING THE - TOOL"--THE FORGEMAN'S HASTE AND BUSTLE--LIGHT AND - SHADE--SUPPER-TIME--CLATTER AND - CLANG--MIDNIGHT--WEARINESS--THE RELEASE--HOME TO REST - - -Whatever the trials of the day shift at the forge may be, those of the -night turn are sure to be far greater. For the daytime is the natural -period of both physical and mental activity. The strong workman, after a -good night's rest and sleep, comes to the task fresh, keen, vigorous, -and courageous. Though the day before him be painfully long--almost -endless in his eyes--he feels fit to do battle with it, for he has a -reserve of energy. In the early morning, before breakfast, he is not at -his best. He has not yet "got into his stride," he tells you. His full -strength does not come upon him suddenly, it develops gradually. He can -spend and spend and spend, but cannot exhaust. Nature's great battery -continues to yield fresh power until the turn of the afternoon. Then the -rigid muscles relax, and the flesh shows loose and flabby. The eyes are -dull, the features drawn; the whole body is tired and languid. - -But this is with the day shift, working in the natural order of things. -A great change is to be observed in the case of the night turn. There -nature is inverted; the whole scheme is reversed. The workman, unless he -is well seasoned to it, cannot summon up any energy at all, and he -cannot conquer habit, not after months, or even years of the change. -When, by the rule of nature, he should be at his strongest and the -exigencies of the night shift require that he should sleep, that -strength, bubbling up, keeps him awake, dead tired though he be, and -when he requires to be active and vigorous just the reverse obtains. The -energy has subsided, the sap has gone down from the tree. Nature has -retired, and all the coaxing in the world will not induce her to come -forth until such time as the day dawns and she steals back upon him of -her own free will. That is what, most of all, distinguishes the night -from the day shift, and makes it so wearisome for the pale-faced -toilers. - -There is a poignancy in preparing for the night shift, the feeling is -really one of tragedy. This is where the unnaturalness begins. Everyone -but you is going home to rest, to revel in the sweet society of wife and -children, or parents, to enjoy the greatest pleasure of the workers' -day--the evening meal, the happy fireside, a few short hours of simple -pleasure or recreation and, afterwards, the honey-dew of slumber. As you -walk along the lane or street towards the factory you meet the toilers -in single file, or two abreast, or marching like an army, in compact -squads and groups, or straggling here and there. The boys and youths -move smartly and quickly, laughing and talking; the men proceed more -soberly, some upright with firm step and cheerful countenance, others -bent and stooping, dragging their weary limbs along in silence like -tired warriors retreating after the hard-fought battle. - -There is also the inward sense and knowledge of evening, for, however -much you may deceive your external self, you cannot deceive Nature. -Forget yourself as much as you please, she always remembers the hour and -the minute; she is far more painstaking and punctual than we are. The -time of day fills you with a sweet sadness. The summer sun entering -into the broad, gold-flooded west, the soft, autumn twilight, or the -gathering shades of the winter evening, all tell the same story. It is -drawing towards night; night that was made for man, when very nature -reposes; night for pleasure and rest, for peace, joy, and compensations, -while you--here are you off to sweat and slave for twelve dreary hours -in a modern inferno, in the Cyclops' den, with the everlasting wheels, -the smoke and steam, the flaring furnace and piles of blazing hot metal -all around you. - -Within the entrance the place seems almost deserted. The huge sheds have -poured out their swarms of workmen. The black-looking crowds have -disappeared, and the great, iron-bound doors are closed up and locked. -The watchmen, who have been patrolling the yard and supervising the -exodus of the toilers, are returning to their quarters. Only the rooks -are to be seen scavenging up the fragments of bread and waste victuals -which the men have thrown out of their pockets for them. - -Arrived at the shed you are greeted with the familiar and dreadful din -of the boilers priming, the loud roar of the blast and the whirl of the -wheels. The rush of hot air almost overpowers you. You feel nearly -suffocated already, and half stagger through the smoke and steam to -reach your fire and machine standing under the dark, sooty wall. As you -thread your way in and out between the furnaces and among the piles of -iron and steel you receive a severe dig in the ribs with the long handle -of the man's shovel who is cleaning out the cinders and clinker from -beneath the furnaces, or the ash-wheeler, stripped to the waist and -dripping with perspiration, runs against you roughly with his -wheel-barrow and utters a loud "Hey-up!" or otherwise assails you with -"Hout o' the road, else I'll knock tha down," and hurries off up the -stage to deposit his load and then comes down again to get in a stock of -coal from the waggon for the furnaces. Here the smith is preparing his -fire, while his mate breaks up the coke with the heavy mallet; the -yellow flames and cinders are leaping up from the open forge by the -steam saw. The oil furnaces are puffing away and spitting out their -densest clouds of pitchy smoke, filling the shed, while the stamper -fixes his dies and oils round, or half runs to the shears in the corner -and demands his stock of iron bars to be brought forthwith. The old -furnaceman, sweating from the operation of clinkering, shovels in the -coal and disposes it with the ravel. The forging hammers glide up and -down, clicking against the self-act, while the forger and his mates -manipulate the crane and ingot, or charge in the blooms or piles. -Everyone is in a desperate hurry, eager to start on with the work and -get ahead of Nature, before she flags too much. It is useless to wait -till midnight, or count upon efforts to be made in the hours of the -morning. - -All this is during your entry to the shed and often before the official -hour for starting work. On coming to your post you, too, strip off hat, -coat, and vest, and hang them up in the shadow of the forge, then bind -the leathern apron about your waist, see to your own fire and -tools--tongs, sets, flatters, and sledges--obtain water from the tap by -the wall, shout "Hammer up!" to your mate, and prepare to thump away -with the rest. The heat of the shed in the evening, from six o'clock -till ten o'clock, is terrific in the summer months. For hours and hours -the furnaces and boilers have been raging, fuming, and pouring out their -interminable volumes of invisible vapour; the sun without, and the fires -within have made it almost unbearable. The floor plates, the iron -principals, the machine frames, the uprights of the hammers--everything -is full of heat; the water in the feed-pipes is so hot as to startle -you. As the hour draws on, towards nine or ten o'clock, this diminishes -somewhat. The cool night air envelops the shed and enters in through the -doors, restoring the normal temperature, though, if the night be muggy, -there will be scarcely any diminution of the punishment till the early -morning, when there is always a cooling down of the atmosphere. - -Now the general toil commences in every corner of the smithy. The brawny -forger pulls, tugs, or pushes the heavy porter; the stamper runs out -with his white-hot bar, spluttering and hissing, and poises one foot on -the treadle while he adjusts it over the die, then _Pum-tchu, pom-tchu, -ping-tchu, ping-tchu_, goes the hammer, and over he turns it deftly, -blows away the scale and excrescence with the compressed air, and -_pom-tchu, ping-tchu_, again replies the hammer. Here he claps the -forging in the trimmer, click goes the self-act, and down comes the -tool. The finished article drops through on to the ground; the stamper -thrusts the bar into the furnace, turns on more oil and off he goes -again. The sparks swish and fly everywhere, travelling to the furthest -wall; he wipes away the sweat with the blistered back of his hand, -looking half-asleep, and rolls the quid of tobacco in his cheek. - -Hard by the smith is busy with his forge and tools. His mate is ghastly -pale and thin in the yellow firelight, though he himself looks fat and -well. He sets the blast on gently till the iron is nearly fit, then -applies the whole volume, to put on the finishing touch and make the -iron soft and "mellow." This lifts up the white cinders in clouds and -blows them out of the front also, so that now and then they lodge on the -blacksmith's arms and in his hair, but he shakes them off and takes -little notice of them. He jerks the jumper up and down once or twice, -turns the heat round quickly, then shuts off the blast, and with a -lion-like grip of the tongs, brings it to the anvil and lays on with his -hand-hammer, while his mate plies the sledge. Presently he throws down -his hammer, grips the "set tool" or "flatter," and his mate continues to -strike upon it till the work is completed. If the striker is not -proficient and misses once or twice, he jerks out, in a friendly -tone--"On the top, or go home," or, "Go and get some chalk"--_i.e._, to -whiten the tool--or, "Follow the tool, follow the tool, you okkerd -fella." Once, when a smith had a strange mate--a raw hand--with him, and -bade him to "Follow the tool," when he put that down the striker -continued to go for it till it flew up and nearly knocked out the -smith's eye, but he excused himself on the ground that he thought he had -to "follow the tool." - -Here is a skinny, half-naked fellow, striving with all his might to draw -a heavy bogie piled up with new blooms, half a ton or more in weight. -His head is thrown far forward, about a yard from the ground. His arms, -thin and small, are strained like rods of iron behind his back; only his -toes grip the ground. He shouts out to someone near for help. - -"Hey! Gi' us a shove a minute." - -"Gi' thee tha itch! Ast the gaffer for a mate. I got mi own work to do," -the other replies, and keeps hammering away. - -Next is a belated stamper in want of tools. "Hast got a per o' tongs to -len' us a minute, ole pal?" - -"Shove off wi' thee and make a pair, or else buy some, like I got to. -Nobody never lends I nothin'," is the answer he receives. - -This one wants a blow. "Come an' gi' I a blow yer." - -"Gi' thee a blow on the head. I got no time to mess about wi' thee." - -Another is concerned as to the hour--there are those whose thoughts are -always of the clock, anxiously awaiting the next stop. "What time is it, -mate?" - -"Aw! time thee wast better," or "Same as 'twas last night at this time. -Thee hasn't bin yer five minutes it." - -Perhaps the steam pressure is low. "Wha's bin at wi' the steam, matey? -We chaps can't hit a stroke." - -"Got twisted in the pipes, I 'spect. Go an' put thi blower on, an' fire -up a bit, an' run that slag out." - -This one cannot obtain his supply of bars from the shears. "Now Matty! -Hasn't got that iron cut? I can't wait about for thee." - -"Dwunt thee be in sich a caddle. Thee ootn't get it none the zooner. -Other people got to live as well as thee, dost naa!" - -"All right! I shall go and see _he_," (the overseer). - -"Thee cast go an' do jest whatever thee bist a-mine to. 'Twunt make a -'appoth o' difference." - -By and by the overseer comes up and shouts--"Hey! Can't you let these -chaps on, Matthews?" - -"No, I caan't! Tha'll hef to woite a bit. Ther's some as bin a-woitin' -all night, ver nigh. 'Tis no good to plag' I, else ya wunt get nothin' -done at all." - -Here is the forger bellowing at his driver. "Go on! Go on! Hit him! Hit -him! Hit him! Light, ther'! Light! 'Old on! 'Old on! Whoa, then! Castn't -stop when I tells tha? Dost want to spile the jilly thing? Gi' us up -they gauges. A's too thick now. Up a bit, ther! Hit un agyen! Light now! -Light! Light! That'll do! Whoa! Take 'old o' this bar, an' gi' us that -cutter. Now, Strawberry! turn 'e over in the fire, an' don' stand ther' -a-gappatin'. 'Aaf thi 'ed 'll drop off in a minute. Ther's a lot to do -yet, else ya won' get no balance. Hout o' the road, oot!" - -"Haw-w-right. Kip yer wool on. 'Tis a long time to mornin' it. Thee bist -allus in a caddle," the other answers. - -"Shet thi 'ed, an' mind thi own business, else I'll fetch the gaffer to -thee! Pull up ther', an' le's 'ev un out on't. We be all be'ind agyen! -Everybody else ull a done afore we begins! Hang on to that chayn, Fodgy! -Now then! ALL together! UGH!" - -So the ingot is brought out with shouts and cries, the rattling and -jingling of chains and the loud roaring of steam in the roof outside. -The blaze of the furnace and the spluttering, white-hot metal make it as -light as day in the shed. The forger and his mates stagger under the -weight of the ingot and porter-bar and incline their heads to escape the -fierce heat. Their faces and necks are burnt red and purple--of the -colour of blood-poisoning. Their shirt sleeves are hanging loose to -protect their arms; they wear thin, round calico caps on their heads and -leathern aprons about their waists. At the first blow or two the sparks -shriek around, and especially if the ingot is of steel and happens to be -well-heated. The smiths yell out at the top of their voice and rush to -save their clothes hanging up beside the forge. The men's faces look -transfigured in the bright light. Their shadows, huge, weird, and -fantastic, reach high up the wall, even to the roof. The smallest object -is thrown into relief and the shafts of the sledges cast a shadow as -sharp and clear as from the sun at mid-day. As the mighty steel monkey -descends, half covering the white mass, the shadow falls on the roof, -walls, and machinery around, and rises as the smooth, shapely piston -glides upward into the cylinder; up and down, up and down it goes, like -the rising and falling of a curtain. This continues till the heat of -the forging diminishes and the rays of the metal are no longer capable -of overpowering the light cast out from the fire-holes and the smoky, -sleepy-looking gas-jets hanging in lines adown the smithy. - -As the iron becomes cooler the hammer beats harder and harder. The -oscillation is very great and the sound nearly approaches a ring. The -steam roars overhead and leaks and hisses through the joints of the -pipes and glands. The oil in the stamper's dies explodes with a -cannon-like report. The huge hydraulic engines _tchu-tchu_ outside; the -wheels whirr and hum away in the roof, and the smith's tools clang out -or ring sharply on the anvil. Without, through the open doors, the night -shows inky black; the smoke and steam beat down and are blown in with -the wind, or the fog is sucked in quickly by the currents. Now the rain -beats hard on the roof and runs through in streams, while the wind -clatters between the stacks and ventilators overhead with a noise like -thunder; or, if it is mid-winter, the light, feathery snowflakes are -wafted in from above and sway to and fro and round and round, uncertain -where to lodge, until they are dissolved with the heat and finally -descend in small drops like dew upon the faces and arms of the forgers. - -At the end of every hour the watchman with his lamp passes through, like -a policeman on his beat, and stands a moment before the furnace to warm -himself or to watch the shaping of the ingot. The old furnaceman views -him askance, or ventures to address him with a "How do?" or "Rough night -out," to which the other responds with a nod, or a "Yes; 'Tis!" and -takes his departure into the blackness outside. At frequent intervals -the overseer walks round and takes his stand here and there, with his -hands behind him, or twisting his fingers in front, or with his thumbs -thrust into the arm-holes of his waistcoat, and glares at the men, -spitting out the tobacco juice upon the ground or on the red-hot -forging. Presently he shouts:--"Ain't ya done that thing yet? How much -longer ya going to be? He'll want a bit o' salt directly. Wher's -Michael? Ain't he in to-night? Wha's up wi' he?" - -"He's a-twhum along o' the owl' dooman to-night," someone answers. The -grimy toilers curse him under their breath and wish he would soon clear -off, which he presently does, slipping quickly away into the shadows or -climbing up the wooden stairway into the well-lit office. - -The first spell is at ten o'clock--that is, after four hours of terrific -hammering and sweating. This is the supper-hour. Here the engines cease -and the wheels stop their grinding. The roar of the blast has ceased, -too; there is not a flicker from the coke fires. The old furnaceman is -still shovelling away, for the forger was on till the last moment. Now -he "stops up," lays a little coal dust along the furnace door, shuts off -his blower, puts down the damper, and proceeds to rinse his hands in the -water bosh. All the while he was attending to his fire he had the wiper -about his neck and held one corner of it in his mouth. After drying his -hands with it he gives his grimy face a good rub, goes to his clothes -hanging up by the wall, slips on his waistcoat, stirs his tea in the can -with the blade of his pocket-knife, takes his food from the peg and -comes and sits down near the furnace, or in the sand-bunk. The one in -charge of the steam walks from boiler to boiler, setting on the -injectors. They admit the cool water with a murmurous, sleepy -sound--there is no priming yet. The furnace fire glitters through the -chinks of the door or grate like the stars on a frosty night. The old -furnaceman does not eat much. He tastes a little and bites here and -there, then he wraps the whole up again. - -"What! Bistn't agwain to hae thi zupper, then?" some one enquires. - -"No-o! Can't zim to get on wi't to-night," he answers. - -"Well! Chock it out for they owld rats, they'll be glad on't. Yellacks -is a girt un ther' now, in atween they piles!" - -Try how you will you cannot enjoy your food on the night shift. I have -carried mine home again morning after morning, or thrown it out for the -birds in the yard. I have seen men--and especially youths--go to sleep -with the food in their mouths. You are too languid to eat much, and what -you do eat has no savour. It is remarkable, also, that while you -continue working you do not feel the fatigue so much, but as soon as you -sit down you are assailed with increased weariness; you feel powerless -and exhausted and have no strength or energy left. Many, in order to -keep awake and fresh, go out into the town, deserted at that hour. Some -walk outside in the yard and bruise their shins against this or that -obstruction in the darkness. Others, again, after partaking of a few -mouthfuls of food, go on making up their fires, not only to keep -themselves awake, but also to help the work forward and earn their money -for the shift. I have many times worked all night--through both -meal-hours--in the attempt to earn my wages, and then have been -deficient. - -Here and there a small party will sit together and chat the meal-time -away, or a few will endeavour to read. Very soon, however, the newspaper -or book slips from the fingers. The tiredness and heat together prevail; -the eyes close and the mouth opens--the toiler is fast asleep. Presently -someone comes on the scene with a loud shout: "Hey-yup! What! bist thee -vly-ketchin' agyen? Get up and check, else tha't be locked out," or -another staggers round with half-closed eyes and bawls out, "'Ow beest -bi tiself, Bill?" the reply to which usually is, "Thee get an' laay -down," or "None the better for thy astin'." Occasionally several will -start singing a song, or hymn, and be immediately assailed with loud -cries of "Lay down, oot!" or "Yeow! Yeow! Kennul! Kennul!" or a large -lump of coal is thrown against the roof to break and fall in dust upon -the choristers. Some spread rivet bags in front of the furnace and lie -upon them and others lie down upon the bare bricks or iron of the floor. -A few minutes before eleven o'clock the stragglers arrive back from the -town. The old furnaceman bestirs himself, lifts the damper, sets on the -blower, routs the coals of the fire and shouts, "Come on, yer," to his -mates. The steam-hammer man opens the valve and raises the monkey, -making it glide up and down to work the water out of the cylinder, the -forgemen and smiths bustle about again and the terrific din recommences. - -So the furious toil proceeds hour by hour. _Bang, bang, bang. Pum-tchu, -pum-tchu, ping-tchu, ping-tchu. Cling-clang, cling-clang. Boom, boom, -boom. Flip-flap, flip-flap. Hoo-oo-oo-oo-oo. Rattle, rattle, rattle. -Click, click, click. Bump, bump. Scrir-r-r-r-r-r-r. Hiss-s-s-s-s-s-s. -Tchi-tchu, tchi-tchu, tchi-tchu. Clank, clank, clank, clank, clank._ The -noises of the steam and machinery drown everything else. You see the -workmen standing or stooping, pulling, tugging, heaving, dragging to and -fro, or staggering about as though they were intoxicated, but there is -no other sound beyond the occasional shouting of the forger and the -jerking or droning of the injectors. It is a weird living picture, stern -and realistic, such as no painter could faithfully reproduce. If the -oil in the stampers' forges is worse than usual the dense clouds of -nauseating smoke hang over you like a pall so thickly that you cannot -see your fellows a few paces away, making it intensely difficult to -breathe and adding a horrible disgust to the unspeakable weariness. Then -the bright flashing metal and the white gas-jets show a dull red. Even -the sound seems deadened by the smoke and stench, but this is merely the -action of the impurity upon the sense organs; they are so much impaired -with the grossness of the atmosphere as to fail in their functions. By -and by, when the air has cleared a little, it all rushes back upon you -with increased intensity. Everything is swinging and whirling round, and -you seem to be whirled round with it, with not a thought of yourself, -who you are, where you are, or what you are doing, but keep toiling -mechanically away. Ofttimes you would be quite lost, but the revolutions -of the machine, the automatic strokes of the hammer, and the _habit_ of -the job control you. And if this should fail, your mate, half asleep, -whacks his heat along and casts it upon your toe, or sears you with the -hot tongs, or he misses the top of the tool at the anvil and strikes -your thumb instead. There are many things to keep you alive, and always -the fear of not earning your money for the turn and having to be jeered -at and bullied by the chargeman or overseer and so have your life made -miserable. The faces and fronts of the smiths and forgers, as they stand -at the fires or stoop over the metal, are brilliantly lit up--yellow and -orange. Here are the piles of finished forgings and stampings upon the -ground--white, yellow, bright red, dull red, and almost black hot; the -long tongues of fire leap up from the coke forges, and every now and -then a livid sheet of flame bursts out from the stamper's dies. There is -plenty of colour, as well as animation, in the picture, which obtains -greater intensity through contrast with the blackness outside. - -The greatest weariness assails you about midnight, and continues to -possess you till towards three o'clock. Then Nature struggles violently, -demanding her rights, twitching, clutching, and tugging at your eyelids -and striving in a thousand ways to bring you into submission and force -her rule upon you, but the iron laws of necessity, circumstance, and -system prevail; you must battle the power within you and repel the sweet -soother, struggling on in the unnatural combat. The keen eye of the -overseer is upon you, who is always whipping you to your task, or the -watchman is striving to take you loitering and so bring himself into -notice; it is useless to give way. Necessity urges; the body must be -clothed and fed. There are the wife and children at home, and you must -live. I have felt it, and I know what it is. There, in the smoke and -stench, the heat and cold, draught and damp of midnight I have slaved -with the rest, not harder or with greater pains than they, though -perhaps I have noted the feelings whereas they have not. The eyes ache, -the ears ache, the teeth ache, the temples ache, the shoulders ache, the -arms ache, the legs ache, the feet ache, and the heart aches. I have -many times wished, in those dark, awful hours, that the hammer would -smash my head; that I might be suddenly caught and hurled into eternity, -and I have heard others express the same wish openly and sincerely. -Sometimes I have stolen out of the great doors to stand for a moment in -the open in the cold dark or starry night, and looked out towards the -hills, or away over the town with the whirl of the shed behind me. There -was the great red moon showing through the clouds low down, or the -fiercely glittering Mars setting in the west, or inky blackness above, -with a few tiny lights twinkling in the far-off streets of the town and -a silence as deep as death out beyond. If I could but have heard the old -barn owl hooting in the farmyard, the cow lowing in the meadow or stall, -the fox yelping in the little wood, or even the bark of a dog, I should -have been strengthened and relieved, but there was never a sound of -them--nothing but the black outlines of the sheds around, the small -distant lights of the town and the great white blaze and crash of noises -within. Even to pause there is but to intensify the torture and the cold -air soon chills you to the bone. The only course open is to keep toiling -away with the rest and wear the night out. - -The second stop is at two o'clock and is of brief duration--twenty -minutes or half an hour at the outside. It is merely a break in order to -have a mouthful of food, a something, so that it shall not be said that -the men have to toil for seven consecutive hours in that unspeakable -weariness. Here the huge engines become silent again and the heavy -pounding stops. The wheels and machinery under the wall look as inert -and innocent as though they had never moved; it would be difficult to -imagine that they were capable of such noise and uproar if you had not -heard it yourself but a few minutes before. The boilers, relieved of the -strain upon their resources, begin to prime again with a continued -crashing, shattering sound which the boilerman tries in vain to subdue -with cold water through the injectors. The furnace glitters and the oil -forges smoke. The air is laden with the peculiarly nauseous fumes of the -water-gas that make the toilers feel sick and ill and destroy the -appetite. - -This time the men are unusually silent and mopish. Each selects a place -for himself and sits, or lies down, apart from the others. Only the -tough, wiry forgeman, the strong smith, or the hardy coalies and -ash-wheelers can attack the food. The rest usually go to their jackets, -open their handkerchiefs, look at the contents, eat a little perhaps, -half-heartedly, and wrap them up again. The constitution of the forgeman -is almost like iron itself. He and the smith can usually manage their -meal, and the coal-wheelers, from being constantly out in the fresh air, -are not quite as weary as are the others, and so can relish the food -better. On Friday nights--when the men are more than usually drowsy--the -food may be a little more tempting and tasty. At six o'clock the wages -were paid, and at supper-time a few, at least, will have gone or sent -out into the town for an appetizing morsel: some sausages, rashers, a -mutton chop, a pound of tripe, a bloater, or a packet of fried fish and -chipped potatoes--the youth's favourite dainty. Then, in the early -hours, amid the din of the boilers, the black frying-pan or coal shovel -is produced and the savoury odour is wafted abroad. The greatest -pleasure, however, is usually in the anticipation of the meal. The food -itself is seldom eaten--or no more than a small part of it, at -least--the other is cast out for the rats and rooks. Years ago, in the -autumn, we boys used to gather mushrooms in the fields on our way to -work and cook them for "dinner" in the early morning and suffer severely -for it afterwards. Nature, disorganized with the exigences of the night -shift, refused the proffered dainties. It is difficult to digest even -ordinary food taken in the unwholesome air of the shed at such an -unearthly hour. - -Punctually to the moment, if not before time, the engines begin to throb -again; the piston rods, gliding slowly at first, soon attain a rapid -speed. The huge crank, flashing in the bright gas-light, leaps over and -over. The big belt strains and creaks as though it would avoid its -labour and the turning of the shaft overhead, but the heavy fly-wheel -spins round, and the little pulleys and cogs go with it; they must all -obey the urging of the mighty steam wizard lurking in the green-painted -cylinder. The donkey engines, forcing the blast, are coughing and -spitting out the white vapour and labouring painfully under the wall in -the lean-to outside. Within the fires are flashing and the flames -leaping, and the toil goes on as before. - -About three o'clock, or soon after, the weariness begins to diminish -somewhat, and the old habit of the body reasserts itself. The natural -hour of repose is passing, and the fountain of energy begins to bubble -up within you; you feel to be approaching the normal condition again. -The fatigue now gives place to a feeling of unreality and stupidity; you -seem to be dazed and irritable, as though you had been aroused from -sleep before the accustomed time. Now you experience deep pains in the -chest, resulting from loss of sleep. The head aches as though it would -burst and the eyes are very painful and "gritty," but you feel cheered, -nevertheless, with the thought of daylight, the coming cessation from -toil, and the opportunity of obtaining a breath of fresh, pure air -again. The overseer slips to and fro quickly about this time in order to -keep the men well on the move, pricking here and prodding there, and -visiting those whom he knows will tell him all the news of the night's -work--such as may have escaped him. The toilers pay him but little -attention, however, and keep plodding languidly away. - -Steadily, as the day dawns, the light within increases, red, white, or -golden, stealing through the thick glass of the roof or by the wide open -doors, and soon after one appears with a long staff and turns off all -the gas. It is really day once more, and there is not much longer to -go. At twenty minutes past five the hooter sounds loudly, calling up the -men of the day shift, and the pace flags visibly. A few, however, who -have not done any too well in the middle hours of the night, hammer away -with increased energy right up to the last, for they know the day -overseers and the chargemen will go round and feel the forgings to see -how late the others were toiling. If the iron is cool they know that -their mates have been dilatory and the tale is told around. - -A few minutes before six o'clock the engines slow down and stop and the -roar of the blast ceases. The steam-hammers are lowered with a loud thud -and the furnace fires are banked up; the mighty toil is over, for this -turn, at any rate. Now the forgers and stampers unbind their aprons and -roll them up; the smiths stow their tools, placing these in the iron box -and those in the boshes of water to soak the shafts and tighten the -handles of the sledges. After that they swill their hands at the tap, -put on muffler, jacket, or great-coat, and file out of the shed--dirty, -dusty, tired and sleepy-looking. Not for them the joy of morning, the -vigour, freshness and bloom, the keen delight in the open air, the happy -heart and elevated spirit. They slouch away through the living stream of -the day toilers now arriving as black as sweeps, half-blinded with the -bright daylight, blinking and sighing, feeling unutterably and -unnaturally tired, out of sorts and out of place, too, and crawl home, -like rats to their holes, to snatch a little rest, and recuperate for -new efforts to be made on the following turn. - -Few of the men's wives or parents in the town will be up to welcome them -at that early hour and provide them with warm tea and a breakfast. -Accordingly, some go home and straight to bed without food at all, a few -walk about the streets or out towards the country for an hour or so -till the home fire is lit, while others go home and get the breakfast -themselves. Perhaps, if trade in the shed is brisk, they will be -required to work overtime till eight or nine o'clock. I have done this -for months at a stretch and afterwards walked home to the village, -ofttimes sitting down on the roadside to rest, reaching home at about -ten o'clock and getting to bed an hour before noon, to be awakened by -every slight noise without the house. At one time I was aroused by the -old church clock striking, at another by the sound of the school bell, -or the children at play underneath the window, or by the farm waggon. At -four in the afternoon, rested or not, you must rise again, wash and -dress, snatch a hasty meal, and plod off to the town, four miles -distant, forgetful of everything behind you--the gentle peace of the -village, the long line of dreamy-looking hills, the haymakers in the -field, the sweetly sorrowful sound of the threshing machine by the ricks -in the farmyard, the eternal pageantry of the heavens, the whole natural -life and scenery of the world. The knowledge of the loss lies like lead -at the heart and fills one with a keen regret, a poignant sense of the -cruelty of the industrial system and your own weakness with it; yet one -must live. But there is real tragedy in working the night shift at the -forge. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - - INFERIORITY OF WORK MADE BY THE NIGHT SHIFT--ALTERING THE - GAUGES--THE "BLACK LIST"--"DOUBLE STOPPAGE - CHARLIE"--"JIMMY USELESS"--THE HAUNTED COKEHEAP--THE OLD - VALET--THE CHECKER AND STOREKEEPER - - -The work produced on the night turn is greatly inferior to that made by -the men of the day shift. It is impossible to do good work when you are -tired and weary. One has not then the keenness of sense, the nerve, nor -the energy to take the requisite pains. You are not then the master of -your machinery and tools, but are subject to them; even where the work -is with dies and performed mechanically, there will be depreciation. -Perhaps the stamper's tools have shifted a little. The keys want -removing, the dies re-setting and then to be rammed up tight again. But -he is too weary to do much with the sledge, so he keeps dragging along -with his dies a-twist and makes that do, whereas, if he were working by -day he would rectify them immediately and bang away at top speed. - -It is the same with the forger. He, too, tough as he is, cannot maintain -the precision he would exercise by day. The pile or ingot on the -porter-bar seems to him to have doubled in weight. The flash of the -blazing metal half blinds him. He cannot stand the heat so well; it is -all against turning out good work. Unless the bloom is kept exactly -square under the stroke of the hammer it lops over on one side and -obtains an ugly shape, which it will be impossible to rectify; there is -nothing more unsightly to the eye of the careful smith or hammerman than -a shabby piece of forging. Very often, too, a portion of slag or sand -from the bed of the furnace has adhered to the pile and, falling away, -has left a hole in the metal. Although, in the uncertain light, the -forger may think that he has hammered it quite out, when he views the -piece by daylight he finds it rough and untidy and perhaps worthless. It -may be too small now; there is not enough metal to clean up under the -tools of the slotting- or shaping-machine. - -Then there is the smith's weld or bend to be considered. In the first -place, the smith is liable to mistake the heat of his parts by gaslight, -for then they appear brighter and hotter than they really are, and when -he brings them out to the anvil, the metal, instead of shutting up well, -will be hard and glassy under the tools. It will, consequently, go -together badly and leave a mark or "scarf," which is not at all -desirable, though the weld may be strong enough inside. In such a case -resort will be had to "nobbling"; that is, covering up and concealing -the scarf with the small round ball of the hand-hammer. This must be -done secretly, for no foreman would tolerate much of it. It is looked -upon as a mark of bad workmanship, though the bluff old overseer of the -regular smiths' shed may condone it in a few cases with: "Hello! You be -at it agen then! But ther', you be no good if you can't do't. I allus -said any fool can be a smith but it takes a good man to nobble." The -smiths, under ordinary circumstances, are not allowed to use a file. -They must finish their job manfully with the sledge and tools, otherwise -they might fake up a bad forging, with nobbling and filing, and make it -look as strong as the best. - -There are more cases of ill-health among men of the night than of the -day shift, but the reason of this will be obvious to any. It is evident -that the unnatural conditions of all-night toil must weaken and wear -down the body and render it unfit to bear the strain put upon it, and -especially to withstand the cold draughts from the doors and roof, which -are the most fruitful source of sickness among the workmen--a large -number is always absent with chills and influenza. Small regard for a -man's health is had at any time in the factory. It is nothing to the -officials that he is out on the sick list, unless he happens to be -drawing compensation for an injury. I remember once, when work was slack -in the shed, the day overseer left orders for the night boss to send the -men outside in the yard and keep them there for two or three hours -shifting scrap iron, in order that they might "catch cold and stop at -home, and give the others a chance." - -Accidents, too, are frequent on the night shift; the greater part of the -more serious ones happen on that turn. Then the men, by reason of the -fatigue and dulness, are unable to take sufficient care of themselves; -they lack the quick presentiment of danger common to those of the day -shift. There is also the matter of defective light and carelessness in -the use of tools, and, very often, the mad hurry to get on in the first -part of the night--the wild rush and tear of the piecework system. It -was not long ago that "Smamer's" brother was killed at the drop-stamps -with a blow on the head, shortly after starting work. A jagged piece of -steel, ten or twelve pounds in weight, flew from the die and struck him -between the eye and ear knocking out half his brains. As things go, no -one was to blame. The men were all hurrying together to get the work -forward, but he was murdered, all the same, done to death by the system -that is responsible for the rash haste and frenzy such as is common on -the night shift. - -Nearly all whitewashing and painting out the interiors of the sheds is -done by night, when the machinery is still. This is performed by -unskilled hands--youths, for the most part; from one year's end to -another they are employed at it, taking the workshops by turn. The work -is very unhealthy and extremely dangerous. The men construct a little -scaffolding and work upon single, narrow planks, or crawl like flies -along the network of girders in and out among the shafting, with a -single gas-jet to afford them light. One false step or overbalancing -would bring them down to the ground, thirty feet below, amid the -machinery; death would be swift and certain for them if they should miss -their footing on the planks. Their wages, considering the risks they -take, are very low; 18s. or 19s. a week is the amount they commonly -receive. Several of the men, whom I know personally--steady fellows and -good time-keepers--had been getting 18s. a week for twenty years till -recently; then, after persistent applications for an advance, they were -granted the substantial rise of 1s. a week! One sturdy fellow, braver -than the rest, on meeting the manager one day, complained to him of the -low wages, but was unsuccessful. His overseer, upon hearing of it, -promptly told him to clear out, which he afterwards did, and went to -Canada and saved 150 in less than a year. When the small boys asked -Bill Richards, the old smiths' foreman, for a rise, he used jokingly to -tell them to "Get up a-top o' the anvul." - -The running expenses of much of the "labour-saving" plant is truly -enormous and very often so great as entirely to counteract the much -boasted profit-making capacity of the machine, but the managers do not -mind that in the least as long as they can show a reduction of hands. -If, by any means at all, they can get one man to do what formerly -required the services of two or three, they do not trouble about -machinery or fuel expenses; the losses incurred by these they make good -by speeding up the workman and getting a bigger share out of him. They -would rather pay fabulous sums for plant and running expenses than allow -the workman to get a few shillings more in wages. - -The wholesale waste of material, fuel, and energy, in many of the sheds, -is appalling; many thousands of pounds are annually thrown away in this -direction. Walk where he will the keen observer will detect waste; no -one seems to trouble about the real economy. I have seen it daily for -years and have made numerous suggestions, but to no purpose; the -overseers are too stupid and ignorant, or too haughty and jealous, to -carry out ideas, and the managers are no better. They squander thousands -of pounds in experiments and easily cover up their short-comings, but if -the machineman happens to break a new tool, or spoil metal of a few -pence in value, he is suspended and put on the "black list." - -If a workman sees a way to make improvements in processes and the like, -he immediately falls into disfavour with the overseers. Some years ago -I, as chief stamper, was anxious to improve the process of making a -forging, and also the forging itself, and waited on the overseer with a -view to having the alteration made, but I could not obtain his sanction -for a long time. At last, as new dies were to be made, I succeeded, -after some difficulty, in obtaining his consent for the improvement. -Happening to enter the die shed while the job was in the lathe I was -told by the machineman that no alteration had been authorised. Grasping -the situation, I took a bold course, carried out the suggested -alteration myself, and set the dies in the steam-hammer. The improvement -was a complete success. I was cursed and abused by the overseer, and he -was highly congratulated by the staff in my own presence and hearing. -The improvement was not to be permanent, however. Shortly afterwards the -dies were re-cut, and made in the old way again. At another time, when I -had assisted the overseer with an idea, he would not speak to me for a -fortnight. - -Many times after that I stood for improvements, and was rewarded with -the cutting of my prices and the threat of dismissal, and I had the -mortification of being "hooted" by my shop-mates into the bargain. The -fact of the matter is, workmen and overseers, too, want to run along in -the same old grooves, at any rate, as far as processes are concerned. -The foreman and manager think they have done enough if they merely cut a -price; they are too blind to see that improvements in the process of -manufacture is the first great essential. There are many jobs in the -sheds which have been done in the same old way for half a century. It is -painful to contemplate the ignorance, stupidity, and prejudice of the -staff in charge of operations. - -Every shed has an institution called "The Black List." This list is -filed in the foreman's office and contains the names of those who have -been found guilty of any indiscretion, those who may have made a little -bad work, indifferent time-keepers, and, naturally, those who have -fallen into disfavour with the overseer on any other account, and -perhaps the names have been added for no offence at all. When it is -intended to include a workman in the list, he is sent for to the office, -bullied by the overseer before the clerks and office-boy, and warned as -to the future. "I've put you on the black list. You know what that -means. The next time, mind, and you're out of it. I give you one more -chance." - -Not long ago an apprentice--a fine, smart, intellectual youth--was asked -by a junior mate to advise him as to a piece of work in the lathe and -went to give the required assistance. While thus engaged he was sent for -to the office and charged with idling by the overseer. He tried to -explain that he was helping his mate, but the foreman would not listen -to it. "Put him on the black list," he roared to the clerk. The lad's -father, enraged at the treatment meted out to his son, promptly removed -him from the works, and sacrificed four or five years of patient and -studious toil at his trade. It is useless to continue in the shed when -you have been stigmatised with the "black list." You will never make any -satisfactory progress; you had better seek out another place and make a -fresh start[3] in life. - - [3] I am told that the "Black List" has now been abolished. It - certainly existed down to several years ago. - -A favourite plan of the overseer's is to catch a man in a weak state and -force him to undergo a strict medical test. As a matter of fact, the -"medical test" is a farce; it is merely an examination by one of the -staff. Even if the workman passes the test satisfactorily it is recorded -and tells against him. Quite recently one of the forgers came to work -with a black eye, as the result of a private encounter, and the -overseer, after jesting with him concerning it, communicated with the -examiner and hustled him off to pass the "medical test." - -"What have you been at with the hammer?" said I to little Jim one day, -finding the lever working very stiffly. - -"I dunno. The luminator's broke," answered he. - -"The what broke?" I inquired. - -"That there yu-bricator, the thing what you puts the oil in," he -replied. - -Most of the articles stamped seemed to suggest something or other to -Jim's childish mind. One job, made three at a time, looked like "little -bridges"; something else resembled great butterflies. This was like an -air-gun, and that "just like little pistols." Jim's opinion of factory -work is interesting--he is a little over fifteen years of age. Coming up -to me one day, cap, waistcoat, everything cast aside, his shirt -unbuttoned, his face soot black, and with the sweat streaming down his -nose and chin, he said naively--"This is what I calls a weary life. This -place is more like a prison than anything else." After that he wished to -know if I had any apples in my garden, or, failing that, would I bring -him along some crabs in my pocket? - -"Double Stoppage Charlie" was well-known at the works. He first of all -used to keep his wife short of cash, telling her each pay-day it was -"double stoppage this week." He often figured in a public place, too, -and invariably made the same excuse. It was always "double stoppage -week" with him, so he came to be honoured with the nickname of "Double -Stoppage Charlie." There was also "Southampton Charlie," who had seen -service with the Marines, and who was for ever talking about the -"gossoons" and telling monstrous yarns of things--chiefly of bloody -fights and shipwrecks. He took pride in informing you that he had been -told he would have made a capital speaker of French, by reason of his -wonderful powers of "pronounciation." - -Jimmy Eustace--better known as "Jimmy Useless"--was full of poaching -adventures and midnight tussles with the gamekeepers and police. He was -delighted to tell you of how they dodged the men in blue and waded half -a mile, up to their necks in water, along the canal in the dark hours in -order to keep out of their clutches. This happened in his young days, in -the neighbourhood of Uffington. He was always somewhat of a rake, though -he was a very clever constructor of all kinds of iron work. Everyone -called him "an old fool," however, when Queen Victoria's new Royal Train -was made, and the workmen went out in the yard to see it. "He go to see -that thing? Not he! He could make a better one than that standing on his -head, any day." His long grey hair hung down as straight as candles and -his grey beard had the true lunar curve. He chewed half an ounce of -tobacco at a time, and spat great mouthfuls of the juice about -everywhere. - -A little humour is occasionally in evidence in the life that is lived by -the grimy pack of toilers in the factory sheds. There is, for instance, -the story of the young man engaged to be married to a smart lass, and -who gave himself certain unjustifiable airs, representing himself as -holding a position in the drawing office. After the wedding took place, -at the end of the first week, he took home 18s. in wages and was -severely taken to task by his spouse and mother-in-law. It transpired -that he was employed pulling a heavy truck about; that was the only -"drawing office" to which he was attached. - -One young fellow was subjected to the ridicule of his mates by reason of -an accident that befell him on his wedding-day. He lived far out in the -country, and, on the morning of the ceremony, just before the appointed -hour, happening to give an extra specially good yawn, he dislocated his -jaw and had to be driven twelve miles to a doctor. Another artless -youth, newly brought into the shed, when he was put to withdraw the -white-hot plates from a vast furnace, finding the iron rake much too -short, tied a piece of tar-cord on the end in order to lengthen it! - -The riveter and his mates occasionally practise the ludicrous. One day, -when "Dobbin," the "holder-up," who was short-sighted, was sitting -underneath the floor of the waggon with his head against the plate, -dozing perhaps, the riveter began to beat on the floor with his -hand-hammer and severely hurt his mate's cranium. Shortly afterwards -Dobbin unconsciously took his revenge. It is usual to "drift" the holes -with a steel tool in order to make them clear to admit the rivet, and on -this particular occasion the riveter thrust his finger through instead -and Dobbin, seeing it in the dim light and thinking it was the drift, -gave it a mighty ram upwards with the dolly and smashed it. - -Then there is "Budget," who works one of the oil furnaces, with only -half a shirt to his back and hair six or seven inches long and as -straight as gunbarrels; whose face, long before breakfast-time, is as -black as a sweep's; who slaves like a Cyclops at the forge and is -frequently quoting some portions of the speeches of Antonio and Shylock -in the "Merchant of Venice," which he learnt at school and has not yet -forgotten. He sprang out of bed in a great fright, seized his food and -ran at top speed, and only partly dressed, half through the town in the -darkness to discover finally that it wanted an hour to midnight: he had -only gone to bed at ten o'clock. His father is a platelayer on the -railway receiving the magnificent sum of 16s. a week in wages, and his -mother, after suffering five operations, was lately sent home from the -hospital as incurable; it is a struggle to make both ends meet and to -keep the home respectable. It is no wonder that Budget's shirt is always -out of repair and that he himself is racked with colds and influenza. - -There is romance in every walk of life, and legends of ghosts and -spirits that frequent desolate ruins and dark places, but few would -think to find such a thing as a haunted forge or coke heap, though they -were believed to exist by the credulous among the night-men at the -factory. "Sammy," the cokewheeler, had a mortal dread of the cokeheap at -midnight, by reason of strange, weird noises he had heard there in the -lone, dark hours, and the men at the fires often had to wait for fuel, -or go and get it in for themselves. Accordingly, certain among them -determined to frighten the old man still further. For several nights in -succession, at about twelve o'clock, someone scaled the big high heap at -the back and waited for Samuel's return from the shed with his -wheel-barrow. When he arrived the hidden one set up a loud, moaning -noise and started to clamber down the pile. The coke gave way and fell -with a crash, and Sammy, stuttering and stammering with a childlike -simplicity and in a paroxysm of fear, rushed off and told how the -"ghost" had assailed him. - -The haunted forge was in the smith's shed, adjoining the steam-hammer -shop. There a simple fellow was by a waggish mate first of all beguiled -into the belief that a treasure was hidden beneath the floorplate and -anvil, and then induced to go alone during the supper-hour in the hope -of obtaining a clue from the "spirit" as to its exact whereabouts. -Accordingly he went fearfully in through the darkness and up to the -fire, while his mate, concealed in the roof, moaned and spoke to him in -a ghostly voice down the chimney, telling how, many years before, he had -been murdered on that spot and his body buried there together with the -treasure, and promising to discover it to the workman if he would come -secretly to the fire a fixed number of nights and not communicate the -matter to any outsiders. This went on for some time, until the unhappy -dupe was made ill, and driven half out of his mind with crazy fear, and -things began to get serious. Suddenly the noises stopped, and the -midnight visit to the forge was discontinued. - -Cases have occurred in which a man has actually been driven out of his -mind by continual and systematic trading on his weakness, and by a -downright wicked and criminal prosecution of the unscrupulous game. -Teddy, the sweeper-up, who was a young married man, and highly -respectable, but who discovered a trifling weakness, was assailed and -befooled with disgusting buffoonery and drivelling nonsense to such an -extent that he became a perfect mental wreck, to the complete amusement -of the clique who had brought it about, and who indulged in hysterical -laughter at the unfortunate man's antics and general condition. To such -a point was the foolery carried that Teddy had to be detained, and he -fell seriously ill. In a fortnight he died, and those who had been the -chief cause of his collapse went jesting to his funeral. It was nothing -to them that they had been instrumental in his death; a man's life and -soul are held at a cheap rate by his mates about the factory. - -Jim Cole is considerably out of place in the factory crowd; ill-health -and other misfortunes were the cause of his migration to the railway -town. He is a Londoner by birth, and was first of all a valet in good -service; afterwards he bought a cab and plied with it about the streets -of the metropolis. As a valet he lived with a sister of John Bright, and -was often in attendance upon the famous statesman and orator. John -Bright's faith in the Book of Books is well nigh proverbial; the old -valet says whenever he went to his room in the morning he was always -sitting up in bed reading the Bible. - -As a cabman Jim was brought into contact with many celebrities, and it -is interesting to learn in what light great men appear to those who are -at their service about the thoroughfares. He knew Tennyson well by -sight. The famous poet was never a favourite with the "men in the -street." His testiness of manner and severity were well-known to them; -to use Jim Cole's words: "They hated the sight of him." "There goes the -miserable old d----l," they would say to each other. - -Carlyle was not a favourite with the cabmen either. They said he was -"hoggish," and "too miserable to live." Everyone was in his way, and -everything had to be set aside for him. His brilliant literary fame was -no recommendation in the face of his stern personal characteristics. - -Oscar Wilde was "a very nice man." There was not a bit of pride in him; -he would talk to anyone. He would not walk a dozen yards if he could -help it, but must ride everywhere. He often gave cabby a shilling to -post a letter for him. One day Jim Cole was driving him, and they met -Mrs. Langtry in her carriage. Thereupon Oscar Wilde stopped the cab, got -out, and stood with one foot on the step of the popular actress's -carriage, remaining in conversation with her for nearly an hour. At the -end of the journey Oscar stoutly denied the time, declared he was not -talking to Mrs Langtry for more than ten minutes, and refused to hand -over the fare demanded. Ultimately, however, he admitted he might have -been mistaken, and so came to terms and paid the extras. - -Once James was engaged to drive the celebrated Whistler and Mrs Whistler -to Hammersmith, and came very near meeting with disaster. That night he -was driving a young mare of great spirit, and she took fright at -something on the way and bolted. Poor Jim was in great suspense, -fearing an accident at every crossing. The mare flew along at a terrific -speed, but the hour was favourable and the traffic thin; there was a -fair, open road all the way. He strained every nerve to subdue the -animal and slacken the pace, but for over two miles he had not the -slightest control of the vehicle. Whistler was quiet and apparently well -content within; he had not the faintest idea that anything was wrong. At -last, after a great race up Hammersmith Broadway, the pace began to -flag; by the time they reached their destination Jim was able to "pull -her up" successfully. Whistler was delighted with the journey and waxed -enthusiastic about it. He clapped and patted the animal fondly on the -neck, several times exclaiming--"You splendid little mare!" Whistler was -a great favourite with the cabmen and he often chatted with them, and -made them feel quite at their ease. - -Mr Justin M'Carthy and his son were other celebrated fares. They were -very quiet and unassuming and earned the great respect of the cabmen. -Ill-health dogged the old-time valet. He is now forced to do the work of -a menial, lost and swallowed up in the crowd of grimy toilers at the -factory. - -There is one in every shed who stands at the ticket-box and checks in -the workmen at the beginning of each spell; _i.e._, at six A.M., at nine -o'clock, and two in the afternoon. It is his duty also to carry off the -box to the time office and bring back the tickets to the men before they -leave the shed. At the time office the metal tickets are sorted out and -placed on a numbered board; this the checker receives and carries round -to all the men and hands them their brasses. It is a favourite plan of -the man on the check-box to allow the workmen to drag a little by -degrees until they get slightly behind the official moment, and then to -close the box sharp and shut out forty or fifty. This causes the men to -lose half an hour, or they may possibly be compelled to go home for the -rest of the morning or afternoon. For some time afterwards they are very -punctual at the box, but by and by they are allowed to drag again and -the act of shutting out is repeated. The checker, as well as officiating -at the ticket-box, acts as a kind of shop watchman, and supplies the -overseer with information upon such points as may have escaped his -notice. - -Besides the checker, there is the regular shed detective, who locks up -the doors and cleans the office windows, and his supernumerary who -guards the doors at hooter-time and completes the custody of the place: -there is little fear of anything transpiring without its becoming known -to the foreman. As those selected to watch the rest are invariably the -lazy or the incompetent they are sure to be heartily contemned by the -busy toilers; there is nothing the skilful and generous workman detests -more than to have a worthless fellow told off to spy upon him. - -The storekeeper is another who, by reason of his extreme officiousness -and parsimonious manner in dealing out the stores, is not beloved of the -toilers in the shed. He treats every applicant for stores with fantastic -ceremony, examining the foreman's slip half-a-dozen times or more, and -turning it round and round and over and over until the exasperated -workman can stand it no longer, and sets about him with, "Come on, mate! -Ya goin' to mess about all day? We got some work to do, we 'ev. -Anybody'd think thee'st got to buy it out o' thi own pocket!" If the -applicant wants a can of oil the vessel is about half-filled; if a -hammer is needed the storekeeper searches through the whole stock to -find out the worst, if nails, screws, or rivets are required they are -counted out with critical exactness, and if the foreman is not at hand -to sign the order--no matter how urgent the need is--the workman must -wait, perhaps for an hour, till he returns to initial the slip. The time -necessary for an order to reach the shed after it has been issued from -the general stores, fifty yards away, is usually a week, and the workmen -are forbidden to begin a job until they have actually received the -official form. - -The political views of the men in the shed are known to the overseer and -are--in some cases, at any rate--communicated by him to the manager; -there is no such thing as individual liberty about the works. He whose -opinions are most nearly in agreement with those of the foreman always -thrives best, obtains the highest piecework prices and the greatest day -wages, too, while the other is certain to be put under the ban. In -brief, the average overseer dislikes you if you are a tip-top workman, -if you have a good carriage and are well-dressed, if you are clever and -cultivated, if you have friends above the average and are -well-connected, if you are religious or independent, manly, and -courageous; and he tolerates you if you creep about, are rough, ragged, -and round-shouldered, a born fool, a toady, a liar, a tale-bearer, an -indifferent workman--no matter what you are as long as you say "sir" to -him, are servile and abject, see and hear nothing, and hold with him in -everything he says and does: that is the way to get on in the factory. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - - SICKNESS AND ACCIDENTS--THE FACTORY - YEAR--HOLIDAYS--"TRIP"--MOODS AND - FEELINGS--PAY-DAY--LOSING A QUARTER--GETTING MARRIED. - - -Sickness and accidents are of frequent occurrence in the shed. The -first-named may be attributed to the foul air prevailing--the dense -smoke and fumes from the oil forges, and the thick, sharp dust and ashes -from the coke fires. The tremendous noise of the hammers and machinery -and the priming of the boilers have a most injurious effect upon the -body as well as upon the nervous system; it is all intensely painful and -wearisome to the workmen. The most common forms of sickness among the -men of the shed are complaints of the stomach and head, with -constipation. These are the direct result of the gross impurity of the -air. Colds are exceptionally common, and are another result of the bad -atmospheric conditions; as soon as you enter into the smoke and fume you -are sure to begin sniffing and sneezing. The black dust and filth is -being breathed into the chest and lungs every moment. At the weekend one -is continually spitting off the accretion; it will take several days to -remove it from the body. As a matter of fact, the workmen are never -clean, except at holiday times. However often they may wash and bathe -themselves, an absence from the shed of several consecutive days will be -necessary in order to effect an evacuation of the filth from all parts -of the system. Even the eyes contain it. No matter how carefully you -wash them at night, in the morning they will be surrounded with dark -rings--fine, black dust which has come from them as you lay asleep. - -A short while ago I was passing through a village near the town, and, -seeing a canvas tent erected in a cottage garden I made it my business -to inquire into the cause of it and to ask who might be the occupant. -Thereupon I was told that the tent was put up to accommodate a -consumptive lad who slept in it by night and worked in the factory by -day. On asking what were the lad's duties I was informed that he _worked -on the oil furnaces_. The agonies he must have suffered in that -loathsome, murderous atmosphere may easily be imagined. Strong men curse -the filthy smoke and stench from morning till night, and to a person in -consumption it must be a still more exquisite torture. Reading the -Medical Report for the county of Wilts recently I noticed it was said -that greater supervision is exercised over the workshops now than was -the case formerly. From my own knowledge and point of view I should say -there is no such supervision of the factory shops at all; during the -twenty odd years I have worked there I have never once heard of a -factory inspector coming through the shed, unless it were one of the -company's own confidential officials. - -The percentage of sickness and accidents is higher at the stamping shed -than in any other workshop in the factory. The accidents are of many -kinds, though they are chiefly scalds and burns, broken and crushed -limbs, and injuries to the eyes. It is remarkable how so many accidents -happen; they are usually very simply caused and received. A great number -of them are due, directly and indirectly, to the unhealthy air about the -place. When the workman is not feeling well he is liable to meet with an -accident at any moment. He has not then the keen sense of danger -necessary under such conditions, or, if he has this, he has not the -power in himself to guard against it. He has a vague idea that he is -running risks, but he is too dazed or too ill fully to realise it, and -very often he does not even care to protect himself. He is thus often -guilty of great self-neglect, amounting to madness, though he is -ignorant of it at the time. When he is away from the shed he remembers -the danger he was in, and is amazed at his weakness, and vows -resolutions of taking greater pains in the future, but on coming back to -the work the old conditions prevail, and he is confronted with the same -inability to take sufficient precautions for his safety and well-being. -Where the air is good, or even moderately pure, the workmen will be more -keen and sensible of danger. Both their physical and mental powers will -be active and alert and accidents will consequently be much more rare. - -As soon as a serious accident happens to a workman a rush is made to the -spot by young and old alike--they cannot contain their eager curiosity -and excitement. Many are impelled by a strong desire to be of service to -the unfortunate individual who has been hurt, though, in nine cases out -of ten, instead of being a help they are a very great hindrance. If the -workman is injured very severely, or if he happens to be killed, it will -be impossible to keep the crowd back; in spite of commands and -exhortations they use their utmost powers to approach the spot and catch -a glimpse of the victim. The overseer shouts, curses, and waves his -hands frantically, and warns them all of what he will do, but the men -doggedly refuse to disperse until they have satisfied their curiosity -and abated their excitement. - -Immediately a man is down one hurries off to the ambulance shed for the -stretcher, another hastens to the cupboard for lint and _sal volatile_; -this one fetches water from the tap, and the "first-aid men" are soon at -work patching up the wound. In a few moments the stretcher arrives and -the injured one is lifted upon it and carried or wheeled off to the -hospital. Some of the men inspect the spot at which the accident -occurred and loiter there for a moment; afterwards they go on with their -work as though nothing had happened. - -If the injured man dies word is immediately sent into the shed. A notice -of the funeral is posted upon the wall and a collection is usually made -to buy a wreath, or the money is handed over to the widow or next-of-kin -to help meet the expenses. There are always a few to follow the old -comrade to the grave, and the bearers will usually be the deceased man's -nearest workmates. Occasionally, if the funeral happens to be that of a -very old hand, and one who was a special favourite with the men, the -whole shed is closed for the event. Within two or three days afterwards, -however, the affair will be almost forgotten; it will be as though the -workman had never existed. Amid the hurry and noise of the shop there is -little time to think of the dead; one's whole attention has to be -directed towards the living and to the earning of one's own livelihood. -For a single post rendered vacant by the death of a workman, there are -sure to be several applicants; a new hand is soon brought forward to -fill the position. Though he does not wish to be unnatural towards his -predecessor, he thanks his lucky stars, all the same, that he has got -the appointment; it is nothing to him who or what the other man was. It -is an ill wind that blows nobody good, and that, for the most part, is -the philosophy of the men at the factory. - -There is one other point worth remembering in connection with the matter -of pure or impure air in the shed, and that is, that the quality of the -work made will be considerably affected by it. The more fit a workman -feels, the better his work will be. If he is deficient in health it will -be unreasonable to expect that his forging will be of the highest -quality; there is bound to be a depreciation in it. The same may be said -of the workman's relations with his employers--his satisfaction or -dissatisfaction with existing conditions. If he is treated honestly and -fairly the firm will gain greatly thereby, in many ways unknown to them. -The workman, in return, will be conscientious and will use his tools and -machinery with scrupulous care. But if he is being continually pricked -and goaded, and ground down by the overseer, he will naturally be less -inclined to study the interests of the company beyond what is his most -inevitable duty, and something or other will suffer. In any case it is -as well to remember that in such matters as these the interests of all -are identical; where there is mutual understanding and appreciation gain -is bound to accrue to each party. No general has ever won a battle with -an unhealthy or discontented army, and the conditions in a large -factory, with ten or twelve thousand workmen, are very similar; the -figure is reasonably applicable. - -The year at the factory is divided into three general periods; _i.e._, -from Christmas till Easter, Easter till "Trip"--which is held in -July--and Trip till Christmas. There are furthermore the Bank Holidays -of Whitsuntide and August, though more than one day's leave is seldom -granted in connection with either of them. Sometimes there will be no -cessation of labour at all, which gives satisfaction to many workmen, -for, notwithstanding the painfulness of the confinement within the dark -walls, they are, as a rule, indifferent to holidays. Many hundreds of -them would never have one at all if they were not forced to do so by -the constitution of the calendar and the natural order of things. - -Very little travelling is done by the workmen during the Easter -holidays. Most of those who have a couple of square yards of land, a -small back-yard, or a box of earth on the window sill, prepare for the -task of husbandry--the general talk in spare moments now will be of -peas, beans, onions, and potatoes. The longest journeys from home are -made by the small boys of the shed, who set out in squads and troops to -go bird's-nesting in the hedgerows, or plucking primroses and violets in -the woods and copses. Young Jim was very excited when Easter came with -the warm, sunny weather; it was pleasant to listen to his childish talk -as he told us about the long walks he had taken in search of primroses -and violets, going without his dinner and tea in order to collect a posy -of the precious flowers. Questioned as to the meaning of Good Friday, he -was puzzled for a few moments, and then told us it was because Jesus -Christ was born on that day. Though he was mistaken as to the origin and -signification of the Festival, there are hundreds of others older than -he at the works who would not be able to answer the question correctly. - -At Whitsuntide the first outings are generally held. Then many of the -workmen--those who can afford it, who have no large gardens to care for, -and who are exempt from other business and anxieties--begin to make -short week-end trips by the trains. The privilege of a quarter-fare for -travel, granted by the railway companies to their employees, is valued -and appreciated, and widely patronised. By means of this very many have -trips and become acquainted with the world who otherwise would be unable -to do so. - -When the men come back to work after the Whitsuntide holidays they -usually find the official noticeboard in the shed covered with posters -containing the preliminary announcements of the annual Trip, and, very -soon, on the plates of the forges and walls, and even outside in the -town, the words "Roll on, Trip," or "Five weeks to Trip," may be seen -scrawled in big letters. As the time for the holiday draws near the -spirits of the workmen--especially of the younger ones, who have no -domestic responsibilities--rise considerably. Whichever way one turns he -is greeted with the question--often asked in a jocular sense--"Wher' -gwain Trip?" the reply to which usually is--"Same old place," or "Up in -the smowk;" _i.e._, to London, or "Swindon by the Sea." By the -last-named place Weymouth is intended. That is a favourite haunt of the -poorer workmen who have large families, and it is especially popular -with the day trippers. Every year five or six thousand are conveyed to -the Dorsetshire watering-place, the majority of whom return the same -evening. Given fine weather an enjoyable day will be spent about the -sands and upon the water, but if it happens to rain the outing will -prove a wretched fiasco. Sometimes the trippers have left home in fine -weather and found a deluge of rain setting in when they arrived at the -seaside town. Under such circumstances they were obliged to stay in the -trains all day for shelter, or implore the officials to send them home -again before the stipulated time. - -"Trip Day" is the most important day in the calendar at the railway -town. For several months preceding it, fathers and mothers of families, -young unmarried men, and juveniles have been saving up for the outing. -Whatever new clothes are bought for the summer are usually worn for the -first time at "Trip"; the trade of the town is at its zenith during the -week before the holiday. Then the men don their new suits of shoddy, and -the pinched or portly dames deck themselves out in all the glory of -cheap, "fashionable" finery. The young girls are radiant with -colour--white, red, pink, and blue--and the children come dressed in -brand-new garments--all stiff from the warehouse--and equipped with -spade and bucket and bags full of thin paper, cut the size of pennies, -to throw out of the carriage windows as the train flies along. A general -exodus from the town takes place that day and quite twenty-five thousand -people will have been hurried off to all parts of the kingdom in the -early hours of the morning, before the ordinary traffic begins to get -thick on the line. About half the total number return the same night; -the others stop away till the expiration of the holiday, which is of -eight days' duration. - -The privilege of travelling free by the Trip trains is not granted to -all workmen, but only to those who are members of the local Railway -Institute and Library, and have contributed about six shillings per -annum to the general fund. Moreover, no part of the holiday is free, but -is counted as lost time. The prompt commencement of work after Trip is, -therefore, highly necessary; the great majority of the workmen are -reduced to a state of absolute penury. If they have been away and spent -all their money--and perhaps incurred debt at home for rent and -provisions beforehand in order to enjoy themselves the better on their -trip--it will take them a considerable time to get square again; they -will scarcely have done this before the Christmas holidays are -announced. - -At the end of the first week after the Trip holiday there will be no -money to draw. When Friday comes round, bringing with it the usual hour -for receiving the weekly wages, the men file out of the sheds with long -faces. This is generally known at the works as "The Grand March Past," -because the toilers march past the pay-table and receive nothing that -day. The living among the poorest of the workmen will be very meagre, -and a great many will not have enough to eat until the next Friday comes -round, bringing with it the first pay. The local tradesmen and -shopkeepers look upon the Trip as a great nuisance because, they say, it -takes money away from the town that ought to be spent in their -warehouses; they do not take into consideration the fact that the men -are confined like prisoners all the rest of the year. - -Work in the sheds, for the first day or two after the Trip, goes very -hard and painful; everyone is yearning towards the blue sea or the fresh -open country, and thinking of friends and kindred left behind. This -feeling very soon wears off, however. Long before the week is over the -spirit of work will have taken possession of the men; they fall -naturally into their places and the Trip becomes a thing of the past--a -dream and a memory. Here and there you may see scrawled upon the wall -somewhere or other, with a touch of humour, "51 weeks to Trip"; that is -usually the last word in connection with it for another year. - -There are three general moods and phases of feeling among the workmen, -corresponding to the three periods of the year as measured out by the -holidays. The period between Christmas and Easter is one of hope and -rising spirits, of eager looking forward to brighter days, the long -evening and the pleasant week-end. The dark and gloom of winter has -weighed heavily upon the toilers, but this has reached its worst point -by the end of December; after that the barometer begins to rise and a -more cheerful spirit prevails everywhere. - -From Easter till Trip and August Bank Holiday--notwithstanding the -terrible trials of the summer weather in the case of those who work at -the furnaces--the feeling is one of comparative ease and satisfaction. A -series of little holidays is included in this period. The men are -encouraged to bear with the heat and fatigue through the knowledge that -it will not be for long; a holiday in sight goes far towards mitigating -the hard punishment of the work in the shed. The summer sunshine and -general bright weather, the occupations of gardening, and the prevalence -of herbs and salads, fresh, sweet vegetables, flowers, and fruits all -have a beneficial effect upon the workman and tend to distract his -attention from the drabness of his employment and make the weeks go by -more easily. The period is one of lightness. It is the time of -realization, the fulfilling of dreams dreamed through the long, dark -winter. - -From August till Christmas the feeling is one almost of despair. Five -whole months have to be borne without a break in the monotony of the -labour. The time before the next holiday seems almost infinite; a -tremendous amount of work must be done in the interval. Accordingly, the -men settle down with grim faces and fixed determinations. The pleasures -of the year are thrust behind and forgotten; day by day the battle must -be fought and the ground gained inch by inch. The smoke towers up from -the stacks and chimneys, the hammers pound away on the obstinate metal, -the wheels whirl round and the din is incessant. Day after day the black -army files in and out of the entrances with the regularity of clockwork; -it is indeed the period of stern work--the great effort of the year. -Whatever money the workmen save must be put aside now or never; the -absence of holidays and lack of inducement to travel will provide them -with the opportunity. Now is the time for purchasing new clothing and -boots and for getting out of debt--if there is any desire to do that; -it is in every sense of the word the great productive period. - -It is also interesting to note the various moods and feelings common to -the workmen during the passage of the week. Monday is always a flat, -stale day, and especially is this true of the morning, before -dinner-time. It might reasonably be supposed that the workmen, after an -absence of a day, or a day and a half, would return to the shed rested -and vigorous, and fit for new efforts, but this is far from being the -actual case. As a matter of fact, Monday is an extremely dull day in the -shed. Everyone seems surly and out of sorts, as though he had been -routed up from sleep before time and had "got out of bed on the wrong -side." The foreman comes on the scene with a scowl; the chargeman is -"huffy" and irritable; the stampers and hammermen bend to their work in -stony silence, or snap at each other; even the youngsters are quiet and -mopish. Work seems to go particularly hard and against the grain. It is -as though everything were under a cloud; there is not a bit of life or -soul in it. This feeling is so general on the first day of the week that -the men have invented a term by which to express it; if you ask anyone -how he is on that day he will be sure to tell you that he feels "rough" -and "Monday-fied." By dinner-time the cloud will have lifted somewhat, -though not till towards the end of the afternoon will there be anything -like real relief, with a degree of brightness. By that time the -tediousness of the first day will have worn off; the men's faces -brighten up and a spirit of cheerfulness prevails. Now they speak to -each other, laugh, whistle and jest, perhaps; they have won the first -skirmish in the weekly battle. - -Tuesday is the strong day, the day of vigorous activity, of tool- and -also of record-breaking. The men come to work like lions. All the -stiffness and sluggishness contracted at the week-end has vanished now. -There is a great change, both in the temper and the physical condition -of the men, visible about the place; they move more quickly, handle -their tools better, and appear to be in perfect trim. The work made on -Tuesdays is always the greatest in amount and usually the best in -quality. Everyone, from the foreman to the office-boy, seems brighter -and better, more fit, well, and energetic--great things are accomplished -on Tuesdays at the works. - -Wednesday is very similar to Tuesday, though the men are not quite as -fresh and vigorous. The pace, though still smart and good, will fall a -little below that of the day previous. Three days' toil begins to tell -on the muscles and reserve of the body, though this is counterbalanced -by the increase of mental satisfaction and expectation, the knowledge of -being in mid-week and of getting within sight of another pay-day and -cessation from work. - -Thursday is the humdrum day. As much work will be done as on the day -preceding, but more effort will be required to perform it. An acute -observer will perceive a marked difference in the general behaviour of -the workmen and in the manner in which they manipulate the tools. They -will begin to look tired and haggard. When they leave the shed at -meal-times they do not rush headlong out, pushing and shouting, but file -away soberly and in comparative silence. - -By Friday morning the barometer will have risen considerably. -Notwithstanding the tiredness of the individual, he is nerved to fresh -efforts and induced to make a final spurt towards the end of the weekly -race. His manner is altogether more cheerful, and he becomes quite -affable to his mates. If the manager or overseer passes through the shed -more frequently than usual and comes and times him at his work, he takes -but very little notice of him. Those who are by nature gruff and surly -melt a little and show a more genial disposition on the Friday. The -secret of all this lies in the fact that Friday is both the last whole -day to be worked at the shed, and it is pay-day, too. The men's faces -brighten considerably at the approach of that happy and eagerly-awaited -hour. When they collect together around the pay-table they indulge in -jocular remarks with one another, and the majority bubble over with -good-nature. As they pass the table in single file they grab up the box -containing the money with commendable determination. If the pay is a -full one there will be a broad smile, or a grin, on the faces of most of -the men as they remove the cover and pocket the coin; that is about the -happiest and most triumphant moment of all for them. - -To draw the wages each man is furnished with a metal check having a -number, corresponding with his name in the register, stamped upon it. -The check is issued to the men as they enter the shed after dinner, and -is a guarantee that they have wages to receive on that day. Each man's -wages are put up in a tin box, which is also stamped with his number. -The foreman takes his position at the head, and two clerks stand behind -the table. Of these, one calls out the number upon the box and the other -takes it and claps it sharply on the table. The men are waiting ready -and take it as they walk past; two hundred may be paid in about five -minutes by this method. Extras for piecework are paid fortnightly. -Whatever stoppages and contributions are due for the local Sick and -Medical Fund, coal, wood, and other charges, are deducted on the normal -week, and this is called "stoppage week." Accordingly, the day of great -good-humour comes fortnightly, and that week is known among the men as -"balance week." - -Saturday is the day of final victory, the closing up of the weekly -battle, though a great part of the eagerness evinced a day or two before -will have vanished now that the time to take the hebdomadal rest is -really at hand. It is strikingly true, even here, that expectation is -better than realization. Notwithstanding the fact that the men are tired -and worn out they do not appear to be as keen for the rest as might be -imagined; they now seem to have recovered their normal powers and work -away quite unconcernedly up to the last moment. The boys and youths, -however, will be restless; they whistle and sing and rush off like shots -from a gun as soon as the hooter sounds. - -Sunday is the day of complete inactivity with most of the workmen, and -it is possibly the weakest and the least enjoyed of all. If the weather -is dull and wet a great number stay in bed till dinner-time, and -sometimes they remain there all day and night, till Monday morning -comes. This will not have done them much harm; they will feel all the -more refreshed and the better able to face the toil and battle of the -coming week. - -Every day, as well as the year and week, has its divisions and a temper -and feeling on the part of the men corresponding with each of them. In -the morning, before breakfast, nearly everyone is sober and quiet, very -often surly, and even spitefully disposed. During that time the men in -the shed rarely speak to each other, but bend down to the labour in -silence. After breakfast the tone improves a little, and continues to do -so till dinner-time, when the tempers of the men will have become about -normal; they are restored to their natural humour and disposition. When -they return after dinner a still greater improvement is discernible, and -by five o'clock in the afternoon they are not like the same beings. In -the evening, after tea, greater good-fellowship than ever prevails, and -if a man meets his mate in the town he is quite cordial. By the next -morning, however, he is metamorphosed again; the old conditions obtain, -and so on day after day and month after month. The best work of the day -is always made in the morning, between the hours of nine and eleven. - -If a workman oversleeps in the morning and is too late for admittance -before breakfast, he may start at nine o'clock. This is called "losing a -quarter." There are those at the works who are noted for losing -quarters; they are usually absent from the shed before breakfast once or -twice a week. Such as these, by the frequency of their absence, are not -noticed very much, but if one who is habitually a good timekeeper -happens to be out unexpectedly before breakfast, means are taken to -celebrate the event. When he arrives there will be a little surprise -awaiting him. He will find an effigy of himself standing near the forge, -and will receive a salute composed of hammers knocking on steel plates, -and the rattling of any old pot that chances to be at hand. During the -meal-time the workmen obtain several coats, a hat, and a pair of boots, -and fix them on the handles of the mallets and broom, and then chalk out -the features of a man upon the coke shovel. Afterwards they assemble in -a gang and greet their comrade with an overpowering din. If he is wise -he will take it all in good part and join in with the fun, and the din -will soon cease; but if he loses his temper--as is sometimes the -case--he is assailed more loudly than ever, and driven half mad with the -uproar. - -A somewhat similar reception is given to a workman who has just been -married. As soon as it is known that the banns are published--and this -is certain to leak out and news of it be brought into the shed--he -becomes the object of very special attention. The men come to him from -all quarters and offer him their congratulations, sincere and otherwise, -very often accompanying them with advice of different kinds, sometimes -of a highly sarcastic nature. Many insist upon shaking hands with him -and, with mock ceremony, compliment him on his decision to join the "Big -Firm," as they call it, assuring him, at the same time, that they shall -expect him to "stand his footing." Occasionally, if their mate is poor, -the men of a gang will make a small collection and buy him a present--a -pair of pictures, a piece of furniture, or a set of ornaments. Perhaps -this may be carried out ridiculously, and the whole thing turned into a -joke, whereupon the prospective bridegroom loses his temper and soundly -lashes his mates for their unsolicited patronage. - -If the workman divulges the time and place of the wedding there will -certainly be a few to witness it, in order to see how he behaves during -the ceremony. Very often they wait outside the church with missiles of -several kinds, such as old shoes and slippers, rice, barley, Indian -corn, and even potatoes, ready to pelt him. Occasionally, however, it -happens that the wily mate has deceived them with regard either to the -time or the place, and if they turn up at the church they will have to -wait in vain, the laughing-stock of all passers-by. When the newly -married man recommences work he is received with a loud uproar. This is -called "ringing him in." A crowd of men and boys beat upon any loose -plate of metal that will return a loud clang--such as lids of -tool-chests, steel bars, anvils, and sides of coke bunks--and make as -much noise as possible. This is all over by the time the hooter sounds. -With the starting of the shop engine the men fall in to work, and the -marriage is forgotten by the crowd. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - - COLD AND HEAT--MEALS--FAT AND LEAN WORKMEN--WAYS AND - MEANS--PRANKS--ALL FOOLS' DAY--NEW YEAR'S EVE - - -Two kinds of weather go hard with the toilers in the shed; they -are--extreme cold and extreme heat. When it is very cold in the winter -the men will be subjected to a considerable amount of draught from the -doors and roof; on one side they will be half-baked with the heat, and -on the other chilled nearly to the bone. The furnacemen and stampers -will be drenched with perspiration day after day, in the coldest -weather. When they leave the shed to go home at meal-times and at night -they will run great risks of taking cold; it is no wonder that cases of -rheumatism and lumbago are very common among those who toil at the -furnaces and forges. The workmen, for the most part, wear the same -clothes all the year round, winter and summer; they make no allowance -for cold and heat with warm or thin clothing. - -Very few wear overcoats, or even mufflers, in the coldest weather, -unless it is wet. They are often numbed with the cold, for they feel it -severely, and they commonly run up the long yard in order to keep -themselves warm in frosty weather on their return to the shed after -meals. If you ask them why they do not wear a cravat or muffler they -tell you it is "no good to coddle yourself up too much, for the more -clothes you wear the more you will want to wear." A great many--of the -town workmen especially--do not possess an overcoat of any kind. -Whatever the weather may be they journey backwards and forwards quite -unprotected. I have known men come to the shed drenched to the skin, -many a time, and be forced to work in that condition while the garments -were drying on their backs. Now and then, though not often, a bold and -hardy workman will remove his shirt or trousers and stand and dry them -at the furnace door. If he does this he is certain to be shied at and -made the target for various lumps of coke and coal. Amusement is -sometimes caused by the shirt taking fire; I have more than once seen a -workman reduced to the necessity of borrowing an overcoat to wrap around -him in lieu of upper garments. Sometimes the clothes of half the gang -are set alight with sparks from the hammers, and burnt to ashes. - -The heat of the summer months, for those who toil at the furnaces and -forges, is far more painful to endure than are all the inconveniences of -cold weather. This is especially the case in close and stuffy sheds -where there is a defective system of ventilation, or where the workshop -is surrounded by other buildings. The interior of these places will be -like a hot oven; it will be impossible for the workmen to maintain any -degree of strength and vigour at their labour. In the early morning, -before eight o'clock, the air will be somewhat cooler, but by the time -of re-starting, after breakfast, the heat will be deadly and -overpowering; the temperature in front of the furnaces will be -considerably over 100 degrees. Where there is a motion of air the -workmen can stand a great amount of heat on all sides, but when that is -quite stagnant, and thick and heavy with the nauseous smoke and fumes -from the oil forges, it is positively torturous. The exigencies of -piecework will admit of no relaxation, however; approximately the same -amount of work must be made on the hottest day of summer as on the -coldest day of winter. - -There is one inevitable result of all this--the work made under such -conditions will be inferior in quality, for the men cannot spend the -time they should over the hot metal. If you stand and watch the stampers -you will see, from their very movements, how wretchedly tired and -languid they are; one-half of them are scarcely able to drag their weary -limbs backwards and forwards--they are truly objects of misery. At the -same time, they do not complain, for that would be fruitless, and they -know it. Lost to everything but the sense of their own inexpressible -weariness, with grim necessity at their elbows, they spend their last -effort on the job, having no interest available for the work, only -longing for the next hooter to sound and give them a temporary rest. -Those who work out of doors in the extreme heat of the sun, though they -perspire much, yet have pure air to breathe, so that there will be a -minimum of fatigue resulting from it. In the dust and filth of the shed, -however, the perspiration costs very much more. It seems drawn from the -marrow of your bones; your very heart's blood seems to ooze out with it. - -The change from cold to heat, and also the shifting of the wind, is -immediately felt in the shed; there is no need of a weather-vane to -inform you of the wind's direction. Even when there is air moving, only -one half of the place will benefit from it. Entering the shed at one -end, it will pile up all the smoke and fume at the other. This, instead -of passing out, will whirl round and round in an eddy, and tease and -torment the workmen, making them gasp for breath. - -The toilers have resort to various methods in order to mitigate the heat -during the summer months. The furnacemen, stampers, and forgers usually -remove their shirts altogether, and discard their leathern aprons for -those made of light canvas, or old rivet bags. The amount of cold water -drunk at such times is enormous. It is useless to advise the men to take -it in moderation: "I don't care, I must have it," is the answer made. -Occasionally the officials issue oatmeal from the stores, to be taken -with the water. This removes the rawness from the liquid, and makes it -much more palatable, and less harmful to the stomach. The boys are -especially fond of the mixture; they would drink it by the bucketful, -and swallow grouts and all. They do not believe in wasting anything -obtained gratis from the company. - -One plan, in very hot weather, is to wrap a wet towel or wiper about the -head, cooling it now and then with fresh water. Some hold their heads -and faces underneath the tap and let the cool water run upon them; and -others engage their mates to squirt it in their faces instead. Such as -do this tie an apron close around the neck under the chin, and receive -the volume of water full in the face. It is delicious, when you are -baked and half-choked with the heat in midsummer, to go to the big tap -under the wall and receive the cold water on the inside part of the arm, -just below the shoulder, allowing it to run down and flow off the finger -tips. This is very cooling and refreshing, and is a certain restorative. - -Now and then, during the meal-hour, a hardy workman will strip himself -and bathe in the big bosh used for cooling the furnace tools. In the -evening, after a hard sweating at the fires, many of the young men will -pay a visit to the baths in the town. Little Jim and his mates, who have -no coppers to squander upon the luxury of a dip under cover, betake -themselves to the clay-pits in a neighbouring brick-field. There they -dive down among the fishes and forget about the punishment they have -suffered to-day, and which is certainly awaiting them on the morrow. - -The majority of the workmen go out of the sheds to have their food. In -very many workshops they are not permitted, under any consideration, to -remain in to meals. On the score of health this is as it should be; it -forces the workman, whether he likes it or not, to breathe a little -fresh air. It also removes him from his surroundings for the time, and -affords him some refreshment in that way. The sheds in which the men are -allowed to have their meals unmolested are the smiths' shops, the -steam-hammer shops, and the rolling mills shed. In all these places the -men perspire considerably, and they would be very liable to take a -chill, especially in the winter months, if they were forced to go out -into the cold air to meals. Mess-rooms are provided for the men of some -shops, and tea is brewed and food cooked for as many as like to repair -to them. Very many will not patronise them, however, because they do not -like eating their food in public; they say it is "like being among a lot -of cattle." Such as these take their food in their hand and eat it as -they walk about, or perhaps they visit a coffee tavern or an inn of the -town. During fine weather a large number have their meals in the -recreation field underneath the trees. Their little sons or daughters -bring the food from home, with hot tea in a mug or bottle, and meet them -outside the entrances. Then they sit down together in the shade of the -elm-trees and enjoy the repast. - -The forgers and furnacemen do not eat much food in the shed during the -summer months. The heat of the fires and the fumes from the oil furnaces -impair their appetites, and large quantities of bread and other -victuals are thrown out in the yard for the rats and birds. Rooks and -sparrows are the only regular feathered inhabitants of the yard, if, -indeed, the rooks can be so called, for they have their nests a long way -off. They merely obtain their food about the yard during the day and go -home to bed at night. The sparrows build their nests almost anywhere, -though their favourite place seems to be in the sockets made in the -walls for containing the lamp brackets. As the lamps are removed during -the summer months, the holes afford a convenient resting-place for the -ubiquitous _passeres_. - -No starlings frequent the yard; they prefer a quieter and more natural -habitation. A robin, even, is an unusual visitor, while martins and -swallows never visit the precincts of the factory. The sweet -_chelidon_--the darling stranger from the far-off shores of the blue -Mediterranean--shuns the unearthly noise and smother of the factory -altogether; her delight is in places far removed from the whirling of -wheels and the chu-chuing of engines. - -The rooks seem perfectly inured to the smoke and steam and the life of -the factory yard; at all hours of the day they may be seen scavenging -around the sheds, picking up any stray morsel that happens to be lying -about. Four of these frequent the yard regularly. Summer and winter they -are to be seen strutting up and down over the ashes of the track, or -perched upon the tops of the high lamps. Once, during a gale, I saw a -rook try to alight upon the summit of a lamp, eighty feet high--on the -small curved iron stay that crowns the whole like a bow. Although it -secured a footing on the top, it could not balance itself to rest there, -but was forced to keep its two wings entirely expanded in order to -maintain any equilibrium at all. This it did for nearly two minutes, but -the force of the wind was so great that it could not keep its balance -and was presently blown away. To view it there, with wings outstretched, -brought to mind a bird of a much nobler reputation than that of Master -Rook; it was worthy of the traditions of the eagle. - -It is instructive to note the various types of men and to consider how -they compare with one another. Big, fat workmen invariably make better -mates than do small, thin ones. Their temper is certain to be more -genial, and they are usually more open and simple, hearty and free; -everything with them, to use a time-honoured phrase, seems to go "as -easy as an old cut shoe." Even Csar, though very thin himself, wished -to have about him men who were fat and sleek--he was suspicious of the -lean and hungry-looking Cassius. Fat workmen, as a rule, seem incapable -of much worry. If anything goes amiss they look upon it with the -greatest unconcern and lightly brush it aside, while the thin, small -individual is forever fretting and grieving over some trivial thing or -other. It is noteworthy that hairy men, as well as being considerably -stronger, are usually better-tempered than are those who are lacking in -this respect. The little person is proverbially vain and conceited and -"thinks great things" of himself, as the Greeks would have said, while -the words of the old rhyme are uniformly true and applicable:-- - - "Long and lazy, - Black and proud, - Fair and foolish, - Little and loud." - -Small pride is discovered in the individual of sixteen or seventeen -stone weight. Nor are size and bulk in a workman always indicative of -the greatest prowess. Very many men of no more than five feet or less -in stature, and of correspondingly small proportions, are veritable -lions in strength. - -Of all styles of workmen soever the dandy, or, as he is vulgarly called, -the "swanker," is usually the least proficient at his trade. There is -another who would delight to stand with his hands behind him, or perhaps -to walk about like it: he is certain to be of the self-conscious type, -one not extra fond of making unnatural exertions. This one, whenever an -opportunity presents itself, would stand with his thumbs thrust in the -arm-holes of his waistcoat and complacently look upon all around him; -you may know him for one who would rather see you do a job than do it -himself. That one yonder is fond of standing with his arms folded, and -another would thrust his hands deep into his trousers pockets at every -stray opportunity. Such as these may come in time to draw as much wages -as the best workmen on the premises, or they may even obtain more, but -they will never be experts themselves; they are too choice, and too -dilatory. Your capital workman never adopts any of these attitudes. -Walking or standing, pausing, resting, or viewing any other operation, -his hands are down by his sides--free, and in the most advantageous -position for rendering assistance to himself, or to others, as the case -may be. - -The men of one department or shed--except in the case of a fire--never -help those of another, no matter how great the difficulty may be, unless -they have been officially lent, and this is of extremely rare -occurrence. One might think that where two sheds stand side by side, -help would occasionally be given, when it was required, but such is the -condition of things, and so rigid is the system imposed at the works, -that this is completely out of the question. The men of two contingent -sheds, though they may have been working close together for twenty or -thirty years, are almost total strangers. They may see each other now -and then, and recognise one another by sight, but they do not think of -exchanging conversations. - -There is one matter, however, in which, notwithstanding the many -facilities at hand for perfect equipment, the works resembles most other -establishments, and that is in the frequently defective supply of proper -tools for the workmen and the too great tendency to use anything that -may be lying about for a makeshift. When I came into the factory as a -boy I expected to find everything of this sort in perfect arrangement. -In the rough and ready trade of agriculture I had been accustomed to -making the best use of old, worn-out tools. The farmer, if he is not -blessed with abundant capital, is often forced to have recourse to crude -means and expedients in order to tide himself over a difficulty. He must -bind up this and patch that, and sometimes set his men to work with -tackle that is broken and antiquated. One looks for this, naturally, out -on the farm, and is surprised if he does not find it so. But in the -factory, thought I, there will be none of it. I supposed that all the -machinery would be in perfect trim, that tools would be very plentiful -and of the best description, and that everything would be ordered for -the men's convenience in order to expedite the work. - -A short acquaintance with matters in the shed soon dispelled this -illusion, however. I found that the same condition of things obtained in -the factory as was the case on the far away, deserted farm. There -something ailed the chaffcutter, the mowing- or reaping-machine, the -plough, the elevator, or the horse-rake. Some links were missing from -the traces and had to be replaced with stout wire; many things were in -use that were heavy, cumbersome, and primitive. Here something is wrong -with the steam-hammer, drill, lathe, or hydraulic machine. The -wheel-barrows are broken, the shovels are without handles, the besoms -are worn out; hammers and chisels, tongs, sets, and other tools are -almost as scarce as pound pieces. You seldom have any decent tools to -work with unless you can make them yourself, or pay the smith for doing -it out of your own pocket. Then, in nine cases out of ten, if the -machinery breaks down, the same means are resorted to as were adopted by -the farmer or haulier; any patching up will do until such time as -someone or other can make it convenient to carry out the necessary -repairs. As long as the parts hang together and the wheels go round, -that will be considered sufficient. This kind of procedure, in the case -of a farmer or other, who has no very great convenience for equipping -himself with every desirable apparatus, may be condoned, but in a large -and professedly up-to-date factory there is no excuse at all for it--it -is pure misdemeanour and slovenliness. - -Many pranks are played upon one another by the workmen, though it is -significant of the times that skylarking and horse-play are not nearly -as common and frequent as they were formerly. The supervision of the -sheds is much more strict, and the prices are considerably lower than -they used to be; there is not now the time and opportunity, nor even the -inclination to indulge in practical jokes. Under the new discipline the -men are generally more sober and silent, though they are none the -happier, nevertheless. The increased efforts they are bound to make at -work and the higher speed of the machinery has caused them to become -gloomy and unnatural, and, very often, peevish and irritable. It is a -further illustration of the old adage-- - - "All work and no play - Makes Jack a dull boy." - -There is one matter for congratulation, however, and that is that the -youngsters are not to be deprived of their sports and amusements on any -pretext whatever. Though you set them to do almost impossible tasks they -will find the time and the means to exercise their natural propensity to -playfulness. - -It is a bad sign when there is a total absence of play in the shed. It -is bad for the individual and for the men collectively; it indicates too -great a subjection to working conditions--the subjugation of inherent -nature. It is of far greater value and importance to mankind that spirit -and character should be cherished and maintained, than that the trifling -and petty rules of the factory should be scrupulously observed and -adhered to. At the same time, no sane person would recommend that an -unrestricted liberty be allowed the workmen. There is bound to be a -certain amount of law and order, but where everything is done at the -piece rate and the firm is not in a position to lose on the bargain, it -is stupid obstinately to insist upon the observance of every little rule -laid down. Piece-rated men seldom or never work at a perfectly uniform -speed; there are dull and intensely active periods depending sometimes -upon the physical condition of the workman and sometimes upon the -quality known as "luck" in operation. Give the workman his head and he -will fashion out his own time-table, he will speedily make up for any -losses he has incurred before. The feeling of fitness is bound to come; -he revels in the toil while it possesses him. There never was, and there -never will be, a truly mechanical man who shall work with the -systematical regularity of a clock or steam-engine; that is beyond all -hope and reason, beyond possibility and beyond nature. What is more, it -is absolutely unnecessary and undesirable. - -One prank that used to be greatly in vogue in the shed was that of -inserting a brick in the sleeve of a workmate's jacket as it was hanging -up underneath the wall or behind the forge. This was sometimes done for -pure sport, though occasionally there was more than a spice of malice in -the jest. Perhaps the owner of the garment had been guilty of an -offence, of tale-bearing, or something or other to the prejudice of his -fellow-mates, and this was the means adopted for his punishment. -Accordingly, a large brick was quietly dropped into the sleeve from -inside the shoulder and well shaken down to the cuff, and the jacket was -left hanging innocently in its position. At hooter time all those in the -secret congregated and waited for the victim of the joke to come for his -coat. Suddenly, as the hooter sounded, he rushed up in a great hurry, -seized his coat and discovered the impediment, while all the others -speedily decamped. He had considerable difficulty in dislodging the -brick from the sleeve. After trying in vain for ten minutes or more he -was usually forced to cut away the sleeve, or the lining, with his -pocket-knife. - -Another favourite trick was to place some kind of seat under a wall in -order to entice the unwary, and to fix up above it a large tin full of -soot, so arranged as to work on a pivot, and operated by means of a -string. The soot was also sometimes mixed with water, and stirred up so -as to make an intensely black fluid. By and by an unsuspecting -workman--usually an interloper from the yard or elsewhere--would come -along and sit down upon the improvised seat. Very soon one of the gang -shouted out "Hey up!" sharply, and as the victim jumped up someone -pulled the string and down came soot, water, and very often the pot, -too, upon his head. If the joke was successful the dupe's face was as -black as a sweep's; a loud roar of laughter went up from the workmen -and the unhappy victim very quickly got outside. Sometimes, however, he -did not take it so quietly, and I have seen a free fight as the outcome -of this adventure. - -The water-pipe plays a great part in practical joking in the shed, -though this is more usually the juvenile's method of perpetrating a jest -or paying off an old score. There is also the water-squirt, which is -another juvenile weapon. It is sufficient to say that the use of this, -whenever it is detected, is rigidly put down by the workmen themselves; -it is universally looked upon as a nuisance. Great injuries to health -have been done, in some cases, by senseless practical joking with the -water-pipe. I have known instances in which a workman has thrust the -nose of a pipe up the trouser leg of another as he lay asleep on the -floor in the meal-hour, during night duty, and he has been awakened by -it to find himself quite drenched with the stream of water and most -wretchedly cold. One lad, who used to drive the steam-hammer for me, was -often treated to this by some roughs of the shed, and, as a consequence, -was afflicted with chronic rheumatism. Finally he had to stop away from -work altogether, and he lay as helpless as a child for nine years, with -all his joints stiff and set, and died of the torture. - -There is a touch of humour in the situation sometimes, however, as when, -for instance, upon breaking up for the Christmas holidays, a group of -workmen were singing "Let some drops now fall on me," and a wag, in the -middle of the hymn, shot a large volume of water over them from the -hose-pipe. Another trick is to fill a thin paper bag with water and -throw it from a distance. If it happens to strike its object the bag -bursts, and the individual forming the target receives a good wetting. - -All Fools' Day is sure to be the occasion for many jokes of a suitable -kind. A common one at this time is to take a coin and solder it to the -head of a nail, and then to drive the nail into the sill of a door, or -into the floor in a well-frequented spot where it is bound to be -noticed. As soon as it is spied efforts will certainly be made to detach -the coin, and, in the midst of it, the party of youths who prepared the -trap rush forward and bowl the other over on the floor, at the same time -greeting him with boisterous laughter and jeers. Even the chief manager -of the works' department has been the victim of this jest. In this case -an old sixpence was strongly soldered to the nail, which was then well -driven into the floor. Presently the manager came along, saw the coin, -and made several attempts to pick it up. It needs not to be said that -the jest itself was witnessed in respectful silence; the bowling over a -chief might have been attended with certain undesirable consequences. - -New Year's Eve was always suitably observed and celebrated by those on -the night-shift. When the men came in to work they set about their toils -with extra special celerity, and the steam-hammers thumped away with all -possible power and speed. This effort was maintained till towards -midnight, and then everyone slowed down. At about one o'clock a general -cessation of hostilities took place. The steam-hammers were silenced, -the fires were damped, and the tools were thrown on one side. All that -could be heard was the continual "chu-chu" of the engine outside forcing -the hydraulic pumps, and the exhaust of the donkey engine whirling the -fan. In one corner of the shed a large coal fire was kindled on the -ground, and around it were placed seats for the company. Then an -inventive and musical-minded workman stretched a rope across from the -principals and came forward with two sets of steel rods, of various -lengths and thicknesses, and capable of emitting almost any note in the -scale. These were tied about with twine and suspended from the rope in a -graduated order, from the shortest to the longest. Someone else fetched -a big brass dome from a worn-out boiler, while others had brought -several old buffers from the scrap waggon. Two were trained to strike -the rods, and the others were instructed to beat on the dome and -buffers. - -Shortly before midnight, when the bells in the town and the far-off -villages began to peal out, the workmen commenced their carnival. Bells -were perfectly imitated by striking the bars of steel suspended from the -rope; the buffers contributed their sharp, clear notes, and the brass -dome sounded deeply and richly. This was called "Ringing the changes." -When the noise had been continued for a sufficient length of time food -was brought out and the midnight meal partaken of. Although strictly -against the rules of the factory, someone or other would be sure to have -smuggled into the shed a bottle or jar of ale; this would be passed -round and healths drunk with great gusto. When supper was over a -melodeon or several mouth-organs were produced, and selections were -played for another hour. After that the majority had a nap; they seldom -started work any more that morning. The foremen and watchmen were -usually missing on New Year's Eve, or if they should happen to arrive -upon the scene they never interfered. For once in their lives they, too, -became human, and accepted the situation, and perhaps the old watchman -sat down with the men and drank out of their bottle and afterwards -puffed away at his pipe. If the high officials at the works had only -known of what was going on at the time they would have sacked half the -men the next day, but even they, sharp as they are, do not get -intelligence of everything. - -All this happened some twenty years ago and would not be possible -to-day. The shed in which it took place has been deserted by the forgers -and transformed into a storehouse for manufactures. The kindly disposed -old watchmen are dead, or have been superseded, and a new race of -foremen has sprung up. Of the workmen some are dead and others have -retired. A great number are missing, and many of those who remain have -altered to such an extent under the new conditions that I have sometimes -wondered whether they are really the same who worked the night shift and -jested with us in the years ago. So striking is the change that has -taken place, not only in the administration, but in the very life and -temper of the men of the factory during the last decade. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - - GETTING A START--THE NEW HAND--TOWN AND COUNTRY - WORKMEN--PROMOTION--DISCHARGING HANDS--LANGUAGE OF THE - SHED--EDUCATION--THE EDUCATED MAN NOT WANTED--GREASING - THE FORGE - - -Formerly, when anyone was desirous of obtaining a start in the factory, -he tidied himself up and, arrayed in clean working costume, presented -himself at one or other of the main entrances immediately after -breakfast-time so as to meet the eyes of the foremen as they returned -from the meal. Morning after morning, when work was plentiful, you might -have seen a crowd of men and boys around the large doorways, or lining -the pavements as the black army filed in, all anxious to obtain a job -and looking wonderingly towards the opening of the dark tunnel through -which the men passed to arrive at the different sheds. The workmen eyed -the strangers curiously, and, very often, with contempt and displeasure: -it is singular that those who are safely established themselves dislike -to see new hands being put on. They look upon them as interlopers and -rivals, and think them to be a menace to their own position. - -Those in want of a start were easily recognisable from the rest by -reason of their clean and fresh appearance. Many of them were clad in -white corduroy trousers, waistcoats of the same material, with cloth -jackets and well-shone boots, and they wore a plain red or white muffler -around the neck. Some of them were very modest and bashful, and quite -uneasy in face of the crowd; the boys especially were astonished to see -so many workmen at once passing by like an army. - -As soon as the men had disappeared within the entrances the hooter -sounded and the great doors were shut. Shortly afterwards the staff -clerks came along, the foremen walking between them at the same time. -Very often the two classes were not to be distinguished; in such a case -the overseers passed by unchallenged. It usually happened, however, that -the foremen were known to one or other of the crowd. As they came up the -word was sent round and there was a rush to see who should be the first -to put the usual question--"Chance of a job, sir?" This was sometimes -accompanied with an obsequious bow, or the applicant merely raised his -forefinger to his forehead. If the foreman was not in need of hands, he -simply said "No" to each applicant and pushed by them all. If he -required any he asked them where they came from and what they had been -doing, and furthermore questioned them as to their age. If the answers -were satisfactory he merely said, "Come along with me," and conducted -the men off, and they followed with alacrity. - -The boys hardly ever had the courage to address the foremen. If they -could summon up the necessary resolution, however, they said, "Please, -sir, will you give me a job?" and if the reply was favourable they -followed off in high glee, wondering all the way at the strange -surroundings, the busy workmen, and the vast array of machinery. Boys -usually had but little difficulty in obtaining a start; they were soon -taken on and initiated into the mysteries of the sheds. When the foreman -saw them outside he went up to them and asked them if they wanted a job -and promptly told them to "Come along." - -When an applicant was taken in hand by the foreman he was conducted to -the shop office. From that place he was sent, in company with the -office-boy, to the manager's department, where he had to submit to a -whole code of formal questions, and was also required to read the rules -of the factory and to subscribe his name to them, pledging himself to -their observance. After that he was required to undergo a strict medical -examination, though one not so severe as that now in vogue. If he was -successful in this he was told to present himself at the shed, and was -there informed when he might begin work. This might be at any hour of -the day, though it was usually fixed for the early morning--getting a -start commonly occupied one day entire. Sometimes it happened that a -man's references were unsatisfactory; in that case, after working for -several days, he was discharged and another was brought forward to fill -the vacancy. - -The boys were always frightened at the thought of one painful ordeal -which they were told they would have to undergo. They were seriously -informed by their new mates in the shed that they would have to be -branded on the back parts with a hot iron stamp containing the initials -of the railway company, and very many of the youngsters firmly believed -the tale and awaited the operation with dreadful suspense. As time went -on, however, and they were not sent for to the offices, they came to -discredit the story and smiled at their former credulity. - -Different methods are now employed in engaging new hands. They are now -seldom taken up from the entrances, but must apply at the works' Inquiry -Office and begin to pass through the official formula in that way, or -the foreman is supplied with names from private sources. This is another -indication of the times, a further development of system at the works. -By reason of it many good and deserving men and boys are precluded from -the chance of getting a start in the factory, and many less competent -ones are admitted; it affords an excellent opportunity for the exercise -of favouritism on the part of the overseer. Whoever now has a mate he -would like to introduce into the shed approaches the foreman. If he is a -favourite himself room will be made for his friend, somehow or other, -but if he is a commoner, and not reckoned among the "lambs," he will be -met with a curt refusal, or his application will be put off -indefinitely. The officials do not gain anything by the method; they -will not be able to exercise as great a choice in the selection of -hands, but must have what is sent them. - -Another tendency at the works is that to keep out all those who do not -live in the borough or within a certain area around the town, or, if -they are given the chance of a start, it is only upon condition that -they leave their homes and come and live under the shadow of the factory -walls. It is said that this rule was first introduced chiefly in -deference to the tradesmen and shopkeepers of the town, because they are -under the impression that all wages earned in the town should -necessarily be spent there, either in the payment of rent or the -purchase of provisions and clothes. - -When a new hand enters the shed he attracts considerable attention; all -eyes are immediately fixed upon him. If he has worked in the factory -before he will go about his duties in a very unconcerned manner, but if -he is a total stranger to the place he will be shy and awkward, and will -need careful and sympathetic instruction; it will be some time before he -is entirely used to the new surroundings. If he is rustic in appearance, -or seems likely to lend himself to a practical joke, the wags of the -place soon single him out and play pranks upon him. It sometimes -chances, however, that they have mistaken their man; they may meet with -a sudden and unlooked for reprisal and be beaten with their own weapons. - -The workmen who come from the villages are usually better-natured and -also better-tempered than are those who are strictly of the town, though -there are exceptions to the rule. On the whole, however, they make the -more congenial mates, and they work much harder and are more -conscientious. They dress much more roughly than do their confrres of -the town; the last-named would not think of wearing corduroys in the -shed. There is often a great temperamental difference between the two, -and they differ widely in their ideas of and adaptability for work in -the shed. The country workman is fresh and tractable, open to receive -new ideas and impressions of things. He brings what is practically a -virgin mind to the work; he is struck with the entire newness of it all -and enters heart and soul into the business. He is usually more active -and vigorous, both in brain and body, than is the other, and even where -he falls short in actual intelligence and knowledge of things, he more -than makes up for it with painstaking effort; he is very proud of his -new situation. - -The town workman, on the other hand, is often superior, disdainful, and -over-dignified. There is little in his surroundings that is really new -and strange to him. He has always been accustomed to the crowds of -workmen, and if he has not laboured in the shed before he has heard all -about it from his friends or parents. His mind has often become so full -of the occupations and diversions of the town that it is incapable of -receiving new ideas; it is like a slate that has been fully written over -and is impossible of containing another sentence or word. Instead of -exhibiting shyness or reserve he immediately makes himself familiar and -causes his presence to be felt. Before he has been in the shed many days -he knows everything and can do everything, in his estimation, and if you -attempt to reason with him, or offer any advice as to how to proceed, he -will inform you that he "knows all about it without any of your -telling." - -Many of the town workmen, and especially those of the more highly -skilled classes and journeymen, though village-born themselves, show -considerable contempt for the country hand newly arrived in the shed, -and even after he has worked there many years and proved himself to be -of exceptional ability. They consider him at all times as an interloper -and a "waster," and make no secret of their dislike of and antipathy to -him. They often curse him to his face, and tell him that "if it was not -for the likes of him" they would be getting better wages. "If I could -have my way I'd sack every man of you, or make you come into the town to -live. All you blokes are fit for is cow-banging and cleaning out the -muck-yard; you ought to be made come here and work for ten shillings a -week," they say. All this has but little effect upon the countryman, -however, and he seldom deigns to reply to it. Whether his coming to the -factory to work was really better for him or not, prudent or otherwise, -he does not attempt to argue. There is no law that prohibits a man from -changing his occupation and taking another place when he feels inclined -so to do. - -When the average boy of the town first enters the shed he is not long in -finding his way about and taking stock of the other juveniles and men; -he is here, there, and everywhere in a few moments. With his -shirt-sleeves turned up to the elbow he walks round, whistling or -humming a tune, and greeting all indiscriminately with a wink or a nod, -and a "What cheer?" or "Pip! pip!" If the men beckon to him--with a sly -wink at their mates, intending to ask some ridiculous question or take a -rise out of him--the youngster shakes his hand at them and retires -straightway with a knowing nod and the expression, "I don't think," -laying great stress upon the don't. By and by, however, as he becomes a -little more proficient and "cheeky," the men get hold of him and treat -him to a little rough play. They will either twist his arm round till he -cries out with the pain, and nearly crush him in a vice-like grip, or -dip his head in the nearest bosh of water. - -The country lad behaves in a manner quite the reverse of this. He -remains strictly near his machine or steam-hammer, and is usually too -bashful to speak, unless it be to his immediate mates. He is afraid of -strangers, and it will be some weeks before he ventures to walk to the -other end of the shed. Even when he does this it will be not to converse -with the other boys and men, but in order to watch the machines, the -furnaces, and steam-hammers. There he will stand with great attention -and view the several operations, and if anyone shouts out at him he will -move quietly away and watch something else with the same earnestness, or -go back to his own place. His conduct is altogether different from that -of the other, and he is often singular in turning up his shirt-sleeves -_inside_, and right up to the very shoulders. Before the town boy goes -home from the shed he is careful to wash off the black from his face, -comb his hair, and tidy himself up. The country boy, on the other hand, -wears his livery home with him; he likes everyone to see that he has -been engaged at a hot, black job. In a word, town boys are ashamed of -the badge of their work, while country boys are proud of it. - -Perhaps, when the village boy starts in the shed, one or two kindly -disposed workmen will immediately take notice of him, and, calling him -to them, will ask him where he comes from, and upon what kind of work he -was before engaged, and all about himself, and so win him over with -their friendliness; no matter how long he remains in the shed he does -not forget their former kindness to him. In contradistinction to this -the wags of the shed make him a ready mark for their diversions, running -away with his cap, or sending him on many ridiculous errands and -confounding him with stupid questions and conundrums. One favourite jest -was to send him to the engine-house after a "bucket of blast," and -another was to despatch him for the "toe punch." The "toe punch" -consisted of a vigorous kick in the posterior, which the youngster, if -he obeyed the instructions given, was most certain to receive; but he -very soon came to know what was intended and sturdily refused to run any -more errands. - -A great alteration, physically and morally, usually takes place in the -man or boy newly arrived from the country into the workshop. His fresh -complexion and generally healthy appearance soon disappear; his bearing, -style of dress and all undergo a complete change. In a few weeks' time, -especially if his work is at the fires, he becomes thin and pale, or -blue and hollow-eyed. His appetite fails; he is always tired and weary. -For the first time in his life he must go to the surgery and obtain -medicine, or stay at home on the sick list. His firm carriage--unless he -is very careful of it--leaves him; he comes to stoop naturally and walks -with a slouching gait. His dress, from being clean, tidy, and -well-fitting, partakes of the colour of soot and grease and hangs on his -limbs; I know cases in which men have lost ten pounds in weight in a -fortnight and regained it all in a little more than a week's absence -from the shed. - -The change in character and morals is often as pronounced as is the -physical transformation; the newcomer, especially if he is a juvenile, -is speedily initiated into the vices prevalent in the factory and taught -the current slang phrases and expressions. Some of the workmen are -greatly to blame in respect of this, and are guilty of almost criminal -behaviour in their dealings with young boys. They use the most filthy -language in their presence, purposely teaching them to swear, and -sometimes also producing obscene pictures and books for their perusal. -The foremen are not free from blame and responsibility in this matter. -Many of them use the most foul language, and curse the men openly before -the youngsters upon the slightest provocation. There is a species of -Continental picture card that is far too popular in some of the offices; -where the example is set by superiors it is small wonder that the rank -and file are affected with the contagion. The managers themselves are -guilty of coarse language and vulgar expressions. Certain remarks of -theirs are frequently repeated and circulated in the sheds, and do not -tend to improve the morals of the workmen, or to increase respect for -those who made them. - -Promotion among the workmen is very slow and tedious, unless there -happens to be an influence at work somewhere behind, which is often the -case. It is superfluous to say, moreover, that the cleverest man is not -the one usually advanced; that would be contrary to all precedent at the -factory. He is more usually the very individual to be kept under; the -foreman will be sure to keep him in the background and hide his light -underneath the bushel, or try his best to snuff it out altogether. The -only material advancement possible to a workman, besides being appointed -overseer, is that of being raised to the position of chargeman. A few -privileges attach to the post of chargeman, especially if there is a -big gang; his wages are higher, and he draws a sum called percentage, -equal to 10 per cent. of his own weekly wages, deducted out of the -"balance" earned by the gang. - -The system of paying percentage is very unpopular with the rank and file -of the workmen; whether the chargeman's behaviour is good or bad, he is -heartily hated by most of the men in consequence of it. Foremen they -must tolerate, but a chargeman they fully despise. They do not like to -think that any of their earnings go to pay for his supervision, although -in most cases he is quite a necessary individual. In times past the -chargeman used to pay the piecework "balance" to the men, having -received the money in a bulk from the company, and he was often guilty -of scandalous robbery and cheating. The chargeman could and did pay the -gang what amount he pleased, and kept several pounds a week extra for -himself. All that is past and done with now. The "balance" is paid to -the man with his day wages; no opportunity of cheating him is given to -the chargeman. - -As soon as it becomes known that it is intended to discharge a number of -hands considerable anxiety is evidenced by the rank and file, and -especially by the unskilled of the shed. They begin to quake and tremble -and to be full of apprehension, for it is usually men of their class who -are chosen to go, together with any who may be old and feeble, those who -are subject to periodical attacks of illness, who have met with an -accident at some time or other, those who are awkward and clumsy, -dwellers in country places, and those whom the foreman owes a grudge. It -can generally be surmised beforehand by the men themselves who will be -in the number of unfortunates. Groups of workmen gather and discuss the -situation quietly; there is great suspense until the notices are -actually issued. Sometimes as many as a hundred men of the same shed -have received their notices of dismissal in one day. The notices are -written out upon special forms and the clerk of the shed, or the -office-boy, carries them round to the men; it is a dramatic moment. -Although fully expecting to receive the dreaded "bit of paper," the men -hope against hope; they are quite dazed when the clerk approaches and -hands it to them, for they know full well what it means. The young men -may not care a scrap. To them all the world is open. They have plenty of -other opportunities; but to those who are subject to illness--contracted -on the premises--or who are getting on in life and are becoming old and -grey and unfit for further service, it is little less than tragedy. One -day's notice is served out to the men; they are quickly removed from the -shed and are presently forgotten. - -Of the number discharged a great many loiter about the town for several -weeks, unable to find any sort of employment. These scatter about among -the villages and try to obtain work on the farms; those are assisted by -their relatives and kindred in various parts of the country to leave the -locality altogether. Some find their way into the workhouse and end -their days there, and others develop into permanent loafers and outcasts -and beg their food from door to door, picking up stray coppers around -the station yard or in the market-place. - -Great relief is felt in the shed when the discharging is over. A common -remark of the workman who is left is, "Ah well! 'Twill be better for we -as be left. 'Tis better to sack a few than to keep us all on short time -here." That is invariably the view of the well-established in the -factory. Occasionally, when a workman knows he has been selected for -dismissal through spite, or personal malice, he may go to the overseer -and "have it out with him," but there is no remedy. The foreman has had -the whole batch in his eye for some time past. Whatever little -indiscretion is committed he records it and the man is marked. The -overseer boasts openly that he shall "get his own back," sooner or -later. "We don't forget it, mate, you bet, not we! His time'll come all -right, some day." After the last great discharge of hands at the -factory, in the year 1909, when a thousand men were dismissed in order -to "reduce expenses," it was reported that every manager at the works -was granted a substantial increase in salary. In less than a month, for -some inscrutable reason, a number of new hands, equivalent to those who -had been discharged, were put on again. - -The speech of the workmen in the sheds necessarily varies according to -the country or locality which gave them birth or to the part in which -they were settled before coming to the railway town, and to the degrees -of culture existing among them. The majority, including foremen, -fitters, smiths, and other journeymen and labourers, speak a common -language, plain, direct, and homely; there is little pretence to fine -words and "swell" phrases. The average workman detests nothing more than -to be bound to a mate who is always giving himself airs, who lays stress -upon his claim to superior knowledge of grammar and other matters, and -who makes use of affected or artificial language and "jaw-breakers," as -the men call them. Sometimes a new-comer to the shed may attempt to make -an impression with a magnificent style of diction, though he is only -mocked and ridiculed for his pains, and he soon conforms to the general -rule and habit of the workshop. Even if he really possesses culture, it -is soon effaced and swallowed up amid the unsympathetic environment of -the shed. Occasionally one meets with an individual--it may be a -workman or a clerk--who can never speak simply, but tries to express -everything in ridiculous and fantastic language, and who at all times -looks upon himself as a perfect hero. The blunt and matter-of-fact -workmen take an entirely different view of him and his jargon, however; -they look upon him as a perfect fool or an idiot. - -One habit of speech is particularly noticeable amongst the men, that -is the adding the suffix "fied" to a number of words; you often hear -them make use of such expressions as "Monday-fied," "sweaty-fied," -"bossy-fied," "silly-fied," and so on. Another peculiarity is the adding -the letter y to a surname, usually a monosyllable, and especially to -those ending in dentals and labials, such as Webb-y, Smith-y, Legg-y, -Lane-y, Nash-y, Brooks-y; you never find the termination used with such -words as Fowler, Foster, Matthews, Jerrom, or Johnson. This is no more -than an extension of the rule which is responsible for such forms as -Tommy, Annie, Betty, Teddy, or Charlie. - -If one workman asks another how he is feeling, he usually receives for -an answer--"Rough and ready, like a rat-catcher's dog," or "Passable," -or "Among the Middlings," or "In the pink, mate!" as the case may be, -with the common addition of "Ow's you?" A few are still to be found, and -these among the town dwellers, too, who can neither read nor write. I -especially remember one youth, of a very respectable family, of good -appearance and fairly well-to-do, who could not write his name or read a -letter. Such cases as this are happily rare now. Where there is an -illiterate workman, if the cause of his deficiency be carefully sought -out, it will usually be found to have been entirely through his own -fault. - -As for the fruits of education exhibited among the men in the sheds -generally, that is rather a difficult and delicate matter to touch upon. -One thing, however, is obvious to any who care to pay the slightest -attention to it: extremely little of those subjects taught with such -assiduity at school remains with the individual in after life--such -things as grammar, composition, history, geography, arithmetic, and -chemistry are universally forgotten. The boys of the town are especially -remarkable for shortness of memory and general forgetfulness; they have -few powers of mental retention, and are almost incapable of -concentrating upon a matter. You have often to instruct them upon each -trivial detail half-a-dozen times, and before you can turn round they -have forgotten it again. The least occurrence is sufficient to distract -their attention. Scolding will not help matters, it is really a natural -defect. When I have had occasion to reprove boys for apparent -carelessness and neglect they have more than once replied--"I can't help -it. I forgot it." There is great truth in the first of those sentences. - -Sport and play, and especially football, claims the attention of the -juveniles. The love of the last-named pastime has come to be almost a -disease of late years--old and young, male and female, of every rank and -condition, are afflicted with it. Whatever leisure the youngsters have -is spent in kicking about something or other amid the dirt and dust; -from one week's end to another they are brimful of the fortunes of the -local football team. Many a workman boasts that he has denied himself a -Sunday dinner in order to find the money necessary for him to attend -Saturday's match. Politics, religion, the fates of empires and -governments, the interest of life and death itself must all yield to the -supreme fascination and excitement of football. - -There is an almost total lack of spontaneous interest in anything--with -the exception of sport and politics--that happens in the world without -the factory walls and the immediate vicinity of the town. The great -business of life is entirely ignored; small inclination is -discoverable--even if there were opportunities--to pay attention to -anything but the ordinary duties and routine of the shed. The beauties -of wood and field, or hill and down, scarcely appeal to the average -working man. Though magnificent downlands and historical relics are -within easy reach of the town's-people, few are tempted to walk so far -from the smoky atmosphere of the factory as to visit them; a great -indifference to the compelling attractions of Nature apparently exists. -Yet, on the other hand, if you should happen to enter the shed with a -handful of common wild flowers--willow-herb, rosebay, bell flower, -oxeye, and so on--you would immediately be surrounded by a crowd of -boys, and men, too, full of admiration for the lovely strangers, and all -eagerly inquiring after their names, thereby discovering an innate -passion for them, though lack of opportunity and other circumstances had -almost obliterated it. Every man, woman, and child, though they may not -be well aware of it, is a nature-lover at heart; they all have a fond -regard for the simple, natural things of the earth--birds, plants, and -flowers. The men of the shed are always eager to listen to and take part -in political discussions, but they are, as a rule, totally indifferent -to the interest of literature. At the same time, if you have anything to -tell them of birds, flowers, and animals, life on the farm, haymaking, -reaping, threshing, ploughing, and so on, they are full of attention: -they evidently derive great pleasure from the relation of these simple -matters and occupations. - -As for general culture, it may at once be said that the educated man is -not wanted at the factory. What is more, the managers will not have him -if they can by any means avoid it; there is a great antipathy to him on -the part of the staff in and out of the shed. Where a workman is known -to possess any intellectual abilities above those commonly found and has -the courage to raise his voice in any matter or to interest himself in -things pertaining to the town, or if he has in any way access to the ear -of the public, he is certain to be marked for it; at the first -convenient opportunity he will be shifted off the premises. Every -workman who desires to improve himself in any direction other than in -that which tends to promote the interests of the company is looked upon -with suspicion; he is immediately included in the number of -"undesirables." - -Several years ago the manager of a department, who was at the time -Chairman of the local Educational Authority, sent for me in order to see -whether I might be of any use to him in his office. After a lengthy -interview he expressed his disappointment at being unable to offer me -any position, and took care to point out to me the folly of my ways. My -intellectual qualifications were beyond his consideration, said he. I -was so full of many matters as to be quite worthless to him. He must -have certificates. What was the use of my trying, anyhow? He would quote -two words to me--_Cui bono?_ The world was full of better men than I. -What was the good of literature? His advice to me was to go back to my -furnace, look after my wife and family, and trouble no more about it. - -At the forge, however, the steady persistence of my efforts towards -self-improvement was not appreciated. Day after day the foreman of the -shed came or sent someone with oil or grease to obliterate the few words -of Latin or Greek which I had chalked upon the back of the sooty -furnace in order to memorise them. Even my tool-boxes and cupboard, -always considered more or less private and sacred, were periodically -smeared with fat and the operation was often carried out in a very -offensive manner. The plan was not successful, however, and I was often -more amused than annoyed, though it was most seriously intended by the -overseer, who always said he was acting under the manager's orders. At -one time he had caused the furnace back to be tarred. Before the tar had -completely dried I innocently chalked upon it several words that figured -in my studies for the day. By the next morning the characters had become -permanent. The colour of the chalk had set, and as often as the overseer -or his agent came with the oil-pot and removed the dust and soot, -thinking to baffle me, he was confronted with the Horatian precept, _Nil -desperandum_, a quotation from the _Hecuba_, and [Greek: Staurson -auton] (Crucify him) from the New Testament. The one most appreciated at -the works is he who remains silent and slavishly obeys every order, who -is willing to cringe and fawn like a dog, to swear black is white and -white is black at the bidding of his chief, to fulfil every instruction -without ever questioning the wisdom or utility of it, to be, in a word, -as clay in the potter's hand, a mere tool and a puppet. - -Where the cultured person does exist in the shed he must generally -suffer exquisite tortures. There can be no culture without a higher -sensibility, and he will be thereby rendered less able to endure the -hardships of the toil, and the otherwise brutal and callous environments -of the place. As for the view, held in some quarters, that education -will make a man happier at work and better satisfied with his lot and -condition, that is pure myth and fallacy, and the sooner it is -dispensed with the better. On the other hand, it will most certainly -produce dissatisfaction, but such, perhaps, as will speedily wake him up -to his real needs and requirements--a larger freedom, and the attainment -of a fuller and better life. Any kind of education that tends to make -the workman at all subjective to his lot is worthless and retrograde; he -must be roused up to battle towards perfection of conditions and must -himself be prepared to make some sort of sacrifice towards the -accomplishment of that end, unless he is content to occupy the same -level for ever. Nor will it be sufficient for him to have obtained -higher wages and greater leisure if he does not attempt to derive -something more than a mere physical or material benefit from them. -Whatever advantage is gained in the future must be turned to sterling -account--to the acquisition of useful knowledge and the increase of -mental strength and fitness, otherwise the battle will have been fought -greatly in vain. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - - SHORT TIME AND OVERTIME--"BACK TO THE LAND"--THE TOWN - INFLUENCE--CHANGES AT THE WORKS--GRIEVANCES--THE POSITION - OF LABOUR--ILLS AND REMEDIES--THE FUTURE OUTLOOK - - -Frequent spells of short time occur at the works, which are most certain -to be followed by brisk and busy periods, as though the officials were -anxious to make up for every moment of the previously lost time. It -usually happens that the change is made direct from prosperity to -adversity and _vice versa_. One week the machinery in the sheds is -running day and night and every man is working unusual hours; the next, -everything is changed. Short time is declared; only half the output will -be needed and about half the time worked. Similarly, after a period of -short weeks, a full-time notice is posted, and by the next night all the -men are pell-mell on overtime, working as though they had but a few -hours to live. Whether it is necessary or not is never ascertained; -there is apparently an astounding want of order and foresight on the -part of the managing staff. - -It is remarkable that, notwithstanding the terrific nature of the -hardships endured, the majority of the men at the factory do not show -themselves seriously averse to the working of overtime. There is even -satisfaction evinced at the prospect of putting in an extra day, or day -and a half, a week, and drawing a few shillings more in wages. The few -who dislike it from principle and on other grounds must swallow their -objections and join in with the rest; whether they like it or not they -are forced to follow the crowd. If a man refuses point-blank to work -after the usual hours he is punished either with suspension from the -shed or instant dismissal. Unfortunately for the good of the working -classes generally, those who are satisfied with the ordinary rate of -hours are insignificant in number. The highly-paid workmen and -journeymen are about as unreasonable in the matter as are the lowest -paid labourers. Very often they are the more insatiable of the two; they -will put in any number of hours provided an opportunity is given them -for so doing. The trade unionists are usually as well agreed as the -others to work extra time; there is but very little difference -discovered between them. No matter how loudly they declaim against the -system and advocate the abolition of overtime, should the order be -issued they commonly obey it with alacrity. - -Occasionally, though not often, it is announced that the working of -overtime may be optional. In the extreme heat of summer, when overtime -at the fires is prevalent, the overseer may relax a little and cause it -to be known that any who wish it may go home at the ordinary hour, but -few take advantage of the offer. I have known those who were highly -paid, on the hottest days of summer, to be so severely punished with the -heat that they could scarcely stand at their posts, almost incapable of -further effort and exhausted with the toil, yet though it was free for -them to leave at the usual hour they would not go home. They cling to -the shed as long as they possibly can; they have an unnatural fondness -for the stench and smoke. Such as these are often teased and twitted and -told to "bring their beds" with them, or an outspoken workman will tell -them they ought to die and be buried on the premises. - -A great part of the overtime, moreover, is not always genuinely -necessary, but is artificially engineered in order to please this or -that one and to provide someone or other with additional pocket-money. A -few chargemen in every shed systematically nurse the overseer and -entreat, or influence him, directly or otherwise, to allow them to work -a few quarters, a Saturday afternoon, or a Sunday. - -Very often, too, some of the men live in houses owned by their foreman. -In that case a little overtime will expedite payment of the rent; it -will not then be amiss to allow them to work a few quarters. The putting -on a few new hands and the addition of a night shift would obviate much -overtime and give the unemployed a chance, but the daymen are offended -should that proposition be made. I have actually heard men volunteer to -work double-handed at the fires and promise to turn out considerably -increased quantities of work on their turn rather than for the foreman -to run a night shift and so prevent them from working overtime. - -The men's takings at such times as these are fairly high. Some of the -new hands are astonished when they receive their wages, with the -piecework "balance" added, on a full week. One of them, in the days of -the old foreman of the frame shed, was so aghast at the amount he had to -draw he could not believe it was all intended for him; he thought there -must be a mistake somewhere. Accordingly, holding the money in his hand, -he went back to the foreman, and, in front of all the other men -cried--"Be this all mine, sir?" The foreman, who happened to be in an -ill-temper, cursed him for an idiot and promptly told him to "clear -out." - -At another time, when the men were being paid on breaking up for -Christmas holidays, a good-natured country lad, whose earnings were -small, chanced by mistake to draw the wages of another, much more -highly rated than himself, and, thinking the extras were intended for a -Christmas-box, promptly went and laid out the money in presents for his -mother and dad. He was quickly called to account, however, and had to -refund the cash at once, and he furthermore received the imputation of -being a sly rogue and a thief. Without doubt money is plentiful during -overtime, though the extras are far from being all profit. It costs more -to live. The workman requires more to eat and drink, more clothes, -firing, light, and other sundries, to say nothing of the sacrifice of -freedom and life. - -It is little real gain to the workman, even though he have a trifle -better food and clothing, a finer house and costlier furniture, while he -has to work excessively long hours in order to pay for it. The more -expensively he lives the more time he must spend in the smoke and stench -of the shed and the greater must be his dependence upon his employer. He -that lives simply in a modest cottage is much nearer to freedom than the -other can ever hope to be, for he is bound down to life-long servitude. -Every hour spent outside the factory walls is a precious addition to -life; whoever willingly throws away the opportunity of enjoying it is -guilty of the highest folly and negligence. He is the curtailer of his -dearest rights and liberties, the forger of fetters for himself and his -children after him, and the sooner the working classes can be brought to -see this the better it will be for them. - -There is a great deal of talk, chiefly with a political bias, about the -sheds, of getting back to the land. Many of the men tell you they are -sick of town life and conditions and would like to see themselves -established upon a dozen acres of land far away from the noise of the -factory, but they never make the slightest effort towards the -consummation of the wish. The fact is that, notwithstanding all the -punishments and hardships endured in the workshop, they are still -strongly attached to it or to the life they are enabled to live by -reason of it. They have no intention whatever at heart of changing their -occupation. They are content to mix with the crowd, and are unable to -withstand the novelty and excitement of the town existence. - -During the many years I have spent in the works I have known of but one -case in which a man left the shed to go back to the land as a small -working farmer. He had always been careful and thrifty, and seemed to be -well fitted for the agricultural life, but he could not succeed in it. -After five or six years of hard labour, trying in vain to prosper, he -returned to the shed, a disappointed and ruined man: he had spent his -savings and lost the whole of his small capital. He is still working in -the shed, and he has no intention of repeating the experiment. The wages -at the works, though low as compared with those obtainable at other -towns, are much higher than what the farm labourer receives. Youths of -eighteen years of age in the sheds often draw more than the carter or -cowman, who may have to maintain big families. - -Consequently, while the cry of "Back to the land" is heard on all sides, -there is at the same time a most passionate desire to get away from it -and to come into the town to work and live; whoever is of the requisite -age will be certain to appear at the factory gates to try and obtain -admission there. The whole countryside, within a radius of six or eight -miles of the town, is almost destitute of good strong workmen. Only the -feeble and decrepit are left behind to work on the farms--those who -cannot pass the physical tests and those who formerly worked in the -factory and were discharged through old age or other causes of -unfitness. Once a man becomes settled in the factory he is very -reluctant to leave it. Notwithstanding the rigour of the system imposed, -he usually remains there till the end of his working days, unless he -happens to meet with an accident or dismissal. He soon loses his -self-confidence and independent spirit. The world is considerably -narrowed down in his view; he feels bound to the life with indissoluble -fetters. - -As for the work itself, men do that in the factory they would scorn to -do outside or upon the farm. They would not be seen milking or -"clod-hopping," or carrying a yoke and pails, a truss of hay on their -head, or a little pig in their arms, or driving cattle to market. At the -same time they are not ashamed to scour down filthy roofs and windows, -to do white-washing, to clean black and greasy engines, to wheel coal -and ashes up or down the stage, to tar the axles and wheels of waggons -and vehicles, to stand at the furnace or machine all day in a -half-fainting condition choked with the smoke and dust of the shed; as -though it were not more wholesome to have to do with cattle and crops -than to be for ever penned up within four walls! - -Although perhaps not as keen intellectually as are some of those who get -their living in the town, and not receiving as much in wages, the best -of the farm-hands are healthier, happier, and generally more well-to-do -than are the factory labourers. At the same time, it is but natural that -a man should desire to leave the country to come into the town. Though -the work is much sharper and infinitely more painful while it lasts, the -shorter hours and higher pay are powerful inducements for him to make -the change. He will be free on Saturday afternoons, and there is no -Sunday labour, while his wages will often be half as much again as what -he would get on the farm. It is idle to say that the desertion of the -countryside is a modern symptom; that has very little force, for it was -always the same among highly civilised communities. The Greek husbandman -left the soil and flocked to Athens to sit in the Agora, the Egyptians -thronged the streets of Alexandria, and the Italians deserted the plough -and sickle and crowded in Rome to see the circus games and other -diversions of the "_Urbs Terrarum_." - -Those who, most of all, use the cry of "Back to the land" are they that -obtain the highest wages in the sheds, and who are themselves the least -likely to set the example. Men with families enlarge upon the blessings -and privileges of agricultural life, but they take great care to get -their sons started in the shed at the very earliest opportunity. As soon -as they leave school they are brought along in knickerbockers and -presented to the overseer, with the earnest hope of a speedy admission -to work on the premises. I know of several cases in which workmen have -been offered financial help in order to instal them in small-holdings, -and they have refused point-blank. When I asked them the reason they -replied that they "would rather go home at half-past five, if it made no -difference," and that is the crux of the whole matter. Not only this, -there is the football match, the railway "Trip," the privilege fares, -the theatre, the cinematograph, the skating-rink, and the trams, all -which must be sacrificed if the workman determines in favour of the -simple life on the farm or small-holding. The class of men to secure for -the land is the pick of the agricultural labourers, those who are -uncontaminated with the life of the town; it is useless to think of -reclaiming those who have once entered the factory and become -established there. - -Even very many of those who dwell outside the town are not content to -spend their leisure in the village; in the evening and at week-ends -they wash and dress and flock back to the street corners or parade up -and down the thoroughfares. Innovations such as the cinematograph and -the skating-rink, though harmless enough in some respects, are of little -real value to the workman; with all their claims to be "educational" and -"health-giving" the town could very well afford to dispense with them. -There is little that is really manly and vigorous in roller-skating, and -many of the cinematograph pictures serve only to indulge the craving for -the novel and sensational. Half the boys of the shed, and even the -infants of the town, can think of little but those ridiculously stupid -and often debasing entertainments, of blood and thunder, crime, and -mawkish love dramas; their minds are rendered quite incapable of -imbibing sound and useful knowledge. - -Even the trams, useful as they are, prove in several ways detrimental to -the toiler and contribute to the restriction of his liberty. Scores of -workmen I know wait at their doors or at street corners for five, and -very often for ten minutes, in order to ride a distance of about a -quarter of a mile. I have nothing to say against the habit provided the -man can afford twopence or threepence a day for fares. At the same time, -considered from the point of view of health, walking the distance would -often be much better, and every copper needlessly spent by the worker -tends to make him more and more dependent upon the shed. Where a man is -engaged upon very hot and laborious work he is often too tired to walk -home. The wages of such a one ought to be sufficiently high to enable -him to make the journey in a taxicab, if he desired it. - -Very different from this, however, is the lot of the small-holder. He -must rise early all the year round--in summer and winter, light or dark, -hot or cold weather. His work is not of five-and-a-half, but of six or -seven days. Where cattle are kept there can be no such thing as a day -off; dumb mouths must be fed and their needs ministered to. He has no -trams to take him to work, very often no shelter from the storms and -showers, no shade in summer and no steam-heated refuge in winter. His -leisure is short, his companions few, his whole life laborious. But he -is happy and strong, healthy, and vigorous in body and mind; he is in -many ways a better man than is his _confrre_ of the town. Considerably -more skill, knowledge, and human feeling are also required on the part -of the carter, cowman, and shepherd in dealing with their teams, flocks, -and herds, than in the case of those who merely superintend mechanical -processes and have to do with lifeless blocks of iron and steel, yet the -countrymen are more or less despised by the factory workers and are -greatly deficient in wages. Low wages are given on the farm simply -because it is the custom so to do; if the Government were to intervene -and fix a higher rate the extra money would be paid as a matter of -course. This is the only kind of reform that would really popularise -work on the land from the point of view of the poor man and help to -check the wholesale migration to the towns. Not until such improvements -have been made will the labourer be willing heartily to respond to the -cry of "Back to the land." - -One thing is especially to be deplored in the factory, and that is the -serious lack of recognition and appreciation of the skilful and -conscientious workman; there is very little inducement for anyone to -make efforts in order to obtain better results at the steam-hammer or -other machine. If a workman proves himself to be possessed of unusual -skill and originality, instead of being rewarded for it he is boycotted -and held in check. Even the managers are not above exhibiting the same -petty feeling where they find their ideas have been eclipsed by those of -less authority. It is their habit to think that anything they suggest is -the best possible of its kind. - -Whatever inventions are produced by the workmen, whether in leisure time -or at the shed, become the property of the railway company; they claim -the right of free and unrestricted use of all patents applied for by -their employees. Consequently, if a workman discovers means by which he -might assist the firm with a new process he holds his peace and troubles -no more about it. He knows that he would not be thanked for the -information, and he is also aware that if the scheme were adopted his -prices would consequently be reduced. In more up to date sheds, and -particularly in America, bonuses are given for the best work made and -every man is induced, by all reasonable means, to think out new methods. -An "idea box" is kept on the premises; every "happy thought" is written -upon a form and slipped into this. The managers alone inspect the sheets -and any suggestion considered worthy of being adopted is paid for.[4] - - [4] Since these pages were penned the railway authorities - have invited the workmen to submit to them any ideas they - may have for the improvement of dies and plant, but, - unfortunately, the local foreman still stands in the way - and blocks progress. On the publication of the notice a - workman of the shed put forward a brilliant and original - idea in respect of a complex job upon which he was - engaged, but the foreman promptly cut him short and told - him he was a ---- fool, and there the matter ended. - -Bonuses are paid to firemen and engine-drivers on the line for economy -in fuel. The same plan might profitably be adopted in the factory. It is -well-known that certain men invariably produce the best work. One -furnaceman will waste as much again fuel as another. One machineman -breaks no end of drills and tools. The work of this or that smith always -looks rough and shoddy. One stamper spoils more dies in a year than -another will in ten and often gets his work sent back, while the other -does never. If the best men were the most highly paid there would be no -just cause for complaint, but they are not. They are all classed the -same. The incompetent receives as much as the competent and is usually -held higher in esteem. - -That great changes have taken place in regard to everything connected -with the factory of late years is not to be disputed. Different schemes -of work and other methods of dealing with the men have everywhere been -introduced. New machinery has revolutionised many branches of the labour -and it usually happens that where an appliance that saves 50 per cent. -to the firm is adopted the men are hustled into double activity; the -great delight of the managers is to boast of the large amount of work -produced by a machine, and to add that "one man does it all." In -addition, prices all round are continually being sharpened; "balance" is -earned with greater difficulty and only by increased effort. The -officials declare openly that piecework balance is merely given to the -men when they earn it without strenuous efforts; they will not admit the -reasonableness of working with any degree of sanity and comfort. - -As well as new machinery, which has revolutionised many branches of work -in the factory, there are such things as fresh laws and regulations -touching accidents and compensation for injuries, which have helped -considerably to modify the tone and character of the sheds. Only those -in perfect health are now admitted to the works; those possessed of -flaws of any kind are rejected. The tests are almost as severe as are -those used for recruiting for the Army and Navy, and young men are -refused on account of the most trivial ailments and infirmities. - -When a man shows signs of being subject to recurrent spells of sickness -he is marked out as an undesirable; as soon as an opportunity comes he -will be quietly shifted off the premises. If a workman falls ill he must -not only satisfy the medical authorities at the works' infirmary, and -notify his foreman of the fact, but, after passing the doctor's -examination and clearing off the funds, he must present himself at one -of the manager's offices and be further interrogated before he is -allowed to start again. This last-named examination is deeply resented -by the rank and file, and many, though ill, continue at work when they -ought to be at home because they do not like the irritating process of -passing the test and the certainty of having something or other recorded -against them. - -In reality this is a system of espionage, a cowardly inquisition, but -one that is in high favour with the foreman because it gives him the -chance of getting rid of a man on so-called medical grounds without his -suspecting that he has been discharged for other reasons. By this means -the shed foreman may remove anyone against whom he has a grudge and he -cannot well be blamed himself; the victim is told that he is "medically -unfit," and there is an end of it. The game is played by putting a -private pen mark upon the official slip to be presented at the office. -If the foreman desires to retain the workman he puts a private mark upon -the paper, and if he wants to get rid of him and has not the courage to -tell him so to his face the mark is omitted. This is so arranged in -order that if the workman suspects that the paper contains something to -his detriment and demands to see it, there shall be nothing that he can -cavil at. The damaging thing is in that there is no sign upon it. -Honest Mark Fell, who was one of the finest smiths that ever worked at a -forge, an excellent time-keeper, and who was possessed of a grand -character, died rather than go out on the sick list and be forced to -pass the dreaded inquisition. He was run down with over-work, and was -badly in need of a rest, but he did not like the idea of going to the -offices. Accordingly he kept coming to work day after day, and grew -weaker and weaker. When at last he did stay out it was too late; his -strength and vitality were gone and he died within a week or two -afterwards. - -A decade and a half ago one could come to the shed fearlessly, and with -perfect complacence; work was a pleasure in comparison with what it is -now. It was not that the toil was easy, though, as a matter of fact, it -was not so exhausting as it is at present, but there was an entirely -different feeling prevalent. The workman was not watched and timed at -every little operation, and he knew that as the job had been one day so -it would be the next. Now, however, every day brings fresh troubles from -some quarter or other. The supervisory staff has been doubled or -trebled, and they must do something to justify their existence. Before -the workman can recover from one shock he is visited with another; he is -kept in a state of continual agitation and suspense which, in time, -operate on his mind and temper and transform his whole character. - -At one time old and experienced hands were trusted and respected, both -by reason of their great knowledge of the work, acquired through many -years, and as a kind of tacit recognition of their long connection with -the firm, but now, when a man has been in the shed for twenty years, -however young he may be, he is no longer wanted. There is now a very -real desire to be rid of him. For one thing, his wages are high. In -addition to this, he knows too much; he is not pliable. It is time he -was shifted to make room for someone lower paid, more plastic and more -ignorant of the inner working of things. - -If a workman has a grievance it is useless for him to complain to the -overseer, who is usually the cause of it, and if he takes it upon -himself to go and see the manager he gets no redress. The manager always -supports the foreman whether he has acted rightly or wrongly, and the -man is remembered and branded as a malcontent; he will be carefully -watched ever after. The safest way to quell a man is to keep him hard at -work. While his nose is firm upon the grindstone there is no danger of -his indulging in speculations of any kind; he could no more realise -himself than he could hope to see the stars at midday. - -While the men are inside the walls of the factory, they are under the -most severe laws and restrictions, many of which are utterly ridiculous, -and out of all reason considering the general circumstances of the toil -and the conditions in vogue; they are indeed prisoners in every sense of -the term. In the midst of the busiest period of hay-making and -harvest-cart, ploughing or threshing, a short stop is always made for -refreshment, or the labourer takes a crust of bread and cheese from his -pocket and eats it at his work and is strengthened with it, but in the -factory one must not be seen to crack a nut, or eat an apple or biscuit, -much less to partake of any other food. If he should break the rule and -be seen eating, he will be marked for it and told to "get a pass out and -go home." Four or five hours is a long time to keep up a strenuous pace -at the fires. A half-way relaxation of ten minutes would be good for -everyone; the workman would more than make up for it afterwards. - -A regrettable dulness is discovered by very many of the men, which may -be bred of the labour itself and the extremely monotonous conditions of -the factory. There is little or no thought taken for the future, no -knowledge of the value of life, and not much desire to know, either. The -workmen do not think for themselves, and if you should be at the pains -of pointing out anything for their benefit they will tell you that you -are mad, or curse you for a Socialist. Anyone at the works who holds a -view different from that expressed by the crowd is called a Socialist, -rightly or wrongly; it would need an earthquake to rouse many of the men -out of their apathy and indifference. It is more than education at -fault. There is something wrong at the very roots of the tree. The whole -system of life requires overhauling and revolutionising; the national -character is become flat and stale. - -I have already, in the first chapter, referred to labour unrest. That is -the perfectly natural outcome of modern conditions of labour, the long -spell of commercial prosperity, and of the spread of knowledge among the -working classes. It is not to be viewed with misgiving at all, at any -rate, not by those who can look intelligently into the future and brush -aside the paltry prejudices that are common everywhere to-day. The very -fact that working-men are rousing themselves and showing a masterly -interest in problems of the hour, and are prepared to fight fairly and -bravely for better conditions should be a source of satisfaction to -everyone. It proves, at least, that they are awake and alive; that they -have cast off torpor and stagnation and put on power and virility, and -that is surely a good omen both for the future of democracy and for the -nation at large. The extent of the riches of this country is so great as -to be inconceivable to the workers; if they knew how much wealth there -really is they would need to have no scruples in pressing with all their -might for a fairer share in the profits of their labours. Where the pace -is so much faster and the output considerably increased it is natural -that there should be a demand for higher wages and shorter hours. More -leisure and rest are absolutely indispensable in order properly to -recuperate for the increased demands made upon the workmen's physical -powers. The difficulties of forming agreements with the men are not -nearly as great as they are represented to be. Drastic changes could be -made with but very little inconvenience or loss to the firm; the -transition would be almost imperceptible. - -The idea that the general factory week should be completed in five -turns, the day shifts to finish working by Friday night, and the night -shifts to complete their toils by Saturday morning, has long been in my -mind. The having two clear days of leisure would give the worker an -opportunity of entirely shaking off the effects of confinement in the -shed at the week-end, and of starting work a new man on the Monday -morning. It is impossible for one to recuperate sufficiently in the -short space of time at present allowed; he is never free from the -effects of the hurry and speed of the machinery. There is, moreover, no -time to get away from the shadow and ugliness of the factory walls and -to make the acquaintance of other scenes in the country round about. -When the sheds are closed on Saturdays for short time, crowds of workers -either leave the town on foot and walk around the adjacent villages, -enjoying the fresh, pure air, or take short trips by the train and come -back strengthened with the change; you hear many a one say, during the -following week, that he feels extra fit and well. - -If a week of forty-eight hours were divided out and completed in five -turns, instead of six, it would be both popular with the men and -economical for the employers. The fuel and light, the cost of steaming -up the boilers and the general wear and tear of machinery on the sixth -turn and for several hours a day besides would be saved, and there would -be about an equivalent amount of work produced. It is useless for -critics and calculators to come forward with figures and quotations to -disprove the statement and show its impossibility; I have worked in the -shed long enough to understand the true significance of things. What is -more, the workman is not, and never will be a mathematical machine; his -efforts and powers are not to be calculated by the set rules of -arithmetic. - -The whole trend of things in the industrial world is towards shorter -hours, better wages, and a greater proportion of liberty for the -workman; all the objections that can be raised and schemes devised will -not stop the progressive movement. Sooner or later the barriers must -give way, and the goal will have been reached; the wonder then will be -that the change was not effected earlier. I would bid all toilers and -moilers, in and out of factories, to be of good hope and cheer, to fight -on and press steadily forward; victory will be certain to follow. At the -same time, one must not expect to arrive at an utter immunity from -hardships, nor, perhaps, will the whole of the differences between -capital and labour ever be absolutely removed and every problem solved. -Many conditions, however, will most certainly have been bettered, many -disputes settled and evils overcome, and this, it will be confessed, is -worth living and hoping for. - - - - -APPENDIX - - -Table of average day wages per week of fifty-four hours paid to men -employed at Swindon Railway Works, July 1914:-- - - Foremen 70s. - Foremen, Assistant 50s. - Draughtsmen 35s. - Clerks, Monthly Staff 30s. - Clerks, Shop 25s. - Forgemen 33s. - Smiths 33s. - Rolling Mills Men 30s. - Furnacemen 28s. - Stampers 28s. - Stampers' Assistants 22s. - Smiths' Strikers 22s. - Pattern-makers 35s. - Boilermakers 34s. - Fitters and Turners 34s. - Fitters, Engine 34s. - Fitters, Carriage 28s. - Die-sinkers 34s. - Coppersmiths 30s. - Tinsmiths 30s. - Moulders 26s. - Wheel Turners 24s. - Machinemen, General 24s. - Carriage Body-makers 30s. - Carriage Finishers 28s. - Waggon-builders 28s. - Road-Waggon Builders 28s. - Carpenters 28s. - Painters 26s. - Saw Mills, Timber 24s. - Riveters 26s. - Bricklayers 28s. - Labourers, Skilled 22s. - Labourers, Unskilled 20s. - Labourers, Fitters' 21s. - Storekeepers 23s. - - - - -INDEX - - - Abingdon, 44 - - Accident, 14, 243 - - Accumulators, 149 - - Africa, 92 - - Agora, 298 - - "Ajax," 141 - - Alexandria, 298 - - All Fools' Day, 270 - - America, 92, 102, 150, 301 - - Annealed, 21 - - Antiquated, 25 - - Antonio, 234 - - Apprentices (smiths), 90 - - Aquatic plants, 44 - - Archologist, 177 - - Army, 77, 302 - - Ash-wheelers, 47 - - Athens, 298 - - Athletes, 63 - - Atlantic, 139, 169 - - Atlas, 73 - - Avon, river, 22, 45 - - Axles, 20 - - - "Back to the Land," 296 - - Balance, 283 - - Balance-week, 254 - - Balling-up, 17 - - Bank Holidays, 245 - - Battleship, 110 - - Bays, 10 - - Beam-engine, 151 - - Beltage, 100 - - Besom, 85 - - Bible, 32 - - "Big Firm," 256 - - Birmingham, 92, 151 - - Bogies, 11 - - Boilers, 136 - - Boilersmiths, 74, 113 - - Bonuses, 301 - - Borough, 18 - - Boss, 134 - - "Black List," 230 - - Blast-furnace, 116 - - Blood-poisoning, 213 - - Bloom, 108 - - "Blower," 150 - - Bricklayers, 48 - - Bricklayers' labourers, 49 - - Bridge, of furnace, 46 - - Bristol, 13, 44 - - Broad-gauge, 67 - - Broadway, Hammersmith, 238 - - "Bucket of blast," 281 - - Buffalo Bill, 77, 156 - - Buffer, 23 - - Bullion van, 70 - - "Bummer," 134 - - Burns, 19 - - Burs, 23 - - - Cabin, 25 - - Csar, Julius, 264 - - Callipers, 102 - - Canada, 228 - - Canvas belts, 147 - - Cape of Good Hope, 102 - - Capitalist, 2 - - Carlyle, Thomas, 237 - - Carriage body-makers, 56 - - Carriage finishers, 38 - - Cassius, 264 - - _Castellum_, 12 - - Casuals, 69 - - Catastrophe, 38 - - Ceremonious, 57 - - Ceylon, 157 - - Chalk-pits, 13 - - Channel Islands, 173 - - Chargeman, 282 - - Charities, 97 - - Cheapjack, 173 - - Check-box, 130 - - _Chelidon_, 263 - - Cheltenham, 92 - - Chemicals, 33 - - China, 102, 157, 173 - - Cinematograph, 298 - - Cirencester, 13 - - Clay-pits, 262 - - Clinkering, 46 - - "Clod-hopping," 297 - - Coal-heavers, 14 - - Coffee stalls, 129 - - Compensation, 227 - - Compressed air, 172 - - Condensation, 11 - - Consumption, 126 - - Contraband, 31 - - Corporation, 62 - - Cotswold Hills, 45 - - Cottage Hospital, 97 - - Countershaft, 145 - - Covered goods waggons, 71 - - "Cow-banging," 279 - - Cramp, 94 - - Cricklade, 44 - - Cushion-beaters, 41 - - Cutting-down, 68 - - Cyclops, 208 - - Cylinder, 18 - - - Deadwood Dick, 77 - - Dee, river, 22 - - Democracy, 294 - - Detectives, 37 - - Detonators, 23 - - "Diagonals," 23 - - Dinner-can, 112 - - "Discontent," 4 - - "Dolly," 69 - - Donkey-engine, 150 - - Donkey-man, 109 - - Door-boy, 110 - - Dorsetshire, 247 - - Double-handed, 306 - - Dowlais, 173 - - Draughtsmen, 133 - - Dredger, 45 - - Drop-stamp, 153 - - Dumb-bells, 144 - - Durham, 92 - - - Earthquake, 18 - - Ebony, 15 - - Educational Authority, 289 - - Egypt, 173 - - Egyptians, 298 - - Electricity in belts, 147 - - Engine-cranks, 104 - - Entrenchment, 13 - - Erin, 173 - - Espionage, 303 - - Examination, 93 - - Excursionists, 26 - - Exhaust of engines, 63 - - Exhibition, 88 - - Ex-Hussar, 73 - - Explosions, 36 - - - Fable, 133 - - Factory Acts, 74 - - Factory system, 103 - - Falstaffian, 181 - - Fan, 145 - - Feed-pipes, 210 - - Feudal times, 1 - - Fire-engine, 33 - - Fires, 34 - - First Aid Men, 244 - - Fitters, 101 - - "Flatter," 21 - - Flying Dutchman, 68 - - Fogmen, 23 - - "Foreigners," 86 - - Forgemen, 106 - - Forging, 18 - - Fortress, 11 - - Foundry, 116 - - France, 150 - - Freight trains, 123 - - "Fuller," 21 - - - Gallery-men, 87 - - Gauge-glass, 166 - - Gazing-stock, 186 - - Geological data, 50 - - Germany, 20, 150 - - Gloucester, 44, 92 - - Government, 8, 300 - - Greeks, 1, 289 - - Grindstones, bursting of, 152 - - Grossness of atmosphere, 249 - - Gun barrel, 17 - - - Hammer-driver, 107 - - Hammersmith, 237 - - Heavy-weights, 73 - - _Hecuba_, 290 - - "Hell Corner," 142 - - Hercules, 52 - - Hereditary, 91 - - Hibernian, 182 - - Historical relics, 288 - - Holder-up, 69 - - Hooter, 125 - - Horatian, 290 - - Horse-rake, 266 - - Hustle, 183 - - Hydraulic work, 171 - - - Idea-box, 301 - - "Ierky," 59 - - Improvers, 90 - - Incendiarism, 34 - - Inferno, 208 - - Injector, 215 - - Inquiry office, 276 - - Inquisition, 303 - - Irishmen, 173 - - "Ironopolis," 105 - - Italians, 298 - - - Jackboots, 17, 111 - - Jam, 148 - - "Jaw-breakers," 285 - - Jefferies, Richard, 12 - - "Jersey Lily," 173 - - Jesus Christ, 246 - - Jew's harp, 166 - - "Jogglers," 82 - - "Joggling," 14 - - John Bright, 236 - - Journals, axle, 13 - - Justin M'Carthy, 238 - - - Kennet, river, 22 - - - Labour unrest, 1 - - "Lambs," 177 - - Lancaster, 92 - - Latin, 289 - - Laughing-stock, 29 - - Lean-to, 142 - - Library, 248 - - Liddington Hill, 12 - - Lightning, 10 - - Literary Society, 135 - - Liverpool, 92 - - "Loco" boiler, 164 - - Loitering, 29 - - London, 44, 45, 68 - - - Magnesia, 166 - - Malcontent, 305 - - Malleable steel, 103 - - Mallet, 83 - - Marines, 232 - - Mark Fell, 304 - - Mars, 219 - - May-pole, 63 - - Medical Report, 242 - - Mediterranean, 263 - - Merchant of Venice, 234 - - Mess-rooms, 262 - - Middlesborough, 105, 173 - - Midlands, 105, 155 - - Militia, 174 - - Mines, 1 - - Molire, 154 - - "Monday-fied," 257 - - "Monkey," of hammer, 109 - - Monsieur Jourdain, 154 - - Monthly staff, 133 - - Motherwell, 173 - - Moulders, 119 - - Mrs Langtry, 237 - - Mulatto, 174 - - Municipalities, 2 - - Mushrooms, 221 - - - Narrow-gauge, 67 - - Navy, 77, 143, 302 - - Newcastle, 116 - - New Testament, 290 - - New Year's Eve, 271 - - Nicknames, 77 - - Night shift, 206 - - "Nobbling," 113 - - - Oatmeal, 261 - - Obsequious, 275 - - Officialism, 7 - - Oileus, Ajax, 141 - - Oil furnace, 3, 139 - - Oscar Wilde, 237 - - Output, 5 - - Overalls, 101 - - Overseer, 7 - - Overtime, 292 - - Oxford, 13 - - - Painters, 38 - - Palmy days, 21 - - Pandemonium, 71, 135 - - Paris, 158 - - Parliament, 8 - - Parrot, river, 22 - - _Passeres_, 263 - - _Pater familias_, 127 - - Pattern-makers, 38 - - Pay-day, 253 - - Pension, 32 - - Percentage, 51, 283 - - Piece-work inspector, 134 - - Piers and panels, 10 - - Pig iron, 117 - - "Piles," 16 - - Platers, boiler, 113 - - Pneumatic riveting machine, 70 - - Police Court, 53 - - Politics, 287 - - Porter-bar, 105 - - "Pride o' the Prairie," 198 - - Provocation, 4 - - "Puddling," 17 - - "Puller-up," 71 - - Pull-rod, 201 - - Punishment, 15 - - Pushfulness, 53 - - - Railway Institute, 248 - - "Ram," 104, 143 - - "Rasher-waggon," 111 - - References, 276 - - Refrigerator van, 70 - - Repairs, 37 - - "Riddle," 83 - - River Liffey, 155 - - Rivet-boys, 75 - - Road-waggon builder, 54 - - Rolling mills, 15 - - Romans, 1, 85 - - Rome, 298 - - Rooks, 263 - - Rotherham, 92 - - Royal train, 233 - - Rubbish heap, 61 - - Ruffianism, 56 - - - Salisbury, 157 - - Sanitary, 32 - - Scientist, 20 - - Scotland, 13, 20, 105 - - Scrap-waggons, 21 - - Serfs, 1 - - "Set-tool," 82 - - Severn, 22 - - Shear-off (bur), 172 - - Sheer-legs, 14 - - Sheffield, 13, 92, 105 - - Shingling, 16 - - Shop clerks, 133 - - Shunters, 25 - - Shylock, 234 - - Sick and Medical Fund, 253 - - Signalmen, 68, 124 - - Skating-rink, 298 - - Skulker, 47 - - Slag, 171 - - Smithy, 82 - - Smoke-box, 115 - - Smoking, 27 - - Smudging, 37 - - "Snap" (rivet), 78 - - Sneak, 31 - - Snowstorm, 121 - - Socialist, 36 - - Sole-bar, 67 - - Sop, 5 - - Speeding-up, 5 - - Stamping, 98 - - State, 8 - - Steam-saw, 16 - - Steamship Company, 2 - - Stoppage week, 254 - - Storekeeper, 239 - - "Strappie," 148 - - Sunderland, 116, 179 - - Supper-hour, 215 - - Surgery, 281 - - "Swanker," 265 - - - Tamar, river, 22 - - Tarpaulin, 22 - - Taxicab, 299 - - Teak, 13 - - Telamon, 141 - - "Tell-tale," 28 - - Tennyson, 237 - - Thales, 1 - - Thames, river, 22, 45 - - Theft, 30, 81 - - Throw-off (wheels), 152 - - "Ticket," 131 - - Tipperary, 182 - - _Titanic_, 191 - - Titans, 139 - - "Toe-punch," 281 - - T pieces, 20 - - Towy, river, 22 - - Trades Union, 2, 102 - - Trams, 299 - - Transfer, 40, 43 - - Transport, 44 - - Transvaal, 173 - - Traversing Table, 161 - - Trespassers, 67 - - Trimmer, 210 - - "Trip," 245 - - Troy, 141 - - Tubing (boilers), 113 - - Tug-of-war, 73 - - Tyres, 13 - - - Uffington, 233 - - Ugliness, 12 - - Under-strapper, 61 - - "Undesirables," 289 - - Upholsterers, 38 - - Up-setting, 142 - - - Vacuum arrangement, 41 - - Ventilation, 10 - - Viaduct, 22 - - Virgil, 1 - - - Wages, 5 - - Wales, 179, 181 - - Washer, 21 - - Washing-down, 37 - - Waster, 279 - - Watchmen, 25 - - Water-closet, 32 - - Water-gas, 220 - - Water-pipe, 270 - - Weather-vane, 260 - - Weekly staff, 133 - - Welsh pits, 14 - - West Indies, 173 - - Weymouth, 247 - - Wheel shed, 57 - - Whistler, the artist, 237 - - Wiltshire, 158 - - Witney, 13 - - Worcester, 92 - - Works' Institute, 135 - - Wye, river, 22 - - - Yankee hammers, 133 - - - - -_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ - -A WILTSHIRE VILLAGE - -BY ALFRED WILLIAMS - - -"We have found it a gentle and continuous delight. To the reader it can -hardly be anything but a joy to find the old village life, which perhaps -he himself remembers, set down so fairly and fully, with the charge of -monotony roundly dismissed and all the events and pleasures recorded.... -Wonderful little descriptions. Here is a vivid portrait that will seem -to many like that of an old friend--Jemmy Boulton, the carter.... We -knew and loved him ever so many years ago. And it is because Mr Williams -knows and loves him, as he knows and loves the woods and waters, the -plants and the beasts, that he makes a country-side live for us again as -it still is here and there, as it will not be anywhere for -long."--_Times._ - -"Here is one who has never been drawn from his allegiance to the -country-side by the allurements of big cities. An extremely interesting -book, concerned not only with village life, but wandering far afield to -the advantage of the thoughtful reader. The beauty of his descriptions, -the quiet dignity of his well-considered inclusion of details, the -manner of introducing us to this 'character' and that, call for -appreciation, and the reader closes with reluctance a fascinatingly -discursive record which he has followed with genuine pleasure and -unabated interest."--_Country Life._ - -"He brings to bear the same observation and love of nature which are the -salient features of his delightful 'Poems.' There is in him much quaint -lore and wide knowledge of birds and animals. He has many good things to -say on this subject."--_Evening Standard._ - -"A book which is as charming as it is uncommon. Makes a deep appeal to -the naturalist and lover of the country. Mr Williams writes of what he -knows, and that fact adds a special value to his book."--_Field._ - -"A faithful description of a quiet corner of rural England, so well -written in strong simple English that it deserves a place of honour on -the shelf where country-side books are treasured."--_Daily Mail._ - -"Written from personal experience and with the closest observation. -Those whose interests are centred on rural matters generally will take a -keen delight in it. There is food for much reflection in this volume; -and be it noted that sincerity runs like a golden thread through every -page."--_Daily Chronicle._ - -_Crown 8vo, 305+xvi pages. 5s. net, postage 4d._ - -DUCKWORTH & CO., COVENT GARDEN, LONDON. - - - - -_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ - -VILLAGES OF THE WHITE HORSE - -BY ALFRED WILLIAMS - - -"If there were a Mr Williams in every county, how rich our libraries -would be in records of real rural life! We hope Mr Williams will keep on -writing as long as he has material in his collections with which to -picture the kindly, stout-hearted, humorous folk of the -Downside."--_Manchester Guardian._ - -"This book cannot be too strongly recommended for general reading, as a -charming picture, full of changing interest, of a tract of country of -great native beauty, and of the people, sturdy and characterful, who -inhabit a score of villages, so independent and self-centred that the -mere story of their industries makes no small part of the charm of this -delightful book."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ - -"The author is on friendly terms with all the oldest inhabitants. He -draws vivid pictures, tells many delightful stories. The book is one of -great interest, and we should be glad to see others of a similar -sort."--_Athenum._ - -"Especially has he been successful in his portraits of old characters -with whom he has talked. He is good on farm customs, good, too, when -he writes of the lore of the countryside. The whole life of the -country lives in his book, which is a valuable and delightful book, -and should be bought by everyone who loves the country: bought -because it is emphatically a book to read many times and to special -friends."--_Observer._ - -"He writes with the insight, the humour, and something of the poetry of -Richard Jefferies. A knowledge and a cheerful humour which are -refreshing."--_Yorkshire Post._ - -"We have only one quarrel with the Author of _Villages of the White -Horse_: the book should have been twice as long. With a genuineness -which is not inevitably behind the reviewers' summing up, we bear -testimony to its sterling qualities--its simple strength of style, its -sweetness, its fine balance, its sanity of outlook, its flashes of -rollicking humour, its informativeness, its warm sympathy and quick -comprehension, and its unfailing gentle charm."--_Wiltshire Advertiser._ - -"A series of dramatic pictures and sketches, full of life, anecdote and -humour, together with charming Nature-studies. It introduces us to the -people in their homes and in the field. It gives the most vivid -impression of how they live, of what they think and of what they -say."--_The Academy._ - -_Crown 8vo, 290+xvi pages. 5s. net, postage 4d._ - -DUCKWORTH & CO., COVENT GARDEN, LONDON. - - - - -_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ - -COR CORDIUM - -BY ALFRED WILLIAMS - - -"_Cor Cordium_ confirms Mr Alfred Williams' remarkable position among -writers of contemporary verse. It has all his sincerity and clear -vision. We prefer his ecstatic reckless lyrics to the longer poems, in -which he gives us nineteenth-century philosophy in admirable eighteenth -century verse."--_Manchester Guardian._ - -"Mr Alfred Williams' position as a poet is fully established."--_Times._ - -"That remarkable poet, Mr Alfred Williams, adds another triumph to his -list of volumes of verse."--_Daily Citizen._ - -"Mr Williams is one of those writers whose books we often pull down from -their place when the town lies heavy on the heart."--_Observer._ - -"Mr Williams is a simple and a genuine poet, simple because he is not -tempted away into decorative effects alien from the spontaneity of his -lyrical impulse, and genuine because he breathes the utmost strength of -his spirit into every line and phrase. He is circumscribed neither in -the concentration nor the intensity of this impulse, but in its range. -The energy and feeling which quicken his expression are sufficient in -themselves to create a responsiveness in the reader which registers the -vicissitudes in the mood and sensibilities of the poet. That is a great -quality. Mr Williams' strength lies in the clear and exquisite treatment -of a common sentiment."--_The Nation._ - -"Every line is the expression of a calm, determined purpose, buoyant in -its own well-measured, well-disciplined confidence."--_Daily Chronicle._ - -"The serious manliness and good sense of these pieces are qualities so -rare in the verse of to-day that when we find them they have a sort of -exotic piquancy. There are times when Mr Williams wears with grace the -mantle of the Jacobeans."--_Spectator._ - -"His lyrics in strict form are often wonderful. We do not think that -such lovely lyric verse can fail to give its creator a high place among -the poets of to-day."--_Poetry Review._ - -_Large 8vo, 82 pages. 3s. 6d. net, postage 3d._ - - PUBLISHED BY ERSKINE MACDONALD - 16 FEATHERSTONE BUILDINGS, LONDON, W.C. - - - - -_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ - -NATURE AND OTHER POEMS - -BY ALFRED WILLIAMS - - -"It is seldom, even among the romantics, that we find so ecstatic a rage -for nature. The purpose and sincerity of the author bear him along, and -there are times when he achieves a rare beauty. He has depths yet -unplumbed to draw from."--_Times._ - -"The expression of a mystical exaltation of spirit. Truth and sincerity -are the impulse of Mr Williams' poems."--_Edinburgh Review._ - -"A rare blend of Goth and Latin."--_English Review._ - -"Mr Williams' work has the passionate throbbing purity of the later -Richard Jefferies."--_Bookman._ - -"Mr Williams' work has a splendid detachment and a splendid -essentiality. It is pure rapture."--_Academy._ - -"The poems have the fragrance and simplicity that come from a strong, -sincere mind. To read them is to be refreshed."--_Observer._ - -"There is movement, joy of life, strenuous bliss of existence throughout -the book; it is a real and rare pleasure to read."--_Poetry Review._ - -"The work, which recalls Cowper, is delightful."--_Athenum._ - -"Written in glowing strains of rare quality."--_Publishers' Circular._ - -"Mr Williams is a poet of a school uncommon in these days. His robust -and shapely verse is a counterpart of his wholesome philosophy of -life."--_Spectator._ - -"Those who read the other books of this man, who has triumphed over -circumstances so remarkably, will know that pleasure awaits them on -every page."--_Outlook._ - -"Works of high merit. Remarkable human documents."--_Swindon -Advertiser._ - -"Mr Williams is a singer whom we should place very high."--_Literary -Monthly._ - -_Large 8vo, 90 pages. 3s. 6d. net, postage 3d._ - - PUBLISHED BY ERSKINE MACDONALD - 16 FEATHERSTONE BUILDINGS, LONDON, W.C. - - - - - -A LIST OF THE LIBRARIES AND SERIES OF COPYRIGHT BOOKS PUBLISHED BY -DUCKWORTH & CO. - -3 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN LONDON, W.C.2 - - -DUCKWORTH & CO.'S LIBRARIES AND SERIES - -THE POPULAR LIBRARY OF ART--_continued_ - - THE PRE-RAPHAELITE BROTHERHOOD. By Ford Madox Hueffer. - - PERUGINO. By Edward Hutton. - - MILLET. By Romain Rolland. - - WATTEAU. By Camille Mauclair. - - THE FRENCH IMPRESSIONISTS. By Camille Mauclair. - - WHISTLER. By Bernhard Sickert. - - - - -MASTERS OF PAINTING - -_With many illustrations in photogravure._ - - -A series which gives in each volume a large number of examples -reproduced in _photogravure_ of the works of its subject. 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By William - West Holdsworth, M.A., Tutor in New Testament Language and - Literature, Handsworth College; author of "The Christ of - the Gospels," "The Life of Faith," etc. - - FAITH AND ITS PSYCHOLOGY. By William R. Inge, D.D., Dean of St - Paul's, Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, Cambridge, - and Bampton Lecturer, Oxford, 1899. - - THE THEOLOGY OF THE EPISTLES. By H. A. A. Kennedy, D.D., - D.Sc., Professor of New Testament Exegesis and Theology, - New College, Edinburgh. - - CHRISTIANITY AND SIN. By Robert Mackintosh, M.A., D.D., - Professor of Apologetics in Lancashire Independent - College; Lecturer in the University of Manchester. - - PROTESTANT THOUGHT BEFORE KANT. By A. C. McGiffert, Ph.D., - D.D., of the Union Theological Seminary, New York. - - THE THEOLOGY OF THE GOSPELS. By James Moffat, B.D., D.D., of - the U. F. Church of Scotland, sometime Jowett Lecturer, - London, author of "The Historical New Testament." - - A HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN THOUGHT SINCE KANT. By Edward Caldwell - Moore, D.D., Parkman Professor of Theology in the - University of Harvard, U.S.A., author of "The New - Testament in the Christian Church," etc. - - THE DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT. By J. K. Mosley, M.A., Fellow - and Tutor of Pembroke College, Cambridge. - - REVELATION AND INSPIRATION. By James Orr, D.D., Professor of - Apologetics in the Theological College of the United Free - Church, Glasgow. - - A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT. By Arthur Samuel - Peake, D.D., Professor of Biblical Exegesis and Dean of - the Faculty of Theology, Victoria University, Manchester; - sometime Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. - - PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION. By Hastings Rashdall, D.Litt. - (Oxon.), D.C.L. (Durham), F.B.A., Dean of Carlisle. - - THE HOLY SPIRIT. By Thomas Rees, M.A. (Lond.), Principal of - Bala and Bangor College. - - THE RELIGIOUS IDEAS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. By H. Wheeler - Robinson, M.A., Tutor in Rawdon College; sometime Senior - Kennicott Scholar in Oxford University. - - TEXT AND CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. By Alexander Souter, - M.A., D.Litt., Professor of Humanity at Aberdeen - University. - - CHRISTIAN THOUGHT TO THE REFORMATION. By Herbert B. Workman, - M.A., D.Litt., Principal of the Westminster Training - College. - - - - -DUCKWORTH & CO.'S TWO SHILLING NET SERIES - -_Stiff Covers, Crown 8vo. Postage 4d._ - - - THE BRASSBOUNDER: A TALE OF THE SEA. By David W. Bone. - - BROKEN STOWAGE. By David W. Bone. - - IF AGE COULD. By Bernard Capes. - - THE HOUSE IN MARYLEBONE. By Mrs W. K. Clifford. - - THE WIDOW'S NECKLACE: A DETECTIVE STORY. By Ernest Davies. - - WRACK: A TALE OF THE SEA. By Maurice Drake. - - THE EXPLOITS OF DANBY CROKER. By R. Austin Freeman. - - BEYOND THE ROCKS. By Elinor Glyn. - - HALCYONE. By Elinor Glyn. - - THE REASON WHY. By Elinor Glyn. - - THE REFLECTIONS OF AMBROSINE. By Elinor Glyn. - - THE VISITS OF ELIZABETH. By Elinor Glyn. - - GUINEVERE'S LOVER (THE SEQUENCE). By Elinor Glyn. - - THE VICISSITUDES OF EVANGELINE. By Elinor Glyn. - - WHEN THE HOUR CAME. By Elinor Glyn. - - THREE WEEKS. By Elinor Glyn. - - THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH. By Elinor Glyn. - - ELIZABETH VISITS AMERICA. By Elinor Glyn. - - THE CONTRAST AND OTHER STORIES. By Elinor Glyn. - - THREE THINGS. By Elinor Glyn. - - LETTERS TO CAROLINE. By Elinor Glyn. - - THE MAN AND THE MOMENT. By Elinor Glyn. - - SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES. By W. H. Hudson. - - OLD FIREPROOF. By Owen Rhoscomyl. - - WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED. By Grant Watson. - - THE MAINLAND. By Grant Watson. - - THE OILSKIN PACKET. By Reginald Berkeley and James Dixon. - - - - -Transcriber's Note - -Spelling and word usage have been retained as they appear in the -original publication except as follows: - - Page 47 mumuring and complaint is always imposed _changed to_ - murmuring and complaint is always imposed - - Page 86 heats with a minimum amount of labour _changed to_ - beats with a minimum amount of labour - - Page 93 the knowledge of their own usefulnesss _changed to_ - the knowledge of their own usefulness - - Page 156 thick chunks of break and _changed to_ - thick chunks of bread and - - Page 170 for removing the scale and excresence _changed to_ - for removing the scale and excrescence - - Page 172 superflous metal, an ounce or more _changed to_ - superfluous metal, an ounce or more - - Page 197 makes me bad _changed to_ - makes me mad - - Page 200 got to channge knives _changed to_ - got to change knives - - Page 247 domestic rseponsibilities--rise _changed to_ - domestic responsibilities--rise - - Catalogue - Page 3 DUCKWORTH & CO.'S LIBRARIES AND SERIES - A page is missing from the scans used to prepare this - ebook and an alternative has not been located. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Life in a Railway Factory, by Alfred Williams - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE IN A RAILWAY FACTORY *** - -***** This file should be named 40975-8.txt or 40975-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/9/7/40975/ - -Produced by crana and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Life in a Railway Factory - -Author: Alfred Williams - -Release Date: October 8, 2012 [EBook #40975] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE IN A RAILWAY FACTORY *** - - - - -Produced by crana and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - -LIFE IN A RAILWAY FACTORY - - - - - _UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_ - - THE READERS' LIBRARY - - 50 VOLUMES PUBLISHED - - _Full list of Titles can be had from - the Publishers_ - - DUCKWORTH & CO. - COVENT GARDEN, LONDON - - - - - LIFE IN - A RAILWAY FACTORY - - BY - ALFRED WILLIAMS - - AUTHOR OF - 'A WILTSHIRE VILLAGE' - 'VILLAGES OF THE WHITE HORSE' - - [Illustration] - - LONDON - DUCKWORTH & CO. - 3 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C. - - - - - _First Published 1915 - Published in the Readers' Library 1920_ - - _Printed in Great Britain - by Turnbull & Spears, Edinburgh_ - - - - - TO MY FRIEND - ALFRED E. ZIMMERN - - - - -PREFACE - - -My object in penning "Life in a Railway Factory" was to take advantage -of the opportunities I have had as a workman, during twenty-three years' -continuous service in the sheds, of setting down what I have seen and -known for the interest and education of others, who might like to be -informed as to what is the actual life of the factory, but who have no -means of ascertaining it from the generality of literature published -upon the matter. - -The book opens with a short survey of several causes of labour unrest -and suggestions as to its remedy. Then follows a brief description of -the stamping shed, which is the principal scene and theatre of the drama -of life exhibited in the pages, the central point from which our -observations were made and where the chief of our knowledge and -experience was acquired. After a glance into the interior we explore the -surroundings and pay a visit to the rolling mills, and watch the men -shingling and rolling the iron and forging wheels for the locomotives. -Continuing our perambulation of the yard we encounter the shunters, -watchmen, carriage finishers, painters, washers-down, and -cushion-beaters. The old canal claims a moment's attention, then we pass -on to the ash-wheelers, bricklayers, road-waggon builders, and the -wheel-turning shed. Leaving them behind we come to the "field," where -the old broad-gauge vehicles were broken up or converted, and proceed -thence into the din of the frame-building shed and study some portion -of its life. Next follows an exploration of the smithy and a -consideration of the smith at work and at home, his superior skill and -characteristics. From our study of the smiths we pass to that of the -fitters, forgemen, and boilermakers, and complete our tour of the -premises by visiting the foundry and viewing the operations of the -moulders. - -The early morning stir in the town and country around the sheds, the -preparations for work, the manner in which the toilers arrive at the -factory, and the composition of the crowd are next described, after -which we enter the stamping shed and witness the initial toils of the -forgemen and stampers, view the oil furnace and admire the prowess of -"Ajax" and his companions. The drop-hammers and their staff receive -proportionate attention; then follows a comparison of forging and -smithing, a study of several personalities, and an inspection of the -plant known as the Yankee Hammers. Chapter XI. is a description of the -first quarter at the forge expressed entirely by means of actual -conversations, ejaculations, commands, and repartees, overheard and -faithfully recorded. Following that is a first-hand account of how the -night shift is worked, giving one entire night at the forge and noting -the various physical phases through which the workman passes and -indicating the effects produced upon the body by the inversion of the -natural order of things. The remainder of the chapters is devoted to the -description and explanation of a variety of matters, including the -manner of putting on and discharging hands, methods of administration, -intimidating and terrorising, the interpretation of moods and feelings -during the passage of the day, week and year, holidays, the effects of -cold and heat, causes of sickness and accidents, the psychology of fat -and lean workmen, comedy, tragedy, short time and overtime, the -advantages--or disadvantages--of education and intelligence, ending up -with a review of the industrial situation as it was before the war and -remarks upon the future outlook. A table of wages paid at the works is -added as an appendix. - -The site of the factory is the Wiltshire town of Swindon. This stands at -the extremity of the Upper Thames Valley, in the centre of a vast -agricultural tract, and is seventy-seven miles from London and about -forty from Bristol. Its population numbers approximately fifty thousand, -all largely dependent upon the railway sheds for subsistence. The -inhabitants generally are a heterogenous people. The majority of the -works' officials, the clerical staff, journeymen, and the highly skilled -workers have been imported from other industrial centres; the labourers -and the less highly trained have been recruited wholesale from the -villages and hamlets surrounding the town. About twelve thousand men, -including clerks, are normally employed at the factory. A knowledge of -the composition of the inhabitants of the town is important, otherwise -one might be at a loss to account for the low rate of wages paid, the -lack of spirited effort and efficient organisation among the workers, -and other conditions peculiar to the place. - -The book was never intended to be an expression of patriotism or -unpatriotism, for it was written before the commencement of the European -conflict. It consequently has nothing directly to do with the war, nor -with the manufacture of munitions, any more than it incidentally -discovers the nature of the toils, exertions, and sacrifices demanded of -those who must slave at furnace, mill, steam-hammer, anvil, and lathe -producing supplies for our armies and for those of our Allies in the -field. It is not a treatise on economics, for I have never studied the -science. If I had set out with the intention of theoretically -slaughtering every official responsible for the administration of the -factory I should have failed signally. I never contemplated such a -course. Instead I wished to write out my own experiences and -observations simply, and from my own point of view, mistaken or -otherwise, without fear or favour to any. I have my failings and -prejudices. What they are is very well known to me, and I have no -intention of disavowing them. Whoever disagrees with me is fully -entitled to his opinion. I shall not question his judgment, though I -shall not easily surrender my own. I am not anxious to quarrel with any -man; at the same time I am not disposed to be fettered, smothered, -gagged or silenced, to cower and tremble, or to shrink from uttering -what I believe to be the truth in deference to the most formidable -despot living. - -A. W. - -_24th July 1915._ - -A portion of Chapter XIII. has appeared in the _English Review_. My -thanks are due to the Editor for his courteous permission to reproduce -it in the volume. - - - - -CONTENTS - - -CHAPTER I - PAGE - - LABOUR UNREST 1 - -CHAPTER II - - THE STAMPING SHOP--GENERAL ENVIRONMENT--THE "COALIES"--THE - ROLLING MILLS--PUDDLING AND SHINGLING--ACCIDENTS AT THE - ROLLS--THE SCRAP WAGGONS--WASTE 9 - -CHAPTER III - - THE SHUNTERS--WATCHMEN--DETECTING A THIEF--FIRES--CARRIAGE - FINISHERS--PAINTERS--WASHERS-DOWN--CUSHION-BEATERS--CHANGES - AND INNOVATIONS--DEPARTMENTAL RELATIONS 25 - -CHAPTER IV - - THE OLD CANAL--THE ASH-WHEELERS--THE BRICKLAYERS--RIVAL - FOREMEN--THE ROAD-WAGGON BUILDERS--THE WHEEL SHED--BOY - TURNERS--THE RUBBISH HEAP 44 - -CHAPTER V - - "THE FIELD"--"CUTTING-DOWN"--THE FLYING DUTCHMAN--THE FRAME - SHED--PROMOTION--RIVET BOYS--THE OVERSEER 63 - -CHAPTER VI - - THE SMITHY--THE SMITH--BUILDING THE FIRE--GALLERYMEN-- - APPRENTICES--THE OLDEST HAND--DEATH OF A SMITH--THE - SMITH'S ATTITUDE TO HIS MATES--HIS GREAT GOOD-NATURE - --THE SMITHS' FOREMAN 82 - -CHAPTER VII - - FITTERS--THE STEAM-HAMMER SHED--FORGEMEN--THEIR - CHARACTERISTICS--BOILERMAKERS--THE FOUNDRY--THE - BLAST FURNACE--MOULDERS 100 - -CHAPTER VIII - - GETTING TO WORK--THE AWAKENING IN THE COUNTRY--STEALING - A RIDE--THE TOWN STIR--THE ARMY OF WORKMEN--"CHECKING"-- - EARLY COMERS--CLERKS AND DRAUGHTSMEN--FEATURES OF THE - STAFF 120 - -CHAPTER IX - - FIRST OPERATIONS IN THE SHED--THE EARLY DIN--ITS EFFECT ON - THE WORKMEN--CHARGING THE HEATS--THE OIL FURNACE--THE - "AJAX"--HARRY AND SAMMY--THE "STRAPPIE"--HYDRAULIC - POWER--WHEEL-BURSTING 136 - -CHAPTER X - - STAMPING--THE DROP-HAMMER STAFF--ALGY AND CECIL--PAUL AND - "PUMP"--"SMAMER"--BOILERS--A NEAR SHAVE 153 - -CHAPTER XI - - FORGING AND SMITHING--HYDRAULIC OPERATIONS--"BALTIMORE"-- - "BLACK SAM"--"STRAWBERRY" AND GUSTAVUS--THE "FIRE - KING"--"TUBBY"--BOLAND--PINNELL OF THE YANKEE PLANT 169 - -CHAPTER XII - - FIRST QUARTER AT THE FORGE 187 - -CHAPTER XIII - - THE NIGHT SHIFT--ARRIVAL IN THE SHED--"FOLLOWING THE - TOOL"--THE FORGEMAN'S HASTE AND BUSTLE--LIGHT AND - SHADE--SUPPER-TIME--CLATTER AND CLANG--MIDNIGHT-- - WEARINESS--THE RELEASE--HOME TO REST 206 - -CHAPTER XIV - - INFERIORITY OF WORK MADE BY THE NIGHT SHIFT--ALTERING - THE GAUGES--THE "BLACK LIST"--"DOUBLE STOPPAGE - CHARLIE"--"JIMMY USELESS"--THE HAUNTED FORGE AND COKE - HEAP--THE OLD VALET--THE CHECKER AND STOREKEEPER 225 - -CHAPTER XV - - SICKNESS AND ACCIDENTS--THE FACTORY YEAR--HOLIDAYS--"TRIP"-- - MOODS AND FEELINGS--PAY-DAY--LOSING A QUARTER--GETTING - MARRIED 241 - -CHAPTER XVI - - COLD AND HEAT--MEALS--FAT AND LEAN WORKMEN--WAYS AND - MEANS--PRANKS--ALL FOOLS' DAY--NEW YEAR'S EVE 258 - -CHAPTER XVII - - GETTING A START--THE NEW HAND--TOWN AND COUNTRY WORKMEN-- - PROMOTION--DISCHARGING HANDS--LANGUAGE OF THE SHED-- - EDUCATION--THE EDUCATED MAN NOT WANTED--GREASING - THE FORGE 274 - -CHAPTER XVIII - - SHORT TIME AND OVERTIME--"BACK TO THE LAND"--THE TOWN - INFLUENCE--CHANGES AT THE WORKS--GRIEVANCES--THE - POSITION OF LABOUR--ILLS AND REMEDIES--THE FUTURE - OUTLOOK 292 - -APPENDIX - - TABLE OF WAGES PAID AT THE WORKS 309 - - INDEX 311 - - - - -LIFE IN A RAILWAY FACTORY - - - - -CHAPTER I - -LABOUR UNREST - - -Someone once asked the Greek Thales how he might best bear misfortune -and he replied--"By seeing your enemy in a worse condition than -yourself." He would have been as near the truth if he had said "friend" -instead of "enemy." Everyone appears to desire to see every other one -worse off than himself. He is not content with doing well; he must do -better, and if his success happens to be at the expense of one less -fortunate he will be the more highly gratified. This lust of dominion -and possession dates from the very foundation of human society. It is a -feature of barbarism, and one that the wisest teaching and the most -civilising influences at work in the world have failed to remove or even -very materially to modify. The idea behind the _Sic vos non vobis_ of -Virgil has always been uppermost in the minds of the powerful. This it -was that doomed the captives of the Greeks and Romans to a life of -wretchedness and misery in the mines. This was responsible for the -subjugation of the English peasants, and their reduction to the order of -serfs in feudal times. And this is what would enslave the labouring -classes in mine, field, and factory to-day. It must not be permitted. -There is a way to defeat it. That is by law. Not a law made by the -depredators but by the workers themselves. They have the means at their -disposal. If they would summon up the courage to make use of them they -might shatter the power of the capitalist at a stroke and free -themselves from his domination for ever. - -A principal cause of trouble everywhere between the employer and the -employed is the lack of recognition of the worker. I mean this in its -broadest sense. I do not mean merely that great and powerful -combinations do not want to recognise Trade Unions. We all know that. It -is a part of their policy and is dictated by pride and the spirit of -intolerance. But they make a much more serious and fatal mistake. They -refuse to recognise a man. All kinds of employers are guilty of this. -The mineowner, the trading syndicate, the railway or steamship company, -municipal authorities, the large and small manufacturer, the farmer and -shopkeeper are equally to blame. If they would recognise the man they -might be led to a consideration of his legitimate needs. They must first -admit him to be equally a member of the human family and then recognise -that, as such, he has claims as righteous and sacred as they. That is -where the representative of capital invariably fails. He will not admit -that the one under his authority has any rights of his own. To him the -worker is as much a slave as ever he was, only he is conscious that his -treatment of him must be subject to the limitations imposed by the -modern laws of the land. And as he flouts the individual so he contemns -the collective organisations of the men. He is determined not to -recognise them. He considers this to be a proof of his strength. In -reality it is a badge of his weakness. Sooner or later it will prove his -undoing. - -I will give an illustration. Several years ago, working in the same -shed as myself, was a grey-headed furnaceman. He was not an old man; he -could have been no more than fifty. One day he met with a serious -accident. While attending to his furnace, in a stooping position, -someone in passing accidentally pushed him. This caused him to lose his -balance and he slipped on the plate and fell head-first into a boshful -of boiling water underneath the fire hole. His head and shoulders were -severely scalded, and he was absent on the sick list for two months. -When he came in again he was not allowed to resume work at the furnace -but was put wheeling out ashes from the smiths' fires. To my -steam-hammer an oil furnace had recently been attached and several -managers came daily to experiment with it. One morning, while they were -present, the ex-furnaceman came to wheel away the debris. Then a manager -turned to me and said-- - -"Who's that? What's he doing here?" - -I explained who the man was and what he was doing. - -"Pooh! What's the good of _that thing_! He ought to be shifted outside," -replied he. - -In a short while afterwards the furnaceman was discharged. - -There is something even worse than this and much more serious in effect. -That is a result of too great recognition. I am referring to the common -fault of interfering with and penalising men of superior mental and -intellectual powers. There is even a certain advantage in a man's -ability to escape attention. Especially if he is of a courageous turn of -mind, has views and ideas of his own, and is able to influence others. -He will live the more easy for it. Left to himself he can work away -quietly, informing the minds and leavening the opinions of those round -about him. If he can escape recognition. But he cannot. He is soon -discovered, gagged, smothered, or got rid of. The safest way to -strengthen a flame is to fan it. And if you want to intensify a man's -dissatisfaction with a thing attempt to prevent him by force from giving -expression to it. That is a sure means of provocation and will bear -fruit a hundredfold. - -We hear a great deal about the "discontent" of the workers, and a degree -of censure and reproach is usually conveyed with the expression. It is -not half general enough. The average working man is too content. He is -often lazily apathetic. Is the mineowner, the manufacturer, or the -railway magnate content? Of course he is not. Strength is in action. -When I hear of a man's being satisfied I know that he is done for. He -might as well be dead. I wish the workers were more discontented, though -I should in every case like to see their discontent rationally expressed -and all their efforts intelligently directed. They waste a fearful -amount of time and energy through irresolution and uncertainty of -objective. - -The selfishness, cruelty, and arrogance of the capitalist and his agents -force the workers into rebellion. The swaggering pomposity and fantastic -ceremony of officials fill them with deserving contempt. Their impudence -is amazing. I have known a foreman of the shed to attack a man by reason -of the decent clothes he had on and forbid him to wear a bowler hat. Not -only in the workshop but even at home in his private life and dealings -he is under the eye of his employer. His liberty is tyrannically -restricted. In the town he is not allowed to supplement his earnings by -any activity except such as has the favour of the works' officials. He -must not keep a coffee-shop or an inn, or be engaged in any trading -whatever. He may not even sell apples or gooseberries. And if he happens -to be the spokesman of a labourers' union or to be connected with any -other independent organisation, woe betide him! The older established -association--such as that of the engineers--is not interfered with. It -is the unprotected unskilled workman that must chiefly be terrorised and -subjugated. - -The worker is everywhere exploited. The speeding-up of late years has -been general and insistent. New machinery is continually being installed -in the sheds. This is driven at a high rate and the workman must keep -pace with it. The toil in many cases is painfully exacting. There may be -a less amount of violent physical exertion required here and there, -though much more concentration of mind and attention will be needed. The -output, in some instances, has been increased tenfold. I am not -exaggerating when I say that the actual exertions of the workman have -often been doubled or trebled, yet he receives scarcely anything more in -wages. In some cases he does not receive as much. He may have obtained a -couple of shillings more in day wages and at the same time have lost -double the amount in piecework balance. Occasionally, when the foreman -of the shed has mercilessly cut a man's prices, he offers him a sop in -the shape of a rise of one or two shillings. On the hammers under my -charge during the last ten years the day wages of assistants--owing to -their being retained on the job up to a greater age--had doubled, and -the piecework prices had been cut by one half. As a result the gang lost -about 80 pound in a year. A mate of mine, whose prices had been cut to -the lowest fraction, though offered a rise, steadily refused it on the -ground that he would be worse off than before. Though slaving from -morning till night he could not earn his percentage of profit. In many -cases where the workman was formerly allowed to earn a profit of 33 per -cent. on his day wages he is now restricted to 25 per cent., and the -prices have been correspondingly reduced. Even now the foreman is not -satisfied. He will still contrive to keep the percentage earned below -the official figure in order to ingratiate himself with the managers and -to give them the impression that he is still engaged in paring the -prices. - -At the same time, a marvellous lack of real initiative is discovered by -the factory staff. Things that have been so are so, and if any sharp and -enterprising workman sees the possibility of improvement anywhere and -makes a suggestion he is soundly snubbed for his pains. In their -particular anxiety to exact the last ounce from the workman in the -matter of labour the managers overlook multitudes of important details -connected with their own administration, but which the workman sees as -plainly as he does the nose on his face. They often spend pounds to -effect the saving of a few pence. They lavish vast sums on experiments -that the most ordinary man perceives have no possible chance of being -successful, or even useful if they should succeed. Men's opinions upon a -point are rarely solicited; if offered, they are belittled and rejected. -Where an opinion is asked for it is usually intended as a bait for a -trap, the answer is carefully recorded and afterwards used to prove -something to the other's disadvantage. - -But those ideas which are most valuable, provided they are not complex -and the simple-minded official can readily grasp them--which is not -always the case--he secretly cherishes and stealthily develops and -afterwards parades them to his superior with swaggering pride as his own -inventions. It is thus Mr So-and-so becomes a smart man in the eyes of -the firm, while, as a matter of fact, he is a perfect blockhead and an -ignoramus. Meanwhile, the very workman whose idea has been purloined and -exploited is treated as a danger by the foreman; henceforth he must be -watched and kept well in subjection. The cowardly overseer sees in him a -possible rival, and is fearful for his own credit. This is one of the -worst ills of the manufacturing life, and has crushed many a brave, good -spirit, and smothered many a rising genius. The disadvantage is twofold. -There is a loss to manufacture in not being assisted with new and bright -ideas, and another to the individual, who is not only deprived of the -fruits of his inventive faculty but is systematically punished for the -possession of an original mind. In a word, officialism at the works is -continually straining at the gnat and swallowing the camel. - -What means are to be adopted in order to do away with the anomaly? One -of the first things to do would be to recognise the individual. We want -a better understanding and a new feeling altogether. The worker does not -need a profusion of sentiment; he claims justice. He is willing to give -and take. He knows that enormous profits are made out of his efforts and -it is but natural that he should demand to receive a fair amount of -remuneration and equitable conditions. My companion of the next -steam-hammer, by means of a new process, in one week saved the railway -company 20 pound in the execution of a single order. He had to work -doubly hard to do it but he received not a penny extra himself. The -piecework system as it stands is grossly unfair. All the profits accrue -to one side and when the worker demands what is, after all, an -insignificant participation in them he is described as being -unreasonable and discontented. Where day wages have risen all round on -piecework jobs the prices should be increased in proportion, otherwise -the workman is simply paying himself for his additional efforts out of -his own pocket. - -Better wages and shorter hours are desired in every sphere of labour -and especially in factories. The worker is not greatly concerned as to -whether he is employed by the State or by a syndicate as long as he -obtains justice. It is no more trouble for Parliament to formulate a law -for a private concern than for a Government department. Forty-eight -hours a week is long enough for any man to work. I would have the -factory week completed in five turns. There is no need of the half-day -Saturdays. It is a waste of time. It is expensive for the employers and -unprofitable for the men. They can neither work nor play. If forty-eight -hours were divided out into five turns the expense of steaming for the -half-turn on Saturday would be saved. The amount of work produced would -not fall very far below that made at present, and the men would be -better satisfied. They would at least be able to have a clear rest and -come to work fresh and fit on the Monday. I would even go further and -suggest forty-five hours--that is, five turns of nine hours each--as a -working week for factories in the future. This is not so impossible nor -yet as unreasonable as it may appear. The proposal will doubtless strike -some as being amazing. Nevertheless, I recommend it to them for their -leisurely consideration. By aiming high we shall hit something. But -there are obstacles to remove and difficulties to overcome. - - - - -CHAPTER II - - THE STAMPING SHOP--GENERAL ENVIRONMENT--THE "COALIES"--THE - ROLLING MILLS--PUDDLING AND SHINGLING--ACCIDENTS AT THE - ROLLS--THE SCRAP WAGGONS--WASTE - - -The Stamping Shop is square, or nearly so, each lateral corresponding to -a cardinal point of the compass--north, south, east, and west, the whole -comprising about an acre and a quarter. That is not an extensive -building for a railway manufactory. There are some shops with an area of -not less than five, six, and even seven acres--a prodigious size! They -are used for purposes of construction, for carriages, waggons, -locomotives, and also for repairs. The premises used for purely -manufacturing purposes, such as those I am now speaking of, are -generally much smaller in extent. - -The workshop is modern in structure and has not stood for more than -fifteen years. Before that time the work proceeded on a much smaller -scale, and was carried on in a shed built almost entirely of wood and -corrugated iron--a dark, wretched place, without light or ventilation, -save for the broken windows and rents in the low, depressed roof. With -the development of the industry and general expansion of trade this -became altogether inadequate to cope with the requirements of the other -sheds, and a move had to be made to larger and more commodious premises. -Thereupon a site was chosen and a new shop erected about a quarter of a -mile distant. The walls of this are of brick, built with "piers" and -"panels," thirty feet high, solid, massive, and substantial, with no -pretence to show of any kind. The roof is constructed in bays running -north and south, according to the disposition of the long walls, and -presents a serrated appearance, like the teeth of a huge saw. Of these -bays the slopes towards sunrise are filled in with stout panes of glass; -the opposite sides are of strong boards covered with slates, the whole -supported by massive sectional principals and a network of stout iron -girders. - -The roof is studded with hundreds of wooden ventilators intended to -carry off the smoke and fumes from the forges. Above them tower numerous -furnace stacks and chimneys from the boilers, with the exhaust pipes of -the engines and steam-hammers. Towards summer, when the days lengthen -and the sun pours down interminable volumes of light and heat from a -cloudless sky, or when the air without is charged with electricity and -the thunder bellows and rolls over the hills and downs to the south, and -the forked lightning flashes reveal every corner of the dark smithy so -that the heat becomes almost unbearable, a large quantity of the glass -is removed to aid ventilation; the heat, assisted by the ground current, -rises and escapes through the roof. But when the rain comes and the -heavy showers, driven at an angle by the wind, beat furiously through -upon the half-naked workmen beneath, even this is not an unmixed -blessing. Or when the sun shoots his hot arrows down through the -openings upon the toilers at the steam-hammers and forges, as he always -does twice during the morning--once before breakfast, and again at about -eleven o'clock--it is productive of increased discomfort; the sweat -flows faster and the work flags. This does not last long, however. -Southward goes the sun, and shade succeeds. - -The eastern and western ends of the shed are almost half taken up with -large sliding doors, that reach as high as to the roof. These rest on -wheels which are superimposed upon iron rails, so that a child might -push them backwards and forwards. Through several of the doors rails are -laid to permit of engines and waggons entering with loads of -material--iron and steel for the furnaces--and also for conveying away -the manufactures. A narrow bogie line runs round the shed and is used -for transferring materials from one part to another and to the various -hydraulic presses and forges. Here and there are fixed small turn-tables -to enable the bogies to negotiate the angles and move from track to -track. - -Southward the shed faces a yard of about ten acres in extent. This is -bounded on every side by other workshops and premises, all built of the -same dingy materials--brick, slate, and iron--blackened with smoke, -dust, and steam, surmounted with tall chimneys, innumerable ventilators, -and poles for the telephone wires, which effectually block out all -perspective. To view it from the interior is like looking around the -inner walls of a fortress. There is no escape for the eye; nothing but -bricks and mortar, iron and steel, smoke and steam arising. It is ugly; -and the sense of confinement within the prison-like walls of the factory -renders it still more dismal to those who have any thought of the hills -and fields beyond. Only in summer does it assume a brighter aspect. Then -the sun scalds down on the network of rails and ashen ground with deadly -intensity; the atmosphere quivers and trembles; the fine dust burns -under your feet, and the steel tracks glitter under the blinding rays. -The clouds of dazzling steam from the engines are no longer visible--the -air being too hot to admit of condensation--and the black smoke from -the furnaces and boilers hangs in the air, lifeless and motionless, like -a pall, for hours and hours together. - -But when the summer is over, when the majesty of July and August is past -and gone and golden September gives place to rainy October, or, most of -all, when dull, gloomy November covers the skies with its impenetrable -veil of drab cloud and mist day after day and week after week, with -scarcely an hour of sunshine, the utter dismalness and ugliness of the -place are appalling. Then there is not a vestige of colour. The sky, -roofs, walls, the engines moving to and fro, the rolling stock, the -stacks of plates and ingots of iron and steel, the sleepers for the -rails, the ground beneath--everything is dark, sombre, and repellant. -Not a glint upon the steel lines! Not a refraction of light from the -slates on the roof! Everything is dingy, dirty, and drab. And drab is -the mind of the toiler all this time, drab as the skies above and the -walls beneath. Doomed to the confinement from which there is no escape, -he accepts the condition and is swallowed up in his environment. - -There is one point, and only one, a few paces west of the shed, from -which an inspiriting view may be had. There, on a fine day, from between -two towering walls, in the little distance, blue almost as the sky and -yet distinct and well-defined, may be seen a great part of Liddington -Hill, crowned with the _castellum_, the scene of many a lively contest -in prehistoric days, and the holy of holies of Richard Jefferies, who -spent days and nights there trying to fathom the supreme mystery that -has baffled so many great and ardent souls. When the sky is clear and -the air free from mist and haze--especially as it appears sometimes in -the summer months, under a southern wind, or before or after rain--so -distinct does the sloping line of the hill show, with its broad front -towards you, that you may even perceive the common features and details -of it. Then you may plainly view the disposition of the stone walls -running from top to base, with the white chalk-pits gleaming like snow -in the distance, and tell the outer wall of the entrenchment. In short, -you might imagine yourself to be standing within the mound and looking -out over the magnificent valley--north, east, and west; towards Bristol, -over Cirencester, and beyond Witney and Oxford. But in the winter even -this is denied. Then the dark lowering clouds sweep along the downs and -shut them out of view, or grey mist fills the intervening valley, or the -rain, falling in torrents or driving in the furious south-west gale, -hides it completely; or if it is at all visible under the cold sky, it -seems so far removed and the distance so intensified as to lose all -resemblance to a hill and to look like a dim blue cloud faintly seen on -the horizon, and which is no more than a suggestion, a shape phantasmal. - -Everywhere about the yard is evidence of industry and activity; there -all is suggestive of toil, labour, and power. On the right, stretching -for a quarter of a mile, are hundreds upon hundreds of wheels, tyres, -and axles for carriages and waggons, in every phase and degree of -fitness; some fresh from the rolling mills--from Sheffield and -Scotland--some turned and fitted in the lathe, huge jointless tyres -newly unladen waiting to take their turn in the operation of fitting -them to the wheels, and others finished, wheels, tyres, and axle -compact, dipped in tar--except the journals--to prevent them from -rusting, and all ready to be placed underneath the waggons. There are -wheels of solid steel, wheels with spokes, and wheels of oak, teak, and -even of paper composition, of many sorts and sizes, for smooth-running -carriages. One would think there were enough of them to stock the whole -railway system, but a few weeks of steady consumption would thin them -down, and the yard would soon be bare and empty if fresh consignments -were not every day arriving. - -In front of the wheels, in rows and lines, are the huge cast-iron blocks -and dies used for punching and pressing by the hydraulic machines. They -are of all shapes and dimensions, puzzling to the eye of the stranger, -but easily identified by those who are accustomed to use them, and who -have been acquainted with them perhaps from boyhood. There are sets for -"joggling" and "up-setting," and others for shaping and levelling. In -the midst of them stands a stout, three-legged machine called a "sheer -legs." To this is attached strong pulley blocks for lifting the sets -from the ground--many of them weigh considerably more than a ton; -afterwards a stout bogie is run underneath and the blocks are lowered -and so carried off to the field of operations. - -Many an accident has happened in the conveyance of blocks and dies to -and from their destination; many a bruised foot or broken limb has -resulted from a lack of carefulness and attention on the part of the -workmen. The slightest disregard may lead to injury. The bogie may slip, -or the block slide, and woe be to the individual who chances to be in -the way of the falling mass. Unassuming, and even valueless as this -collection of dies may appear to the uninitiated, it is really worth a -huge sum, for manufacturing tools are of a very expensive character. - -Close on the left is a long line of waggons laden with coal fresh from -the Welsh pits, and near by is a large bunk into which it is emptied to -allow of the speedy return of the vehicles--an important item in railway -administration. Here the dark and grimy coal heavers, with faces as -black as the mineral they are handling, grunt and sweat, their eyes -obtaining peculiar prominence from being inset in a ground of ebony, and -their teeth glistening pearly white through the blackened lips, -appearing the more remarkable if they should smile at you. For even they -will brighten up sometimes. Hard and laborious as their toil is, they -will now and then relax into pleasantry and relieve the tedium of work -with a snatch of song and hilarity. - -The coalies are not highly paid. Their day wages are eighteen shillings -or a pound a week, but, as all the work of the shed is done at the piece -rate, they are enabled to earn a few shillings above that sum. The -dullest men--those whose misfortune it is to have missed the right -education, or those who are naturally slow and awkward--are usually -selected for coal-heaving. Very often, however, shrewd and capable, -smart and intelligent men, who might be more profitably employed than in -shovelling coal from the truck to the bunk or wheel-barrow, are put at -the task. Perhaps this is the result of carelessness on the part of the -overseer, or it may be dearth of hands, and very likely it is -intentional. The man is out of favour and has been clapped there as a -punishment. - -Near the coal station stand piles upon piles of iron and steel, in -plates, bars, and ingots, some six and some ten feet high, in large -square stacks, and the long bars disposed between uprights to keep them -together and separate those of different lengths and sizes. The chief -part of this comes in from "abroad," that is, from the midlands and the -north of England, for very little iron ore is now manufactured on the -premises. A small amount of pig iron is imported and worked up at the -local rolling mills, but the greater part of the metal is purchased of -the big firms and dealers away from the town. - -The chief occupation of the factory rolling mills now is to receive the -iron scrap from the various workshops, such as clippings, shearings, -punchings, and drillings, with all the old iron proceeding from the -breaking up of worn-out engines and vehicles. This is first of all -reduced to convenient shape and then set up in "piles" on thin pieces of -wood to enable of its being placed in the furnace on the peels used for -the purpose. In the making of piles the flat pieces of metal are placed -around the outside, leaving a hollow within, which is filled up with -punchings and drillings, old rivets, nuts, bolts, and other similar -scrap. The pile is set in the furnace and heated, when it coalesces into -a mass; afterwards it is brought out to the heavy steam-hammer and -beaten into rough bars or slabs, several feet in length. This process is -called "shingling." When the iron has become fairly solid and of -convenient length, the bars, still spluttering and fizzing--for they -have not been under the hammer for more than two or three minutes--are -hurried off to the rolls. There they are received by the men in charge, -who stand stripped to the waist, with tongs in hand, and dexterously -guide the rough ingots into the ponderous rollers that revolve at speeds -suited to the size and weight of the bars, and always with a loud -clanking noise. - -As soon as the bar is rolled through--already drawn out to two or three -times its original length--the rolls stop and instantly revolve in the -other direction. The bar is again guided into the channel of the rollers -and emerges on the other side, longer and smoother. This process is -continued four or five times until the bars are finished; then other -small rollers in the floor are set in motion and the bars travel along -the ground to the steam saws, where they are cut up into the lengths -required. There they are loaded on iron bogies and carried off, or -rolled along as before to the weighing machines; everything is paid for -according to the weight of the finished material. - -Punchings and drillings are also treated by the process known as -"puddling." In this case, the furnaces will have a cavity in the floor, -into which the small scrap material is shovelled or tipped. The door is -now made fast and the heat applied, which must not be too fierce, -however, or the whole mass would soon be burned and spoiled. When the -drillings and chippings have cohered, the puddler, by an aperture -through the iron door, inserts a steel bar, curved at the end, and -prises the lump and turns it over and over. This is called "balling up." -By and by, when the iron is thoroughly heated and fairly consistent, it -is brought to the "shingler," who soon gives it shape and solidity. At -the first few blows a terrific shower of sparks shoots around, which -travel for a great distance, burning everything they meet. To protect -themselves against this the shinglers wear heavy iron jackboots, -reaching above the knees, with an iron veil over their eyes and faces. -As the steam-hammer block upon which the pounding is done is only a few -inches above the floor level and the sparks and splinters fly out with -the precision of shot from a gun barrel, the danger is confined to a -space within two feet of the floor. - -When the heats come from the puddling furnaces they look soft and spongy -and soon become dull on the outer parts, so that a stranger might think -them not sufficiently hot to beat up, but after the first light blow or -two he will find himself mistaken. First of all the huge hammer--able to -strike a blow equal to a hundred tons pressure--is merely allowed to -squeeze the mass, without beating it. Then it rises gently and travels -up and down, scarcely touching the metal. Gradually the blows fall -harder and harder until the piece is fully consistent; then it is -rapidly drawn away to the rolls. Very rarely are the hammers required to -expend their full powers upon the melting slabs, unless they happen to -be of steel, which is very hard, even when whitehot. Then the blows fall -terrific. The steam spouts, roars, and hisses; the chains jingle and the -ground under your feet shakes as though in an earthquake. - -When a better quality of iron is required the punchings, bolts, and -rivets are placed in a large drum which is afterwards set in motion and -continues to revolve for several hours. By this means all the rust, -paint, and dirt are removed from the metal, and when it is taken from -the cylinder it shines like silver. Special regard is had for this in -the furnaces. Care is taken to save it from over-heating and waste, and -when it finally emerges from the rolls it is set apart by itself and -labelled for its superior quality. - -Various prices, ranging from 15s. to 50s. a ton, are paid for shingling -and forging. These depend upon the weight of the piece and the degree of -finish required. The shingler is clever and expert, and he is not highly -paid at the works, considering his usefulness, for he is a great -manufacturer. Thousands of tons of metal must pass through his hands in -the course of a year, and the work is very hot and laborious. By the age -of fifty the shinglers and forgemen are usually worn out and superseded -at the forge. When they can no longer perform their duties at the -steam-hammer they are removed from the manufacturing circle and -presented with a broom, shovel, and wheel-barrow. Their wages are cut -down to that of a common labourer, and thus they spend their few -remaining years of service. At an early age they drop off altogether, -and their places are filled by others who have gone through the same -experience. - -The running of the iron from the furnace to the steam-hammer and back -again to the rolls is chiefly performed by boys and young men. The -majority of these come from the villages round about, for the town lads, -as a rule, are much too wideawake for the business; the work is too hard -for them. Living close to the factory they know by report which shops to -avoid, and if, by misadventure, they happen to get a start in such a -place they are very quickly out of it. Accordingly the more laborious -work usually falls upon those who dwell without the town. It is the same -with the men. Those who live in the borough nearly always obtain the -easier berths; John and George do the heavy lifting and heaving. - -Accidents are frequent at the rolling mills. Burns are of common -occurrence, and they are sometimes very serious and occasionally fatal. -Great care is requisite in moving about amid so much fire and heated -material, for everything--the floors, principals, rollers, the bogie -handles, tools and all--is very hot. Some of the carrying is done with a -kind of wheel-barrow that requires a special balance. The least -obstruction will upset it, and a little awkwardness on the part of the -workman is sufficient to bring the weltering burden down to the ground. -Not long ago, as a youth was drawing a large, whitehot pile from the -furnace to the steam-hammer, he slipped on the iron floor and fell at -full length on his back upon the ground. As he fell the bogie inclined -forward and the huge pile slid down and lodged on his stomach, -inflicting frightful injuries. He was quickly rescued from his tortuous -position, but there was no hope of recovery from such an accident, and -he died a day or two afterwards. He, too, was of the neighbouring -village. - -You can always tell these young men of the steam-hammer or rolling -mills, whenever you meet them. They are usually lank and thin and their -faces are ghastly white. Their nostrils are distended; black and blue -rings encircle their eyes. Their gait is careless and shuffling, and -their dress, on a holiday, is a curious mixture of the rural and urban -styles. On week-days they are as black as sweeps, and the blacker they -are the better, in their opinion, for they take pride in parading the -badge of their profession and are not ashamed of it as are their -workmates who dwell in the town. - -I have said that formerly much more iron was manufactured on the -premises than is the case at this time. Then the steam-hammer shed, in -which nothing but forging is done, was a flourishing place. All the -wheels for the engines and waggons, together with piston rods, driving -gear, axles, and cranks, were made there. These are obtained elsewhere -now, some in England and Scotland, and other parts from abroad. Steel -has superseded iron in a great degree, too, being harder, tougher, -stronger and cheaper. The combined skill of the chemist and scientist -has simplified the manufacture of it, and it is to be obtained in large -quantities. But steel rusts much more quickly than iron, and does not -last nearly as long in exposed positions on the vehicles. - -Formerly all wheels were made of wrought iron and a great part of the -work was done by hand. First of all the sections were made under the -steam-hammer, in "=T=" pieces and boss ends, and shut in the middle. -These were for the spokes. Then the "=T=" ends were incurved and joined -together all round till the rim of the wheel was finished. After that, -there remained to form the centre and make the "boss" solid and compact. -As the boss sections were made to fit together in the middle, they only -required to be heated and welded. Accordingly they were placed on an -open forge, built round with damp coal-dust to contain and concentrate -the heat, the boss being exactly over the centre of the fire. Another -forge, close at hand, contained a large round iron washer, similarly -placed, to which was attached an iron bar for lifting it from the fire. -Both heats were prepared simultaneously. Then the wheel, lifted by a -crane, was quickly removed from the forge, turned upside down and placed -on the steam-hammer block. The washer was brought out at once and -clapped on smartly, and down came the heavy monkey. Half-a-dozen blows -were sufficient to make the weld. Then it was removed from the -steam-hammer and laid on an iron table and the smiths set about it with -their tools to finish it off, three or four men striking alternately on -one "flatter" or "fuller," with perfect rhythm and precision, the chief -smith directing operations and working with the rest. - -Those were the palmy days for the smithy. Wages were high and the prices -good, and the work made was solid and strong. Now all wheels are -manufactured of cast steel and with little hand labour. The molten metal -is simply poured into moulds, allowed to cool and afterwards annealed in -special furnaces. One can easily imagine the immense amount of labour -saved in the operation, though the wheels are not as elastic and -durable. - -Situated near the piles of new material are the scrap bunks. These are -old waggons that have served their turn on the railway and, instead of -being broken up, have been lifted bodily from the sets of wheels and -deposited on the ground as receptacles for the large quantities of scrap -made in the workshop. What miles these old waggons have gone! What storm -and stress they have endured! What burdens they have borne! East and -west, north and south, over hills and bridges, through valleys, past -miles upon miles of cornfields and meadows, green and gold, red and -brown by turn, in rain and snow, winter frost and summer sunshine, by -day and night, year after year together. - -These waggons, if they could speak, would tell you they have visited -every station and town on the system. They have crossed the Thames, the -Severn, the Kennet, the Upper and Lower Avon, the Wye, the Dee, the -Towy, the Parrot and the Tamar, times out of number. They have gone -through dark tunnels, over dizzy viaducts, past cathedral cities and -quaint old market-towns, villages, and hamlets, sleeping and waking, at -all hours of the day and night, drawn on, and on, and on by the tireless -iron steeds, piled up with all sorts of goods and commodities for the -use of man--stones to build him houses, iron to strengthen them, corn to -feed him and his family, and materials to clothe them. They would tell -you of many lovely woods and forests through which they have journeyed, -and seaside towns, with the strong blue ocean in view, sometimes running -perilously near the beach, at others hidden in deep cuttings, where the -banks are blue with violets, and yellow with the pale gold of the -cowslip, followed by the endless array of the ox-eyes, toadflax, and -sweet wild mignonette. And they would tell you of long, dark, winter -nights, when the tempest howled madly through the trees and bridges and -sang shrilly in the telegraph wires; when the rain fell in a deluge from -the inky sky, or the sleet and snow drove in blinding clouds and was -piled upon the weatherproof tarpaulins. Or again they would relate of -running smoothly on summer nights under the pale southern moon, or when -the stars glittered in the frosty heavens, or dense fog, so troublesome -and dangerous to the ever-watchful and valiant old driver, shut -everything out of view, signals and all, so that their very whereabouts -were only known and identified by paying close attention to the loud, -shot-like explosions of the detonators placed along the line by the -fogmen. - -Now all these things are at an end. They have run their race, and grown -old in the service. They have fulfilled their period of usefulness on -the line and, like old veterans returned from the war, they have come -back to their native town to end their days. Being fairly sound of -constitution and having escaped the shocks of collision and accident, -they were adjudged too solid to be broken up yet, so, as a last use, -they were placed here to receive the punchings and trimmings from the -shears and presses, and ingloriously waste away in their old age, -exposed to all the inclemencies and caprices of the weather. - -The scrap, made daily, soon amounts to hundreds of tons. It is of all -shapes and sizes. There is plate from an eighth of an inch to an inch -and a half thick from the presses, ends and trimmings of rods and bars -from the shears and steam-hammers, burs from the stamping plant and -scrag ends from the forgings. In addition to this there are scores of -tons of old iron and steel, brought from all over the system to be cut -up at the hydraulic shears--sole-bars of waggons, stanchions and -"diagonals," "=T="-iron plates, and hundreds of old draw-bars and -buffers. The iron and steel are carefully observed and kept separate and -huge piles soon accumulate, far more than the waggons can hold. The iron -refuse is by and by passed on to the rolling mills, while the steel -scrap awaits a purchaser. No attempt is made to utilise that on the -premises. There are secrets in the manufacture of steel which are never -betrayed to outsiders, and it would be a waste of time and money for -the local furnacemen and forgers to attempt to do anything with it. -However carefully the furnaceman tends it in the fire he cannot get it -to cohere well in the piles, and if it is at all over-heated it bursts -and scatters in all directions, brittle and glassy, as soon as the -steam-hammer touches it with a gentle blow. - -There is, at the same time, enormous waste in the matter of scrap iron -and steel, which intelligent supervision would certainly lessen. -Material that might economically be used in the workshop is -indiscriminately passed out with the rubbish and sold away at a cheap -rate--at a fraction of its real value. Tons of metal--good solid iron, -often of the highest quality--which might be used for forging and -stamping, are rejected and scrapped because it would take a trifle -longer to handle. Other large scrap material might be slabbed and used -without sending it to the mill, and thus large profits would accrue to -the shed; for the rolling mills people will only purchase, -theoretically, at trade prices, that is, at about two pounds a ton for -scrap iron. - - - - -CHAPTER III - - THE SHUNTERS--WATCHMEN--DETECTING A THIEF--FIRES--CARRIAGE - FINISHERS--PAINTERS--"WASHERS-DOWN"--CUSHION-BEATERS--CHANGES - AND INNOVATIONS--DEPARTMENTAL RELATIONS - - -A short way off in the yard, in a small space clear of the confusing -network of lines that cross and recross here and there, running in every -direction and connecting the various workshops together, are two old -railway coaches dispossessed of their wheels and lodged upon baulks of -timber let into the ground. Like the old scrap waggons, they have had -their day in active service, and, coming home in fairly good condition, -though antiquated in style and useless for passenger traffic, have yet -been found convenient as occasional storehouses and shelters. They are -now used as cabins, one for the shunters, who conduct their operations -round about, and the other for watchmen, and they are fitted with stoves -for warming the men's food, and for drying their clothes in wet weather. -The roofs and windows are intact, and some of the original seats still -remain. These are of bare wood and are not padded and upholstered in the -comfortable and luxurious style now required and expected by the railway -traveller. - -These old carriages are at this time very rarely met with and are nearly -extinct. For years after they disappeared from the general -traffic--superseded by more commodious and comfortable vehicles--the -best of them were kept stored up in sheds and yards in out-of-the-way -places to await the time of trippers and excursionists. Then they were -regularly hauled out to accommodate the multitude. The windows were -hastily wiped over and the interiors dusted out; they were ready to -receive the people. Goods engines of the old type were brought up to -draw them along. The trippers squeezed themselves inside, and, with the -shrieking of steam whistles and hooters and the playing of concertinas -and melodions, the trains started off and went jolting and jogging away -to their destinations. At the end of the tripping season the coaches -were again stored away in the yards and sidings, until they became too -crazy and dangerous to run on the main line, when they were either -utilised for storehouses and shelters, or broken up. The refuse wood -from the destruction of old worn-out rolling stock is sawn up and used -for lighting the fires in the furnaces and boilers, and is distributed -throughout the system. A large quantity is also sold to the workmen, who -use it both for firing and for the construction of outhouses. - -The shunters of the yard are a hard-working body of men, and they are -exposed to many dangers. The hours are long and they must cover many -miles during the day by running up and down the lines. It is their duty -to transfer the carriages and waggons from road to road and from one -workshop to another, to dispose of the old ones brought in for repairs, -to lead out the new, and distribute the various stores--iron and steel, -coal, coke, and timber--at several points. Whatever the weather may be -they must be up and doing, or the traffic in the yard would soon be in -utter confusion. Rain or snow, cold or heat, sunshine or cloud, July -glow or December fog and gloom are all one to them. The busy swarm of -workmen comes and goes, the furnaces spout their dense black clouds of -smoke into the heavens; the dazzling steam, shot out from the engines -and steam-hammers, leaps up in an ascending pillar, the rapid wheels -spin round in the roof or under the wall, and the endless toil goes on, -all which must be catered for by the shunters. - -Great care must be taken to prevent the sidings from becoming blocked by -crossing a wrong point. Where two or more engines are operating over a -complex siding this may easily be done, and a delay of several hours -will be the result. If an inexperienced shunter, mistaking the number of -his points, shifts his waggons on to the wrong track and, not perceiving -his error, at once proceeds to carry out several other manoeuvres, he -may shut in the engines so completely and confusedly that he will want -all his wits about him to extricate them again; it will be like a -mathematical problem. Happily for the shunter's credit, this is not a -common occurrence. - -Strong, healthy men are selected for the shunter's trade, to carry the -pole and whistle. By working in the open air, exposed to all kinds of -weather, they become hardy and seasoned and present a far different -appearance from that of those who are shut up within the walls of the -workshop, amid the smoke and fumes. Instead of becoming lean with the -constant running to and fro, they seem to thrive on the exercise, and -many of them assume substantial proportions. Their faces are bronzed -with the sun and wind, and they are a picture of health--strong, -stalwart, and of good physique. The shunters are not under as many -restrictions as are the factory workers proper, _i.e._, those within the -sheds. It is their privilege to smoke while on duty, or, at any rate, in -the intervals on the premises, an indulgence which is strictly forbidden -to all other employees. They remain always about the yard and never go -beyond the bounds prescribed for them, so that they really belong to the -factory. - -The other cabin is used by the watchmen as an out-shelter--a kind of -half-way refuge. Their headquarter is at the main entrance, where there -are always one or two on duty to check the coming in and going out of -the workmen, to keep out intruders and to prevent any from passing out -before the regulation hour. They also act in the quality of police to -protect the property of the railway company, patrol the shops and yards, -and keep a sharp look-out for loiterers and any who should attempt to -smoke or read a newspaper on the sly. - -Every workshop and building is provided with certain clock-like -instruments called "tell-tales," which are fixed in many corners and -angles, and at frequent intervals along the high board fence that -encloses the factory grounds. The watchman appointed for the round is -furnished with a key that fits the instrument. It is his duty to visit -each of these every hour, or every two hours, according to the -time-table given him by his chief. When he comes to the tell-tale he -inserts the key and, after turning it round, withdraws it. This leaves a -record of his visit and certifies that he has gone his round regularly. -At intervals, unknown to the watchman, the tell-tales are removed and -privately examined, in order to see that everything is correct, and if -there has been any neglect of duty the offender is sought out and -punished. Occasionally it transpires that there has been wholesale -tampering with the instruments in order to escape going the rounds. The -watchmen, like all others at the works, agreed for the time, finally -come to loggerheads and play the tell-tale themselves. Someone or other -informs of his mate, this one retaliates and the scheme is laid bare. -Forthwith the whole staff of watchmen are summoned to appear before the -works' manager, and are punished in various ways. Something new and -strange is adopted; the men's time and rounds are altered, and they -patrol their beats the laughing-stock of the workmen whom it is their -duty to observe and supervise. - -The watchmen, as a class, are surly and over-officious. Perhaps they -were chosen for some qualities they were thought to possess, fitting -them for the duties expected of them; they are not popular with the -workmen. The fact of their being placed in a supervisory position and of -being exempt from manual work induces them to have a higher opinion of -themselves than the actual circumstances warrant. They consider -themselves above the average at the works and cultivate the -pseudo-genteel. - -When a new watchman is made it is noised abroad throughout the -department; his size, description, and all else that is known of him are -passed around the sheds for the benefit of the masses. Developments are -anticipated and the results eagerly awaited. Elated at his promotion and -great in his own conceit the newly initiated one, before he is -well-known and identified by the workmen, slips to and fro in the sheds, -eager for surprise captures. Immediately before the hooter sounds for -the men's release at meal times he is to be found suddenly opening doors -and popping on the scene. If any of the workmen should happen to have on -their coats, or to have gathered near the door ready to rush out, they -scatter like wood-pigeons when a hawk has darted in the midst of them. -This forms the subject of a report to the shop foreman or to the -manager. Dire threats as to the consequences of loitering are launched -at the workmen; a few youths are suspended and forced to take a rest, -and so the matter is settled. - -The watchman, however, is not forgotten or forgiven by the men. Some -nickname or other is coined for him on the spot. Perhaps he is hooted -for a sneak and teased in various ways, the boys especially enjoying a -joke at his expense. They set traps for him, and after racing about the -yard and dodging between the waggons and coaches, suddenly decamp and -make for the tunnels or entrances. Once a nickname becomes attached to a -watchman it seldom leaves him. One has borne the title of "Long Bill" -for a number of years; another is honoured with the appellation of -"Powerful"; this one is "Flat-foot," that is "Rubber-heel," and another -has earned for himself the ridiculous title of "Chesty." - -Theft is sometimes practised by the workmen, though it is much more -rarely committed now than it was formerly. Some of the schemes adopted -for getting the stolen materials outside the works have been quite -artistic, and others were ridiculously open and daring. Years ago loads -of timber and other valuables were regularly smuggled out in the middle -of the night, and especially on Saturday nights. They were piled upon -big trucks and bogies and got past the entrances with the watchman's -consent and connivance. Probably he received a bribe for his silence--a -quart of ale at the club, or a share of the stolen goods. On at least -one occasion a brazen-faced fellow wheeled out a new wheel-barrow, -unchallenged, amid the crowd at a dinner-time and was never suspected. -At other times wheel-barrows and other tools have mysteriously -disappeared in the night, as though they had been swallowed up by an -earthquake. They were quietly lifted over the fence and received into -the neighbouring field and so got safely away. - -Sometimes a workman will split on his mate whom he knows to be in the -habit of purloining things from the shed. Perhaps it is a little -firewood or a few screws or nails that were picked up in the yard. -Going privately to the watchman he acquaints him of the fact, and at -dinner-time, or night, a stand is made at the entrance, and the culprit -seized and searched. This invariably means dismissal, however small the -amount of the theft may be. Somehow or other, though, the informer is -discovered and for ever afterwards he is branded as a sneak and shunned -by his fellows. There is no forgiveness for this kind of thing among the -workmen. Honesty or not honesty, he is never tolerated but is looked -upon with the utmost disgust and contempt. - -Occasionally, if you should stand at the entrance as the workmen are -leaving, you might see an abject-looking individual, with drawn -features, making his way painfully through the tunnel, limping, or -dragging a leg behind him. The casual observer would jump to the -conclusion that the man had met with an accident, or that he was -naturally lame or a cripple. But very likely, if the truth were known, -he has a staff of wood, or a rod of iron, four feet long, concealed in -the leg of his trousers and reaching up to the breast, and that is what -makes him walk with such great difficulty. Another plan is to bend a rod -of iron in the shape of a hoop and so fix it around the waist, or to -pack the contraband next to the skin, under the armpits and around the -stomach. This very often leads to detection. The watchman on duty at the -entrance has his suspicions aroused by the shape of the man. Accordingly -he steps out, calls him aside and feels the part, and the culprit is -discovered. - -It sometimes happens that a watchman gets on the track of an innocent -workman and makes himself appear ridiculous, for he is sure to be -noticed by the crowd and heartily jeered at for his interference. Not -long ago a young workman, on his way out from the shed one morning -after night duty, was challenged and stopped and required to disclose -the contents of his dinner-basket, which, to the watchman's eye, seemed -unusually heavy. The young man, who was an enthusiastic Christian, -smilingly complied and, opening his basket, took out a big Bible, and -presented it to his challenger. That was more than the watchman had -bargained for, and he immediately shuffled off in considerable -confusion. A few nights ago a surly watchman stopped me and curtly -demanded to know what I was carrying "in the parcel under my arm." It -was merely my daily newspaper. - -It is not the rank and file alone that are guilty of taking things that -do not belong to them. Some of the principals of the staff have been -notoriously to blame in this respect, as is well-known at the works, -though their misdeeds are invariably screened and condoned. If one of -the managers has stolen materials worth hundreds of pounds he is -reprimanded and allowed to continue at his post, or at most, he is asked -to resign and is afterwards awarded a pension; but if the workman has -purloined an article of a few pence in value he is dismissed and -prosecuted. This is no general statement but a plain matter of fact. - -Further over the yard, towards one of the sheds that form the boundary -on this side, stands a large water-closet, one of many about the -factory, built to meet the requirements of about five hundred workmen. -These buildings are of a uniform type and are disagreeable places, -lacking in sanitary arrangements. There is not the slightest approach to -privacy of any kind, no consideration whatever for those who happen to -be imbued with a sense of modesty or refinement of feeling. The -convenience consists of a long double row of seats, situate back to -back, partly divided by brick walls, the whole constructed above a -large pit that contains a foot of water which is changed once or twice a -day. The seats themselves are merely an iron rail built upon brickwork, -and there is no protection. Several times, I have known men to -overbalance and fall into the pit. Everything is bold, daring, and -unnatural. On entering, the naked persons of the men sitting may plainly -be seen, and the stench is overpowering. The whole concern is gross and -objectionable, filthy, disgusting, and degrading. No one that is chaste -and modest could bear to expose himself, sitting there with no more -decency than obtains among herds of cattle shut up in the winter pen. -Consequently, there are many who, though hard pressed by the exigences -of nature, never use the place. As a result they contract irregularities -and complaints of the stomach that remain with them all their lives, and -that might easily prove fatal to them. Perhaps this barbarous relic of -insanitation may in time be superseded by some system a little more -moral and more compatible with human sensibility and refinement. - -Near this spot, in the open air, are stored hundreds of gallons of oil, -spirits and other liquids of a highly inflammable nature, used for -mixing paints for the carriages and waggons, together with chemicals -employed in the rapid cleansing of the exteriors of vehicles that come -in for repairs and washing-down. The rules of the factory strictly -forbid the storing of any of these liquids within the workshops and -outhouses. This precaution is taken in order to prevent damage by fire -in case of an outbreak and to render the flames more easy of control by -the firemen. - -At every short distance there is a connection with the water-main and a -length of hose always fit and ready for any emergency. The works has its -own fire-engine--a powerful motor and pumps--and if by chance a call is -made the men are speedily on the spot. Here and there around the sheds -are deep pits, walled up and covered with cast-iron tops, to contain -water for the fire-engines, for they cannot well draw clear off the -main. To these pits, in the afternoon or evening, the engines and -firemen occasionally come for practice. Immediately the wells are filled -from the main, the hose is coupled up, and a perfect deluge is rained -over everything in the vicinity, as though a fire were really in -progress. After half an hour's lusty exertion with the hose and the -scaling of walls and roofs, the firemen stow their apparatus and the -motor rushes off down the yard quickly out of sight. - -Though fires at the works are not of common occurrence, there is now and -then an outbreak, and sometimes one of serious dimensions. They are -generally the result of great carelessness, or the want of ordinary -attention on the part of a workman or official. Perhaps a naked light is -left burning somewhere or other, or a portion of cotton-waste is -smouldering away unobserved. The roof may become ignited through contact -with the hot chimney; and very often the cause of the outbreak is not -ascertained at all. In several cases incendiarism has been suggested as -the cause of a fire, but, notwithstanding all the efforts of the works' -detectives to fix the guilt, proof of the crime has never been brought -home to any individual. When fires do happen they nearly always -originate in the night. One reason of this is that, with so many workmen -on the scene, during the day, the first sign of an outbreak would be -immediately detected and dealt with before it could become dangerous. -But at night it would develop rapidly and obtain a good hold on the -premises before being discovered by the watchmen. - -When it is known in the works that a fire is raging round about--if it -should happen to be at night--the few workmen employed, without waiting -for instructions from the overseers, throw down their tools and rush off -to the scene of the accident. They are impelled to do this, in the first -place, by the strong natural desire every man has to be of service in -times of danger; secondly, by reason of the intense excitement which the -cry of "Fire!" always produces in the most phlegmatic individual, and, -last of all--if either of the two causes before-named are wanting--by a -natural and uncontrollable curiosity and fascination for the smoke and -flames. It is usually the first of these three causes that impels the -workmen to throw down their tools and run to help the men with the -fire-engines. At such times as these nothing is held sacred. Doors and -windows are forced open or smashed in, bolts and bars are wrenched from -their sockets, offices and storehouses are entered; the most private -recesses are made public. All thoughts of the midnight meal are set -aside and there is no returning to the worksheds until morning brings a -fresh supply of hands accompanied by the day officials. - -Not many years ago the station buildings took fire, shortly after -midnight, and most of the men on night duty in the department nearest -the scene flocked out to help the station staff and the firemen. By and -by the refreshment rooms were involved and there was a wholesale removal -of the viands and liquors. Under such circumstances, drinking was -naturally indulged in, and more than one--officials, as well as the rank -and file--who came out to help returned the worse for liquor. Such -adventures as these live long in the memory of the workmen: it is not -often they have the opportunity of taking a drink at the company's -expense. - -Some time after the station fire a much more serious outbreak occurred -in an extensive shed used for the construction and storing of carriages. -There were in the place sufficient vehicles to compose twenty trains, -and the most of them were brand new, representing altogether a huge sum -of money. When the watchman passed through on his rounds at midnight -everything appeared safe; the place was dark, silent, and deserted. Half -an hour afterwards a workman employed in a shed some distance away saw a -dull glow above the roof and thought at first it was the moon rising. A -few minutes afterwards flames leapt into sight and discovered a fire of -some magnitude. - -Quickly the signal was given, and every available man rushed on the -scene. The centre of the shed was like a raging furnace. The roof was on -fire and the flames leapt from coach to coach with great rapidity. -These, from their slightness of construction and from their being -thickly coated with paint and varnish, caught fire like matchwood and -burned furiously, while large sections of the roof fell in. Every now -and then, as a coach became consumed down to the framework, the gas -cylinders underneath burst with a terrific report, like that of a piece -of heavy artillery. The shattered iron and steel flew in all directions -and increased the danger to the firemen. Hundreds of people of the -neighbourhood, roused with the repeated shocks, left their beds and ran -out of doors to ascertain the cause of the explosions. Some thought it -was an earthquake and others feared it was the boilers exploding. Many -volunteered to help, but their offers were refused, and a strong cordon -of police was drawn around the shed to keep out all intruders. So fierce -was the heat within that the steel tyres of the wheels were buckled and -bent, the rails were warped and twisted into fantastic shapes and the -heavy iron girders of the roof were wrecked. The frames of the burnt -coaches were reduced to a pile of debris and were totally -unrecognisable. The damage to rolling stock and to the premises amounted -to many thousands of pounds, yet the fire was all over in two or three -hours. As to its origin, that remained a mystery, and completely baffled -the detectives. Examination of the tell-tales proved that the watchman -had gone his round all right, and though many experiments were made the -cause of the outbreak remained inexplicable. - -A great part of the repairs to carriages--such as washing-down, -smudging, and especially the cleaning and re-fitting of interiors--is -done out of doors in the yard when the weather permits, for it would be -impossible to contain all the vehicles in the sheds. The whole of this -work, even to the most trivial detail, is now done at the piece rate. -Experienced examiners decide the amount of repairs to be executed, and -the prices are fixed according to their recommendation. It is generally -a matter of luck to the workman whether the repair job pays or not. Very -often the carrying out of repairs takes a much longer time than had been -anticipated. The renewing of one part often necessitates the remodelling -of another, or the fitting up of the new piece may prove to be a very -tedious process. In this case the workman may lose money on the job, -though, on the other hand, he may have finished altogether earlier than -he expected. It would be very nearly impossible to have a perfect -equation in the matter of repair prices, and this is recognised by all, -masters and men, too, at the factory. The workman is commonly told by -his chief that "what he loses on the swings he must pick up on the -roundabouts," i.e., what he loses on one job he must gain on another, -and this axiom is universally accepted, at least by all those who do -repairs. On new work the labour is uniform and there is no need and no -excuse for inequality of prices. - -Great consternation fell upon the carriage finishers, painters, and -pattern-makers, several years ago, when it became known that piece rates -were to be substituted for the old day-work system, especially as the -change was to be introduced at a very slack time. It was looked upon as -a catastrophe by the workmen, and such it very nearly proved to be. Many -journeymen were discharged, some were transferred to other grades of -work--that is, those who were willing to suffer reduction rather than to -be thrown quite out of employment--and the whole department was put on -short time, working only two or three days a week, while some of the men -were shut out for weeks at a stretch. Several who protested against the -change were dismissed, and others--workmen of the highest skill and of -long connection with the company--had their wages mercilessly cut down -for daring to interpose their opinion. The pace was forced and quickened -by degrees to the uttermost and then the new prices were fixed, the -managers themselves attending and timing operations and supervising the -prices. Feeling among the workmen ran high, but there was no help for -the situation and it had to be accepted. Few of the men belonged to a -trade union, or they might have opposed the terms and made a better -bargain; as it was they were completely at the mercy of the managers and -foremen. - -The carriage finishers and upholsterers are a class in themselves, -differing, by the very nature of their craft, from all others at the -factory. As great care and cleanliness are required for their work, they -are expected to be spruce and clean in their dress and appearance. This, -together with the fact that the finisher may have served an -apprenticeship in a high-class establishment and one far more genteel -than a railway department can hope to be, tends to create in him a sense -of refinement higher than is usually found in those who follow rougher -and more laborious occupations. His cloth suit, linen collar, spotless -white apron, clean shaven face, hair carefully combed, and bowler hat -are subjects of comment by the grimy toilers of other sheds. His -dwelling is situated in the cleanest part of the town and corresponds -with his personal appearance. In the evening he prosecutes his craft at -home and manufactures furniture and decorations for himself and family, -or earns money by doing it for others. Very often the whole contents of -his parlour and kitchen--with the exception of iron and other ware--were -made by his hands, so, since his wages are above the ordinary, provided -he is steady and temperate, he may be reasonably comfortable and -well-to-do. - -The painters are not quite as fortunate as are their comrades the -finishers. Their work, though in some respects of a high order and -important, is at the same time less artistic than is that of the -cabinetmakers and upholsterers. It is also much more wearisome and -unhealthy, and the wages are not as high. Very often, too, work for them -is extremely scarce, especially during the summer and autumn months, -when every available coach is required in traffic for the busy season, -and they are consequently often on short time. Their busiest periods are -the interval between autumn and Christmas and the time between the New -Year and Easter. The style of colouring and ornamentation for the -carriages has changed considerably of recent years and there is now not -nearly as much labour and pains expended upon the vehicles as in times -past. The brighter colours have been quite eliminated and have given -place to chocolates and browns, while the frames and ends of the -carriages are painted black. The arms of the company, together with -figures, letters, initials, and other designs, so conspicuous to the eye -of the traveller, are affixed by means of transfers and therefore are -not dependent upon the skill of the painters. - -The washing-down of the coaches is done by labourers, some of whom live -in the town and others in the villages round about. Little skill is -required for this, and the operation is very dull and monotonous. The -men are supplied with long-handled brushes, soaps, and sponges, hot and -cold water and chemical preparations. Large gangs of them are -continually employed in removing the accretions of dust and filth -acquired by the coaches in their mad career over the railway line, -through tunnels and cuttings, smoky towns and cities. Sometimes the -vehicles are completely smothered with grease and mud thrown up by the -sleepers in bad weather, and every particle of this must be removed -before the painter can apply his brush to renovate the exterior. - -The washers-down are generally raw youths and many of them are of the -shifty type--the kind that will not settle anywhere for long together. -The drabness of their employment forces them to seek some means of -breaking the monotony of it, and they often indulge in noise and -horseplay, singing and shouting at the top of their voices and slopping -the water over each other. This brings them into trouble with the -officials, and occasions them to take many a forced holiday, but they do -not care about that, and when they arrive back upon the scene they -practise their old games as boldly as before. Having no trade, and -receiving but a scant amount in wages, they do not feel to be bound down -hand and foot to the employment, and even if they should be discharged -altogether they will not have lost very much. Their youthfulness, too, -renders them buoyant and independent; all the world is open to them if -they decide to hand in their notices. - -The cushion-beaters, formerly well known about the yard, have quite -disappeared now. At whatever time you were outside the shed, in fine -weather, you might have heard their rods beating on the cushions in -perfect rhythm and order. They were taken from the coaches and laid upon -stools in the open air, and the beater held a rod, usually of hazel, in -each hand. With them he alternately smote the cushion, keeping up the -effort for a long time, until every particle of dust was removed and -blown away. His dexterity in the use of the rods and the ability to -prolong the operation were a source of great interest to the youths; all -the small boys of the shed stole out at intervals to see him at work. -Now the dust is removed from the cushions and paddings by means of a -vacuum arrangement. This is in the form of a tube, with an aperture -several inches in diameter and having strong suctional powers created by -the exhaust steam from the engine in the shed. It is passed to and fro -over the surface of the cushion, and the dust is thereby extracted and -received into the apparatus. So strong is the suction within that it -will sometimes draw the buttons from the upholstering if they are loose -or frayed. The quantity of dust extracted from one carriage often -amounts to a pound in weight. - -Old customs and systems die hard at the works and, whatever their own -opinion of the matter may be, the officials are not considered by the -workmen to be of a very progressive type. Many of the methods employed, -both in manufacture and administration, are extremely old-fashioned and -antiquated; an idea has to be old and hoary before it stands a chance of -being admitted and adopted here. Small private firms are usually a long -way ahead of railway companies in the matter of methods and processes, -and they pay better wages into the bargain. They have to face -competition and to cater for the markets, while railway companies, being -both the producers and consumers of their wares, can afford to choose -their own way of manufacturing them. In addition to this, the heads of -small firms usually have an interest in the concern whereas the managers -of railway works are otherwise placed; it makes no difference to them -what they spend or waste, and they are always able to cover up their -shortcomings. Their prodigality and mismanagement would ruin a hundred -small firms in as many months, though the outside world knows little or -nothing about it. But if the officials creep they urge the rank and file -along at a good rate and make a pretence of being smart and -business-like. The fact of a workman being engaged prosecuting a -worn-out method for the production of an article does not make the task -lighter or more congenial for him, rather the opposite. Real improvement -in manufacture not only expedites production, but also simplifies the -toil to the workman, and the newer methods are the better, generally -speaking. - -In everything, then, except in smart management and supervision, railway -sheds now resemble contract premises. Piecework prices are cut to the -lowest possible point; it is all push, drive, and hustle. No attempt is -made to regulate the amount of work to be done, and short time is -frequent and often of long duration. This is not arranged as it was -formerly, when the whole department, or none at all, was closed down. -Now even a solitary shed, a portion of it, or a mere gang is closed or -suspended if there is a slackness at any point. Consequently, one part -of the works is often running at break-neck speed, while another is -working but three or four days a week and the men are in a half-starved -condition. In one shed fresh hands are being put on, while from others -they are being discharged wholesale. Transfers from one shop to another -are seldom made, and never from department to department. One would -think that the various divisions of the works were owned by separate -firms, or people of different nationalities, such formidable barriers -appear to exist between them. - -The chiefs of the departments are usually more or less rivals and are -often at loggerheads, each one trying to outdo the other in some -particular direction and to bring himself into the notice of the -directors. The same, with a little modification, may be said of the -foremen of the several divisions, while the workmen are about -indifferent in this respect. For them, all beyond their own sheds, -except a few personal friends or relations, are total strangers. Though -they may have been employed at the works for half a century, they have -never gone beyond the boundary of their own department, and perhaps not -as far as that, for trespassing from shed to shed is strictly forbidden -and sharply punished where detected. Thus, the workman's sphere is very -narrow and limited. There is no freedom; nothing but the same coming and -going, the still monotonous journey to and fro and the old hours, month -after month, and year after year. It is no wonder that the factory -workmen come to lead a dull existence and to lose interest in all life -beyond their own smoky walls and dwellings. It would be a matter for -surprise if the reverse condition prevailed. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - - THE OLD CANAL--THE ASH-WHEELERS--THE BRICK-LAYERS--RIVAL - FOREMEN--THE ROAD-WAGGON BUILDERS--THE WHEEL SHED--BOY - TURNERS--THE RUBBISH HEAP. - - -West of the workshop the yard is bounded by a canal that formerly -connected the railway town with the ancient borough town of Cricklade, -eight miles distant. But things are different now from what they were at -the time the cutting was made, for great changes have taken place during -the last half century in all matters pertaining to transport. Then the -long barges, drawn by horses, mules, and donkeys, and laden with corn, -stone, coal, timber, gravel, and other materials, proceeded regularly by -day and night, up and down the canal to their destinations--north to -Gloucester, west to Bristol, east to Abingdon, and thence to far-off -London. At that time, instead of being filled with mud, weeds, and -refuse, and overgrown with masses of rank vegetation--grasses, flags, -water-parsnip, and a score of other aquatic plants--the channel was -broad and free, and full of clear, limpid water. The cattle came to -drink in the meadows; there the clouds were mirrored, floating in fields -of azure. The fish leapt and played in the sunshine, making innumerable -rings on the surface, and the swallows skimmed swiftly along, dipping -now and then to snatch up a sweet mouthful to carry home to their young -in the nest under the eaves of the neighbouring cottage or shed. - -Occasionally, too, a steamboat passed through the locks out beyond the -town and proceeded on its way to the Thames or Avon. The dredger plied -up and down to prevent the accumulation of mud and refuse, and the -towpaths and bridges were kept in good repair. The railway had not -everything its own way then. The fever of haste had not taken hold of -every part of the community, and a few, at least, could await the -arrival of the barges and so save a considerable sum in the conveyance -of their goods. But now all that is changed. Goods must be loaded, -whirled rapidly away and delivered in a few hours, for no one can wait. -The pace of the freight trains has been increased almost to express -speed. Every possible means that could be thought of have been devised -to facilitate transport, and the barges have disappeared from this -neighbourhood. Here and there at the wharves may still be seen a few -rotten old hulks, falling to pieces and embedded in the mud; the bridges -are shattered and dilapidated and the lock gates are broken. The -towpaths are overgrown with bushes and become almost impassable, and the -channel is blocked up. - -The only person who benefits by the change is the botanist. He, from -time to time, may be seen busily engaged in grappling for rare specimens -of weeds and grasses, or the less learned student of wild flowers comes -to gather what treasures he may from the wilderness: the beautiful -flowering rush, golden iris, graceful water plantain, arrowhead, water -violet, figwort, skull-cap, gipsy wort, and celery-leaved crowfoot. -Formerly, too, the works derived a considerable quantity of water -through the canal, but that has long ceased to be. There is no water at -hand now, and supplies have had to be sought for among the Cotswold -Hills, at a great distance from the town. The engines at the old -pumping station, near the canal path, once so familiar a feature to -travellers that way, are silent now and will be heard there no more. -They, too, have become a thing of the past. - -The factory premises extend along both banks of the canal and are -protected on the far side by a high wall, while that part nearest the -workshop is open to the water's edge. On this side, first of all, is a -high platform, called the stage, which is used to load the ashes and -refuse, slag and clinkers from the furnaces and forges. This refuse is -wheeled out twice daily--at six in the morning and again in the evening -after the furnaces have been clinkered--by labourers, upon whom the duty -devolves. To remove the clinker properly and economically from the grate -of the furnace the fire must have been damped for a short while. This -allows the whitehot coals to cling together underneath, and they form a -kind of arch above the bars. When this has been accomplished the -furnaceman inserts a strong steel bar at the bottom, resting it upon the -"bridge," and, with a heavy sledge, breaks the clinker, working along -from side to side. That is in a compact layer or mass, often six or -eight inches deep, considerably thicker in the corners, and it is very -tough while it is hot. After it has been thoroughly broken up, several -of the fire bars are removed together, beginning at one side, and the -heavy clinker drops through, spluttering and hissing, into the deep -boshes of water disposed underneath. If the fire has not been -sufficiently damped it is loose and hollow, and as soon as the bars are -removed the white-hot coals rush through into the water, raising clouds -of hot, blinding dust and dense volumes of steam. - -Immediately the furnaceman, warned of the fall, springs backwards and -escapes from the pit, or, if he is tardy in his movements, he is caught -in the hot vapour and scalded severely. Sometimes the fall is very -sudden and he has no time to escape. Then his face and arms take the -full force of the rushing steam and he is certain to receive painful -injuries. When the operation of clinkering is over the men bring their -wheel-barrows and, with the aid of long-handled shovels, remove the -refuse from the pits and run it outside and upon the stage. This is hot -work, whenever it is performed; the men are always sure of a wet shirt -at the task. Whatever the weather may be, wet or fine, frost or snow, -they come to it stripped to the waist and quickly run their -wheel-barrows to and fro. If the rain should pelt in torrents it makes -little or no difference to them, they still go on with their work, -half-naked and bare-headed. Hardy and strong as they may be, this is -bound to affect their health, sooner or later. It is not an uncommon -thing to find one or other of them breaking down at an early age, a -physical wreck, unfit for further service. - -The ash-wheelers belong to the same class as the coalies and are -sometimes identical with them. They are usually some of the strongest -men in the shed, new hands, perhaps, who have not yet earned for -themselves an installation into the ranks of the regular machine staff. -Sometimes, however, they have proved themselves smart with the shovel -and wheel-barrow and have been considered too serviceable to shift to -other employment, for, as it is well known that "the willing horse must -draw double," so the workman who is willing to perform a hard duty -without murmuring and complaint is always imposed upon and forced to do -extra. The natural fool or the systematic skulker is pitied and -respected. Once his general conduct is understood he is taken for what -he is worth, and no more is expected of him. In time he is rewarded. He -may come to be a checker, a clerk, or an inspector; while the sterling -fellow, the hard worker, the "sticker," as he is called, may stop and -work himself to death like a slave. Thus, deserving men, because they -have proved themselves adepts at the work, have been kept on the -ash-barrows for ten or twelve years, sweating their lives away for the -sum of eighteen shillings a week. Several, however, disgusted with the -business, have left the shed and gone back to work on the farms, in the -pure surroundings of the fields and villages. This branch of work has -recently been overhauled and estimated at the piece rate, and the wages -somewhat improved, though the amount of work to each man has been almost -doubled. The refuse and clinker from the furnaces are transported to -various parts and used for filling up hollows, and for the making of -banks and beds of yards and sidings. - -Beyond the stage, lodged on the ground, are two old iron vans that were -formerly used in the goods traffic. They have no windows or lights of -any kind, merely a double door opening outwardly. These are the cabins -and stores of the bricklayers, and they contain cement, fireclay, and -firebricks for the furnaces and forges. A permanent staff of bricklayers -is kept in each department at the works to carry out whatever repairs -are necessary from time to time and to see to the construction and -renovation of the furnaces. If there is any building on a large scale -required, such as a new shed, stores, or offices, extra hands are put on -from the town and afterwards discharged when the work is done. This -procedure gives the officials an opportunity of selecting the best men, -so that it often happens that new hands, temporarily engaged, become -fixtures if they have shown exceptional skill at their trade and are -otherwise suitable. In that case some of the old hands must go, and it -needs not to be said that such an opportunity is welcomed by the -foreman, as it provides him with an excuse for removing undesirables -without being too much blamed himself. - -The bricklayers are a distinct class and do not mingle well with the -other men at the works. Their having to do with bricks and mortar, -instead of with iron and steel, seems to exclude them from the general -hive, and the fact of their being dressed in canvas suits and overalls, -and smeared with cement and fireclay, instead of being blackened with -soot and oil, tends to emphasise the distinction. As with the rest of -the staff, they are recruited from all parts of the country, and some of -them have served a rural apprenticeship. In shrewdness and intelligence -they do not rank with the machinists; that is to say, they may be smart -at their trade, but they do not discover extraordinary faculties beyond -that. Perhaps the nature of their toil has something to do with it, for -that is at best a dull and uninspiring vocation. There is no magic -required in the setting together of bricks and mortar, and little -exertion of the intellect is needed in patching up old walls and -buildings. They are nevertheless very jealous of their craft, such as it -is, and deeply resent any intrusion into their ranks other than by the -gates of the usual apprenticeship. Occasionally it happens that a -bricklayer's labourer, who has been for many years in attendance on his -mate, shows an aptitude for the work, so that the foreman, in a busy -period, is induced to equip him with the trowel. In that case he at once -becomes the subject of sneering criticism; whatever work he does is -condemned, and he is hated and shunned by his old mates and companions. -The foreman, too, takes advantage of his position and pays him less than -the trade rate of wages, so that, after all, he is really made to feel -that he is not a journeyman. - -Very often, when there is no building to be done, the bricklayers must -turn their hands to other work, such as navvying, whitewashing, -painting, and so on, all which falls under their particular department. -Armed with pick and shovel, or pot and brush, they must dig foundations -and drains, or scale the walls and roof and cleanse or decorate the -shed. This is always productive of much grumbling and sarcastic comment, -but it is better than being suspended. On the whole the bricklayers have -a fairly comfortable billet at the works and they are not subject to -frequent loss of time through wet weather and other accidents, as are -their fellows of the town, though they do not receive as much in wages. - -It is astonishing what a prodigious amount of work the labourers will -get through in a short time, and apparently with little exertion, when -they are digging out drains and foundations for new furnaces, -steam-hammers, or other machinery. These foundations are generally huge -pits, twelve or fifteen feet deep and double the size square. Stripped -to the waist in the heat of the workshop, and armed with the heavy graft -tool, with a stout iron plate fixed underneath their right foot, they -will dig for hours without resting and yet seem to be always fresh and -vigorous. Occasionally, as they throw up the solid clay, some workman of -the shed will steal along to examine the fossil remains, pebbles, and -flints, that were embedded in the earth, and slip back to his place at -the steam-hammer, preserving some relic or other for future examination. -The sturdy labourer, however, keeps digging out the clay and hurling it -up to the light. He knows nothing of geological data, theories and -opinions, and cares not to inquire. He is there to dig the pit and not -to trouble himself about the nature of soils and deposits, and though -you should talk to him ever so learnedly of old time submersions, -accretions, and formations, he only answers you with a blank stare or an -unsympathetic grin. His private opinion is that you are something of a -lunatic. - -There is one among the bricklayers' labourers that is remarkable. This -is the silent man, generally known as Herbert. The story goes that -Herbert was once in love and thought to take a wife. But the course of -true love did not run smooth in his case, and, in the end, the young -lady jilted Herbert. That is according to the story. It may or may not -have been true; perhaps Herbert could tell, but he is not at all -communicative. Whatever the circumstances were, they made a profound -impression upon Herbert's mind and he has never been the same man since. -Now he does not speak to any except his near workmate, and only then to -answer the most necessary questions. It is useless for an outsider to -attempt to make him speak; he ignores all your attentions. To cause him -to smile would be akin to working a miracle. The set features never -relax. The eyes are vacant and expressionless, the mouth is firm and -stern, and the whole countenance rigid. - -Yet Herbert is a fine-looking man. His features are regular--almost -classic--his face is bronzed with working out of doors, and he is a -picture of health. In height he is medium. His shoulders are broad and -square, his arms strong and muscular, and he has the endurance of an ox. -Would you tire Herbert? That is impossible. Whatever labour you set him -to do he performs it without a murmur. He does the work of three -ordinary men. Must he dig? He will dig, dig, dig, and throw up the huge -spits of heavy clay as high as his head, one might say for ever. Must he -wheel away the debris? He will pile up the wheel-barrow till it is -ready to break down under the weight, and trundle it off and up to the -stage without the slightest exertion and be back again in a breath. He -will lift enormous weights and strike tremendous blows with the sledge. -He is tireless in his use of the pick and shovel; in fact, whatever you -set Herbert to do he accomplishes it all in about a fifth of the time -ordinarily required for the purpose. He is the butt of his masters and -of his work-mates. Whatever uncommonly laborious task there is to be -done Herbert is the man to do it, and the more he does the more he must -do, though he does not know it, or if he does, he shows no indication of -the knowledge. Now and again the foreman stands by and watches him -approvingly, and this stimulates him to fresh efforts. He revels in the -work and, whatever he thinks about it all, he is still silent and -inexplicable. - -This sort of thing is all right from the point of view of the foreman, -but it is very inconvenient and unfair to the other labourers who are -sane in their minds and mortal in their bodies, for everything they do -is adjudged according to the standard of this indefatigable Hercules. -The overseer, used to seeing him slaving endlessly, thinks light of the -others' efforts, and imagines that they are not doing their share of the -toil, so uneven is the comparison of their labours. In reality, such a -man as Herbert is a danger and an enemy of his kind, though as he is -quite unconscious of his conduct and does it all with the best -intentions he must be forgiven. Such a one is more to be pitied than -blamed. - -The foremen of the bricklayers are not bricklayers themselves, and never -have been, but were selected apparently without any consideration of -their specific abilities. This one was a shunter, another was a -carpenter, a third was a waggon-builder, and so on. Perhaps So-and-so -and So-and-so went to school together, or worked formerly in the same -shed; or consanguinity is the cause, for blood is thicker than water in -the factory, as elsewhere. Accordingly, it often comes about that the -most fitting person to take the responsible position is thrust aside at -the last moment for an utter stranger, one who has no knowledge whatever -of the work he is to supervise. With a certain amount of "pushfulness," -however, and an extraordinary confidence in himself and his abilities, -the new man is able to make a pretence of knowledge and, somehow or -other, the work proceeds. Very often it would go on for months just as -well without the foreman to interfere, and in many cases even better, -for it is the chargemen and gangers who have the actual control of -operations and who possess the real and intimate knowledge of the work. - -Should an aspirant to the post of foreman through his own merits be set -aside for a stranger--as is sometimes the case--there is bound to be -jealousy existing between the two for ever afterwards, which now and -again breaks out into heated scenes and may result in brawls and -dismissals. Of the workmen, some will take the one side, and some the -other; they are mutually distrustful, and have recourse to whispering -and tale-telling. If it has been proved that one workman is guilty of -getting another his discharge by any unfair means he is not forgiven by -his mates. The dismissed man, in such a case, will frequently wait for -his informer outside the gates, and will not be satisfied until he has -given him a good thrashing. Perhaps he will walk boldly in through the -entrance with the other men and take him unaware at his work and punish -him on the spot. It is superfluous to say that this is not tolerated by -the officials, and anyone who is so bold as to do it must be prepared to -stand the consequences and appear at the Borough Police Court. - -Now and again a foreman, who has been guilty of some underhanded action, -is taken to task by the exasperated victim and treated to a little -surprise combat of fisticuffs. Perhaps the foreman is a sneak or a -bully, or both, and has carried his tyrannical behaviour too far for -human endurance; or private jealousy may have impelled him to some -cowardly turn or other, and the workman, driven to desperation, takes -the law into his own hands and gives him a thrashing. This--provided the -reprisal was merited--will be a source of huge delight to the other men -in the shed, and everyone will rejoice to see the offender "taken down a -notch," as they say; but if it was merely an exhibition of unwarrantable -temper on the workman's part, the overseer will be commiserated with and -defended. Whether right or wrong the pugnacious one is dismissed. His -services are no longer required at the shed; he must seek occupation -elsewhere. - -Running along for some distance near the canal is a shed in which the -road-waggons are made--trollies, vans, and cars for use in the goods -yards and stations about the line--and inside this, and parallel with -it, is the wheel shop, where the wheels, tyres, and axles are turned and -fitted up for the waggons and carriages. Besides the making of new work -in the first-named of these sheds, there is always a considerable amount -of repairs to be carried out. A great part of this is done outside, in -fine weather, in order to give increased room within doors. - -The road-waggon builders are of a sturdy type. Many of them are inclined -to be old-fashioned and primitive in their methods, and they are solid -in character. This is accounted for by the fact that the greater part of -the older hands received their initial training in small yards, in -little country towns and villages, where they worked among farmers and -rustics. The work they did there was necessarily very solid and -strong--such as heavy carts and waggons for the farms--and everything -had to be done by hand, slowly and laboriously perhaps, but efficiently -and well. This taught them the practical side of their trade, as how to -be self-sufficing and independent of machinery, which are the most -valuable features of a good apprenticeship and are of great service to -the workman in after years. By and by, when the time came for them to -leave the scene of their apprentice days--for few masters will pay the -journeyman's rate of wages to any who, at the end of their term, have -not gone further afield for new experience--they shifted out for -themselves. Some went one way and some another. This one went to London, -that one to Bristol, and others came to the railway town. Whatever -peculiarities of workmanship they acquired in their youth they brought -with them and practised in their new sphere, and so the individual style -is maintained in spite of totally different methods and processes. - -At the present time--in large factories, at any rate--there is machinery -for everything, and this is highly destructive of the purely personal -faculty in manufacture. But in the case of the road-waggon builder, -though a great many, or perhaps all, of the parts have been shaped for -him by steam power, there yet remains the fitting up and building of the -vehicle, which is reasonably a task requiring considerable care and -skill. The iron frame of the locomotive or railway waggon may be clapped -together quite easily, for there is no very elaborate fitting or joining -to be done. Good strong rivets are the chief things required there. The -wooden bodies of the vans and cars, however, must be fitted and built -with the nicest precision and finish, or the materials would shrink away -and the parts would gape open, or fall to pieces. Thus, the road-waggon -builder, as well as the carriage body-maker, must be a craftsman of the -first order, and while some journeymen may be at liberty to sacrifice -their dearly gained experience and individual characteristics in the -face of newer methods and improved mechanical processes, it is well for -him to hold fast to what he has found useful and good in the past. - -The workmen of every shed have their own particular tone and style -collectively as well as individually; different trades and atmospheres -apparently producing different characteristics and temperaments. -Accordingly, the men of one shed are well-known for one quality, while -those of another are noted for something quite different. These are -famed for steadiness, civility, and correct behaviour; those for noise, -rudeness, horseplay, and even ruffianism. The men of some sheds are -remarkable for their extreme docility and their almost childish -obedience to the slightest and most insignificant rules of the factory, -counting every official as a thing superhuman and nearly to be -worshipped. Others are notorious for ideas quite the reverse of this, -for riotous conduct within and without the shed, an utter contempt of -the laws of the factory, for thieving, fighting, and other propensities. -These characteristics are determined as much by the kind of work done in -the sheds and the quality of the overseer, as by the men's own nature -and temperament. Most foremen are excessively autocratic and severe with -their men, denying them the slightest privilege or relaxation of the -iron laws of the factory. Others are of a wheedling, pseudo-fatherly -type, who, by a combination of professed paternal regard and a cunning -manipulation of the reins, contrive to make everything they do appear -just and reasonable and so hold their men in complete subjection. Some -foremen, again, are of the ceremonious order, who, from pure vanity, -will insist upon the complete observance of the most trivial detail and -drive their workmen half-way to distraction. A few, on the other hand, -are generous and humane. They hold the reins slack, and, without the -knowledge of their chiefs, grant a few small privileges and are rewarded -with the confidence of the workmen and a willingness to labour on their -part amounting to enthusiasm. For, as the horse that is tightly breeched -draws none too well, neither do those men work best who are rigidly kept -down under the iron rod of the overseer. Discipline there is bound to -be, as everyone knows, but there is no excuse for treating a man as -though he were a wild beast, or an infant just out of the cradle. -Whatever dissatisfaction exists about the works is chiefly owing to the -behaviour of the officials, for they force the workmen into rebellion. -If the directors of the company are anxious for the welfare of their -staff--as they profess to be--let them instruct their managers and -foremen to show themselves a little more tolerant and kindly disposed to -the men in the sheds. Actions speak louder than words, and kindness -shown to workmen is never forgotten. - -The wheel shop is a large building, containing many rows of lathes for -the wheels, tyres, and axles, which are nearly all tended by boys. The -lines of shafting stretch in the roof, up and down from end to end of -the place, and the pulleys whirl round almost noiselessly overhead. -Everything is spotlessly clean, for there are no furnaces belching out -their smoke, dust, and flames. The temperature is low and the shed, even -in the hottest part of the summer, is cool in comparison with the other -premises round about. In the winter it is heated with steam from the -boilers and the exhaust from the shop engines. This prevents the boys -from catching cold. The heavy steel axles and tyres are exceedingly -chill in the winter, especially in frosty weather. - -The boys come from all parts, from town and country alike, immediately -after leaving school, and go straight to the lathes. There are labourers -to fix the wheels and tyres in the machines, and the boys attend to the -tools, working carefully to the gauges provided. Coming to the work at a -time when their minds are in a receptive state, they soon master the -principal parts of the business and before long become highly skilled -and proficient. Their wages are no more than five or six shillings a -week for a start, with yearly rises of one or two shillings until they -reach a pound or twenty-two shillings. Upon arriving at this -stage--unless work is plentiful--they are usually removed from the lathe -and set labouring, or otherwise transferred or discharged as too -expensive for the work. Sometimes, after this, they migrate to other -towns and earn double or treble the wages they received before, for good -wheel- and axle-turners are in constant demand and a clever workman may -be sure of securing a high rate of remuneration. - -The boys are an interesting group, and one that is well worthy of -consideration. They are of all sorts and sizes, of many grades and walks -in life. There is the country labourer's lad, who formerly worked on the -land amid the horses and cattle; the town labourer's lad, who has been -errand-boy or who sold newspapers on the street corner; the small -shopkeeper's lad, the fitter's lad, tall and pale, in clean blue -overalls, and the enginedriver's lad, fresh from school, whose one -ambition is to emulate his father and, like him, drive an engine, only -one that is two or three times as big and powerful. There are tall and -short boys, boys fat and lean, pale and robust-looking, ragged and -well-kept, with sad and merry faces. And what pranks they play with one -another, and would play, if they were not curbed and checked with the -ever watchful eye of the shop foreman! They are always ready for some -game or other--football, hide-and-seek, or "ierky"--at any time of the -day, and whatever they do, it does not seem to tire them down; they are -still fresh and active, cheerful and vivacious. - -Many of them begin the day well with running regularly to work, perhaps -for two or three miles. At five minutes past six in the morning they -commence at the lathe, and when breakfast-time comes they scamper off, -food in hand, and play about the yard, or in the recreation field -beyond. From nine till one their labour is continuous; there they stand, -bound as with chains to the machines they serve, for ever watchful, so -as not to spoil the cut and waste the axle, which would mean an enforced -holiday for them. When one o'clock comes, smothered with oil and with -faces like those of sweeps--often blackened purposely to give themselves -the appearance of having perspired much--they race off as before, and -play recklessly until it is time to return to the shed. And after the -day's work is finished and they go home in the evening, they wash away -the grime and oil and play about the streets and lanes till bed-time, -utterly indifferent to the wearisome occupation awaiting them on the -morrow. Their sleep is sound and sweet, for their hearts are happy and -light. Of the cares of life they know nothing; the future is full of -hope for them; all the world is before them. Their chief concern is for -the holidays. All these are anticipated and awaited with great joy and -eagerness; it is by this alone that they discover the extreme tedium of -the daily drudgery of the workshop. - -The boys' foreman is an experienced official, shrewd, keen, and very -severe; a good judge of character, cautious, and careful, civil enough, -but unbending in a decision, a very good formative agent, one who will -exercise a healthy restraint upon the intractables and encourage the -timid, but who exploits them all for the good of the firm. His keen eyes -and sound judgment enable him to at once sum up a lad's capabilities. He -takes the youth and sets him where he will show to the best advantage, -instructs him on many of the crucial points, advises him as to the best -means of getting on, and very often furnishes him with hints of a -personal nature which--whatever the lad may think of them at the -time--bear fruit in after life. If the youngster is inclined to be wild -and incorrigible he tries his best to reform him, and gives him sound -advice. He has also been known to administer a corrective cuff in the -ear and a vigorous boot in the posterior, but he usually succeeds in -bringing out the good points and suppressing, if not entirely -eradicating, the bad. - -Whenever he walks up or down the shed the boys fix their attention more -firmly upon their machines, for they feel his keen, penetrating eyes -upon them, and they know that nothing ever escapes his notice. If there -is a slackness at any point the word is passed rapidly on--"Look out, -here's J----y coming," and the overseer is sometimes amused with the -various expedients resorted to in order to deceive him and cover up the -juvenile shortcomings. As to wages, prices, and systems, they are not -altogether his fault. It he could suit himself he might possibly be -willing to pay more, but he is always being pressed by the staff to -reduce prices and expenses, and, like the other foremen, he is not -prepared to offer effective resistance. Being an official of long -standing, however, he is secure in his place, and has no occasion to -betray his hands to the firm, as is too often the case with young -foremen, who wish to secure personal notice and advantage. That is one -of the most damning features of all, and is becoming more and more a -practice at the works. One young "under-strapper" I knew is in the habit -of standing over the boys at the lathe, watch in hand, for four hours -without once moving, and, by his manner and language, compelling them to -run at an excessive rate so as to cut their prices. Without doubt he is -deserving of the birch rod, though the managers, who allow it, are the -more to blame. - -A short way from the canal, north of the road-waggon shed, is the -rubbish heap, at which most of the old wood refuse and lumber, with -hundreds of tons of sawdust, are brought to be burned. At one time all -this was consumed in the boiler furnaces, but since the amount of refuse -has enormously increased it has been found expedient to transport some -part of it there and so do away with it. One small furnace is used for -the purpose, and by far the greater part of it, especially the sawdust, -is burned in big heaps upon the ground. This is a slovenly, as well as a -dangerous method, and the inconvenience resulting to the men in the -sheds is considerable. If the wind is in the west the dense clouds of -smoke sweep along the ground and are blown straight in through the open -doors upon the stampers, and are a source of extreme discomfort and -disgust. There is always plenty of smother in the shed, arising from the -oil furnaces, without receiving any addition from outside. Once the -workshop is filled with the bluish vapour it takes hours to disperse, -for, though there are doors all round and hundreds of ventilators on the -roof, they do not carry off the nuisance. Very often the smoke will -travel from end to end of the shed, like a current of water, but just -as it reaches the doorway and you think it is going to pass outside, it -suddenly whirls round like a wheel and traverses the whole length of the -place, and so on, over and over again. - -If the wind is in the north, then the road-waggon builders must suffer -the persecuting clouds of smoke and be tormented with smarting and -burning eyes at work; and if it should blow from over the town, across -the rolling downs from the south, the smother is carried high over the -fence and sweeps along the recreation field to the discomfort of small -boys and lovers, or of whoever happens to be passing that way. If the -nuisance arose from any other quarter complaints might be made and steps -taken towards the mitigation of it. As it is, no one, not even a member -of the local bodies and the Corporation, summons up the courage to make -a protest, for everyone bows down before the company's officials and -representatives in the railway town and fears to raise objections to -anything that may be done by the people at the works. - - - - -CHAPTER V - - "THE FIELD"--"CUTTING-DOWN"--THE FLYING DUTCHMAN--THE FRAME - SHED--PROMOTION--RIVET BOYS--THE OVERSEER - - -On the north the factory yard is bounded by a high board fence that runs -along close behind the shed and divides the premises from the recreation -grounds, which are chiefly the haunt of juveniles during the summer -months and the resort of football players and athletes in the winter. -Here also the small children come after school and wander about the -field among the buttercups, or sit down amid the long grass in the -sunshine, or swing round the Maypole, under the very shadow of the black -walls, with only a thin fence to separate them from the busy factory. -The ground beneath their feet shakes with the ponderous blows of the -steam-hammers; the white clouds of steam from the exhaust pipes shoot -high into the air. Dense volumes of blackest smoke tower out of the -chimneys, whirling round and round and over and over, or roll lazily -away in a long line out beyond the town and fade into the distance. - -The fence stretches away to the east for a quarter of a mile from the -shed and then turns again at right angles and continues the boundary on -that side as far as to the entrance by the railway. About half-way -across are several large shops and premises used for lifting, fitting, -and storing the carriages; beyond them is a wide, open space commonly -known as "the field." As a matter of fact, the whole area of the yard -was really a series of fields until quite recently. Fifteen years ago, -although the space was enclosed, you might have walked among the -hedgerows and have been in the midst of rustic surroundings. Numerous -rabbits infested the place and retained their burrows till long after -the steel rails were laid along the ground. Hares, too, continued to -frequent the yard until the rapid extension of the premises and the -clearing away of the grass and bushes deprived them of cover. It was a -common thing to see them and the rabbits shooting in and out among the -old wheels and tyres that had been removed from the condemned vehicles. - -If you should follow the fence along for a short distance you might even -now soon forget the factory and imagine yourself to be far away in some -remote village corner, surrounded with fresh green foliage and drinking -in the sweet breath of the open fields. One would not conceive that in -the very factory grounds, within sight of the hot, smoky workshops, and -but a stone's throw from some of them, it would be possible to enjoy the -charm of rusticity, and to revel unseen in a profusion of flowers that -would be sought for in vain in many parts about the countryside. Yet -such is the pleasure to be derived from a visit to this little -frequented spot. The fence, to the end, runs parallel with the -recreation ground alongside a hedgerow that once parted the two fields -when the whole was in the occupation of the people at the old farmhouse -that has now disappeared. In the hedgerow, with their trunks close -against the board partition, still in their prime and in strong contrast -to the black smoky walls and roofs of the sheds opposite, stand -half-a-dozen stately elms that stretch their huge limbs far over the -yard and throw a deep shadow on the ground beneath. At this spot the -field gradually declines and, as the inner yard has been made up to a -level with the railway beyond, when you approach the angle you find -yourself out of sight, with the raised platform of cinders on the one -hand and, on the other, the high wooden fence and thick elms. - -At the corner the steel tracks have had to make a long curve, and this -has left the ground there free to bring forth whatever it will. Here, -also, the trees are thickest, and, within the fence, a small portion of -the original site still remains. A streamlet--perhaps the last drain of -a once considerable brook--enters from the recreation ground underneath -the boards and is conducted along, now within its natural banks and now -through broken iron pipes, into the corner, where it is finally -swallowed up in a gully and lost to view. Stooping over it, as though to -protect it from further injury and insult, are several clumps of -hawthorn and the remains of an old hedge of wych elm. Standing on the -railway track of the bank are some frames of carriages that were burnt -out at the recent big fire. Near them are several crazy old waggons and -vans, that look as if they had stood in the same place for half a -century and add still further to the quiet of the scene. - -It is alongside the fence, and especially about the corner, that the -wild flowers bloom. Prominent over all is the rosebay. This extends in a -belt nearly right along the fence, and climbs up the ash bank and runs -for a considerable distance among the metals, growing and thriving high -among the iron wheels and frames of the carriages and revelling in the -soft ashes and cinders of the track. Side by side with this, and -blooming contemporary with it, are the delicate toadflax, bright golden -ragwort, wild mignonette, yellow melilot, ox-eye daisies, mayweed, small -willow-herb, meadow-sweet, ladies' bedstraw, tansy, yarrow, and -cinquefoil. The wild rose blooms to perfection and the bank is richly -draped with a vigorous growth of dewberry, laden with blossoms and -fruit. - -Beside the streamlet in the corner is a patch of cats'-tails, as high as -to the knees, and a magnificent mass of butter-bur. The deliciously -scented flowers of this are long since gone by, but the leaves have -grown to an extraordinary size. They testify to the presence of the -stream, for the butter-bur is seldom found but in close proximity to -water. Here also are to be found the greater willow-herb with its large -sweet pink blossoms and highly-scented leaves, the pale yellow -colt's-foot, medick, purple woody night-shade, hedge stachys, spear -plume thistles, hogweed and garlick mustard, with many other plants, -flowering and otherwise, that have been imported with the ballast and -have now taken possession of the space between the lines and the fence. - -The shade of the trees and beauty of the flowers and plants are -delightful in the summer when the sun looks down from a clear, cloudless -sky upon the steel rails and dry ashes of the yard, which attract and -contain the heat in a remarkable degree, making it painful even to walk -there in the hottest part of the day. Then the cool shade of the trees -is thrice welcome, especially after the stifling heat of the workshop, -the overpowering fumes of the oil furnaces and the blazing metal just -left behind; for it is impossible for any but workmen to enjoy the -pleasant retreat. No outsider ever gains admittance here, and though you -should often pace underneath the trees in the recreation ground you -would never dream of what the interior is like. Nor do even workmen--at -least, not more than one or two, and this at rare intervals in the -meal-hours--often come here, for if they did they would be noticed by -the watchmen and ordered away. Their presence here, even during -meal-hours, would be construed as prejudicial to the interests of the -company. They would be suspected of theft, or of some other evil -intention, or would at least be looked upon as trespassers and reported -to the managers. In times gone by men and youths have been known to -escape from the factory during working hours and while they were booked -at their machines, by climbing over the fence, and this has made the -officials cautious and severe in dealing with trespassers. It would not -be a difficult matter, even now--and especially in the winter afternoons -and evenings--to climb over the top of the fence and decamp. - -This part of the factory yard is by far the most wholesome of the works' -premises. There is plenty of room and light, and happy were they who, in -the years ago, were told off for service in the field, breaking up the -old waggons, sorting out the timber, and running the wheels from one -place to another. At the time the old broad-gauge system of vehicles -was converted to the four-foot scale, large gangs in the yard were -regularly employed in cutting-down; that is, reducing the waggons to the -new shape. First of all the wood-work was removed; then both sides of -the iron frame--a foot each side--were cut completely away. Two new -"sole-bars" were affixed, and the whole frame was riveted up again. The -wheels, also, were taken out and the axles shortened and re-fitted. The -carpenters now replaced the floors and sides and all was fit for traffic -again. The locomotives, on the other hand, were condemned. The boilers -and machinery were built on too great a scale to be fitted to the -narrow-gauge frames. They were accordingly lifted out and the boilers -distributed all over the system, while the frames were cut up for scrap -and new ones built in place of them. - -The old type of broad-gauge engine has never been beaten for speed on -the line. By reason of its occupying a greater space over the wheels and -axles the running was more even, and there was not so much rocking of -the coaches. The broad-gauge Flying Dutchman express was noted for its -magnificent speed and stately carriage, and for many years after the -abolition of the system stories of almost incredible runs were current -at the works. One old driver, very proud of his machine, was said to -have sworn to the officials that he would bring his engine and train -from London to the railway town, a distance of seventy-seven miles, in -an hour, dead time, with perfect safety, and he was only prevented from -accomplishing the feat by the strong stand made by the officials, who -threatened him with instant dismissal if he should exceed the limit of -speed prescribed in the time-tables. - -At the same time, it is well known that the official time-table was -often ignored, and stirring tales might be told of flying journeys -performed in defiance of all written injunctions and authority. The -signalmen knew of these feats and were often astounded at them, but they -are only human, and they often did that they ought not to have done in -order to shield the driver. The passengers, too, are always delighted to -find themselves being whirled along at a high rate. There is an -intoxication in it not to be resisted, and when they leave the train at -the journey's end, after an extraordinary run, they invariably go and -inspect the engine and admire the brave fellow who has rushed them over -the country at such an exciting speed. - -When the broad-gauge was converted great numbers of men from all -quarters were put on at the works. Every village and hamlet for miles -around sent in its unemployed, and many of the farms were quite -deserted. These were engaged in "cutting-down" or in breaking up the -waggons and engines--little skill being necessary for that -operation--and when, after several years, the system was quite reduced -and slackness followed the busy period, the greater part of them were -discharged and were again distributed over the countryside round about. -It is impossible to go into any village within a radius of eight or ten -miles of the railway town without finding at least one or two men who -were employed on "the old broad-gauge," as they still call it. After -their discharge the majority, by degrees, settled down to farm life. -Many, however, continued out of work for a long time, and some are -numbered among the "casuals" to this day. - -The only tools, besides hammers, required by the cutters-down, were cold -sets to cut off the heads of the rivets and bolts, and punches to force -the stems and stays out of the holes. They were held by hazel rods, that -were supplied in bundles from the stores for the purpose. To bind them -round the steel tools they were first of all heated in the middle over -the fire. Then the cutter-out took hold of one end, and his mate held -the other, and the two together gave the wand several twists round. -After that the rod was wound twice about the set or punch and the two -ends were tied together with strong twine. This gave a good grip on the -tool, which would not be obtained with the use of an iron rod. The -repeated blows on the set from the sledge would soon jar the iron rod -loose and cause it to snap off, while the hazel rod grips it firmly and -springs with it under the blow. - -Formerly all the repair riveting was done by hand. When the hot rivet -was inserted in the hole the "holder-up" kept it in position, either -with the "dolly" or with a heavy square-headed sledge. Then the riveters -knocked down the head of the rivet with long-nosed hammers, striking -alternately in rapid succession and making the neighbourhood resound -with the blows. Afterwards the chief mate held the "snap" upon it and -his mate plied the sledge until the new head was perfectly round and -smooth. The "snap" is a portion of steel bar, about ten inches long and -toughly tempered, with a die, the shape of the rivet head required, -infixed at one end. Now, however, pneumatic riveting machines are used -out of doors. These, being small and compact, can be employed anywhere -and with much fewer hands than were required by the old method. The air -is supplied from accumulators into which it is forced by the engine in -the shed, and it is conducted in pipes all round the factory yards. - -The repair gangs are an off-shoot of the frame shed that is situated at -a distance of nearly half a mile from the field. There the steel frames -for the waggons and carriages and all iron-topped vehicles, such as -ballast trucks, brake and bullion vans, refrigerators and others are -constructed. That is essentially the shop of hard work, heavy lifting -and noise terrific. The din is quite inconceivable. First of all is the -machinery. On this side are rows of drills, saws, slotting and planing -machines; on that are the punches and shears, screeching and grinding, -snapping and groaning with the terrible labour imposed upon them. The -long lines of shafting and wheels whirl incessantly overhead, the cogs -clatter, the belts flap on the rapidly spinning pulleys, and the blast -from the fan roars loudly underground. All this, however, is nearly -drowned with the noise of the hammering. Hundreds of blows are being -struck, on "tops" and "bottoms," steel rails and iron rails, sole-bars -and headstocks, middles, diagonals, stanchions, knees, straps and -girders. Every part of the frame is being subjected to the same -treatment--riveted, straightened, levelled, or squared, most -unmercifully used. Every tone and degree of sound is emitted, according -to the various qualities and thicknesses of the metal--sharps and flats, -alto, treble and bass. There is the sharp clear tone of the -highly-tempered steel in the tools used; the solid and defiant ring of -the sole-bar or headstock, strong and firm under the hammer of the -"puller-up," the dull, flat sound of the floor plates, the loud hollow -noise of the "covered goods" sides and ends, and the deep heavy boom of -the roofs of the vans. Everyone seems to be striking as hard and as -quickly as he is able. All the blows fall at once, and yet everything is -in a jumble and tangle, loud, vicious, violent, confused and chaotic--a -veritable pandemonium. And then, to crown the whole, there are the -pneumatic tools, the chipping and riveting machines. It is dreadful; it -is overpowering; it is unearthly; but it has to be borne, day after day -and year after year. - -Yet even the frame shed must yield to the boiler shop in the matter of -concentrated noise. The din produced by the pneumatic machines in -cutting out the many hundreds of rivets and stays inside a boiler is -quite appalling. There is nothing to be compared with it. The heaviest -artillery is feeble considered with it; thunder is a mere echo. What is -more, the noise of neither of these is continuous, while the operation -within the boiler lasts for a week or more. The boiler, in a great -degree, contains the sound, so that even if you were a short distance -away, though the noise there would be very great, you could have no idea -of the intensity of the sound within. Words could not express it; -language fails to give an adequate idea of the terrible detonation and -the staggering effect produced upon whosoever will venture to thrust his -head within the aperture of the boiler fire-box. Do you hear anything? -You hear nothing. Sound is swallowed up in sound. You are a hundred -times deaf. You are transfixed; your every sense is paralysed. In a -moment you seem to be encompassed with an unspeakable silence--a -deathlike vacuity of sound altogether. Though you shout at the top of -your voice you hear nothing--nothing at all. You are deaf and dumb, and -stupefied. You look at the operator; there he sits, stands or stoops. -You see his movements and the apparatus in his hands, but everything is -absolutely noiseless to you. It is like a dumb show, a dream, a -phantasm. So, for a little while after you withdraw your head from the -boiler, you can hear nothing. You do not know whether you are upon your -head or your heels, which is the floor and which is the roof. The ground -rises rapidly underneath you and you seem to be going up, up, up, you -know not where. Then, after a little while, when you have removed from -the immediate vicinity of the boiler, you feel to come to earth again. -Your senses rush upon you and you are suddenly made aware of the -terrific noise you have encountered. Even now, it will be some time -before the faculty of hearing is properly restored; the fearful noise -rings in your ears for hours and days afterwards. - -And what of the men who have to perform the work? It is said that they -are used to it. That is plainly begging the question. They have to do -it, whether they are used to it or not. It is useless for them to -complain; into the boiler they must go, and face the music, for good or -ill. All the men very soon become more or less deaf, and it is -inconceivable but that other ailments must necessarily follow. The -complete nervous system must in time be shattered, or seriously -impaired, and the individual become something of a wreck. This is one of -the many ills resulting from progress in machinery and modern -manufacturing appliances. - -The personnel of the frame shed is individual and distinct in a very -marked degree. Most of the men seem to have been chosen for their great -strength and fine physique, or to have developed these qualities after -their admission to the work. The very nature of the toil tends to -produce strong limbs and brawny muscles. It is certain that continual -exercise of the upper parts of the body by such means as the lifting of -heavy substances tends to improve the chest and shoulders, and many of -those who are engaged in lifting and carrying the plates and sole-bars -are very stout and square in this respect. There is a number of "heavy -weights," and a few positive giants among them, though the majority of -the men are conspicuous, not so much by their bulk, as by their -squareness of limb and muscularity. A proof of the strength of the frame -shed men may be seen in the success of their tug-of-war teams. Wherever -they have competed--and they have gone throughout the entire south of -England--they have invariably beaten their opponents and carried off the -trophies. - -There was formerly a workman, an ex-Hussar, named Bryan, in the shed, -who could perform extraordinary feats of strength. He was nearly seven -feet in height and he was very erect. His arms and limbs were solid and -strong; he was a veritable Hercules, and his shoulders must have been as -broad as those of Atlas, who is fabled to have borne the world on his -back. It was striking to see him lift the heavy headstocks, that weighed -two hundredweights and a quarter, with perfect ease and carry them about -on his shoulder--a task that usually required the powers of two of the -strongest men. This he continued to do for many years, not out of -bravado, but because he knew it was within his natural powers to -perform. Notwithstanding his tremendous normal strength, however, he was -subject to attacks of ague, and you might have seen him sometimes -stretched out upon the ground quite helpless, groaning and foaming at -the mouth. If he had been working in the shed recently, since the -passing of the new Factory Acts, he would have been promptly discharged, -for no one is kept at the works now who is subject to any infirmity that -might incapacitate him in the shed among the machinery. Later on, when -work got slack, Bryan was turned adrift from the factory, a broken and a -ruined man. All his past services to the firm were forgotten, he was -cast off like an old shoe. However valuable and extraordinary a man may -have proved himself to be at his work, it counts for little or nothing -with the foremen and managers; the least thing puts him out of favour -and he must go. - -The men of the frame shed are of a cosmopolitan order, though to a less -extent than is the case in some departments. The work being for the most -part rough and requiring no very great skill, there has consequently -been no need of apprenticeships, though there are a few who have served -their time as waggon-builders or boiler-smiths. They are not recognised -as journeymen here, however, and so must take their chance with the rank -and file. Promotion is supposed to be made according to merit, but there -are favourites everywhere who will somehow or other prevail. The normal -order of promotion is from labourer to "puller-up," from puller-up to -riveter, and thence to the position of chargeman. Here he must be -content to stop, for foremen are only made about once or twice in a -generation, and when the odds on any man for the post are high, surprise -and disappointment always follow. The first is usually relegated to the -rear, and the least expected of all is brought forward to fill the -coveted position. It may be design, or it may be judgment, and perhaps -it is neither. It very often looks as though the matter had been -decided by the toss of a coin, or the drawing of lots, and that the lot -had fallen upon the least qualified, but there is no questioning the -decision. The old and tried chargeman, who knows the scale and -dimensions of everything that has been built or that is likely to be -built in the shed in his lifetime, must stand aside for the raw youth -who has not left school many months, but who, by some mysterious means -or other, has managed to secure the favour and indulgence of his -foreman, or other superior. Perhaps he is reckoned good at arithmetic, -or can scratch out a rough drawing, though more than likely his father -was gardener to someone, or cleaned the foreman's boots and did odd jobs -in the scullery after factory hours. - -Another reason for the selection of young and comparatively unknown men -for the post of foreman is that they will have a smaller circle of -personal mates in the shed, and, consequently, a less amount of human -kindness and sympathy in them. That is to say, they will be able to cut -and slash the piecework prices with less compunction, and so the better -serve the interests of the company. The young aspirant, moreover, will -be at the very foot of the ladder, hot and impetuous, while the elder -one will have passed the season of senseless and unscrupulous ambition. - -A feature of the frame shed is the rivet boy. It is his duty to hot the -rivets in the forge for his mates and to perform sundry other small -offices, such as fetching water from the tap in the shed, or holding a -nail bag in front of the rivet head which is being cut away, in order to -keep it from flying and causing injury to any of the workmen. The forges -for hotting the rivets are fixtures and are supplied with air through -pipes laid beneath the ground from the fan under the wall. Several boys -usually work from one fire, and there is often a scramble for the most -advantageous position in the coals. An iron plate is used to facilitate -the heating. This has been perforated with holes at the punch to allow -its receiving as many rivets as are required. It is then placed over the -whitehot coke in the forge and the rivets inserted. Each boy has a -certain number of holes allotted to him and he must not trespass on his -mates' territory. - -It sometimes happens that one of the boys proves to be a bully and a -terror and plays ducks and drakes with the rights and privileges of the -others. This is always a matter of great concern to the juveniles, and -they will not be satisfied till the tyrant has been humbled and -punished. They have many minor differences and quarrels among -themselves, and challenges to fight are frequent. Honour looms big in -the eyes of the rivet boys, and they are quick to resent a taunt or -affront and to wipe off all aspersions. Perhaps a sneer has been -levelled at one by reason of his name, his father's occupation, or the -name of the street or locality in which he lives. With true pluck the -matter is taken up. An hour and a place for the meeting are fixed: it is -generally--"Meet me in the Rec at dinner-time." There they accordingly -assemble with their mates and supporters and fight the matter out. It is -usually a rough-and-tumble proceeding, but they do not desist till one -or the other has been worsted and honour satisfied. More than once it -has happened that they have been so intent on the match they have lost -count of the time and have all--a dozen or more--got locked out for the -afternoon. This requires some explanation, and the next day the whole -circumstance has to be related. Here the boys' fathers might interfere -and administer a sound corrective lesson to each one of them. - -Getting locked out is also very often the result of over-staying at -football, which is regularly practised by the youngsters in the -recreation field all the year round. The boys club together and buy a -ball and race out to play every dinner-time. There, for three-quarters -of an hour, they exert themselves to the utmost and are forced to run -back to the shed at the top of their speed, often returning in an -exhausted condition. A spell of five minutes puts them right, however, -and they go on with their work as though they had enjoyed an infinite -period of refreshment. In the evening they race home to tea and -afterwards go out again while it is daylight, never seeming too tired -for sport and play. - -Many queer nicknames, such as "Bodger," "Snowball," "Granny," "Chucky," -and "Nanty Pecker," are in vogue among the boys. These become fixtures -and remain with them for many years. It must not be thought that all the -rivet boys submit to become permanent hands in the shed. A good many of -them, as soon as they are sufficiently old and big, go to the recruiting -sergeant and try to enlist. Some enter the Army and others the Navy; -some go this way and some that. Very often boys who spent their early -days at rivet-hotting in the shed and enter the Service, return in after -years to obtain another start in the old quarters, and grow old amid the -scenes of their boyhood. Some never return at all, but die, either in -battle, of sickness, or other accident. More than one, too, has gone the -wrong way in life and ended in suicide. - -The boys are much given to reading cheap literature of the "dreadful" -type, and they revel in the deeds of Buffalo Bill, Deadwood Dick, and -other well-known heroes of fiction. Sometimes a boy, unknown to his -parents, actually possesses a firearm--a pistol or revolver--and, with a -group of companions, scours the countryside round about in search of -"game." Once, at least, mischief was done in the shape of bursting open -a letter-box with bullets, and at another time a poor calf received a -bullet-shot through the hedgerow. This last-named deed, however, was -purely accidental. Great fear fell upon the juveniles after this -untoward experience and the pistol was forthwith cast into the canal. At -another time a careless lad shot himself through the hand with a pistol -and inflicted a dangerous wound. - -A great change has come over the frame shed during the last twelve -years. The old foreman has gone; a great many of the old hands have -disappeared also, and the methods of work have been revolutionised. The -prices have been cut again and again; a different spirit prevails -everywhere; it is no longer as it used to be. Considerable liberty and -many small privileges were allowed to the men by the governing staff in -those days, and the foreman, if he felt disposed, could do much to make -them comfortable and satisfied. Then the overseer was practically master -of his shed and could make his own terms with the workmen, though it is -only fair to remember that under those conditions he was sometimes -inclined to be summary and despotic. - -The old foreman of the frame shed was an excellent example of this kind -of overseer. As an engineer he was clever, intelligent, sharp-sighted, -and energetic. In addition to this he was a good judge of character, a -natural leader of men, and one strongly sympathetic. If he was in want -of new hands he needed not to ask a dozen ridiculous questions, or to -stand upon any kind of ceremony; he came, saw, and decided at once. One -glance was sufficient for him; he had summed the man up in an instant. -In the shed he was free, easy and spontaneous, praising and blaming in -the same breath. At one moment he was livid with passion; the next he -was kind, conciliative, and condescending. His temper was hot and fiery. -When he frowned at you his expression was as black as a thunder-cloud, -but you knew that everything would soon be well again. His behaviour was -at least open and genuine, and whatever his attitude to his superiors -might have been, he was free from dissimulation with the workmen. -Nothing escaped his attention in the shed. As he walked his eagle eye -comprehended all. If a stanchion or girder was in the least out of -square he perceived it, and it had to be put right immediately. - -He never made himself too cheap and common with the workmen, but held -himself in such a relation to them that he could always command respect. -He often came to the shed late and left early, but there was then no -rigid law compelling the foreman to be for ever at his post, and the -work usually proceeded the same. He was an inventor himself, and he was -always ready to encourage independent thought and action among his -workmen. He recognised merit and rewarded it. He was not jealous of his -workmen's brains, and he was at all times willing to consider an opinion -and to act upon it if it seemed preferable to his own. He was a mixture -of the fatherly ruler and the despot, but he was very proud of his men -and he lauded them up to the skies to outsiders, whenever an opportunity -presented itself. There was nothing they could not make, and make well, -according to him. If he blamed them to themselves he stoutly defended -them against others, and he would not have dreamed of selling and -betraying them to the management, as is commonly done at this time. - -Of the boys he was extremely fond, and especially of such as were -well-behaved and attentive, however ragged and rough their dress might -be, and he often stood and talked to them with his hand on their -shoulder, or gave them pennies or marbles. But if he saw one of the -"terribles" bullying a younger lad he ran up to him and gave him a sound -cuff, or a vigorous kick. Under his foremanship work was plentiful and -wages were high. The shed was nearly always on overtime, and money -flowed like water. The men bore the strain of the overtime complacently. -They worked without fear and turned out a hundred, or a hundred and -twenty waggon frames a week. Those were prosperous days for the frame -shed and many a one saved a little pile from his earnings. - -Together with all this, however, the foreman discovered some remarkable -characteristics and he was possessed of the most amazing effrontery. If -strangers connected with other firms came in to inspect the plant and -process and to know the prices of things, he hoodwinked them in every -possible manner and told them astounding fables. He would take up an -article in his hand, describe it with pride, and tell them it was made -for a fifth of what it actually cost to produce. If the manager came -through and any awkward questions were asked, he skilfully turned the -point aside and motioned secretly to the men to support him if they -should be consulted. He hated all interference and would not stand -patronage even from his superiors, and where argument failed clever -manoeuvring saved the situation. - -Whatever he saw in the shape of machinery he coveted for his own shed. -More than once he was known actually to purloin a machine from the -neighbour foreman's shop in the night and transfer it to his own -premises. Once a very large drilling machine, new from the maker and -labelled to another department at the works, came into the yard by -mistake, but it never reached its proper destination. Calling a gang of -men, he removed the drill from the truck, caused a foundation to be made -for it, fixed it up in a corner half out of sight, and had it working -the next morning. A hue and cry was raised up and down and around the -yard for the missing machine, but it was not discovered till a long time -afterwards. It still stands in the shed, a proof of one of the most -brazen and impudent thefts possible. - -At another time three large drop-hammers were shunted near the shed, and -on seeing them he quickly had them unloaded, but he was not successful -in retaining them. On being discovered he made profuse apologies for his -"mistake" and there the matter ended. At last he fell into the disfavour -of someone and defiantly handed in his resignation. Now everything -proceeds upon formally approved lines, though many a one wishes the old -foreman were still in his place, grumbling and scolding, and pushing -things forward as in the days ago. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - - THE SMITHY--THE SMITH--BUILDING THE FIRE--GALLERY - MEN--APPRENTICES--THE OLDEST HAND--DEATH OF A SMITH--THE - SMITH'S ATTITUDE TO HIS MATES--HIS GREAT GOOD-NATURE--THE - SMITHS' FOREMAN - - -Adjoining the frame-building shed is the waggon smithy, where the -thousand and one details for brake systems for the carriages and -waggons, and other articles and uses are manufactured. Here, also, all -kinds of repairs are executed, and a great number of tools of every -description made for the permanent way men and for other workshops round -about. It is said that the forge is the longest in England, and this is -probably correct. It is slightly under two hundred yards in length, and -it contains one hundred fires. These are built at equal distances, on -each side of the shed, with crowns like large bee-hives, and the -chimneys are joined in with the walls. Every fire is supplied with a -boshful of water in which to cool the various tools, and there is also a -tap and a rubber pipe for damping the coals. - -Behind the forge is a recess for the coke, which is crushed by machines -outside and wheeled in ready for use. Above this is a rack for the tongs -and tools, of which the smith possesses a considerable number. They are -of all sorts and sizes, capable of holding and shaping every conceivable -article. Of tongs there are flat-bits, hollow-bits, and claws large and -small, with sets and "set-tools," "fullers," flatters, punches, -"jogglers," and many others with no specific title but conveniently -named by the brawny fellow who uses them. Standing in one corner, or -soaking in the water of the bosh, are large and small sledges and one or -two wooden mallets. Every fire has its sieve or "riddle," as it is -called, for sifting the coke before it is put in the forge, for every -particle of dust must be removed from the fuel so as to obtain a clear, -bright heat. If there is welding to be done the coke will have to be -broken up small--about the size of a walnut--with the mallet, in order -to concentrate the heat, and to allow of the iron being easily moved in -the fire and well-covered with the fuel. - -The task of making up the fire falls upon the smith's mate or striker. -Perhaps, if the piece of work is of big dimensions, two fires are -needed; if it is small or moderate-sized, one will be sufficient. It is -the mate's duty to get everything ready for the smith. First of all the -clinker is removed and the dust taken out from the centre of the fire -with an iron shovel. The live coals are now raked to the middle and the -blast applied. When this is performed the fresh coke is "riddled" up, -and carefully distributed in the forge. Every smith is very particular -as to the _shape_ of his fire. In general disposition it will be high at -the back with the corners--right and left--well filled, rather full in -front and even in the centre. If the weather is hot and the coke dry it -may receive a good watering--once before the smith begins his heat, and -several times during the operation. A good smith will be sparing of -water, however, for too much of it makes the fire burn too fiercely in -the centre, contracts the area of heat and causes the iron to be dirty -and slimy. The harder the coke, the better it is, and the more brilliant -the heat will be. Soft coke is soon consumed and completely reduced to -dust, while good, hard coke will last a considerable time in the fire. - -It must not be assumed that the smith is idle while his mates are -employed in renovating the forge. He is busy preparing his tools and -taking dimensions of the job to be made, and pondering on the best means -of doing it. For this he usually has a large board whitened with chalk, -upon which he sketches out the article and by means of which he -determines the best method of forming his bends and angles. He may not -be much of an artist, but in his rude way he will make a very -commendable drawing of his job and will thus be enabled to determine -beforehand exactly what to do to effect it, just the time to begin his -tapers and angles, the direction of the bend, and the tools for doing -it. He never leaves the method undetermined till he has his iron on the -anvil, but takes pains to have everything settled and every phase of the -operation well in view before he begins it. It is the inferior or the -unintelligent workman alone that heats his iron and trusts to a chance -idea to complete the job. - -Meanwhile the cloth cap has been removed from the head, and the -waistcoat and braces hung up behind the forge. The long leathern apron -is produced from the wooden tool-chest and tied around the waist, or -fastened with the belt, about three inches of the top of the trousers -being often turned down outside. The smith's trousers are usually of -blue serge, and they are made very loose and baggy, so as to allow of -much stooping. The strikers more frequently use aprons made of canvas or -of old thin refuse leather that has been stripped from the worn-out -carriages and horse-boxes and consigned to the scrap-heap. While the -finishing touches are being put to the forge the burly smith takes his -can and goes to the tap for a drink of water. Arrived there he fills the -vessel, removes the quid of tobacco from his cheek--a great many smiths -chew tobacco--raises the can to his lips, rinses out his mouth once or -twice and spouts the water out again to a great distance. Then he takes -a long drink, fills the can again and carries it back to the forge, -where he hands it to his mates, or sets it down for future refreshment. - -By this time the iron will have been placed in the forge and the blast -applied by the strikers. The sets also will have been ground, the shafts -of the hammers examined and the wedges tightened. The floor, too, will -be cleanly swept round about, for the smith is most particular in the -matter of neatness and will not have loose ashes and cinders, or other -rubbish, lying under his feet. A light, square table, sometimes of wood -and sometimes of iron plate, is set by the anvil, and of a height with -it, to contain the tools. A handful of birch, bound together after the -manner of a little besom, is placed conveniently upon the table. This is -used for brushing the heat when it comes from the coals, and for -removing the dust and scale from the anvil. As the blast rushes through -the pipe from underground and into the forge it roars loudly, sounding -in the coke like a strong wind among trees. Long, yellow flames rise and -leap high up the chimney, and the air around is filled with clouds of -dust and sulphur fumes from the burning coke. As the heat of the fire -increases this diminishes; in a short time the gaseous properties are -entirely consumed and there is no smell of any kind. - -Our smith is a perfect giant in stature. In height he is well over six -feet, solid and erect, with tremendous shoulders and limbs. His head is -massive and square, with broad deep forehead and bushy brows. His grey -eyes, frank and fearless, are rather deeply inset. The nose is Roman and -slightly crooked; the mouth, with thick lips a little relaxed, is -pleasant and kind. He has a heavy, bronze moustache, a clean shaven chin -and plump, ruddy cheeks. The whole countenance is square, and exhibits -the marks of good-nature and honest character. His ponderous arms are -hard and brown, full of rigid bone and muscle, and his hands are large -and horny with continual holding of the tongs and hammer. His breast is -remarkably broad and hairy--his woollen shirt is always thrown open at -work; he has hips and belly like an ox, legs like those of an elephant, -and large flat feet, and he weighs more than eighteen stone. When he -walks his motion is rather slow and deliberate. He goes heavy on his -soles, and his shoulders rise and fall alternately at every step he -takes. - -He is at all times steady and cool, and he seems never to be in a hurry. -At the anvil he gives one the same impression, so that a stranger might -even think him to be sluggish and dilatory, but he is in everything sure -and unerring, never too soon or too late. Every action is well-timed; -nothing is either over- or under-done. He performs all his beats with a -minimum amount of labour. Where a nervous or spasmodical person would -require forty or fifty blows to shape a piece of metal he will -accomplish it with about twenty-five. His masterly eye and calculating -brain are ever watchful and alert. He understands the effect of every -blow given, and while the less experienced smith is still engaged with -his piece nearly black-hot, his is finished, complete, with the metal -still yellow or bright red. He moves always at the same pace, and his -work is of a uniformly superlative character. When strangers are about, -watching him at his weld, he makes no difference whatever in his usual -methods of procedure, but behaves just as coolly and deliberately and -takes no notice of any man. - -Some smiths and forgemen, on the other hand, hate to be watched at work -by strangers--"foreigners," as they call them--and very quickly give -evidence of their dislike and irritation. They will every now and then -dart an angry look at the visitors, and, after using the tools, throw -them down roughly, muttering under their breath and telling the -strangers to "clear off," though not sufficiently loud to be heard. By -and by the unoffending strikers will come in for a castigation; whatever -kind of blow they strike it will be wrong for their mate. At last he -shuts off the blast from the forge, and, laying down his hammer, turns -his back towards the "interlopers," and waits till they have passed on -up the shed. After their departure he resumes his labour and quickly -makes up for the lost time. - -Some smiths, again, though extremely nervous under the eye of a -stranger, do not object to being watched, while others positively like -the attention. Such as these are always anxious, under the -circumstances, to impress the stranger with their great skill and -dexterity in the use of tools and in twisting and turning the iron about -on the anvil. They are the "gallery men." As soon as visitors appear -afar off they begin to prepare for an exhibition. The blast is steadied -down, or shut off, and the fire is cooled round. The tools are all most -conveniently disposed upon the anvil or table, and everything is made -ready for a "lightning" weld. The strikers are as well agreed as the -smith, and brace themselves up for an extra special effort. They wait -till the visitors are nearly opposite them and certain of viewing the -operation. Then on goes the blast, roaring loudly in the firebox, while -the smith, with the perspiration streaming down his brow and cheeks, -turns his heat over and over in the forge and glances quickly across to -take care that he is ready at the right moment. The visitors notice the -unusual activity of the men at the fire and stand still, waiting to see -the heat. This is the signal for the iron to leave the coals. With -exaggerated celerity the sections of metal are withdrawn from the forge -and brought to the anvil. The fused parts are clapped smartly together, -the striker throws down his tongs viciously, grips his hammer and, -following the directions of his mate, rains a shower of blows on the -spluttering iron. The sparks whizz out, and reach the visitors, singeing -the dresses of the ladies--if there happen to be any among them--and -causing them to cry out and step backwards a few paces, while the anvil -rings merrily under the blows. Now the smith lays down his own hammer -quickly and takes up the steel tool for finishing and squaring the heat. -His mate follows, striking rapidly, at all angles, heavy and light, -light and heavy, according to what is required, though the smith utters -not a word during the process, for the whole routine is known by heart. -Over and over the piece is jerked on the anvil--a fine flourish being -given to each movement--until it is finished. Upon its completion the -smith hands it to the striker, who receives it dexterously and places it -on the ground, or in the pile, the pair of them looking several times at -the visitors as much as to ask them if they do not think the job well -and quickly done, and begging a compliment. The visitors usually accord -them an admiring glance in recognition of their prowess and pass on up -the forge. - -The gallery men are smart and quick by nature, and are fairly sure of -being successful in "exhibition" work. The slightest blunder would spoil -the whole act and make them appear ridiculous, consequently none but -those who are really skilful ever attempt the business. The average -smith, however, and especially the one we have in view, never breaks his -rule or goes out of his way to oblige visitors, but continues at a -steady, uniform rate. The workman who is showy and energetic before -visitors is often remiss when they have gone by; it is the continual -plodder that gets through the most work in the long run. The visitor, -moreover, if he is gifted with an ordinary amount of insight and -commonsense, may easily recognise the superior workman and discriminate -between the genuine and the superficial effort. Occasionally, when -strangers pass through, after such a performance as I have described, -the striker, more in jest than in earnest, throws his cap at the feet of -the visitors, suggesting that a tip would be welcomed. It is but fair to -say that the hint is seldom or never taken. - -Though the striker, or inside mate, must perform the task of preparing -the fire for the smith, he is no longer responsible for it. Henceforth -the smith takes it under his care, and only hands it over to his mate -when the heat is finished and a stop has to be made to renew the forge. -If the job upon which he is engaged is of any dimensions and two fires -are needed, that will make it increasingly hard for the strikers. The -heaviest work is naturally more usually assigned to the strongest men, -though the rule of adaptability also holds here and the various jobs are -given to those who have proved themselves to be the most efficient at -them. Of the smiths, some are famed for their skill in one direction, -and some for their ability in another. This job requires strength, that -speed and cleverness, and another needs a combination of all those -qualities and is difficult to do at any time. Occasionally it transpires -that an inferior smith has been kept at one class of work for such a -long time that he gets out of touch with the other jobs in the shed, and -would shape awkwardly if he were suddenly called upon to undertake -something new and unusual to him. This is a mistake not often committed -by the foreman, however. He periodically changes and interchanges the -work and so gets the smiths accustomed to many and miscellaneous toils. - -The skilled and clever smith will be at home anywhere and everywhere. He -will do anything, anyhow, and by any method you please, for he is a -complete master of the trade. He will make all kinds of tools with the -utmost ease and simplicity. He will also forge chains, wheels, joints, -and levers, work in iron or steel, in "=T=" stuff, or angle iron; every -conceivable shape and form of work is subject to his operation. If you -put him at the steam-hammer he is still at home; he will forge out an -ingot or bloom with the best man on the ground. - -All the lightest work falls upon the young apprentices and the very old -men, who are too feeble to undertake heavy and trying tasks, but are yet -far too valuable to be dispensed with altogether. The apprentices -perform such work as simple setting and bending, the making of bolts and -eyes, rings and links for chains and so on. They usually come to the -work at the age of sixteen, and stay for five or six years, when they -voluntarily hand in their notices and migrate to other towns. There they -are received as improvers, or as journeymen, and are forthwith paid the -trade rate of wages. This varies considerably in many localities, and it -is to be noted that railway sheds almost always provide the very lowest -wages. Since the work is constant and sure, however, and is not subject -to the many fluctuations of the contract shop, the stability of -employment is counted a certain compensation for lower wages, and the -majority of smiths accept the conditions philosophically. - -The young apprentices are strong and sturdy, and invariably of a sound -constitution; one never sees a sickly-looking youth taking up the -occupation of smithing. This accounts for the fine physique and often -big proportions of the senior smith; the reason being that the youths -chosen were hardy and suitable, and showed signs of physical -development. The sons of smiths usually choose the trade of their -fathers and follow in their footsteps. There is consequently often a -hereditary quality in the workman; they have been a family of smiths for -generations. - -The smiths, provided they are strong and healthy, are usually retained -at the forge till they have reached the age of seventy when, under the -present rule, they are required to leave. Even this is a kind of -concession to them, for, generally speaking, the other workmen are -turned off long before they reach such an advanced age. The smith's -usefulness, even in his age, is the cause of this; though feeble, he is -still able to do good work and to help with his knowledge and -experience. He is usually employed at tool-making, or at other light -occupations. His poor old hand, almost as hard as iron, shakes with the -weight of the hammer; his head trembles visibly, and his legs totter -beneath him. He comes in early in the morning, in order to avoid the -crush. He brings his meals with him and eats them in the forge, and he -is the last going out at night. In his decline he is forced to live near -the works--only a street or so from the entrance--and even then it takes -him a long time to hobble to and fro. In the evening and at week-ends he -usually stays at home to rest, or he may possibly look in to see a -friend, or to take a mug of ale at the neighbouring inn. - -It is a sad day for him when he receives intelligence of his discharge. -Feeble as he is become, he has a real affection for the smithy, and is -never so happy as when he is at his forge and anvil. As long as he can -drag himself backwards and forwards, see the old faces, and snuff the -breath of the fires, he is content. His health, too, which has been -maintained by the constant exercise of his trade, is passable while he -can do a little work. When he is forced to lie idle, and to forego his -regular habit of early rising and the exertion of his muscles with the -hammer, that suffers as a matter of course. His joints forthwith become -stiff and set; his little store of strength, instead of increasing with -the change, wastes and declines. In a very short while he is dead, and -his old bones are haled away to the cemetery on top of the hill. A -number of his mates and fellow-smiths follow him to the grave and -witness the last rites, not for the sake of formality, but out of pure -friendship and respect. His name is certain to live long in the annals -of the smithy. - -The oldest hand in the forge at the present time is aged sixty-eight, -though there were recently several above this age who have now been -placed on the retired list or superannuated by their societies. He has -led a hard life, and affords a very good example of the average type of -smith. He was apprenticed at Cheltenham and made a journeyman at -Gloucester. From that city he passed on to Worcester, and went thence to -Birmingham, working for about a year at each place. Afterwards he -migrated to Sheffield--the home of furnaces and forges--and shifted -thence in turn to Liverpool, Lancaster, Rotherham, Durham, and several -other manufacturing centres, settling finally in the railway town. He -has brought up a big family and seen them all established in life. Of -his sons several are smiths; one is in America, one in Africa, and one -at home in England. He has saved enough money to buy his house, and he -has a few pounds besides, so that he has no fear of being reduced to -want. He has worked hard and lived well, and he has always drunk his -glass of ale. He is associated with several bodies and committees, and -he has presented a bed to the local hospital out of his earnings, with -the natural condition that smiths have the first claim upon it. Though -his hand is a little unsteady with continual use of the tools, he can -still manage a fair day's work. He is very proud of his trade and takes -great delight in telling you of his travels and adventures. Every summer -he passes the examination of old smiths made by the works' manager to -see that they are fit for duty, and he still looks forward to years of -activity at the forge. - -Nearly all the smiths live in the town and within easy reach of their -work. A few only of their number have had a rustic apprenticeship. The -great majority of those in the shed have learnt the rudiments of their -trade in factories, and have migrated from place to place. By living in -the midst of large towns and cities, they have become almost indifferent -to surroundings and are able to make themselves happy and comfortable in -the most crowded and uncongenial situations. For the beauties of -external nature they care but little; they appear to be wholly wrapt up -in and concerned with their own vocation. They nearly all belong to -unions and organisations, and are the most independent of men, though -they do not make a great parade of the fact. Their independence is born -of self-confidence--the knowledge of their own usefulness and worth, and -the strength of their position. If they should choose to leave one place -they are certain of getting employment elsewhere, for a good smith is -never out of work for long together. Other trades suffer considerably -through slackness of employment, but there is a constant demand for -smiths and hammermen. The fact is that fewer smiths and forgemen are -made, in proportion to their numbers, than is the case with some other -trades. The work is hard and laborious, and the life must be one of toil -and sacrifice. - -Although some smiths drink an enormous quantity of cold water at the -forge there are others who seldom taste a drop of the liquid. If you ask -them the reason why, they will tell you that it is not a wise plan to -drink much cold water at work. They say that it causes cramp in the -stomach, colds, rash, and itching of the skin, and add that it makes -them sweat very much more than they would otherwise do. The more you -drink, they say, the more you want to drink, and it is but a habit -acquired. If you care to use yourself to it you may work in the greatest -heat and feel very few ill effects from it if you are abstemious in the -taking of liquids. At the same time, the majority of smiths do drink -water, and that copiously, and seem to thrive well upon it. Such as do -this, and are fat and well, when spoken to upon the matter, always smile -broadly and tell you it is the result of having a contented mind and of -drinking plenty of cold water. - -It is certain that those who drink most perspire most, but that does not -appear to hurt them in the least, and you often hear it said by a -workman who is not addicted to perspiring freely that he feels very -"stuffy" and congested and that he should be better if he could sweat -more. A delightful feeling is experienced after a good sweating at work. -Every nerve and tissue seems to be aglow with intensest life; the blood -courses through the body and limbs freely and vigorously, and produces a -sense of unspeakable physical pleasure. Sweating as the result of -physical exercise has a powerful effect upon the mind, as well as upon -the body; it clears the vision and invigorates the brain, and is a -perfect medicine for many ailments, both mental and physical. If many of -the languid and indolent, who never do any work or indulge in sturdy -exercise, were suddenly to rouse themselves up and do sufficient -physical labour, either for themselves or for someone else, to procure a -good sweating at least twice a week, they would feel immeasurably better -for it. Life would have a new meaning for them. They would eat better, -rest better, and sleep better. They would feel fresher and stronger, -altogether more active and vigorous, more sympathetic and satisfied. -Though he is, as a rule, quite unaware of it, the workman derives -considerably more physical pleasure from life than do those persons, -mistakenly envied, who do nothing, for everything has a relish to him, -while to the others all is flat and insipid. Truly work is the salt of -life, and physical work at that, though there is a most passionate -desire in many quarters to be well rid of it. - -The majority of the smiths, even though they do not drink much cold -water in the forge, are fond of a glass of ale; there are very few -teetotalers among them. No one would wish to imply by this that they are -"wettish customers." The very nature of their work makes them thirsty, -and though they constrain their appetites while they are at the fires, -nevertheless when they come to the town they feel bound to go in -somewhere or other and "wet the whistle," as they term it. After a hot -turn in the shed the foaming ale goes down with a delicious relish and -the smith feels that he is entitled to enjoy that pleasure, considering -how hard he has toiled all day in the heat and dust. There is also the -evening paper to be read, after which follows a chat with his mate, and -all the hard toil is for the moment forgotten. Rested and refreshed, the -man of the forge goes home to his wife and children and partakes of a -good tea, feeling very fit and on excellent terms with himself and -others. - -It is rather remarkable that smiths do not smoke very much tobacco. In -the use of the weed they are very moderate, though the strikers and -mates easily make up for the deficiency. Every day, after having their -meals in the smithy, they walk out into the town or stand under the -bridge to "have a draw" and read the morning newspaper, returning -leisurely about ten minutes before it is time to start work again. - -To his mates and strikers, while at the forge, the smith is rather quiet -and reserved, often speaking very little and seldom discussing with them -matters apart from the work. This is not out of any undue feeling of -pride in himself or unsociableness, but because he is full of his work, -and disinclined to talk much. Neither is he given to the discussing of -political and social problems and continually seeking an opportunity for -holding an argument with this or that one. It is characteristic of him -to view everything calmly and soberly; he is imbued with the genuine -philosophical temperament. It is a certain and invariable rule that the -one who has the most ready tongue and is always ripe for an argument is -not the most energetic and proficient at his employment. If such a one -as this should desire to entangle the sturdy smith in a cobweb of -discussion he is bluntly and unceremoniously told to "clear out," for he -has no time to listen to such "stuff." Off the premises, however, he is -friendly and indulgent to his mates and strikers. When he meets them in -the town he stops and speaks to them and invites them to have a glass of -ale at his expense. - -The religious beliefs of the smiths are not as well-known as are those -of some classes of workmen, for they are not in the habit of discovering -themselves to outsiders. Though he who has his forge in the village, -under the old elm or spreading chestnut, may go regularly to church, -there is no evidence to prove that those who dwell in the town imitate -him in that respect. Their Sundays appear to be spent chiefly at home in -rest and quietness, in company with their wives and families. A few, -plainly and simply dressed--for the smith heartily hates all foppishness -and superficial ornament--may be seen in the evening walking out towards -the fields. The majority, however, stay indoors and recuperate for the -coming week's work, or merely go to see their friends who live a few -streets away. But if they do not go to church or chapel they are far -from being deficient in charitableness and true piety. They merely aim -to live the best life they can and to do good wherever possible. Their -religion is one of kindness to all; they are at once large-hearted and -broad-minded, honest, just, and liberal. Their sympathy for their -fellows arises largely from the fact that they are well acquainted with -hard toil; they know what it is to work and sweat, to be hot and -thirsty, beaten and tired. Theirs is no gentlemanly occupation, such as -is that of some other journeymen; not merely the theoretical exercise of -a craft, but one that requires good, solid exertion, such as brings out -all that is best in a man. - -A proof of their utter good-nature and kindness to their fellows may be -seen in the fact of their having, for the last twenty years, made a -voluntary weekly offering of a halfpenny per man to the local Cottage -Hospital. This is taken once a fortnight, the condition being that it -must be unsolicited and a straight gift. In twenty years the sum -collected has amounted to over two hundred pounds. This is quite -independent of the annual collections made for charities, in which the -smiths again always head the list by a large margin. There is no other -example at the works of such spontaneous good-nature, and this will -show, more than any words, the true characteristics of the brawny men at -the forges. - -The smiths' foreman is the very personification of his class, and is a -highly interesting study. He is of great stature--he is over six feet in -height--with broad, square shoulders and large limbs; fleshy, but not -corpulent. His forehead is wide and steep; he has bushy brows, iron grey -hair and beard, and red cheeks. His eyes are frank and honest; his -voice deep and gruff, but not unkind; and when he speaks to you he looks -you full in the face. His whole figure is striking; he towers above the -majority of his workmen. His weight, as he tells you himself, with a -mixture of pride and modesty and the suspicion of a smile, is nineteen -stone six. After this he hastens to inform you that he is not the -heaviest at his house, for his good wife turns the scale at twenty-two -stone. He has been once married and is the father of a large -family--nineteen in all--twelve of whom are yet living. His age is well -over sixty, and he will soon have to retire from the forge, though he is -still hale and hearty, fond of a glass of good beer, and, as he -frequently and forcibly tells you, he is "a great eater of beef." - -As for scholarship and culture, he makes no claim to either, for he -never had the opportunity of much education, though he is a famous -smith, and is gifted with the rare faculty of getting his men into a -good humour and keeping them there. He is on good terms with all his -staff; is jealous of their interests, open and honest in his dealings -with them, and he has the satisfaction of being respected in return. He -is one of the old school, of a type that is nearly extinct now; a bold -defender of the rights of smiths, a hard and fast believer in the -hand-made article. Naturally, for him, he is suspicious of all modern -machinery that tends to do away with the trade of the smithy, and he -swears by the most unbreakable oaths that whatever is done by the newer -systems of forging and stamping he is able to equal it on the anvil, -both as regards strength and cheapness. When the managers recently -attempted to bring about sweeping reductions in the prices throughout -the smithy he opposed them at every point, swore that he was master in -his own shed, and that no one but he should be allowed to fix prices. -"When I am gone you can do just whatever you like, but I'm going to -have a say in things as long as I'm about here," said he. On the -managers insisting to cut the prices, he unceremoniously took off his -coat, and, turning up his shirt-sleeves, presented the representative -with a pair of tongs and a hammer and challenged him to have a trial at -the game himself. "Here's my fire, guvnor, and there's yourn. Come on -with you and let's see what you can do, and if you can make it at your -price I'll give in to you, but you'll never do it in the world." Only -one or two prices fell in the whole shed. The managers abstained from -further interference and since that time the smiths have been but very -little molested. - -No one could walk through the forge and observe the splendid physique -and bearing of the smiths, their skill and dexterity with the tools at -the fires and anvil, without a feeling of pride and genuine admiration -for them. They are a fine body of men, and their frankness and -good-nature, their freedom from ostentation, and general -straightforwardness impress one even more than do their physical -qualities, and help to fix them more deeply and truly in his regard and -esteem. They are not little and petty; they are not spiteful and -malicious. They are not jealous of each other's skill and position; they -are no tale-bearers. They seldom quarrel about politics or religion, or -hold any other controversy in the shed or out of it. Their attitude to -each other is fair and unquestionable; they are natural and spontaneous, -very free and generous. If proof is needed of this you have but to come -into the smithy and see for yourselves. You will find it written in -their faces in unmistakable characters. You will discover it in a -greater degree if you converse with them. You will be completely -satisfied as to their genuineness and quite convinced of the justice of -these observations. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - - FITTERS--THE STEAM-HAMMER SHOP--FORGEMEN--THEIR - CHARACTERISTICS--BOILERMAKERS--THE FOUNDRY--THE BLAST - FURNACE--MOULDERS - - -There are two large fitting sheds at the works--for engine- and -carriage-fitting. They differ in several respects but are on the whole -consimilar, both in the nature of the work done and in the composition -and individuality of the staffs employed. The duties of the fitters are -very well indicated by their denominative: they prepare and fit together -all the machinery parts for the locomotives and carriages as well as the -steam-brake details and other apparatus of a complicated nature. The -sheds also serve as centres for supplying the other shops with their -small staffs of fitters who superintend repairs to the local machinery, -attend to the steam-hammers, fix new shafting, and so on. - -The fitting sheds are large buildings and are packed with machinery of -every conceivable shape and kind. Within them are lathes large and -small, machines for slotting, shaping and drilling, drills for boring -round and square holes, punches and shears, hydraulic tackle, and -various other curious appliances almost incapable of description. There -are hundreds of yards of steel shafting, pulleys and wheels innumerable, -and miles of beltage. The space between the roof and the floor seems to -be entirely occupied with swiftly-revolving wheels and belts. To view -the interior is like peering into a dense forest where all is tangled -and confused and everything is in a state of perpetual motion. At the -same time there is a minimum of noise. Here are no steam-hammers beating -on the stubborn masses of iron and steel and making the foundations of -the earth tremble beneath you, no riveters' hammers battering on the -hollow plates of the frames and boilers, and no pneumatic tools ringing -out sharply and driving one to distraction with the unspeakable din. The -wheels revolve almost without sound; the shafting turns and spins -silently. The lathes are nearly noiseless in operation, and the drills -only creak a little now and then as a small portion of the detached -metal becomes blocked underneath the tool and runs round with it. The -greatest noise is made by those who are busily chipping at the benches; -otherwise there is comparative quiet when we remember the tremendous din -of the neighbouring workshops. - -As there are no furnaces or forges in the fitting shed, and abundant -ventilation, the air is cool and free from smoke and fume. The work is -less laborious than is that of the smithy or frame shed, and the men are -not required to perspire much. Both the fitters and the machinemen wear -cloth suits, with a thin blue jacket or "slop" and overalls, and you -rarely see them stripped or with their shirt-sleeves turned up. This is -so much the rule that if they should be seen to take off their coats at -a job in either of the outlying sheds the circumstance will be noted as -of unusual occurrence by the rank and file. They will immediately raise -a good-natured laugh and jokingly tell them to "put their jackets on if -they don't want to catch a cold." One local fitter, by reason of his -great fondness for carrying a drawing with him wherever he goes and the -readiness and ease with which he has resort to it in order to explain -away the most trivial detail, has earned for himself the title of "The -Drawing King." A second, as the result of his artificial activity with -the callipers, is styled "Calliper King," while a third, by his -volubility, has secured the expressive nickname of "Fish-mouth." - -An amusing and true story is told of a chargeman of the fitting shed. He -was lying seriously ill and believed himself to be at the point of -death. While in that condition he was conscience-stricken at the thought -that he had had one or two very good prices for work in the shed. He -accordingly sent for his foreman to come and visit him. When he arrived -the sick man unburdened his soul and begged him to cut the prices -forthwith; he said he "could not die with it on his mind." In due time -the prices were cut. The old fellow's period had not yet come, however. -He got better and had the satisfaction of returning to the shed and -working at the reduced rates, the laughing-stock of his companions. - -The fitters are usually looked upon as the men _par excellence_ of the -shed. Like the smiths, they have usually travelled far. Some have -visited every part of the kingdom, while others may have served -abroad--in America, at the Cape of Good Hope, in China, or Egypt. A few -have been artificers in the Navy or in the Mercantile Marine; here is -one, for instance, who, by reason of his nautical experiences, has -gained the nickname of "Deep Sea Joe." It will commonly be found that -those who have gone furthest from home are not only the best workmen--as -having had a more varied and extensive experience--but they are also -more broad-minded and sympathetic towards their mates and labourers. - -The majority of the fitters are members of Trades Unions, and of all -other classes at the works, perhaps, they take the greatest pains to -protect themselves and their interests. By contributing to the funds -of their organisations they are insured against accidents, strikes, -or dismissal, and are thus placed in a position of considerable -independence. They are required to serve an apprenticeship of five or -seven years' duration before they are recognised as journeymen and they -are, by a common rule, compelled to go further afield in order to obtain -the standard rate of wages. Nearly all the foremen of the different -sheds are appointed from among the fitters; whatever qualities an -outsider may discover he stands but little chance of being preferred for -the post. - -Before a fitter has been promoted to the position of foreman he is a -bold champion of the rights of Labour, one loud in the expression of his -sympathy with his fellowmen, a staunch believer in the liberty of the -individual and a hearty condemner of the factory system. If he has been -appointed overseer, however, there is a considerable change in his -manner and attitude towards all these and kindred subjects. A great -modification of his personal views and opinions soon follows; he begins -to look at things from the official standpoint. He is now fond of -telling you that "things are not as they used to be." Possibly they are -not, as far as he himself is concerned, but there is another view of the -situation. At the same time, he will be fairly loyal to his old mates, -the journeyman fitters, and treat them with superior respect. To the -labourers, however, he will not be so well-disposed. He will ignore -their interests and rule them with a rod of iron. - -I have said that steam-hammer forging is on the decline in the railway -town. The chief cause of this is the recent development of the process -of manufacturing malleable cast steel, which has largely taken the place -of wrought iron forging both in the locomotive and elsewhere. Formerly -all wheels were forged in sections and were afterwards welded up, and -the work provided constant employment for the steam-hammer men. Now they -are obtained elsewhere, more cheaply, it may be, though they are of an -inferior quality. Engine-cranks also, which at one time were made -exclusively on the premises, are nearly all bought away from the town, -and this was a second great loss to the shed. All that remains is the -manufacture of the less important details, such as connection rods and -levers, with a few special or repair cranks now and then. - -The steam-hammer shed has thus been deprived of much of its importance. -The big machines, capable of striking a blow equivalent to a hundred or -two hundred tons' pressure, have been removed and put on the scrap-heap, -and their places have been filled by other and less powerful plant. The -old forgemen, too, with their mates who worked the furnaces, are -missing. Of these, some are dead, some have been discharged, while -others have been reduced and are scattered about the yard. He who -formerly shouted out his orders at the steam-hammer and controlled the -mighty mass of iron or steel with the porter, turning it round and round -to receive the tremendous blow, is now hobbling about with a shovel and -wheel-barrow, cleaning up the refuse of the yard, in receipt of a -miserable pittance. Perhaps he is lame as the result of a blow, or he -has a withered arm through its having been "jumped up" with the driving -back of the porter, or he may have lost an eye. A portion of steel has -fled from the hammer rod, or from the "ram," and struck him in the eye -and he is blind as a consequence. - -Several years ago there was at the factory a splendid forger, a cool and -highly-skilful workman, and one possessed of fine physique. He was tall, -square and broad built, full of bone and muscle, solid and strong, and, -though of seventeen or eighteen stone in weight, he was very nimble and -of unerring judgment. One day he received the offer of a job in the -Midlands, at nearly double the wages he was getting in the railway town, -and he decided to accept the post. Accordingly he left the shed and took -over his new duties. He had not been away long, however, before he met -with a serious accident that quite incapacitated him from following his -occupation as a forgeman. A careless or unskilful hammer-driver had -struck a terrific blow out of time, and the porter-bar, driven out -suddenly, forced the forger's hand and arm violently to the shoulder, -completely crippling him. A ruined man, he came back to the town and -gained a wretched livelihood by helping to serve the bricklayers and -masons with his one arm. - -The steam-hammer forger is one of the most skilful and useful, as well -as the most interesting of men. He may possibly have learned his trade -in the town, or he may hail from Sheffield, Middlesborough, Scotland or -Wales. All these places are noted for extensive manufactures in iron and -steel and for the efficiency of their workmen, and especially of their -forgers and furnacemen. If any forger in the shed is reputed to have -come from the Midlands, the North, or the iron region of Wales, he is -sure to be considered something of a prodigy. He comes bearing with him -a part of the laurels of his township and all eyes will be upon him to -see how he acquits himself of the responsibility. Very often, however, -he quite fails to fulfil the expectations entertained of him and is -easily beaten by the local men. After all, it was but the name; he is no -better than many who have learned their trade in the shed. Perhaps he is -not even as efficient as they, though he did come from "Ironopolis" and -forged very many tons of steel ingots in an incredibly short space of -time, though this happened "years ago," if you chance to press him at -all concerning the matter. - -The forger is not always a man of big physical proportions. On the -contrary, he is more usually of a medium, or even of a diminutive type; -you seldom or never find one as stout and heavy as is the average smith. -The nature of the toil forbids this. The smith, at his work, is more or -less stationary. His forging, moreover, is not so heavy, nor is he -exposed to such great heat. The forgeman's ingot may weigh four or five -tons, all blazing hot, with a porter-bar of thirty hundredweight or more -attached, and though this will be suspended from the crane and he will -have several mates to help him, it will yet require the whole of their -powers to remove it from the furnace to the hammer and to turn it over -or push it backwards and forwards to receive the ponderous blow. But if -the forgeman is inferior to the smith in the matter of stature and bulk, -he easily beats him in strength. He is a very lion in this respect. -Underneath his thin, shrunken cheeks and skinny arms are sinews almost -as tough as steel itself. In the most blinding and deadly heat of the -furnace, with three or four tons of dazzling metal exactly in front of -him and the sweat pouring out of the hollows of his grimy cheeks and -running down his nose and chin to drop in a continual stream on the -ground beneath, he still pushes, heaves, and shouts loudly to his mates, -and works and slaves quite unconcernedly. He is almost as fresh at the -end of the operation as he was at the beginning. Nothing seems to tire -him down; he is for ever active and vigorous. - -The forgeman often proves to be a rather irritable individual, one sharp -and sour to his mates and hasty in his temper. His companions at the -hammer--with the exception of the furnaceman--are so many children to -him; he orders them here and there with the slightest ceremony and -shouts out his orders at the top of his voice. At every command he -utters they hasten to obey, fearing his testiness, and when he roars out -at them they shake in their boots. Perhaps they are slow in handing him -a tool, or they have applied the wrong gauge, or the hammer-driver has -struck too hard a blow. Whatever it is, the forgeman's wrath is aroused -and they must suffer for it. In his anger he calls them many names that -could not be styled complimentary and withers them with looks. Then, -whatever kind of blow the hammerman strikes, it will be wrong. If it is -light, he wanted it heavy; if heavy, he required it light--the mere -suggestion of a blow. He will often, in the same breath, roar out at the -top of his voice--"Hit 'im! Hit 'im! Light! LIGHT! LIGHT!" and will -immediately explode with passion because his order was not acted upon to -the letter. By and by the exasperated hammer-driver will venture to -reply to his autocratic mate, and a smart battle of words ensues, in -which the forgeman, however, usually comes off best. The old furnaceman, -greyheaded, or totally bald with the heat, will fire away with his coals -and wink at the gaugeman now and then, but never a word will he utter. -He knows his mate thoroughly, and understands his temper perfectly. -Accordingly, he hears all and says nothing; it makes but little -difference to him which way the forging goes as long as he has performed -his heat properly. Perhaps, after this, things may run a little more -smoothly for a time, or matters may even become worse. I have known -mates to work at the same hammer and not speak to each other for a year, -not even to give the necessary instructions as to carrying out the -forging. - -Though there could be no excuse for this foolish exhibition of -ill-nature, many apologies may yet be made for the nervous and irritable -forgeman. In the first place, his work is enormously hard and exacting; -and in the second, there is a great responsibility resting upon him -which is not shared by his workmates. The value of the forging in his -hands is often considerable, and the least error on the part of his -furnaceman or hammer-driver might completely spoil it. If the metal -should be in the slightest degree overheated it would burst all to -pieces at the first blow of the hammer, and if the hammer-driver should -happen to strike a heavy blow at a critical moment, he might spoil the -piece in that way, or otherwise necessitate a considerable amount of -labour to get it into shape again. All this is a matter of serious care -to the forgeman, and as his mates are very often raw hands or careless, -dull-headed fellows, it is not to be wondered at that he should now and -then discover some perverseness of temper. - -It is interesting to note the style of working adopted by different -forgers. This, of course, will vary with the man's capability for the -job, his gift, his skill acquired, and his natural temper. All forgers -are not possessed of a uniformity of skill and capacity, any more than -are all musicians and painters equal in their arts; wherever you go you -will find good, bad and indifferent workmen. It may at once be said, -however, that bad forgemen are not tolerated for any length of time. If -they cannot handle the porter and bring their ingot or bloom to a -successful finish they are quickly removed and better men put in place -of them, for iron and steel ingots are too valuable to be wasted with -impunity. As a rule, the quiet workman is the best; that is, he who -talks least to his mates, and who does not bawl out every order at the -top of his voice. Such a one will often remove his bloom from the -furnace, bring it to the hammer and complete it without speaking a word. -A nod of the head or a few motions of the hand will be sufficient; his -mates understand him perfectly and everything proceeds without a hitch. -The hammer-driver, encouraged to use his discretion, knows exactly what -kind of a blow to strike--heavy or light, light or heavy--when to stop -and when to begin. The grimy mate, usually styled the donkeyman, stands -by with the gauges; at each pause he fits them to the white-hot mass of -iron or steel and again the hammer descends, regularly and evenly. The -tremendous "monkey" goes high up, almost out of sight overhead, and -glides noiselessly downwards till it beats the metal, making the pulley -chains rattle and jingle and the whole shed to totter and tremble. I -have often sat on a gate, or under the trees in the fields on a still -evening, towards midnight, and counted the blows struck on an obstinate -forging in the shed five miles distant. - -It is a pleasure to watch the skilful forgeman perform his heat and -shape the ponderous bloom under the steam-hammer. If you observe him -closely you will see that he scarcely moves his body. He stands in one -position, easily and naturally, all the time, in a slightly stooping -attitude, yet he has full power over the heavy weight in his hands. When -he shifts the porter, or turns the forging round, his arms are the -instruments; it is all performed deftly and simply, with a minimum of -exertion. There is a style in it the most casual observer must readily -perceive. He cannot help being struck with the extreme simplicity and -attractiveness of the whole operation, and he will at once recognise the -skilful forger from the unskilful, the gifted craftsman from the mere -amateur or improver. - -The inferior forgeman will be full of excitement, noise and bustle. He -will peer into the furnace half-a-dozen times before he is satisfied as -to the heat of the bloom, and grumble and scold the furnaceman all the -while. Then, after darting to and fro, backwards and forwards, kicking -things out of his way and seeing to this and to that, he bawls out to -his mates to "pull up, and get on the pulley chain." After a -considerable amount of pulling and shoving, grunting, sweating, twisting -and turning the ingot, he at last succeeds in bringing it to the hammer, -having lost a great part of the heat in the transit. Even now he is -undecided as to how to begin the shaping of the piece and has to -consider a moment or two before giving the word to start. At last he -shouts out to the driver, and the preliminary blows fall. A dozen times, -where there is no need of it, he stops the hammer and makes his mate try -the gauges. Then he goes on again, thump, thump, thump, now shouting out -"Light!" at the top of his voice, following up with a very loud "Whoa!" -If his mate happens to be in the way he gives him a rough push and tells -him to "get out," takes up the gauges and fits them himself and -afterwards throws them down with violence, and repeats the performance -till the bloom is in some manner completed. When the porter-bar has been -lopped off and the forging placed on the ground he examines it several -times, going to the furnace and coming back to view his half-finished -labour and making as much fuss as though he had just forged a -battleship, till even the door-boy is disgusted and passes sarcastic -remarks upon his ceremonious chief. Considerably more slotting and -shaping will always be required on his piece than on that of the other -forgeman, and his work will be left till last in the machine shop. The -skilful forger will shape his bloom perfectly, so that there will be but -a very small amount of facing to do to it; his work will be sure to -receive praise, while the other's will as certainly be execrated. - -The men of the steam-hammer shed differ from the rest of the factory -hands in having to work a twelve-hour day. Very often the heats are -ready to draw out at meal-times, and it would be ruinous to leave them -to waste in the furnace while the men went home to breakfast and dinner. -Accordingly, the forger and his mates boil water in a can on the neck of -the furnace, or over a piece of hot metal, and make their own tea to -drink. Occasionally the mid-day meal is brought to the factory entrance -by the forgeman's little son or daughter, or he may bring in a large -basin full of cooked meat and vegetables and warm it up himself. Perhaps -the fare is a rasher of bacon. This the workman brings in raw and either -roasts it over the furnace door, or on a lump of hot iron. Perhaps he -uses a roughly-made frying-pan; or he may place it in the furnaceman's -shovel in order to cook it. If the furnaceman sees him, however, he will -certainly forbid this, for heating the shovel will spoil the temper of -the steel and cause it to warp. He will say, moreover, that coal charged -into the furnace with a shovel that has had "that mess" in it will never -heat the iron, and I have more than once seen the half-cooked food -unceremoniously turned out into the coal-dust. A common name for the -roughly-made frying-pan is a "rasher-waggon." - -At night, when the day's work is over and everything has been left neat -and tidy for the succeeding shift, the forger stows his leathern apron, -cap and jackboots, rinses his hands in the bosh, and leaves the shed, -walking a little in advance of his mates and preserving the same temper -he has displayed at the toil. His mates, however, together with the -ingenuous and mischievous door-boy, are not so conventional in their -behaviour. Since they are free to go home and roam the streets or -trudge off into the country once more, they indulge in games and fun -before they leave, and sing and whistle to their heart's content. -Meanwhile the old furnaceman has damped his fire and made everything -ready for the mate who succeeds him. Now he, too, swills his hands in -the bosh and gives his sweaty old face an extra special rub with the -wiper, puts the muffler around his neck, slips on his jacket, and, -taking his dinner-can under his arm, proceeds through the tunnel and out -into the town. - -Very few of the forgemen were born in the town; they have nearly all -come in from the villages round about and become urbanised. After their -toils in the hot shed they do not want to have to journey far to their -homes. Their dwellings are consequently usually within easy distance of -the forge, though here and there is to be found one who has the courage -to continue in his native village. As their wages are above the average -paid at the works--though the rate is not nearly as high as it is at -most steam-hammer sheds--the forgers are enabled to indulge themselves -in the matter of living. Their food will accordingly be of the very best -quality, and when that has been paid for there is yet a fair supply of -pocket money remaining. Most forgemen are fond of a glass of ale; it is -a rare thing to find a teetotaler in their ranks. They are much given to -talking of their achievements at all times and in all places, and they -occupy long hours in telling of the famous jobs they have done on many -occasions--a special crank for this or that engine, a big piston-rod or -monkey for an outside firm, or a mighty anchor for an ocean-going -vessel. - -In point of real usefulness and importance the boilermakers stand second -to none at the works. Though they may not be as highly skilled as are -the fitters individually, collectively they form a much more imposing -and vigorous body, and one that is far more essential to the absolute -needs of the firm. To whatever extent the forger or fitter may be done -without, or unskilled men put in place of them, that is not possible in -the case of the boilersmith. His labour, as well as being very -important, is distinct from that of all others at the factory; his is an -exclusive profession. In the making of locomotives for the line the -boiler is by far the greatest item, and it is very difficult and -expensive to construct. The work must be performed with exquisite care -and everything must be conscientiously well done. There must be no -shoddy work in a boiler; no "nobbling over," concealment of flaws, or -deception of any kind, or disastrous consequences would be inevitable. -The plates must all be admirably shaped and fitted, the bolts and stays -very strong and sound, and the whole most carefully adjusted and -riveted. The time required for the construction of a first-class boiler -for a locomotive is about six months, and the cost is near about a -thousand pounds. All the inner plates are of copper, which is used in -order to allow of regular expansion and contraction. The tubes are of -iron or steel, and number several hundreds. Tubing is a branch of work -distinct from boilermaking properly so-called, and is undertaken by -those less skilful than are required for the other processes. - -Boilermakers are divided into two classes--the platers and the riveters. -Those of the first grade prepare the plates, perform the marking-off and -cutting-out, see to the drilling of the holes and afterwards bolt the -parts together. The riveters follow and make everything solid and -compact. Nearly all the riveting is done by hand; very little is left to -the chance work of the machine, which is often faulty and unreliable. -Rivets put in by hand are far more trustworthy than are those done by -the machine. The hammered heads will be tougher and more durable than -those that have been squeezed up by the hydraulic apparatus. - -The two grades of boilermakers are kept separate and distinct. Every man -is provided with a card certifying to which class he belongs, whether to -the platers or riveters, and he can--as a general rule--only obtain a -job upon that kind of work specified by his ticket. Similarly, if he has -been employed on repair work for any length of time he will have great -difficulty in getting re-admittance into the ranks of those engaged on -the new boilers. The trade throughout is jealously guarded and -protected. The rules are well-defined and published far and wide; there -is no setting aside the regulations. Notwithstanding the division of -work on a boiler the efficient boilersmith is qualified to construct one -throughout, from the marking of the plates to the insertion of the -tubes. The valves and other fixings are usually attached by the fitters. - -The din of the frame shed and the unearthly noise of the pneumatic -apparatus on the headstocks and plates is not to be compared with the -tremendous uproar of the boiler shop. Here are no less than two hundred -huge boilers, either new ones being made, or old ones undergoing repairs -and engaging the attentions of four or five hundred boilersmiths, to say -nothing of tubers and labourers hammering and battering away on the -shells and interiors. There are boilers in every stage of construction -and in every conceivable position on the stocks. Some are upright, some -are upside down, some are standing on end, some lying on their sides, -and others are scattered broadcast. The workmen swarm like ants -everywhere, crawling over the tops, inside and out, in the smoke-box -and fire-box, and lying on their backs underneath. Hundreds of tools are -in operation at once. Hundreds of hammers are falling, banging and -clanging perpetually, with an indescribable noise and confusion. If you -would be heard you must shout at the top of your voice and make yourself -hoarse in the attempt. The boilersmiths, who are used to the conditions, -do not try to address each other at their work; they have discovered an -expedient. Instead of straining their throats and lungs in the vain -effort to make themselves heard they simply motion with the head or -hands; their mates come to know what is required and obey the -telegraphic intimation, and so the work proceeds. - -The boilermakers are a bold and hardy class, sturdy in their views and -outlook, and very independent. As in the case of the fitters, smiths, -and other journeymen, they have travelled far and wide and become -acquainted with many workshops and sets of conditions. Very often they -will have tramped the whole country, from end to end, in search of -employment, for though as a class they are indispensable their ranks are -often over-crowded, and when trade is slack the services of many of them -are dispensed with. As with the majority of other journeymen, if they -are thrown out of employment, though they may be idle for a long time -and reduced to dire straights, they seldom deign to do other work, but -shift from place to place and beg food along the highways and through -the villages. Though verging on starvation they cannot, even for a short -period, be prevailed upon to abandon the idea of their trade, but still -crowd around the factory doors and hope for a revival of the industry. - -A short time ago a party of boilermen, who had been discharged from the -town, made weekly visits to the villages round about pretending that -they had walked from Sunderland and Newcastle--where a big strike had -been declared--and calling themselves a deputation empowered to collect -money for their mates at home in the North. The spokesman, a voluble and -impudent scoundrel, told impressive stories of hardships and suffering -and drew a great many coins from the credulous and sympathetic rustics. -By and by, however, a second party, with exactly the same story, came on -the scene and professed to be highly indignant on being told that they -had been anticipated in their office as collectors. The second batch of -visitors did not solicit money; they demanded it, and any who refused -were subjected to abuse and threatening language. At last the suspicions -of the villagers were aroused. They doubted the genuineness of the tales -of distress and of the long march from far-off Sunderland, and closed -their doors to the importunate strangers. Very soon trade in the railway -town revived; the majority of the men were reinstated and the -countryside knew them no more. - -The iron foundry is but a few yards from the boiler shed; you may very -quickly be introduced to it, with the noise of the hammers and the -clatter of the pneumatic apparatus still ringing loudly in your ears. -After the din of the boiler shop the quietude of the foundry will be the -more remarkable. Here are no plates to be beaten, no rapidly revolving -pulleys and shafting, and no uproar. All that can be heard is the dull -roar of the blast furnace half-way up the shed, and the subdued noise of -the traversing table in the roof above you. The floor is of soft, -yielding sand, similar to that of which the moulds for the castings are -made, and it is noiseless under the feet. The men sit or kneel on the -ground, with their patterns beside them, and construct the duplicates to -receive the molten metal. As soon as the moulds are finished the dark, -grimy labourers bring the molten liquid, either carrying it in a thick -iron vessel lined with firebricks and having a spout on one side--as you -would carry a stretcher--or wheeling it along in a big cauldron that -swings like a pot, and pour it in through a small space left for that -purpose. - -The chief interest to the visitor centres in the furnace that contains -the molten fluid. This is a large, cylindrical structure, enclosed in a -steel frame, towering high into the roof and emitting a terrific heat -all around. Near the top is a large platform, reached by an iron -stairway, up which you are invited to mount by the grimy furnaceman, -more often in jest than in earnest, for the heat there is overpowering. -The handrail of the stairway seems nearly red-hot, and the air, puffed -out from the furnace, strikes you full in the face, so that you are -almost suffocated with it. On the platform is the feeding-place where -the fuel and metal are charged--coke to produce the heat and material -for the molten fluid, either old broken up castings, or bars of new pig -iron. Both iron and coke are thrown in and fused up together. The fluid -metal collects and flows out in front, while the debris of the -coke--what little remains after combustion--is ejected through a small -aperture at the rear. The iron, by its weight, sinks to the floor of the -furnace, while the filth and ashes of the coke remain floating on the -top--there is no fear of the two intermixing. An iron conduit, working -on a hinge, conveys the liquid metal into the pots for the moulds. When -the vessels are filled the shoot is raised, and this stops back the -metal that goes on accumulating till the next pot is in position. - -There is a great attractiveness in the operation of filling the vessels -with the molten fluid that, yellowish-white in colour, flows like water -from the interior, sparkling and spluttering as it drops into the -receptacle beneath. The heat is very intense at all times, and the toil -continuous; hundreds of moulds are waiting to be filled from the -furnace. Having occasion to visit the shed recently I pushed a way -through the crowd of labourers waiting to have their pots filled and -stood beside the furnaceman as he was running out the metal. He took no -notice of my presence, but kept his eyes fixed upon the conduit. - -"Very hot to-day!" I shouted. - -"Yes, 'tis," he replied, without turning round. - -"How much metal does the furnace hold?" - -"Don' know." - -"What's your heat?" - -"Don' know." - -"How many tons of metal do you run out in a day?" - -"Don' know." - -"You must have an idea." - -"Don' know. Got no time. We're busy." - -"Are you always on at this rate?" - -"We kips on till us stops, same as the rest on 'em, an' has a sleep in -between." Then, turning round to one of the new arrivals he -shouted--"What! bist thee got back 'ere agyen, Charlie? Thee't eff to -wait a bit. I got none for thee yet awhile." Charlie nodded and grinned, -with the sweat streaming down his nose and chin; the whole company -smiled appreciatively. Perhaps Charlie was carrying metal for one of the -less important moulds, and was used to being put aside and made to wait -a few moments, or he may have been one of the day men, of whom there are -but a small number in the shed. Nearly everything is done at the piece -rate; a few special jobs alone are done according to the day work rule. -Under these circumstances Charlie might have no objection to waiting -five or ten minutes. - -Most of the moulders dwell in the town, though many of the labourers -prefer to inhabit the region round about the borough, in those villages -of easy access to the railway centre. Some of the journeymen have served -their apprenticeship at small country towns and villages--perhaps in the -same county and district--at which agricultural machinery is -manufactured. Such as these will be sure to import local methods and -characteristics and they will always retain some part of their -individual style acquired during their term of apprenticeship. Though -the difference of method may not be very great, it will be productive of -good results; it is by a combination of several practices and systems -that perfection is ultimately attained. Very often, in the midst of a -teasing operation, a mate or passer-by may suddenly call to mind a -similar difficulty he had in some far-off village yard and thus he will -be able to supply the key to the situation. According to the theory of -the works' officials, no difficulties should ever be encountered--they -should not even exist. In practice, however, difficulties will often be -met with, and when the workman is compelled, by the lowness of his -prices, to push ahead at a great speed he is sometimes apt to become -confused with a difficulty and to overlook a point that, to the leisured -overseer, will be quite obvious and simple. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - - GETTING TO WORK--THE AWAKENING IN THE COUNTRY--STEALING A - RIDE--THE TOWN STIR--THE ARMY OF - WORKMEN--"CHECKING"--EARLY COMERS--CLERKS AND - DRAUGHTSMEN--FEATURES OF THE STAFF - - -At an early hour the whole neighbourhood within a radius of five or six -miles of the factory is astir; there is a general preparation for the -coming day's work. The activity will first begin in the villages -furthest from the town. Soon after four o'clock, in the quiet hamlets -amidst the woods and lanes, the workmen will leave their beds and get -ready for the long tramp to the shed, or to the nearest station touched -by the trains proceeding to the railway town. Many of the younger men -have bicycles and will pedal their way to work. They will not be forced -to rise quite as early as the rest, unless they live at a very great -distance. A few workmen I know have, for the past twenty years, resided -at not less than twelve miles from the town and have made the journey -all through the year, wet and dry together. The only time at which they -cannot get backwards and forwards is when there are deep floods, or -after a heavy snowstorm. Then, if the fall has been severe and the water -or snow lies to any depth on the roads, they will be compelled to walk -or to lodge in the town. Sometimes the fall of snow has taken place in -the night and the workman, under these circumstances, will be forced to -take a holiday until it melts and he is able to journey along the road -again. - -I have heard many accounts, from workmen who had long distances to walk -to the factory, of the great and terrible blizzard of 1881, when the -drifts in many places along the highways were from sixteen to twenty -feet deep. One sturdy fellow took great pride in relating how he made -the journeys daily--of six miles each way--during the whole time the -snow lay on the ground, though many were frozen to death in the -locality. Another workman whom I knew walked regularly to and from the -village for fifty years, and at the end of that time bethought himself -to get a tricycle. It was amusing to see him, with snow-white hair and -the perspiration pouring down his weather-beaten old face, pedalling -home from work after a very hot and scorching day at the rolling mills. -What with the fatigue of the day's work and the extraordinary exertions -required to propel the machine, he was very nearly exhausted by the time -he reached home. Everyone along the highway turned to have a second view -of the old man as he trundled his machine along, puffing and blowing -with the effort, his face red and fiery; but he was not to be deterred -from the innovation. It is probable that walking would have been the -easier way of getting backwards and forwards, for the machine was nearly -as heavy as a farm cart. There was a slight saving of time, however, and -it is a common saying among work-people of all sorts that "Third-class -riding is better than first-class walking." After the old man's death -the tricycle became the property of a band of farm boys who used it as a -training machine; it was for a long time a source of fun and amusement -to the villagers. - -Very often, in the remote villages, where there is no access to the -stations at which the factory trains call, a party of workmen club -together and hire a conveyance to bring them daily to the town; or they -may subscribe the money and buy a horse and cart and contribute equally -towards the expense of keeping them. An arrangement is made with the -proprietor of a public-house in the town. The horse is stabled and the -vehicle stored for a small sum, and the men ride backwards and forwards, -comfortable and independent. It was the custom, years ago, during -haymaking and harvest-time for farmers to come in with conveyances from -the outlying villages and meet the men and drive them home. They went -straight from the factory to the farmyard or hayfield, and, after a -hearty tea in the open air, or a square meal of bread, cheese and ale, -turned in and helped the farmer, both enjoying the change of work and -earning a couple of shillings a night as additional wages. This practice -was very popular with the factory men, who never ceased to talk about it -to their town mates in the shed and rouse them to envy with the frequent -narration. Of late years, however, the custom has died out. Labour is -too cheap and machinery too plentiful for the farmer to have any -difficulty in getting his crops together nowadays. - -The majority of the villagers, though compelled to leave home for the -town at such an early hour, will yet rise in time to partake of a light -breakfast before starting for the shed. The country mothers are far more -painstaking in the matter of providing meals than are many of those in -the town; they think nothing of rising at four a.m. in order to boil the -kettle and cook food for their husbands and sons. Though the goodman may -protest against it and declare that he would rather go without the food -than give his wife so much trouble, it makes no difference. Every -morning, at the usual hour, the smoke goes curling up from the chimney; -a cup of hot, refreshing tea is invariably awaiting him on the table -when he arrives downstairs. After the repast he starts off in abundant -time and takes his leisure on the road; one rarely sees a countryman -hurrying to work in the morning. - -The boys, on the other hand, will not be as punctual in starting off to -work; they will usually be late in setting out, very often delaying till -the last moment. They will, moreover, often loiter on the way -bird's-nesting or reading, or perhaps they may start into the farmer's -orchard and carry off the rosy-cheeked apples to eat in the shed or to -divide out among their mates and companions. At one time there were -three brothers of one house in the village, all working in the factory, -though they never under any circumstances went to the town together. The -eldest of the three always led the way, the second following five -minutes later, and the youngest brought up the rear at a similar -interval. The return home at night was made in the same manner: it is -unusual to see the members of a family or household going to work -together. - -Very often the village resident will work for an hour in his garden or -attend to his pigs and domestic animals before leaving for the railway -shed. If the neighbouring farmer is busy, or happens to be a man short, -he may help him milk his cows or do a little mowing with the scythe and -still be fresh for his work in the factory. I have known those who, -during the summer months, went regularly to fishing in the big brook, or -practised a little amateur poaching with the ferrets, and never missed -going to gather mushrooms in the early mornings during autumn. - -Several boys of the village, especially on the dark winter mornings, -used to watch for the freight-trains that sometimes stopped at the -signal station and steal a ride down to the works, hanging on to the -rails of the brake van, or clinging to the buffers. The practice was -attended with considerable risk, and the punishment, had they been -detected, would have been sharp and severe. It was difficult to see them -sitting in the shadow of the tail lamps, however, though once or twice -we were reported by the signalmen and chased by the goods guards. At one -time the train ran through the station without stopping, with three -youngsters clinging to the rails of the guard's van, and it was only -checked by accident twelve miles higher up the line. A great chase -across fields in a drenching downpour of rain followed, but the goods -guard had to own himself beaten and returned to the van. One of the boys -was fond of lying down between the metals, and of allowing the trains to -thunder along above him--certainly a dangerous proceeding, though he did -not think so at that time. All these practices are well-nigh impossible -now. Greater care is taken to keep trespassers off the line and the -modern system of transverse sleepers for the track hardly permits of -lying down between the metals. - -One morning, nearly dark, as a village lad was going to work down the -line, he was much frightened at seeing a man behaving in a mysterious -and suspicious manner underneath one of the bridges. He appeared to be -selecting a spot in which to lie across the rails, and as there was a -fast train approaching close at hand, the youngster soon became -considerably alarmed. To his relief, however, as the engine drew near, -the unknown one got off the track, ran up the bank and disappeared. At -the same spot, soon afterwards, a young man, suspected of a criminal -offence, threw himself in front of an express and was cut to pieces. -After that occurrence we boys shunned the line, for that winter at -least, and passed to work along the highway. We had many narrow escapes -from being knocked down by engines, trains and waggons in the station -yard at different times. One morning, being very late, I ran between -some waggons that were being shunted, when only a very narrow space -remained before the vehicles closed up. In spite of warning shouts, I -skipped through quickly, but as I cleared the rails an old shunter, who -was waiting on the other side, swung his arm round and struck me a -terrific blow behind the ear with his open hand, and loudly scolded me -for taking such risks. Half stunned with the blow, I ran off, and freely -forgave the old man for his well-meant chastisement. I often meet him -now in the town, many years after the escapade, and always remember the -incident, though he has doubtless forgotten it long ago. - -By five o'clock the people of the inner circle of the radius without the -town are well awake, and twenty minutes later the dreaded hooter bellows -out, like the knell of doom to a great many. The sound travels to a -great distance, echoing and re-echoing along the hills and up the valley -seventeen or twenty miles away, if the wind is setting in that -direction. This is the first warning signal to the workman to bestir -himself, if he has not already done so; to awake from dreams to -realities, to shake off the warm, comfortable bed-clothes and don his -working attire. It is now the turn of the town dweller to stir. Very -soon, here and there, a thin spire of smoke arises from the chimney, -telling of the early cup of tea in preparation. The oldest hands, a good -many of them grey and feeble, are to be seen making their way towards -the entrances to the works. It will take some of them quite half an hour -to reach the shed, though that is no more than three-quarters of a mile -away. By and by others will come from their houses and join those who -are just arriving from the country. These are the town's early risers. -Some time will elapse yet before the regular stream comes forth to fill -the street and make the pavements ring with their countless footsteps. -Although a few may prefer to come leisurely to work and perhaps wait in -the shed some ten minutes before it is time to start at the machines, -the great majority loiter till the very last minute and spend not a -second of time, more than they are absolutely bound, upon the company's -premises. - -At ten minutes to six the hooter sounds a second time, then again at -five minutes, and finally at six o'clock. This time it makes a double -report, in order that the men may be sure that it is the last hooter. -Five minutes' grace--from six till six-five--is allowed in the morning; -after that everyone except clerks must lose time. As soon as the -ten-minutes hooter sounds the men come teeming out of the various parts -of the town in great numbers, and by five minutes to six the streets -leading to the entrances are packed with a dense crowd of men and boys, -old and young, bearded and beardless, some firm and upright, others bent -and stooping, pale and haggard-looking, all off to the same daily toil -and fully intent on the labour before them. It is a mystery where they -all come from. Ten thousand workmen! They are like an army pressing -forward to battle. Tramp! tramp! tramp! Still they pour down the -streets, with the regularity of trained soldiers, quickening in pace as -the time advances, until they come very nearly to the double and finally -disappear through the entrances. Some of the young men's faces are -ghastly white, very thin and emaciated, telling a story of -ill-health--consumption, very likely--while others are fresh and -healthy-looking--there are fat and lean among them. Some there are still -bearing traces of yesterday's toil--large black rings around the eyes, -or sharp lines underneath the chin and continued round the back of the -neck. A little more soap and water would have removed them, but in all -probability the youngster was extra tired, or in a great hurry to get -off to play, or go a-fishing, and so could not endure a tedious toilet. -Others, again, come blundering along with eyes only half open--having -obviously missed the morning swill--with their shirt unbuttoned at the -neck, their boots not laced up, untidy and unkempt, and in a desperate -hurry. This one is bare-headed, that one carries his hat in his hand, -and another wears his hind before. Many have had no time even to look -for their working clothes, but have clapped on the first that met their -eyes on arising from bed; you often see one enter the shed dressed in -odd garments, and sometimes wearing a shoe of a sort. - -The boys and youths are usually the last. They always experience greater -difficulty in leaving the comfortable bed, and the _pater familias_ will -often have had trouble in inducing them finally to wake up and think -about work. They do not realise the seriousness of the business as he -does, and are very careless on first awaking. By and by, however, the -truth dawns upon them; up they scramble, dress, and run out of doors and -up the street, and very often do not stop till they come to the shed. I -have many a time, as a boy, run from the village to the factory, four -miles distant, in thirty-five minutes, as the result of oversleeping. -When the youngsters reach the shed, after a long run, they will require -a spell of a few minutes before they can start work, and the forgers and -hammermen will often have to shout at them several times before they are -sufficiently rested to begin. - -A great many of the crowd bring their breakfast and dinner with them, -either to eat it in the shed, or in the mess-rooms provided for the -purpose. Some of the men carry it in a canteen, held under the arm or -slung with a string over the shoulder and back. Others bring it tied up -in red handkerchiefs, and very many, especially of the town dwellers, -wrap it up in old newspapers. The country workmen are more particular -over their food than are their mates of the town. Though their fare will -be plainer and simpler--seldom amounting to anything more tasty than -bread and butter, cheese or cold boiled bacon--they will be at great -pains to see that it is very fresh and clean. - -That which strikes one most forcibly about the morning crowd is the -extraordinary quiet and soberness, both of the men and the juveniles. -They seldom speak to each other as they hurry along through the streets -and tunnels towards their several destinations--not even those who toil -side by side at the same forge or machine, however much they may talk -later on in the day. They do not--except in somewhat rare -instances--even wish each other "Good morning." If they happen to speak -at all it will usually be no more than to utter a curt "Mornin'," which -is often responded to with a very impolite and often positively churlish -"'Ow do!" And as for a smile! A morning smile on the way to work is -indeed a rarity. Now and then the careless-hearted lads may indulge in a -little playful banter, though even this is not common, but the men never -smile in the early morning. There is the day's work to be faced, the -smoke and heat, the long stand at the machine, the tedious confinement, -the hard word and bitter speech, the daily anxiety, the unnatural combat -for the necessaries of life, and it all looms big on the horizon. By and -by, as the day advances and the hands of the clock slowly but surely -record the death and burial of the hours, the set features will relax, -and the tongue will regain its office. The fire of human sympathy will -be rekindled and man and boy will be themselves again. But this will be -not yet. For the present everyone is concerned with his own necessity. -He is marching to battle, the issue of which is doubtful and uncertain. -When the first victory has been won, which is at dinner-time for him, he -will dissolve and be natural and genial, but not now. It is noteworthy -that the country workmen will prove to be more sympathetic than those of -the town. Many of them will bid "Good morning" to everyone they meet, -whether they know them or not. They do not stand upon any kind of -formality; answered or not they persist in the salutation, and always -add the christian name of the individual where it is known to them. - -In the street, near the entrances, are coffee stalls, where, for the -modest sum of a halfpenny, the workmen may obtain a cup of the steaming -beverage, which is usually of a weak quality and not at all likely to -derange the stomach of the individual who swallows it. Another halfpenny -will purchase a bun or scone, a slice of "lardy" or currant cake, if -anyone shall desire it, so that there is no need for any who can afford -a copper each morning to go hungry to work. Some workmen bring food from -home in their hand and eat it standing by the stall, where they have -stopped to partake of a cup of tea or coffee. - -It is pathetic, especially on cold, wintry mornings, to note the rivet -boys and others of the poorest class as they approach the entrance by -the coffee stalls. Their eyes are fixed longingly on the steaming urns -and piled-up plates of buns; they would like to gulp down a good big cup -of the liquid and munch several of the cakes. But such luxuries are not -for them. They have not a halfpenny in the world, so they content -themselves with a covetous look and pass on to the labour. Now and then -a father, with his little son, will stop to share a cup of coffee, or -they may have one apiece, but this is not a common occurrence. All the -money is needed elsewhere--for clothes, boots, and household -requirements. The better class of work-people--journeymen and such -like--never drink tea or coffee at the stalls. That is beneath their -dignity. They do not like to be seen breaking their fast in public, and -they speak of the beverages as "messes" and "slops." A few of the -workmen will loiter about the street till six o'clock, by which time -some of the public-houses will be opened. They will require a mug of ale -or a little spirit to put them in order; perhaps they were drunk -overnight and want a "livener" before starting in the morning. - -At about three minutes past six a smart rush for the entrance is made, -and those bringing up the rear will be forced to put on a good spurt in -order to gain the shed in time. They have either dawdled about at home, -or were late in rising; whatever the reason may be, every morning finds -them in the same predicament. The same workmen are always first or last; -year in and year out there is little variation in the individual -time-table. What a man is this morning he will be to-morrow morning; -there is no change week after week or month after month. Moreover, he -that is late at the first beginning of the day's work will most -certainly be in the same position at breakfast-time and dinner-time, -too. He will come to be noted for that characteristic; he is bound to be -late in any case. Such men always parcel out their time with exquisite -nicety, so that when the hooter begins to sound they have about twenty -yards to run in order to reach the check-box. Immediately after the -rear part of the crowd has disappeared within the entrance the -ponderous doors are closed with a loud bang, and the town without looks -to be deserted. The men inside the yard scatter, some this way and some -that, and are soon out of sight in the different sheds. All that can be -seen now are a few clerks sauntering along, usually wearing a flower in -their button-hole, and glancing at the morning newspaper. - -Every workman is provided with a brass check or "ticket," round in shape -like a penny, or oblong, with a number stamped upon it, corresponding to -his name in the register. This has to be placed in the check-box each -time the man enters the shed, and it is the only accepted proof of his -attendance at work or absence from it. If he loses or mislays the ticket -he will be fined a sum equal to half an hour's wages, whether he likes -it or not, and he will consequently often be forced to pay fourpence or -fivepence for a portion of metal that is worth no more than a farthing. -This will be the price of having his name registered, or, if he is -dissatisfied with the arrangement, he can return home and wait till -after the next meal-time. Similarly, in the morning, after the five -minutes' grace, whoever is late is charged quarter of an hour for the -first five minutes, and half an hour for the next, _i.e._, till -six-fifteen, though there is no reason whatever why a workman should be -fined so heavily. A fairer thing to do would be to fine all latecomers a -quarter of an hour's wages and allow them to check till quarter-past -six. This is the latest time for checking the first thing in the -morning. No workman is admitted later than that hour, but must wait till -the re-start after breakfast. - -The country workmen will be among the first arrivals at the shed, though -they are not usually the earliest comers of all. Some of the townsmen -are early risers, and come regularly to the premises half an hour -before it is time to begin work. It is remarkable that those who are -addicted to very early rising, that is, earlier than is really -necessary, will most certainly be found to be deficient in brains and -intellect. You will invariably find such ones to be dull-witted, and -lower in the mental scale than are many who hurry and come late to -business. The old adage-- - - "Early to bed and early to rise, - Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise," - -may be true enough in all three particulars, but it does not necessarily -follow that a strict observance of the rule will also endue him with a -plentiful supply of brains and intellectual keenness. Healthy it will -certainly make him. The application of a little common-sense will easily -demonstrate that one reason of his retiring early is the fact that he -has no mental pursuits, nothing in which to interest himself outside his -daily occupation, so that he is already deficient, and must perforce -betake himself to bed. Being free from mental worry and not troubling -about intellectual hobbies, he will sleep soundly, enjoy the maximum -amount of rest, and wake up fully refreshed and vigorous in the morning. -All that such men as these think of is their day's work, their food and -sleep; they have no other object or ambition in life. - -As to the entire wisdom of the rule, that is another matter. It was -counted sufficiently wise formerly, but we of this day are made of -sterner material. Horses and oxen work hard, rest well, enjoy very good -health, and appear to be satisfied, if not actually happy, but one man -is of more value than many horses or oxen. Work and sacrifice are the -only things that will raise a man in the estimation of the world and set -him up as a worthy example to his fellows. To those who are content -merely to live, and not to shine, may be addressed the words of the Ant -spoken to the Fly in the Fable: _Nihil laboras; ideo nil habes_--"You do -nothing, and consequently you have nothing." At the same time it must be -admitted that those who retire early and rise early nearly always prove -to be the strongest workmen; they will be capable of great physical -exertions and staying powers. But when all has been said, such men are -rather to be pitied than envied. They are little more than mere tools -and the slaves of their employers--the prodigal squanderers of their -powers and lives. - -It is a privilege of the shop clerks to arrive a little later than the -workmen, and to leave a little in advance of them at meal-times and in -the evening. The members of the principal office staff enjoy a still -greater dispensation, for they do not begin work at all before nine -o'clock in the morning and finish at five-thirty in the afternoon. The -clerks are the most numerous of all the trained classes at the factory. -With the draughtsmen they form an imposing body, yet though they rank -next the foremen and heads of departments, they are not taken very -seriously by the rank and file, except when they appear in the shed with -the cashbox to pay the weekly wages. - -For the sake of distinction the shop clerks are called the "weekly -staff," and the managers and other clerks, with the draughtsmen, are -denominated the "monthly staff." The first-named of these are paid -weekly with the workmen; the others receive their salary once a month. -The shop clerks are chiefly recruited from the personnel of the sheds, -while those of the monthly staff are chosen from over a wider area. In -the case of them considerably more training and experience will be -required. They must be possessed of specific abilities, and have gone -through classes and taken examinations in order to qualify for the -positions. It is usual for the more intelligent lads at the higher -elementary schools of the town to be recommended to the chiefs of the -factory offices. If their qualifications are considered satisfactory, -they are started in one or other of the clerical departments and -instructed in the several duties. By entering the offices young, and -passing from point to point, they have every opportunity of becoming -proficient, and are in course of time promoted according to their -abilities. - -The clerks of the sheds naturally enjoy the confidence of the overseers. -They know everything pertaining to piecework prices and output, and are -consequently able to furnish the chief with whatever information he -desires upon any point. In addition to the clerk there is a checker, who -books every article made and supervises the piecework outside the -office, and, as if that were not sufficient, a piecework "inspector," -who is commissioned with the power to report upon any price on the spot -and to make any reduction he thinks fit. All these co-operate and -together supply particulars of the workman and his job, how much he -makes on a shift, the precise time it takes him to finish an article; -and if it is necessary one or the other stays behind after working hours -and computes the number of forgings, or other uses made, and is a -perfect spy upon his less fortunate mates of the shed. - -An unscrupulous clerk may thus work incalculable mischief among the men. -He often influences the foreman in a very high degree, or he even -dictates to him, so that you sometimes hear the clerk spoken of as the -"boss" and the foreman himself styled the "bummer." Under such -circumstances it will not be wondered at that the clerk is sometimes an -unpopular figure in the shed and is looked upon with disfavour, though -very often unjustly so. A great deal depends upon the temper and -honesty, or dishonesty, of the overseer, for the clerk, in most cases, -will take the cue from him. If he is honourable and "above board," he -will not tolerate any covert dealings and tale-bearing. If, on the other -hand, he is shifty and cunning, he will encourage all kinds of slimness -and questionable proceedings on the part of his clerks. - -The members of the monthly staff and draughtsmen occupy quarters grouped -around the managers' offices, and do not often appear in the workshops. -When they do so it will be on account of some extraordinary business, or -they may come in with the foreman to take a look round and view the -machinery. They usually bring a book or drawing in their hand, or under -the arm, so as to have some kind of excuse in case they should be -challenged by a superior, for even they are not allowed to go wherever -they will. I have known draughtsmen to come regularly to the shed -provided with a tape-measure, books, and plans, and take the dimensions -of a machine again and again. No doubt they were in need of a little -exercise and anxious to see the stampers and forgers at work. - -Very few clerks, in spite of their leisure and opportunities, are -bookish or endowed with a taste for literature; out of over a thousand -at the factory less than twenty are connected with the Literary Society -at the Works' Institute. The students and premiums have their debating -classes on matters connected with engineering. They meet and read papers -on technical subjects, but have little interest in anything natural or -_spirituel_. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - - FIRST OPERATIONS IN THE SHED--THE EARLY DIN--ITS EFFECT ON - THE WORKMEN--CHARGING THE HEATS--THE OIL FURNACE--THE - "AJAX"--HARRY AND SAMMY--THE "STRAPPIE"--HYDRAULIC - POWER--WHEEL-BURSTING - - -Arrived in the shed the workmen remove their coats and hang them up -under the wall, or behind the forges. If any shall be seen wearing them -by the foreman when he enters they will be noticed and marked: it is a -common rule, winter and summer, to take them off on coming into the -workshop, except in places where there are no fires. A terrible din, -that could be heard in the yard long before you came to the doors of the -shed, is already awaiting. Here ten gigantic boilers, which for several -hours have been steadily accumulating steam for the hammers and engines, -packed with terrific high pressure, are roaring off their surplus energy -with indescribable noise and fury, making the earth and roof tremble and -quiver around you, as though they were in the grip of an iron-handed -monster. The white steam fills the shed with a dense, humid cloud like a -thick fog, and the heat is already overpowering. The blast roars loudly -underground and in the boxes of the forges, and the wheels and shafting -whirl round in the roof and under the wall. The huge engines, that -supply the hydraulic machines with pressure, are chu-chu-ing above the -roof outside; everything is in a state of the utmost animation. If you -were not fully awake before and sensible of what the day had in store -for you, you are no longer in any doubt about the matter. All -sluggishness, both of the mind and body, is quickly dispelled by the -great activity everywhere displayed around you. The very air, hot and -heavy, and thickly charged with dust as it is, seems to have an -electrical effect upon you. You immediately feel excited to begin work; -the noise of the steam, the engines, the roar of the blast, and the -whirling wheels compel you to it. - -At the same time the morning freshness, the bloom, vigour, the hopeful -spirit, the whole natural man will be entirely quelled and subdued after -the first few moments in this living pandemonium. Wife and children, -friends and home, town and village, green fields and blue skies, the -whole outside world will have been left far behind. There is no -opportunity to think of anything but iron and steel, furnaces and -hammers, the coming race and battle for existence. Moreover, as -everything is done at the piece rate, the men will be anxious to make an -early start, before the day gets hot. It is especially true of the -stampers and hammermen that "A bird in the hand's worth two in the -bush," and a good heat performed before breakfast is far better than -depending upon exertions to be made at a later part of the day. - -So, before you can well look around you, before the foreman can reach -the shed, in fact, the workmen are up and at it. Those who are earliest -on the place usually make the first start. They, and especially the -furnacemen and forgemen, often begin before the regulation hour, and -make haste to get their fires in a fit condition to receive the metal. -First of all, the coal furnaces have to be clinkered. A large steel bar -and a heavy sledge break the clinker; the fire-bars are withdrawn, and -down plunges the white-hot mass into the "bosh" of water beneath. When -this is performed new fuel is laid on, light at first, and sloping -gently to the rear wall. The corners are well filled; the floor of the -furnace, recently levelled with fresh sand, is firmly beaten down with -the heavy paddle, and all is ready to receive the ingots or blooms. - -Immediately the forger and his mates swarm round with the metal, either -using the crane and pulley, or charging it in upon the peel. The -chargeman grunts and scolds and the furnace door is raised, lighting up -the dark corners behind the forges. Now the hammer-driver winds the -wheel that opens the valve, and fills his cylinder with the raucous -vapour; the heavy monkey travels noiselessly up and down, preparing to -beat the iron into the shape required. Little by little, as the steam is -absorbed by the engines and hammers, the din of the boilers subsides. -The tremendous amount of power required to drive the various machines -soon reduces the pent-up energy, and by and by the priming ceases -altogether. The steam will continue gradually to diminish until the -first meal-hour, when it will have reached a low figure, as indicated by -the pressure gauge. During the interval, however, it will have risen -again, and long before it is time to recommence work the boilers will be -roaring off their superfluous energy with the same indescribable din and -fury. - -To obviate the noise of the simultaneous priming of the boilers an -escape valve was recently constructed, and a pipe affixed to carry it -through the roof. Owing to the incapacity of the tube, however, the -noise, instead of being diminished, was considerably intensified. People -heard it in every quarter of the town and thought it was an explosion. -No one in the vicinity of the shed could sleep at night, so at last -complaints were made to the manager, and the use of the valve was -discontinued. - -Now the oil furnaces will have been lit up and the smiths' forges -kindled. The two foremen will have arrived and made their first -perambulation of the shed, and everything will be in a state of bustle -and confusion. Certainly the sparks will not be flying, nor the anvils -ringing yet. It will take fully twenty minutes to get everything into -order and to produce the first heat. But there is a deadly earnestness -evident all round. It will not be long before the busy Titans are -stripped to the waist, turning the ponderous ingots and blooms over and -over, and raining the blows upon the yielding metal. - -The oil forge hails from the other side of the Atlantic, and is an -innovation at the shed. It is attached to machinery of the American -type, and is well suited for the game of hustle. It is not very large, -and occupies but a small space anywhere, but it has this advantage, that -it may be moved to any position; it is not a fixture, as are the other -furnaces. It is oblong in shape, with an arched roof; and the heating -space is not more than several cubic feet. The front is of brick, with -as many apertures as are required for the bars of metal, and the back -and ends are enclosed in a stout iron frame. The oil--derived from -water-gas and tar--is contained in a tank as high as the roof, fixed -outside the shed, and is conducted through pipes to the furnace. A -current of air from the fan blows past the oil-cock and drives the fluid -into the furnace. The heat generated from combustion of the oil is -regular and intense; the whole contrivance is speedy and simple. - -This is so, however, only when the oil is good and clear. Then there -will be scarcely any smoke or fume. The slight flame emitted from the -vent-hole on top will be of a copperish colour, and the interior will -glitter like a star. The furnace will go right merrily; there will be -no need for the workman to wait a moment. But when the oil is cheap and -inferior, or absolutely worthless--as it often is at the shed--the -system is a most foul and abominable nuisance. As soon as the forger -attempts to light up in the morning, tremendous clouds of black, filthy -smoke pour out of every little crack and hole and mount into the roof. -After striking against the boards and rafters this beats down to the -ground again and rolls away up the shed, filling the place from end to -end, half suffocating the workmen with the sickening, disgusting stench, -and making their eyes smart and burn. Several times during the operation -of lighting up, by reason of the irregular flow through the feeder, the -oil in the furnace will explode with a loud bang, shooting out the -flames and smoke to a great distance, and frequently blowing the whole -front of the forge to pieces, to the great danger of the stampers and -the amusement of the other workmen and smiths--for the oil system of -heating is not at all popular with the men of the shed. - -The stampers' furnaces, to the number of five or six, are behaving in -the same manner, and as there are no chimneys to carry off the smoke the -whole smother is poured out into the shed. This will very soon be more -than the average man can stand. With loud shouts and curses, down go -hammers and tools; the blast is shut off from the fires and a rush is -made for the open air until the nuisance is somewhat abated. The -overseer walks round and round, viewing the scene with great ill-temper, -defending the oil and the furnaces, and blaming the lighters-up for -everything, at the same time darting angry looks at those who, half -suffocated, have sought refuge outside. So, no matter what the time of -year may be, whether summer or the dead of winter, when the chilling -winds drive through upon the stampers shivering at their fires, he has -every door and window thrown open, and often does it himself and stands -like a sentinel in the doorway, that no one shall close them up till he -is quite satisfied. If he moves away and the half-frozen workmen steal -along and adjust the doors, he returns, closes them entirely, and forces -the stampers to endure the whole smother, because they dared to meddle -with the doors when he had opened them. - -By and by, as the heat in the furnaces increases, the smoke will -diminish somewhat, though as long as the oil is inferior they will -continue to emit a dirty cloud accompanied with deadly fumes and intense -volumes of heat, which are forced out by the blast to a distance of -several yards, making it impossible for the youth to get near enough to -attend to his bars without having his arms and face scorched and burnt. -The roof and walls, for a great distance around, are blackened with the -soot. There is no mistaking the cause of it, though it is a favourite -recommendation of the oil furnaces that they consume every particle of -their vapour. When the oil is of a sufficiently good quality this -actually happens; it is only when the fuel is cheap and bad that -considerable unpleasantness arises. - -Our entry to the shed was made through the large door in the north-west -corner, near which the first oil furnace is situated. This furnace is -attached to a new kind of forging machine conveniently named the "Ajax," -by reason of its great strength. Ajax was the name of two of the mighty -ones who fought before Troy, but the manufacturer does not inform us -whether the machine is named after Ajax, the son of Telamon, or he that -was the son of Oileus, though perhaps the latter is intended. Standing -alongside the oil furnace is the first of the drop-stamper's forges, and -next to that, in a line, are the three drop-stamps themselves. Opposite -the Ajax is the foreman's office--a two-storied building--and a little -to one side, straight from the door, is a coal furnace, upon which is -superimposed a large "loco" boiler. This reflects a tremendous heat all -round, and, together with the furnaces and forges, makes that part of -the shed, though near to the door, almost unbearably hot, so that it has -come to be called "Hell Corner" by the workmen. - -The line of hammers and furnaces is continued up the workshop to the far -end under the wall. There also, fixed to the masonry, are the main -shafting and pulleys, whirled round at a tremendous rate by the engine -in the "lean-to" outside. At the end of the line stand the heavy -steam-hammers and, under the wall outside, the blower house, containing -machinery for forcing the air for the smiths' fires. A huge stack of -coal and coke is visible through the door at the other end. A small -single fan is attached to the oil furnace with the Ajax in order to -supply it with air. This travels at a high rate of speed and makes a -loud roar, thereby adding to the confused din of the hammers and other -machinery. Standing further out in the shed is a second row of smaller -steam-hammers and forges with drills, saws, shears, pneumatic apparatus, -other oil furnaces, and the American stamping-hammers with their -trimmers and appliances. Beyond them is an open space reserved for -future arrivals in the shape of manufacturing plant, and towards the -south wall are two lines of powerful hydraulic machines and presses with -furnaces and boilers attached for heating the plates of metal for -punching and welding. - -The Ajax machine operates by up-setting. It is worked by youths, one of -whom heats the rods of metal, while the other sets them in the dies and -presses the treadle that brings the machine head forward. As soon as -the furnace is sufficiently hot fifteen or twenty bars are thrust -through the brickwork in front of the forge, the lubricators are filled, -the belt pulled over, and the work begins. The belts flap up and down on -the pulleys with a loud noise, the cog-wheels rattle and clank, the -"ram" travels backwards and forwards incessantly, clicking against the -self-act, the furnace roars and the smoke and flames shoot out. When the -bars are white-hot the assistant hands them along; his mate grips them -and inserts them in the dies, then presses the treadle with his foot. -Immediately the steel tools close up and the ram shoots forward; in -about two seconds the operation is complete. Very often the water, -running continually over the tools to keep them cool, becomes confined -in the dies as they close. The heat of the iron converts it into steam, -and, as the ram collects and forces the material, it explodes with a -loud report, almost like that of a cannon. Showers of sparks and hot -scale are blown in all directions, and if the operator is not careful to -stand somewhat aside, his face and arms will be riddled with the tiny -particles of shot-like metal ejected by the explosion. It is not -uncommon to see his flesh covered with drops of blood from the accident. -The bits of metal will adhere tightly underneath the skin, and must be -removed with a needle, or otherwise remain till they work out of their -own accord. - -Both youths of the Ajax dwell in the town, and are known about the -corner by the names of Harry and Sammy. Harry's father was an -infantryman, and Sammy's parent served in the Navy. There is a little of -the roving spirit about both of them--each possesses a share of the -paternal characteristic. Harry's father, however, is an invalid, and he -is forced to stay at home and help keep him and his mother, otherwise -he would long ago have bidden farewell to the shed, Ajax and all. Sammy, -on the other hand, is free and unfettered, but though he has made many -attempts to enter the Navy, they were all in vain. First, he was not -sufficiently tall or broad in the chest, and later, when, after a course -of exercises with dumb-bells, he was able to pass the examinations, he -was refused on account of his teeth, which were badly decayed. This was -a great disappointment to Samuel. He sulked about for several days -afterwards, quarrelled and fought with his mate, and was generally -inconsolable. The boys' chargeman had to intervene as peacemaker and he -comforted Sammy, who shed a few tears and finally became reconciled to -the forge again, though he often defiantly affirmed that he would not be -beaten, not he! He would go to Bristol and get a job aboard ship; he -would not stop there in that hole all his life! - -Both Sammy and Harry dress much alike, and they resemble each other in -their habits. They are both nimble and strong, active, energetic, and -high spirited. Both have commendable appetites, and they are especially -fond of drinking tea. They have a passionate regard for sports, -including boxing and football, but, over and above all this, they are -hard workers; every day they are sure of a good sweating at the furnace -and Ajax. Both wear football shirts--Sammy a green one and Harry a red -and white--in the forge, and they have football boots on their feet. If -you should turn out Sammy's pockets you would be sure to find, among -other things, half a packet of cigarettes, a pack of cards, a mouth -organ, a knife, a comb, and a small portion of looking-glass. A great -many of the town boys and young men carry a small mirror in their -pockets, by the aid of which they comb and part their hair and study -their physiognomies. At meal-times, as soon as the hooter sounds, they -hasten to the nearest water-tap, give their faces a rough swill and, -with the aid of a portion of looking-glass, examine them to make sure -that they are free from the dust and soil of the smoky furnace. - -Though the companions of Ajax work hard and perspire much they do not -become very tired, apparently, for after the most severe exertions they -are still ready to indulge in some sport or other, and run and play or -wrestle and struggle with each other on their way down the yard. Arrived -home they have their tea, wash and change, and come back to the crowded -parts of the town to see and be seen and be moved on by the policeman, -returning late home to bed. In the morning they will often be sullen and -short-tempered. This invariably wears off as the day advances, however, -and they will soon be up to the usual games, singing popular songs and -imitating the comic actors at the theatre, where they delight to go once -or twice a week. - -Close behind the oil furnace, in a recess of the wall, is the fan that -drives the blast for this part of the shed, supplying four forges -altogether. The fan itself is of iron, enclosed in a stout cast-iron -shell or case, and is driven from a countershaft half-way up to the main -shafting. Multiplication takes place through this from the top pulley, -and whereas the main shaft will make but one hundred and twenty -revolutions a minute, the fan below will, in that space, spin round two -thousand times. As the engine is running day and night, for more than -twenty hours out of the twenty-four, the number of revolutions made by -the fan will be over two millions daily. Although, viewed on paper, -these figures appear high, yet, if you should stand near and watch the -fan itself, it would seem incredible to you that it would require such -a long time in which to complete them. The speed is terrific, and this -you may know by the sound, without troubling to look at the gear. The -rate of the belts, from the pulleys on to the countershaft, is a further -proof of the tremendous velocity of the machine. Although strained very -tight on the wheels they make a loud noise, flapping sharply all the -while; one may easily gauge the speed of an engine by the sound of the -belts alone. The fan itself, at normal times, emits a loud humming -noise, like that of a threshing-machine, but when the speed of the -engine increases through the relaxation of some other machinery, or the -sudden rise of steam pressure in the boilers, it seems to swell with a -dreadful fury, and assails the ear with a vicious and continuous -_hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo, HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO_, like some savage beast -ravenous for its prey. The oscillation of the fan is imparted to -everything around. The very ground under your feet trembles, and if you -should place your hand upon the outer shell, or on the wooden guard -around it, you would experience something like an electric shock, -strangely pleasant at first, but very soon necessitating the removal of -your hand from the vicinity. - -It is dangerous to meddle with the fan while it is in motion. A stout -wooden guard is erected around it to prevent any object from coming into -contact with the wheels or the interior. If a nut or rivet head should -happen to fly and be caught in it, the shell would immediately burst. -Very often excessive speed alone will cause a fan to explode. The effect -is similar to that of a steam or gas explosion; the heavy cast-iron -frame will be shattered to bits, and hurled to a great distance. I -remember one in the smithy that exploded and blew up through the roof, -making a huge rent. For safety's sake the fans are often constructed -underground in order to lessen the danger of explosion, if one should -happen. - -It is remarkable that while the pulley on the countershaft is travelling -at a tremendous speed, so that the spokes are generally invisible, and -there appears to be nothing but the rim and centre whirling round, if -you look up quickly you will see one spoke quite plainly as it flies -over, then it will be entirely lost to view with the rest. The space of -time during which it is visible is exceedingly short--it could be no -more than a fraction of a second--yet in that brief period the eye -perceives it clearly and distinctly: it is something similar to taking a -snapshot with a camera. - -Formerly, when all the belts were of leather and thickly studded with -large broad-headed copper rivets, the boys used to draw near to them and -take small lessons in electricity. This could only be done in the case -of belts that travelled at a very high rate of speed, such as the one on -the fan or the circular saw. Standing dangerously near the wheels they -held a finger, or a knuckle, very close to the belt in motion, and were -rewarded with seeing a small stream of electric sparks, about as large -in volume as the stem of a needle, issuing from the finger-tip or -knuckle, accompanied with a slight pain like that produced by the prick -of a pin. The velocity of the belt, with the copper, attracted the -electricity within the body and drew it out in a tiny visible stream -from the flesh. All the belts for high speed work at this time, however, -are made of another material, _i.e._, a preparation of compressed -canvas, without rivets. Instead of being laced together they are fitted -with a steel-wire arrangement for connection. The ends are inserted, as -you would bend the fingers of both hands and thrust them one between the -other, and a piece of whalebone is pushed through. Slight as this may -seem to be, it is yet capable of withstanding a great strain, and the -whole runs much more smoothly than did the old-fashioned leather belts. - -A man is specially kept to attend to everything pertaining to the belts. -He is known to all and sundry as the "strappie." Directly anything goes -wrong with the connections he appears on the scene smothered in oil from -head to foot, and looking very cloudy and serious. He is usually in a -great hurry and is not over-polite to anyone. First of all he gives the -signal to have the engine stopped. As soon as the shafting is still, -armed with a very sharp knife, he climbs up the wall, in and out among -the wheels, and unceremoniously cuts away the defective belt. Arrived on -the ground again, he draws out the belt, motions "right away" to the -engineman, then rolls it up and disappears. In a short while he comes -back with it strongly repaired, or brings a new one in place of it. The -shafting is stopped again, and up he mounts as before. When he has -placed it over the shaft and connected the ends, he pulls it half-way on -the wheels and ties it loosely in that position with a piece of cord. As -the engine starts the belt assumes its position on the wheel -automatically; the piece of cord breaks, or becomes untied, and falls to -the ground, and everything goes spinning and whirling away as before. If -a belt is merely loose the strappie brings a potful of a substance he -calls "jam," very resinous and gluey, some of which he pours on the -wheel and belt while in motion. This makes the belt "bite," or grip -well, and brings the machine up to its maximum speed with the shafting. - -Sometimes, if the shafting has not been oiled punctually, it will run -hot, or perhaps a small particle of dust will obstruct the oil in the -lubricator and produce friction. News of this is soon published abroad -by a loud creaking noise that everyone can hear. The workmen take up -the cry and shout "Oil, oil," at the top of their voice; then the -engine-driver comes forth with his can and stops the screeching. -Occasionally the spindle of the fan will run hot, and especially so if -the belt happens to be well tight. This, by reason of its great speed, -will soon generate a fierce heat; I recently ran to attend to it and -found the spindle of the fan a bright red-hot. Thanks to the warning of -the belt, which was slipping owing to the greater exertion required -through tightening of the bearings by expansion, I was just in time to -prevent an accident. In another moment the fan might have been a total -wreck. - -Through a doorway in the wall, in an extension of the shed, stand -several boilers used as auxiliaries, and, near to them, are two powerful -pumping engines and their accumulators, which obtain the pressure for -the whole hydraulic plant of the department. The engines are of a -hundred and twenty horse-power each, and are fitted with heavy -fly-wheels that make forty revolutions a minute at top speed. These draw -the water from a neighbouring tank and force it into the accumulators, -from which the pressure is finally derived. The accumulators are -constructed in deep pits that are bricked round and guarded with iron -fencing. They are large weights of fifty tons each--there was originally -one of a hundred tons--and are built about a central column of iron or -steel standing fifteen or twenty feet above the floor level. Contained -in the lower part of the weight is a cylinder; into this the water is -forced by the engines and the pressure obtained. The power of the water, -when a sufficient volume has accumulated, raises the weights high into -the roof and keeps them there, with a little rising and falling, -corresponding to the action of the presses in the shed. When the weights -have risen to a certain point they operate a self-act, and the engines -stop. Similarly, when they sink below the point they displace a second -small lever that communicates with the engine valves and re-starts the -pumps. The pressure put on the water is enormous; it often amounts to -two thousand pounds per square inch. Since the operation of water is -much slower than that of steam, however, the power is not nearly as -effective. It would be impossible by its agency to drive machinery at a -high rate without the use of gear, though for punching, pressing, and -welding some kinds of work the system is admirable and unsurpassed. - -The engine that drives the lesser machinery of the shop stands in a -"lean-to" and is not nearly as powerful as are those that operate the -pumps. A little higher up, in another small lean-to, is a donkey engine -that drives the "blower," which produces blast for the forges and fires. -This machine is vastly superior to the old-fashioned fan, and the speed -of it is quite low; there is no danger of explosion or other rupture. It -is a pleasure, since so much manufacturing plant is introduced to us -from foreign countries--America, France and Germany--to reflect that the -idea of the blower is English. There is a considerable amount of -American-made machinery at the works, and the percentage of it increases -every year, though it is often far from being successful. At the same -time, it must be conceded that our kinsmen over the sea are very clever -in the designing and manufacture of tools and plant, and many of their -ideas are particularly brilliant. The English maker of manufacturing -tools follows at some little distance with his wares. These, though not -actually as smart as the others, are yet good, honest value, the very -expression of the Englishman's character. The chief features of American -machinery are--smartness of detail, the maximum usefulness of parts, -capacity for high speed and flimsiness, styled "economy," of structure: -everything of theirs is made to "go the pace." English machinery, on the -other hand, is at the same time more primitive and cumbersome, more -conservative in design and slower in operation, though it is trustworthy -and durable; it usually proves to be the cheaper investment in the long -run. One often sees American tackle broken all to pieces after several -years' use, while the British-made machine runs almost _ad infinitum_. -At a manufactory in Birmingham is an old beam engine that has been in -use for more than a century and a half, and it is almost as good now as -when it was new. The same may be said with regard to English-made -agricultural machinery. A modern American mower will seldom last longer -than four or five years, but I know of English machines that have been -in use for nearly thirty years and are as good as ever, generally -speaking. - -One man attends to the engines that drive the shop machinery and the -"blower." It is his duty to see that the shafting is kept clean and the -bearings well oiled, to watch over the belts and to notify the strappie -when one becomes loose or slips off the wheel. Dressed in a suit of blue -overalls, and equipped with ladder and oil-can, he remains in constant -attendance upon his engines and shafts. He will also be required to keep -a watchful eye upon the valves, to regulate the steam to the cylinders, -and to maintain a uniform rate of speed for the lathes and drills. -Occasionally, if the pressure of steam in the boilers should rise very -suddenly--which sometimes happens, as the result of a variable quality -of coal and the diversity of heats required by the furnacemen--the -engine, in spite of the regulators, will rapidly gain speed and "run -away," as it is called. This may also result from the disconnecting a -particular machine engaged on heavy, dragging work, such as the saw, or -fan, both of which require great power to drive them at their high rate -of speed. - -Considerable danger attaches to the running away of an engine, -especially where it is provided with a heavy fly-wheel. This, if it is -whirled round at an excessive speed, is liable to burst, and the -consequences, in a crowded quarter, would be disastrous. The danger of -bursting lies in the tremendous throwing-off power generated from the -hub of the wheel, about the shaft; as the sections forming the circle of -the wheel are brought rapidly over there is a strong tendency for them -to be cast off in the same manner as a stone is thrown from a sling. If -the wheel is exactly balanced, however, and every part of precisely the -same weight, so as to ensure perfectly even running on the shaft, the -danger of bursting will be small. Grindstones burst much more commonly -than do metal wheels. There is not the same consistency in stone as in -iron; moreover, there may be a flaw somewhere that has escaped the eye -of the fitter or overseer. Consequently, if the speed of the engine -driving the stone should be immoderately increased, it will not be able -to withstand the throw-off, and will fly to pieces, inflicting death, or -very severe injuries upon all those in the vicinity. - - - - -CHAPTER X - - STAMPING--THE DROP-HAMMER STAFF--ALGY AND CECIL--PAUL AND - "PUMP"--"SMAMER"--BOILERS--A NEAR SHAVE - - -The drop-stamps stand in the corner, close under the wall. They are -supplied by three coke forges, and by the coal furnace before mentioned. -A drop-stamp, or drop-hammer, is a machine used for stamping out all -kinds of details and uses in wrought iron or steel, from an ounce to -several hundredweights. It differs from a steam-hammer properly so -called in that while it is raised by steam power it falls by gravity, -striking the metal in the dies by its own impetus, whereas the -steam-hammer head is driven down by a piston. Three hands are employed -at each machine. They are--the stamper, his hotter, and the small boy -who drives the hammer. A similar number compose the night shift; the -machines are in constant use by night and day. All the work is done at -the piece rate, and the prices are low; the men have to be very nimble -to earn sufficient money to pay them for the turn. - -The hands employed on the drop-hammers are of a fairly uniform type, -though there are several distinguished above the others by reason of -their individual features and characteristics. Chief among them are the -two young hammer boys, Algy and Cecil, Paul the furnaceman, and a youth -who rejoices in the preposterous nickname of "Pump." Algy drives the end -drop-stamp for the chargeman and Cecil the next one to it, larger and -heavier. Algy has several nicknames, one of which, from his diminutive -stature, being "Teddy Bear," and the other, carrying with it a certain -amount of sarcasm, is plain "Jim." Sometimes, also, he is called "Dolly" -or "Midget." Cecil boasts of a string of christian names, the correct -list being Cecil Oswald Clarence. Questioned concerning the other -members of the family he informs you that his brother is named Reginald -Cuthbert, his schoolgirl sister May Alberta, and his baby sister Ena -Merle. From some cause or other he himself has not obtained a regular -nickname; he is rather summarily addressed by his surname. No one in the -shed ever deigns to call him by his christian name, it is too unusual -and high-sounding, too aristocratic and superb. Bob or Jack would have -been preferable; scarcely anyone at the works goes beyond a monosyllable -in the matter of names. - -The boys are of the same age--fifteen or thereabout--but they are -dissimilar in stature and in almost every other respect. Algy is short -and small, plump and sturdy, while Cecil is inclined to run. He is tall -for his age, and very thin. His body is as flat as a man's hand; he has -no more substance than a herring. Algy's features are round, regular, -and pleasant; he is quite a handsome boy. His forehead slopes a little, -his nose is perfect in shape. He has frank, grey eyes sparkling with fun -and good-nature, a girlish mouth, and small, pretty teeth. Cecil, on the -other hand, is not what one would style handsome. He has thin, hollow -cheeks and small, hard features. His forehead is narrow, and his eyes -are rather large and searching--expressing strength and keenness. His -mouth is stern, and his lips pout a little: they are best represented by -the French _s'allonger--les levres s'allongent_, as Monsieur Jourdain's -did in Moliere, when he pronounced the vowel sound of u. He has a -particularly fine set of teeth, and he has a way of grizzing them -together and showing them when in the act of making a special exertion -that gives him a savage expression. - -Both boys are pale. Algy's face, when it is clean, shines like a glass -bottle; Cecil's skin is inclined to be yellow. Both have dark rings -around the eyes, especially Cecil, who is the more delicate of the -two--they are neither very robust-looking. Their hair is very long, and -it stands out well from underneath their cloth caps and stretches down -the cheeks before the ears. They are consequently often assailed with -the cry--"Get yer 'air cut," or--"You be robbin' the barber of -tuppence," or--"Tell yer mother to use the basin," suggesting that the -boys' hair is cut at home. It is a common charge to lay to small boys in -the shed that their mothers used to put a basin over their heads and cut -the hair around the outside of it. Both boys wax indignant at being -taunted about the basin, and reply to the other remark with, "You gi' me -the tuppence, then, an' I'll have it cut." Occasionally, more by way of -being sarcastic than out of any desire to show good-nature, the stampers -will make a collection towards defraying the barber's expenses, and the -next morning the boys will turn up at the shed nearly bald: they have -had their hair cut this time with a vengeance. - -Several times Algy has come to the shed wearing a pair of wooden clogs, -but, as everyone teased him and called him "Cloggy," he cast them aside -and would not wear them any more. Clogs belong rather to the Midlands -and the North of England, and are very rarely seen in the railway town. -The least respectable of all the boys' clothing are their shirts. They -are usually full of big rents, being split from top to bottom, or torn -quite across the back, the lower part falling down and exposing the -naked flesh for a space of a foot, and they are of an inscrutable -colour. One day an entire sleeve of Algy's shirt dropped clean away, and -Cecil's was rent completely up one side so that his entire flank and -shoulder were visible. Though the stampers laugh at Cecil and sometimes -grip hold of whole handfuls of his flesh, where the shirt is torn, he is -not very much disconcerted. Algernon blushed considerably, however, when -his mate quietly told him one day that he could see his naked posterior -through a rent in his trousers. - -Although the boys' clothing is untidy and dilapidated they are not kept -short of food, and their appetites are truly enormous. They bring large -parcels of provisions to the shed--thick chunks of bread and butter, -rashers of raw bacon, an egg to boil or fry, and sometimes a couple of -polonies or succulent sausages. The whole is tied up in a red -dinner-handkerchief or wrapped in a newspaper; you would often have a -difficulty in getting it into an ordinary-sized bucket. The youngsters -have to stand a great deal of chaff over their parcels of provisions. -The men often take them in their hands and weigh them up and down, -showing them about the shed, and asking each other if they do not want -to buy a pair of old boots. At breakfast- or dinner-time the lads obtain -a roughly-made frying-pan, or take the coke shovel, and, after rubbing -it out with a piece of paper, cook their food, usually frying it -together and dipping their bread in the fat alternately. Then, if it is -fine, still stripped of their waistcoats, they go out in the yard and -sit down, or crouch by the furnace door and clear up the food to the -last morsel; they will often not have finished when the hooter sounds -the first time to warn the men to come back to the shed. When the meal -is over, if there is yet time, Algy will produce from his pocket some -literature of the Buffalo Bill type, or a school story, of which he is -fond, and read it. Cecil will not deign to look at "such stuff," as he -calls it, but will borrow a newspaper, or some part of one, from his -mates, and greedily devour the contents of that. - -Though neither of them has left school for more than a year, or, at the -outside, fifteen months, they have forgotten almost everything they -learned, even to the very rudiments in many cases. Their knowledge of -grammar, arithmetic, poetry, geography, and history has entirely lapsed, -or, if they remember anything at all, it will be but a smattering of -each. To test their memory and knowledge of these matters the boys' -chargeman occasionally offers them prizes, and enters them into -competition with other lads of the shed, some of whom have not been away -from school for more than five or six months, but one and all show a -deplorable lack of the faculty of retention. Whether it is the result of -too much cramming by the teacher, or whether it is that the rising -generation is really deficient in mental capacity, they are quite -incapable of answering the most simple and elementary questions. The -chargeman's plan is to offer them pennies for the names of half-a-dozen -capitals of foreign countries, half-a-dozen foreign rivers, six names of -British kings or British rivers, the capitals of six English counties, -or the names of the counties themselves, six fish of English rivers, six -wild birds, half-a-dozen names of wild flowers, the capitals of British -colonies, the names of six English poets, or a few elementary points of -grammar, and so on. - -The answers, when any are vouchsafed, are often ludicrous and amazing: -the intellectual capacity of the boys is certainly not very brilliant. -During these tests the chargeman was astonished to learn that Salisbury -is a county, Ceylon is the capital of China, and that Paris stands on -the banks of the river Liffey. As for the preterite tense, not one had -ever heard of it. Only one out of six could give the names of the six -counties and kings complete, though another of the lads had strong -impressions concerning a monarch he called the "ginger-headed" one, but -he could not think of his name. Not one could furnish the requisite list -of fish, fowl, and natural wild flowers, but little Jim, struck with a -sudden inspiration, shouted out "jack and perch," for he had recently -been fishing in the clay-pits with his brother. The others frankly -confessed they did not know anything about the matter; if they had ever -learned it at school they had forgotten it now. Anyway, it was not of -much use to one, they said, though it was all right to know about it. -Not one of the half-dozen, though all were born in the town, could give -the name of a single Wiltshire river. - -Paul is not permanently attached to the furnace in the corner, but came -to fill the place of one who had met with an accident. As a matter of -fact, Paul is everybody's man; he is here, there, and everywhere. He can -turn his hand to almost anything in the second degree, and is a very -useful stop-gap. Forge he cannot, stamp he cannot, though he is a -capital heater of iron, and makes a good furnaceman; he is a fair -all-round, inside man. But somehow or other, everyone persists in making -fun of Paul, and contrives to play pranks and practical jokes upon him. -Whatever job he is engaged upon his mates address ridiculous remarks to -him; they will never take him seriously. Some one or other, in passing -by, will knock off his hat; this one gravely takes him by the wrist and -feels his pulse, and that one will give him a rough push. Another puts -water over him from the pipe, pretending it was by accident; whatever -reply he makes his mates only laugh at him. As a rule, Paul takes it -all in good part, though sometimes he will lose his temper and retaliate -with a lump of coal, or any other missile upon which he can lay his -hands. - -Paul would be the tallest man in the shed if it were not that he stoops -slightly as the result of having had rheumatics. As it is, he is quite -six feet in height, bony, but not fleshy, with broad shoulders and large -limbs. As he walks his head is thrown forward; he goes heavily upon his -feet. His features are regular and pleasant; he has grey eyes and bushy -brows. His skin is dark with the heat and grime of the furnace; his -expression is one of marked good-nature. In appearance he is a perfect -rustic; there is no need to look at him the second time to know that he -dwells without the municipal border. It is this air of rusticity, -combined with his simplicity of character and behaviour, that makes Paul -the butt of the other workmen. They would not think of practising their -clownish tricks upon others, for there are many upon whom it would be -very inadvisable to attempt a jest without being prepared for a sudden -and violent reprisal. - -Paul's home is in the village, about three miles from the town. There he -passes his leisure in comparative quiet, and, in his spare time from the -shed, cultivates a large plot of land and keeps pigs. This finds him -employment all the year round, so that he has no time to go to the -public-house or the football match, though he sometimes plays in the -local cricket eleven. He takes great interest in his roots and crops, -and almost worships his forty perch of garden. During the summer and -autumn he brings the choicest specimens of his produce in his pocket and -shows them to his mates in the shed; he usually manages to beat all -comers with his potatoes and onions. - -In spite of Paul's simplicity of behaviour, one cannot help being -attracted to him by reason of his frankness and open-heartedness; he -would not think of doing anything that is not strictly above board. -Though rough and rude, blunt and unpolished, he is yet very honest and -conscientious. Certainly he is not as sharp and intelligent as are many -of the town workmen, but he is a better mate than most of them, and when -it comes to work he will stand by you to the last; he is not one to back -out at the slightest difficulty. - -How Pump came to be Pump is a mystery; no one knows the origin of the -nickname. "They called I Pump a long time ago," says he. Very likely it -was given to him extemporaneously, with no particular relation to -anything; someone or other said "Pump," and the name stuck there at -once. Pump is just under eighteen years of age. He drives the heavy -drop-stamp on the day-shift, and, owing to certain characteristics of -which he is possessed, he always attracts attention. He is very loud and -noisy, full of strong words and forcible language, though he is -extraordinarily cheerful and good-natured. He is short in stature, very -strong and much given to sweating; in the least heat his face will be -very red and covered with great drops of perspiration. His forehead is -broad and sloping, he has immense blue eyes, tapered nose, bronze -complexion, a solid, square countenance, and a tremendous shock of hair. -In driving the hammer he has acquired the unusual habit of following the -heavy monkey up and down with his eyes, and the expression on his face, -as he peers up into the roof, induces many to stop and take a peep at -him as they pass by. To all such Pump addresses certain phrases much -more forcible than polite, and warns them to "clear out" without delay -if they do not "want something." They usually respond with an -extra-special grimace, or work their arms up and down as though they -were manipulating the engine from which he derives his nickname. - -As a mate Pump is variable. With the men of one shift he can agree very -well, but with the others he is nearly always at loggerheads. The fact -is that Pump's stamper on one shift does not like him, and will not try -to like him, either. He quite misunderstands his driver's -characteristics, and will not see his good qualities underneath a -certain rugged exterior. Accordingly, they quarrel and call each other -evil names all day. Very often the stamper will throw down his tongs and -walk off. Thereupon Pump lowers the hammer defiantly, folds his arms, -and tosses his head with disgust, while the furnaceman, waiting with his -heat, calls to them to "come on." Now the stamper picks up his tongs -quickly, shouts loudly to Pump, "Hammer up, there!" and on they go -again, the stamper snorting and muttering to himself, and glaring -fiercely from side to side, while Pump bursts into song, with a broad -grin on his countenance. Sometimes the stamper, in a towering fury, will -come to the chargeman and swear that he will not hit another stroke with -"that thing there," and demand another mate forthwith, but with a little -tact and the happy application of a spice of good-humour, the situation -will be saved, and everything will go on right merrily, though the old -trouble will certainly recur. Pump confides all his troubles to the -chargeman and sheds a few tears now and then. He is full of good -intentions and tries to do his level best to please, but he cannot avoid -friction with his fiery and short-tempered mates of the fortnightly -shift. - -He has one very special and ardent desire, which is to go on night -duty; he is for ever counting up the days and weeks that must pass -before his birthday will arrive, and so raise him to the age necessary -for undertaking the shift. In common with most other youths, he looks -upon the night turn as something "devoutly to be wished," but I very -much fear that a few weeks of the change will modify his opinion of the -matter, if it does not entirely disillusion him. Notwithstanding a -certain amount of novelty attaching to the working on the night-shift, -it is attended with many hardships and inconveniences. The greater part -of those who have to perform it would willingly exchange it for the day -duty. - -There was at one time another highly distinctive "character" attached to -the drop-stamps. He revelled in the nickname of "Smamer." Where he -obtained the pseudonym is unknown, though it is notable that the word -has an intelligible derivative. Smamer is undoubtedly derived from the -Greek verb [Greek: sman] = sman, meaning _to smear_, and, afterwards, -from [Greek: smama][1] = soap, so that the nickname is meant to -designate a smearer. As there are many who are in the habit of smearing -their faces with soap, the nickname would seem to have a very wide and -universal application. Be that as it may, our Smamer was a smearer of -the first order; he usually stopped at that and did not care to -prosecute the matter further. His face daily bore traces of the initial -process of washing, and that only; it was a genuine smear and little -besides. Whoever first honoured him with the appellation was a person of -discernment, though he might not have been aware of the origin of the -word. You often hear a workman say that So-and-so is "all smamed up" -with oil or some other greasy substance. - - [1] Classical, [Greek: smen, smema] - -Smamer was one of the forge hands and heated iron for the middle -drop-stamp. His home was in the country, several miles from the town; -winter and summer he tramped to and from the shed. For several years -after his father and mother died he lived in the cottage by himself, -tilled his own garden, prepared his food, performed his housework, made -his bed, and did his own washing, though he was no more than nineteen -years of age. He was noted for his eccentric mode of living. Whatever -the weather might be he scarcely ever wore an overcoat. He often came to -work wet through to the skin, and reached home at night in the same -condition, where he received no welcome of any sort, but had to light -his own fire before he could dry his clothing or prepare his meal. To -every inquiry as to whether he was wet or not he made one reply; he was -"just a little bit damp about the knees," that was all. - -In manner he was quiet and rather sullen; he was never very -sweet-tempered, though he was a quick and clever heater of iron and a -very good mate. About his native village he was rough and noisy, fond of -fighting and disturbance. He was frequently in conflict with the police, -and often on the point of being summoned before the Bench for some -offence or other, but he usually scraped out of the difficulty at the -last moment, either by means of apologies, or by making some kind of -restitution to the injured party. At week-ends, with a band of -associates, he paid visits to the neighbouring villages and fought with -the young men, until the whole of them became so well-known to the -police that wherever they went they were recognised and promptly hustled -off in the direction of their native place. - -During the autumn months Smamer visited all the orchards along the road -on the way to work, and came to the shed with his pockets crammed full -of apples. These he used to divide out among his mates, who ate them -with little or no compunction; there is small searching of conscience -among the boys of the factory, especially when the contraband happens to -be sweet, juicy apples plucked from the farmer's trees. Very soon, -however, the habit of the life began to tell upon him. His continually -getting wet, and the having no one to provide him with any kind of -comfort, ruined his constitution; in a few months he wasted away and -died. A small party of mates from the shed attended the funeral at the -little village churchyard: that was the end of Smamer. His place at the -forge was soon filled; he was not missed very much. Everyone said he had -but himself to blame; there was no sympathy meted out to him. His -brother, who also worked on the drop-stamps, had been killed by a blow -on the head with a piece of metal from the die only a short while -before. They lay side by side in the little walled enclosure, for ever -oblivious of the noise and din of the thunderous hammers and the -grinding wheels of the factory. - -There are several others, distinguished with titles of an expressive -kind, working on the drop-stamps. Of these one answers to the nickname -of "Bovril," one is "Kekky Flapper," one is "Aeroplane Joe," one -"Blubber," and another is known about the shed as "Wormy." How they came -to possess such inglorious appellatives cannot with certainty be told; a -very little will suffice to brand you with an epithet in the work-shed. -In addition to these, in the vicinity of the drop-stamps in the corner -are an ex-groom, a grocer, a musical freak, a comedian, a photographer, -a boy scout, a territorial, a jockey, a cowman, a pianoforte maker, and -a local preacher. - -Situated over the coal furnace that feeds the big drop-stamps is a -boiler of the "loco" pattern, one of those responsible for the -tremendous din that is raised every day at meal-times when the steam is -not required for the engines and hammers. These boilers have all served -their time on the line--in passenger or goods traffic--and, after their -removal from the engine frames, they have become distributed over the -company's system and throughout the factories. The distance a boiler is -required to travel under steam on the railway is about thirty thousand -miles; after completing this it is superseded and removed from the -active list on the permanent way. By the time the boiler and engine have -travelled together so many miles they will be half worn out. The wheels, -by reason of the frequent application of the brakes and "skidding" on -the rails, will be grooved and cut about, and the machinery will require -new fittings and bearings. After the boilers have been removed from the -frames they are overhauled and tested and then sold out to the different -sheds and stations, wherever they may happen to be wanted. - -The method of transacting business between the different sheds and -departments at the works is exactly like that employed by outside firms -and tradesmen. Bills and accounts are rendered, and the whole formula of -hire and purchase is entered into by the different parties; everything; -in fact, except the actual payment of money, is duly carried out. The -sheds are required to show a balance on the right side at the end of -each year; percentages are charged for working expenses, and all the -rest is profit. Thus, some sheds will show profits of many thousands of -pounds annually, though upon paper only; the surpluses do not exist in -reality. - -Although the new boiler costs 1,000 pound it is sold to the shed -second-hand for 200 pound, so that the cost of ten for the workshop was -only 2,000 pound. The charge for setting, and fitting, and also for -repairs and cleaning, however, is very great; a big sum is needed to -keep them in a fit condition for work. After they have been erected -above the furnaces they are covered with a thick jacket of a compound of -magnesia and fibre, to enable them to retain the heat, and they are -afterwards painted black, so as to harmonise with the general -environment. The steam pressure of the repaired boiler is usually fixed -at about a hundred and twenty-five pounds per square inch. The capacity -of each boiler is very great, and the composite power of the whole set -formidable; if one of them should happen to explode the result would -indeed be disastrous. A small staff of men superintends them by day and -night, and greater care is taken of them than was the case formerly. I -can remember when the shed was several times within a hair's breadth of -being blown up and forty or fifty men hurled to perdition. - -A few years ago, instead of trustworthy men being appointed to -superintend the boilers, they were consigned to the charge of several -youths, who were very careless and negligent in their work, and who -seemed to have no idea whatever of the tremendous responsibility resting -upon them for the safety and welfare of the life in the shed. Provided -with mouth-organs and bones, or Jew's harps, they would play and skylark -about for a long time and leave their boilers unattended at considerable -risk. I have often known them to be away from their posts for an hour at -a stretch, and to allow the water in the boilers to become almost -entirely evaporated before they returned to fill them up again, which, -as everyone knows, is an exceedingly dangerous practice. By the common -regulation attaching to boilers, the water should never be permitted to -fall below that point when it is visible in the gauge-glass. If it is -allowed to do so the position becomes dangerous immediately, and, to -obviate accident, the bars of the furnace fire should be withdrawn and -no cold water admitted. - -Once a youth--a wild, reckless fellow--was absent from the boiler an -unusually long time in the middle of the morning before dinner. The -stampers watched the water in the gauge-glass drop little by little and -finally vanish, and still no one came to attend to it. Being a little -anxious about it I sent several men and boys to try and find the -boilerman, but without avail. His mates were nowhere to be found either, -and the foreman was away from the shed at the time. From being anxious I -soon felt alarmed. The matter was becoming serious, and we were not -allowed, under any circumstances, to meddle with the injectors -ourselves. - -As I was warning all men in the locality of the danger the boilerman -arrived, a little frightened, but in a desperate mood. I advised him to -take the usual course in such a case, to have the fire withdrawn from -the furnace and allow the boiler to burn, but as this would have meant -certain dismissal for him he decided to risk everything and fill up the -boiler or explode it. As he was determined in his foolhardy resolution -we collected our mates and left the shed, retiring to a safe distance. -By good fortune, however--by pure luck, and nothing else--the boiler -received the water safely, though with a great deal of shuddering, and -the danger was past. To make the best--or the worst--of it, there were -three men on the back of the boiler at the time, laying on the coat of -magnesia, for it had not been erected many days. Although we gave them -warning of the danger they took not the slightest notice, but kept -working away, in a hurry to get the job done, for it was piecework. If -the boiler had exploded, packed as it was with terrific pressure and -priming furiously, they would have been blown to atoms. - -The bold and daring of the shed indulge in many jeers and -uncomplimentary remarks, if some others, in the face of real danger, -should adopt precautionary measures and take heed of their safety, but -experience has taught me that it is better to be apprehensive and -cautious and to take pains to safeguard oneself than to score a cheap -victory by bravado and carelessness. When danger threatens in the -factory, the best course is to stand quite clear at all costs; it is -then no shame to put into practice the words of the old proverb, -slightly amended: "He that works and runs away will live to work another -day." By far the greater proportion of the accidents that happen daily -at the works are the direct result of inattention, of not taking notice -of warnings uttered by others, and the failure to exercise the instinct -of self-preservation natural to each individual. It is not that the men -are absolutely careless of themselves; it is rather that the care they -do take is not considerable or sufficient. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - - FORGING AND SMITHING--HYDRAULIC - OPERATIONS--"BALTIMORE"--"BLACK SAM"--"STRAWBERRY" AND - GUSTAVUS--THE "FIRE KING"--"TUBBY "--BOLAND--PINNELL OF - THE YANKEE PLANT - - -The drop-stamps and forgers, together with the plant known as the Yankee -hammers--so called by reason of their having been introduced from the -other side of the Atlantic--are the life and soul of the shed. The -hydraulic machines, through their noiseless and almost tedious operation -and the considerably less skill required on the part of the workmen in -carrying out the various processes, are dull and tame in comparison with -them. The steam-hammers, both by their noise, speed, and visible power -and by the alertness and dexterity of the stampers and forgers, are -certain to compel attention. There is a great fascination, too, in -standing near the furnace and watching the sparkling, hissing mass of -metal being withdrawn by the crane, or seeing the heated bars removed -from the oil forge and clapped quickly on the steel dies to be beaten -into shape. No one can withstand the attraction of the steam-hammers; -even those who have spent a lifetime in the shed like to stand and watch -the stampers and forgers at work. - -Forging and smithing are, without doubt, the most interesting of all -crafts in the factory; other machinery, however unique it may be, will -not claim nearly as much attention. Visitors will pass by the most -elaborate plant to stand near the steam-hammers, or to watch the smith -weld a piece of iron on the anvil. The small boy who has just been -initiated into the shed, the youth, the grown-up man, and the -grey-haired veteran are bound to be attracted by the flashing of the -furnace and the white-hot metal newly brought out. They are greatly -delighted, too, with the long, swinging blow of the forging hammers, or -the short, sharp stroke of the stampers; to watch the metal being -transposed and conforming to the pressure of the dies, to see the sparks -shooting out in white showers, and the men sweating; to feel the earth -shaking, and to hear the chains jingling, the steam hissing and roaring -and the blows echoing like thunder all the time. To stand in the midst -of it and view the whole scene when everything is in active operation is -a wonderful experience, thrilling and impressive. You see the lines of -furnaces and steam-hammers--there are fifteen altogether--with the -monkeys travelling up and down continually and beating on the metal one -against the other in utter disorder and confusion, the blazing white -light cast out from the furnace door or the duller glow of the -half-finished forging, the flames leaping and shooting from the oil -forges, the clouds of yellow cinders blown out from the smiths' fires, -the whirling wheels of the shafting and machinery between the lines and -the half-naked workmen, black and bare-headed, in every conceivable -attitude, full of quick life and exertion and all in a desperate hurry, -as though they had but a few more minutes to live. And what a terrific -din is maintained! You hear the loud explosion of the oil and water -applied for removing the scale and excrescence from the iron, the ring -of the metal under the blows of the stampers or of the anvil under the -sledge of the smiths, the simultaneous priming of the boilers, the -horrible prolonged screeching of the steam-saw slowly cutting its way -through the half-heated rail, the roaring blast, the bellowing furnace, -the bumping Ajax, the clanking cogwheels, the groaning shears, and a -hundred other sounds and noises intermingled. There is the striker's -hammer whirling round, this one pulling and heaving, the forgeman -running out with his staff, the stamper twisting his bar over, the -furnaceman charging in his fuel, the white slag running out in streams -sparkling, spluttering, and crackling, the steam blown down from the -roof through the open door, the thick dust, the almost visible heat, the -black gloom of the roof and the clouds of smoke drifting slowly about, -or hanging quite stationary like a pall, completely blotting out the -other half of the shed, all which form a scene never to be forgotten by -those who shall happen to have once viewed it. - -The hydraulic work, on the other hand, though interesting, is not -engrossing. There is a lack of life and animation in it; it is not -stirring or dramatic. The huge "rams" of the presses, though capable of -exerting a pressure equal to two hundred tons weight, descend very -slowly; the quick, alert steam-hammer could strike at least ten or a -dozen blows while the ram is once operating. So rapid is the blow of the -steam-hammer that the pressure raised in the metal by the impact of the -dies is often still unspent when the hammer rebounds, so that, as the -dies separate, if the metal is very hot, it explodes and flies asunder. -The speed of the rebound may be gauged by the fact that the stamper can -actually see the flow of metal in the dies from the blow after the -hammer has left it. The metal, as the result of this, will frequently -overflow the edge of the bottom die, and when the hammer descends again -the top die will have to shear away a quarter, or half an inch. - -It is instructive to note the effect of the blows on the hot metal. -Continual beating it will quickly raise the temperature of the iron or -steel; I have many times raised the heat of a piece in operation from a -dull yellow to a brilliant welding pitch during the delivery of three or -four blows. Hammers have recently been invented that, with continually -beating on cold metal, will make it sufficiently hot to allow of drawing -and shaping; but though such machinery is interesting, it is not of much -use for serious manufacture. Compressed air, directed on metal of a dull -yellow heat, will soon considerably increase its temperature; you may -easily burn a hole quite through a six-inch steel bloom by the method. - -The flying of sparks through the air will greatly intensify their heat; -after travelling a few yards they will become very dazzling and -brilliant and explode like fireworks. Sometimes a piece of this -superfluous metal, an ounce or more in weight, forced out from the die -with the blow, will shear off and fly to a great distance--often as much -as sixty or seventy yards. This, at the moment of leaving the die, may -be no more than a dull yellow, but by the time it falls to the ground it -will be intensely hot and will throw off a shower of hissing sparks. The -shearing-off of the bur is a source of great danger to the workmen. I -have several times been struck with pieces and been brought to the -ground in consequence; the effect is almost as though you had been -struck with a bullet from a gun. - -Nothing of this kind is ever possible with the hydraulic machines. If a -weld is to be made it must be performed with one stroke of the ram; -after the top die leaves the metal it will be too cool to receive any -benefit from a second application of the power. Welding by hand or steam -power is always preferable to that performed by hydraulic action; a -joint that is made with six or ten small quick blows will be far more -effective and durable than where the iron has been simply squeezed -together by one operation of the ram. As soon as the hydraulic dies meet -the metal is considerably chilled. Instead of intensifying the heat, as -in the case of the steam-hammer, the cold tools greatly lessen it. The -weld, when made, will most certainly be short and brittle. - -Some portion of the personnel of the shed has already been given, but of -the hundred and fifty comprising the permanent staff of the place -several are conspicuous among the rest for strangeness of habit, queer -characteristics, or strong personality. The men are a mixture of many -sorts and of several nationalities--English, Scotch, Welsh, and Irish. -There is the shaggy-browed, fierce-looking son of Erin; the canny Scot -from Motherwell over the border; the gruff and short-tempered old -furnaceman from Dowlais; the doughty forger from Middlesborough; the -cultured cockney with his superb nasal twang; the Lancastrian with his -picturesque brogue; a representative of distant Penzance; an ex-seaman, -nicknamed "The Jersey Lily," from the Channel Islands, and those hailing -from nearly every county in the Midlands and south of England, from -"Brummagem Bill" to "Southampton Charlie." There are ex-soldiers and -sailors with arms and breasts tattooed with birds, flowers, serpents, -fair women and other emblems, and who have seen service in the East and -West Indies, China, Egypt, or the Transvaal; those who constantly pride -themselves on having once been in gentlemen's service--though they do -not tell you how they came to leave it! butchers and bakers, -professional football players, conjurers, bandsmen, and cheap-jacks. - -"Baltimore" works the middle drop-stamp, about halfway up the shed, and, -in the line of smaller steam-hammers opposite to him, toils a mulatto -known to everyone about the place as "Black Sam," or "Sambo." They are -old hands, having both come to the premises as boys, where they have -since been, except for the time when "Balty" was absent for the annual -training in the local Militia. It is not explained how he came to -receive the nickname. Black Sam is so called from his very dark -complexion, his short, black, curly hair and large, dark eyes. Baltimore -is rather ordinary in appearance. His forehead is low, his cheek-bones -high and his nose irregular. His lips are thick, he has a pointed chin -and lantern jaws. He is of medium height, square and broad shouldered. -As he walks his shoulders sway to and fro and up and down, keeping time -with his footsteps; he is exceedingly unmilitary both in physique and -movement. - -It was by reason of these characteristics that Baltimore obtained the -attention of his shopmates. They all laughed rudely to see him in the -old-time Militia uniform--scarlet tunic much too big, with regulation -white belt, baggy trousers too long in the legs, heavy bluchers on the -feet and, instead of the swagger headgear worn in the Service to-day, -the old Scotch cap with long streamers behind and a little swishing cane -in the hand or under the arm. It is carefully handed down and passed -from one to the other that when Balty was at home on furlough all the -small boys of the street would gather round him, sniggering and jeering, -and making fun of his cut and appearance, and it is said furthermore -that he used very unceremoniously to drive them away with his cane -crying--"Get out, you young varmints! 'Aven't you never seen a sojer -before?" In the shed and at the furnace he continued to attract -attention and be the subject of jocular remarks made by his workmates. -They never would take him seriously, not even though he came in time to -work one of the biggest drop-stamps and be reckoned among the honourable -company of forgers. - -To all the superfluous attentions and mock regard of his fellow-mates -Baltimore preserves a good-natured and even an indulgent attitude; he is -not at all disconcerted with their wit and sarcasm. Though not one of -the most skilful of workmen, he is very shrewd and painstaking; his -whole heart and soul are in the business. From morning till night he is -toiling and sweating over his blooms and forgings, and when he is off -the premises he is still concerned with his occupations at the hammer. -He will sometimes tell one of his mates how he lay awake the greater -part of a night working out in his mind some problem connected with a -difficult piece of forging and then came in the next morning and -triumphantly finished the job. - -Sambo's father was an army veteran, a sergeant, who took for his wife an -Indian woman and became the parent of a family, of whom Samuel is the -eldest. He is of medium height, thin, but very erect, with low shoulders -and long neck. The forehead is sloping, the nose rather thick. He has -large dark eyes with tremendous whites, short woolly hair, high -cheekbones, skin very dark and sallow. The whole countenance is long and -the head angular; he has the clear characteristics of the half-cast. The -general opinion is that Sambo is out of place in the shed. He ought -rather to have been trained for a life on the stage; without doubt he -would have made a good pantomimist. Both his appearance and manner are -comical; he causes everyone to smile by reason of his ludicrous -expressions and grotesque facial contortions. - -Sambo is quite aware of his own funniosity and readily lends himself to -the amusement of the small fry that sometimes come to gaze upon him. -Snatching up a shovel, he claps it to his shoulder as though it were the -traditional nigger's instrument and, rolling his eyes and turning up the -whites of them, pretends to be fingering the banjo while he sings a few -lines of the "Swanee River" or other coon song. Sambo has always been -the butt of the rougher section in the shed and has been forced to -suffer many indignities. It was a common thing for the bullies of the -place to throw him on the ground and disgrace him. This they continued -to do long after he had married and become the father of children. - -Working just beyond Sambo, at the next furnace, is the very shadow of a -man--a mere frame, a skeleton, which a good puff of wind might very -likely throw down. He is stripped to the waist and hatless. His hair is -long and it stands upright. His flannel shirt is thrown open; his -trousers merely hang on him, and he is as black as a sweep with the -smoke and grime of the furnace. This is "Strawberry," sometimes also -known as "Gooseberry." His features are remarkably small and fine, and -his neck is no bigger round than a span. He does not appear strong -enough to do any work, but, for all that, he is very tough and wiry. -Many a one laughs at him and tells him that he is melting away "like a -tallow candle," but he answers them all boldly and tells them, with a -merry twinkle in his tiny dark eyes, that he is all right. "You look -after yourself, mate, and don't fret about me," says he. - -Strawberry was at one time a cobbler, and used to get his living by the -patching up and renovation of old soles. Long after he entered the shed -he kept up the employment in his spare time, but by and by he -discontinued the work and betook himself to the more genteel though less -lucrative pursuits of flute-playing and photography. For a time he -donned uniform and played in the local band, and then, after a while, -that had to be discontinued. Now all his thought and care is to take -photographs and make models of steam-engines, magic lanterns and -cinematographic instruments. Mounted on a cycle, and provided with a -camera, he scours the country round at week-ends for customers and comes -home and does the developing and printing on Sundays. He is thoroughly -versed in time exposures and the various mysteries of photographic -development. Wherever he goes he carries a book of instructions in his -pocket, and if you stop to speak with him for a moment he is sure to -tell you of some new lens or snap-shot arrangement he has lately made, -or wearies you nearly to death with an attempted explanation of the -compounds in his home-made developers--"Hypo-tassum" something or other, -and the rest of it. - -Another of Strawberry's hobbies is the blind poring over fusty books, -several hundreds of years old, bought at auctions and usually fit for -nothing but the fire or dust-heap. These he treasures with great care, -and he is frequently trying to expound the contents of them to his -workmates, and to any others who will suffer to listen to him for a few -moments. His latest passion is to seek out old caves, ruins and -legendary sites; he is musician, artist, engineer, archaeologist and -antiquarian combined. What he will become ultimately no one knows. I -much fear, however, that he will suffer the furnaceman's fate in the end -and perish of the smoke and heat of the fires. - -Strawberry succeeded Gustavus, who died under very sad circumstances. -Poor Gus was most unfortunate, though such cases as his are not of -uncommon occurrence. He had been through the war in South Africa, and -had fought there for his country. He had not been long on the furnace. -His health was not good at the best of times. If regard for a man's -health were had at the time of putting him on a job Gus would never have -gone to the fires, but there is a ruthless, and very often a sinister, -disregard of a man's physical condition when he is wanted to fill a -difficult post. About a year before Gus's wife contracted milk fever, -after confinement. This affected her reason and she had to be removed; -her case was pronounced hopeless--absolutely hopeless. This came as a -great shock to Gus; there were five little children, all babies, one of -them new-born. He had no friends to come and take care of them and he -was poor--very poor. Accordingly, with a little assistance from the -neighbour, he determined to look after them himself. The oldest boy -prepared the meals by day; Gus saw to the general needs at night and did -the washing Sundays. Very soon one of the mites fell ill and had to go -to the workhouse hospital. All the others but one suffered sickness, and -Gus very soon followed suit. Worn out with the day's work at the furnace -and obliged to toil and watch half the night over his infants, he soon -fell a prey to ill-health, and was compelled to stop at home from work. - -Then the little stinging insects of the shed began to cavil and sneer. -"He's oni shammin'. Ther's nothin' the matter wi' he. He's as well as I -be. He oni wants to shirk the furnace. Kip un to't when a comes in." By -and by Gus started work again, but not till the overseer had played a -treacherous trick upon him and tried to have him rejected at the medical -examination through an innocent and incautious remark he had chanced to -let fall concerning himself. The fact of the matter was, Gus was a -broken, ruined man. His general health was gone. His sight was failing; -his constitution was wrecked. For several weeks he dragged himself to -work, in a last desperate effort to keep a home for his babes and supply -them with food, though anyone might have seen that he was in positive -torture all the while. At last he could bear up no longer. He came to -work the fore part of the week, then stopped at home; in three days he -was dead. His little boys and girls went to the workhouse, or to -charities. One has to die before his mates in the shed think there is -anything the matter with him. Then, in nine cases out of ten--especially -if he happens to be one of the poorest and most unfortunate--he is -mercilessly sneered over. Probably that was his own fault. They even -blame him for dying; in three days he is almost totally forgotten. Cruel -hearts and feelings are bred in the atmosphere of the factory. - -There is one "Fire King" and only one; all the others are mere -apprentices--nobodies. He comes from "The Noth," from Middlesborough, of -great iron fame. Without doubt he is a marvel. He is always talking -about the "haats" they used to draw "way up there." It was prodigious. -There is nothing like it down south. "Wales! I tell you Wales is a -dung-hill; they can't do it for nuts." He looks at you with -inexpressible scorn. Then he plunges the bar into the furnace hole and -stirs up the coals, "stops up" again, peers through the iron door and -comes back mopping his face with the wiper. "I tell you tha be a lot o' -cow-bangers about here. Tha never sin a furnace nor a haat afore. When I -was at Sunderland"--here he gives an especially knowing wink, and -scratches one side of his nose with his forefinger, drawing his head -near to your ear and speaking in an undertone--"when I was at -Sunderland, though I says it myself, there wasn't a man on the ground -as could hold a candle to Phil Clegg. The manager allus used to stop and -talk to me about the haats, and slip a crown piece into mi hand for a -drink. 'Clegg,' says he, 'I've learned from you what I never knew -before.'" All this is accepted with reserve in the shed. It may or may -not have been true; one is not compelled to believe all the -extraordinary reports circulated by the forgers and furnacemen. - -Some years ago the doughty one was set to do some initial forging in -steel blooms and spoiled three parts of the material by overheating. -"Bad steel! damn bad steel! 'Twunt stand a bit o' haat," said he. The -matter was accordingly reported to the managers, and word was sent to -the firm that had manufactured the blooms--"Bad steel! Bad steel!" -passed all along the line. Then the manufacturers' representative came -to inspect the process and to report upon the quality of the metal. The -Fire King scraped his leg and scratched his nose and talked much of -"kimicals," winking at his mates and getting his metal to a fizzing -heat. "Too hot, too hot," said the representative. "Aye! man, but we -must get it so hot or the hammer wunt bate it down," the Fire King -replied. "Get a heavier hammer," said the inspector, touching the spot -immediately, and walking off in disgust. The steel was all right, it was -merely overheated. Thereafter the Fire King's prestige visibly -diminished. He became the scorn of the furnaces; he was humbled and -disgraced for ever. He was subsequently put in charge of the damping-up -of the furnaces, and he styled himself foreman of the night shift there, -which was one, besides himself. - -After all, "Tubby" is the best furnaceman. He hails from Wales, "the -true old country, where the men comes from," according to him. Tubby is -short, fat and round, about the size of a thirty-six barrel, and he is -extremely short-legged. His head is quite bald and shines well. His -features are regular and well-formed. He has an aristocratic nose, thick -neck, and shoulders shapeless with fat. At the fire he strips off his -outer shirt and only retains his flannel vest. The sleeves of this are -cut short to the shoulders and it is fastened at the neck by means of -strings threaded with a bodkin. He drinks an enormous quantity of cold -water, and it is singular that he never uses a cup but swallows it from -the large two-gallon pot. To this habit he attributes his uncommonly -good health and fine proportions. - -He is a genius at the fire. Whether the furnace be in a good or bad -condition he will soon have it as radiant as a star, and he is -marvellously cool at it. His speech has a strongly Welsh accent and he -talks with great rapidity, especially when he happens to become excited. -At such times it is difficult to understand him; he pours out his words -and sentences like a cataract. - -Notwithstanding the old furnaceman's skill and general inoffensiveness, -he could not escape a little practical joking at the hands of the -youths. In the shed was an iron bogie, in the shape of a box, just big -enough to contain his Falstaffian body. When he was on night duty he -always seized upon this as a sleeping bunk for meal hours. Resting it -upon the handles forward he sat in it, with his head at the back and his -feet hanging over the front, and slept profoundly, with his arms folded -and a coat drawn over his face. When he had fallen asleep several -hard-hearted youths came up quietly and attached a strong rope to each -handle of the bogie. They then raced off with it as fast as they could -travel, going out of the shed and returning by a roundabout route to the -furnace over bricks and stones, steel rails, and anything else that -happened to be in the way. The jolting was terrific, but the bogie was -drawn at such a rate that poor Tubby dared not attempt to get out and -was forced to endure it as best he could. Arrived back at the furnace -the youths speedily decamped and Tubby never knew for certain who had -perpetrated the joke upon him in the darkness. - -_Dominus vobiscum. Et cum spiritu tuo. Domine sanctorum._ The old -ash-wheeler leans on his shovel and thus addresses you with profound -gravity, as though he were the reverend Father himself ministering to -his flock in the church. Boland is an Irishman and hails from far -Tipperary. He brought his old mother over to England many years ago and -has since dwelt in the railway town. He is a typical Hibernian. He is -square-set and distinctive in feature, with heavy brows, thickish nose, -strong eyes, and firm, expressive mouth. Notwithstanding the fact that -he is slighted by the critical of the shed he has a good many virtues; -underneath his rough exterior is concealed a wealth of kindness and -good-nature. In common with the bulk of his race he is a Catholic in -religion. If you should approach him on the subject you would be -surprised at his interest in and affection for his Church and doctrine: -he is immovable in his simple and childlike faith. In speaking of any -matters connected with it his voice will be solemn and hushed; he is -filled with reverence and awe. Though not a very constant church-goer he -yet manages to attend at festival times and pays considerable attention -to the sermon. He will always tell you the text, and in summing up the -Father's oratorical abilities he tells you, as a climax, that he can "go -back in history two hundred years." - -The last and most important of all to be dealt with is Pinnell, of the -Yankee Plant. He is by far the hardest working man in the stamping shed. -In the first place he cannot help being a hard worker, for it is his -nature so to be. Rest and he are most inveterate enemies. He _must_ -find something or other to do; he could not be idle though he tried -never so hard. In the second place he is bound to work hard. The job -requires it, or, at any rate, the "super" requires it, which is a -slightly different matter. Pinnell used to work one of the small -drop-stamps and was always remarkable for his conscientiousness and -dogged perseverance. He was the first to start work and the last to -finish. He would never take a moment's spell. If there had been no work -he would promptly have made some, and have kept plodding away at his -forge and stamp. Accordingly, when the miraculous tools from the other -side of the Atlantic--which, in the opinion of the Yankee innovator, -were going to smash up the other section altogether and displace half -the men in the shed--were introduced, Pinnell was the man selected to -start the process and lead the way for others. He had to demonstrate -what the machines were capable of doing, and upon his output would be -based the standard of prices for those to follow after or work beside -him. - -The introduction of the Yankee hammers and the oil furnaces for heating -was the beginning of hustle in the shed. Everything was designed for the -man to start as early as possible, to keep on mechanically to and from -the furnace and hammer with not the slightest pause, except for meals, -and to run till the very last moment. His prices were fixed accordingly. -Every operation was correctly timed. The manager and overseer stood -together, watches in hand. It was so and so a minute; that would amount -to so much in an hour, and so much total for the day. If Pinnell flagged -a little--it is dreadful to have to keep hammering away for hours in an -exhausted condition, with never a moment's pause--if he flagged a -little, or checked the oil somewhat in the forge, the overseer promptly -set it going again and pricked him on to greater effort, answering his -words--if he ever dared utter any--with a wheedling and plausible -excuse, and telling him it was not at all hard; "Just a busy little -job," and so forth. If nature required that he should leave the forge -and walk across the shed, that was the subject of a note--"One minute -and three-quarters gone." Did he think he could beat the records of all -the other men at the stamps? The manager hoped he would try hard to do -so, he wanted the machine to be quite first in output. The prices were -weighed, chiselled, and pared with great exactness, even to the -splitting of a farthing: "A halfpenny is too much for this job; I shall -give you three-eighths." Moreover, the overseers only timed him in the -morning, after breakfast, which is the most active part of every day, -and when all are fresh and fit for work, or never, so that the prices -were fixed at a time when everything was going at its best. It is -impossible to maintain the same speed in the afternoon, or even during -the latter part of the morning towards dinner-time, that one is capable -of after breakfast. - -So Pinnell was little by little broken in to the new conditions. -Whatever protests he made were of no avail. If the acute manager -happened to make a slight misjudgment and give him a fair price for a -job, one or other of the shed overseers--though always very flip with -him to his face--rushed off privately and informed about it, and had it -cut down to the dead level. Very often the overseers competed with each -other to see which could make the lowest quotation in order to get into -favour with the managers. Once, after playing an underhanded game in the -fixing of prices, the foreman even induced Pinnell to leave his hammer -and forge and go and protest to the manager himself, though he knew -very well the matter was nothing but a farce. When the deluded one -arrived at the office he was received with studied courtesy. A little -arithmetic was entered into, and it was proved beyond all doubt that the -job was well, and even generously, paid for. Accordingly, feeling rather -foolish at his boldness in going to the manager and his failure to -succeed in the matter, Pinnell returned to his work, while the overseer -stood in hiding and watched him back to his hammer, laughing at his -simplicity. - -When at last he found that there was no escape for him, he settled down -in despair, and decided to bury himself at the toil. So exacting is the -labour it admits of no interest whatever in anything else. It is a body- -and soul-racking business, just that which keeps the whole man in a -crushed and subdued state, and makes him a very part of the machinery he -operates. It was nothing but the man's natural zeal for work and grit -that kept him at the task. Night after night he went home to his wife -and children as tired as a dog, too tired even to read the newspaper, or -write a letter. He simply sat in the chair or lay on the couch till -bed-time, completely worn out with the terrible exertions. - -Very soon the abject misery of his condition found expression in words -to his workmates. He was continually wishing himself dead. He said he -should like to die out of it. Life was nothing but a heavy burden, and -there was nothing better in sight in the future; only the same killing -toil day after day. He often wondered _when_ he should die. He had heart -enough for anything, but somehow he felt he could never keep it up, and -everyone told him he was "going home sharp." At the same time, nothing -would prevent him from turning up at the hammer day after day; ill or -well he was sure to be at his post. Sometimes, when his wife exhorted -him to stay at home and recuperate and locked the doors against him, in -the early morning he escaped to work through the window. There was no -detaining him at all; he felt bound to come to the shed and endure the -daily punishment. To intensify his sufferings everyone told him it was -his own fault. He had no one to blame but himself; he should not have -been such a fool as to lend himself so easily to it, they said. - -So, eternally tired with the work--he has two forges to attend to, he -heats all his own bars, drives his own hammer with the foot and operates -the heavy trimmer by the side of it in the same manner--half-choked and -blinded with the reeking smoke and fumes of the oil, sore-footed with -using the treadle, his arms blistered and burnt with the scale and hot -water from the glands and valves--they are very often in bandages--his -hands cut and torn with the sharp ends of the bars, or burned with the -hot ones that sometimes shoot out from the die and slip white-hot -through his palm and fingers, beaten and distressed with the heat, the -gazing-stock of everyone that passes through the shed and who look upon -him as a freak and a marvel, he keeps plodding away, a much be-fooled -and over-worked individual, the utter victim of a cruel and callous -system. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - - FIRST QUARTER IN THE FORGE - - -"Hey-up!" - -"What's up?" - -"Wake up!" - -"What's the matter?" - -"Get up!" - -"Go to hell!" - -"You-u-u! Tell me to go to hell, will you? I'll smash you. -I'll--I'll----" - -"Come on, then! Try it on! I'm not afraid of you! You're nobody!" - -"Well, wake up! and jump about when I tell you." - -"Wake up yourself, whitegut!" - -"Who are you calling whitegut, eh? Who are you calling whitegut?" - -"Who shot the sheep and had to pay for it?" - -"Blast you! I've had enough of your jaw. I'll put your head in that -bucket of oil." - -"_Will_ ya? You got to spell able first." - -Scuffle, in which the younger is thrown down to the ground, after which -he gets up and runs away, crying: - -"Baa-a-a!" - -"I'll give you 'Baa-a-a!' Wait till I get hold of you!" - -"Baa-a-a! Baa-a-a!" - -"Take that! you-u-u!" throwing a lump of coal that misses him and goes -flying through the office window. - -"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! - - 'Everybody's doing it, doing it, doing it; - Everybody's doing it now.'" - -"Yes, and you'll be doing it directly! 'Tis all your fault. If you was -to look after your work instead of acting about so much that wouldn't -have happened. Blasted well light that fire up!" - -"Here's the gaffer comin'." - -"A good job too! I don't trouble." - -"What the hell's up this end? Ya on a'ready this mornin'? I'll send the -pair of you home directly." - -"'Tis my mate here. He's the cause of everything. He's no good to me. He -won't do nothing." - -"D'ye hear this?" - -"I allus does mi whack." - -"Don't talk to me. Hello! What's this 'ere? Who bin smashin' the window? -Ther'll be hell to pop over this. If I reports ya you'll be done for, -both on ya." - -"Please, sir, I kicked a piece of coke and it went through the pane." - -"Hey?" - -"The hammer fled off the shaft and went through the window." - -"Why the devil don't you look after the shaft then, and keep the wedges -tight. You'll knock somebody's head off presently. I daresay you was at -that blasted football again. The first I ketches at it I'll sack. Have -un clean off the ground. I'll give un football!" - -"Light that fire up, Laudy!" - -"Got a job on over 'ere, gaffer." - -"Wha's the trouble?" - -"Top cylinder busted, ram cracked, and the crown of the furnace fell -in." - -"How did that happen?" - -"Night chaps, I s'pose. 'Twas done when we got here this mornin'." - -"You're out for the rest o' the wik then. Set yer mind at rest on that. -Damn it! Everything happens on nights. This blasted night work's a -nuisance. Go and tell Deep Sea and fetch the brickies, and get they on -to't. Wher's yer mates?" - -"Waitin' instructions." - -"They can go home, and stop ther' if tha likes. Got nothin' for 'em to -do. Go and tell 'em." - -"Sign this order, sir." - -"Come on then, quick! No time to mess about with you. Hello! Bailey's -Best! Wha's this for?" - -"Leg irons." - -"You don't want best for them. Cable's good enough for they. What ya -thinkin' about?" - -"Have a look at this 'ere die, guvnor?" - -"Wha's up wi' he?" - -"Wants dressin' out, or else re-cuttin'." - -"Spit in him, and get yer iron hot!" - -"Wanted on the telephone, quick! Number fifteen shop." - -"Got no coke out at the hip, gaffer!" - -"The water tank's half empty." - -"The glass on the boiler's smashed." - -"Please, sir, the chargeman's out, and he got the key of the box." - -"And my mate bin an' squished the top of his finger half off." - -"Damn good job, too! How many more on ya?" - -"Are you coming to answer number fifteen?" - -"Oh, be God!" - -"Another day doin' nothin'. You can never start till the middle o' the -wik." - -"Steady on with that oil, Laudy! Steady on, I tell you! He'll go off -directly." - -"_BANG!_" - -"There! What did I tell you!" - -"Oh, Christ! My eyes got it." - -"Serves you damn well right! I told you on it. You got the front half -out now. Get some oily waste." - -"There's plenty here." - -"You haven't got the back stopped up yet. Get some wet sand and stop -that hole up. Now then! Be quick with you!" - -"Steady on a bit, then! I don't want to get burned to death." - -"Serve you right if you was to!" - -"Steady on, I say! Damn well do it yourself then! I'm not going to get -myself burned." - -"I shut him off. Make haste with you. Ya ready?" - -"Right." - -_Foo-oo-oo-oo-oo._ - -"What a blasted smoke! Shut some of that oil off." - -"Let it alone! That won't hurt. We wants to get on." - -"It gets down my inside. I shall spew in a minute." - -"That'll do you good." - -"Shut some of it off." - -"Let it alone, I tell you!" - -"I'm not going to be pizened." - -"'Tis no worse for you than 'tis for me." - -"I can't see two yards." - -"Hello! Hello! What the hell's on there?" - -"'Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!" - -"Steady on with that oil, mate! We gets all the smoke here." - -"I can't help it." - -"Yes you can help it, too! Shut some of that oil off." - -"That won't make no difference." - -"Wind off, mate! and hammer down. This is a bit too thick. Hey! Gaffer! -Are we expected to work in this?" - -"That'll kill the worms in yer guts." - -"I can't stand this. My head aches splittin'. I'm half-smothered." - -"We don't care a damn about the smoke, mate, as long as we can get the -iron hot. 'Tis no worse for you than 'tis for the rest. If you don't -like it you can stop out. There's plenty more to take yer place." - -"That's all you get for your trouble! Wants the inspector in here. It's -worse than bein' up the chimmuck. Go on, mate! Hammer up, Jim." - -"He'll be all right directly, old man. He ain't got hot yet." - -"Hot, be hanged! He ought to be dropped in the middle of the sea, and -you along with him! The pair of you ought to be down with the -_Titanic_." - -"Don't talk wet!" - -"Come on, Laudy! and put some pieces in the fire." - -"I ain't filled the lubricators yet." - -"Ain't filled the lubricators! What ya bin at this half-hour?" - -"God! Give us a chance." - -"'Twill be breakfast-time before we makes a start." - -"I wish 'tood be! I wants mine." - -"What the hell a' ya talkin' about?" - -"Baa-a-a!" - -"Now then! You knows what I told you! Get and put some pieces in the -fire." - -"Can't find my tongs now." - -"Where did you leave 'em last night?" - -"Chucked 'em down." - -"What's this here?" - -"That en' them." - -"Damn well go and look for 'em then. You'll lose your head directly." - -"Strike a light, mate! That key's in there tight." - -"Look out! Hold that bar up." - -"I wants the tongs first." - -"I shan't hit you." - -"I don' know so much." - -"Come on! A couple o' blows'll do the trick." - -"Not in these trousers!" - -"Old Ernie's thinkin' about the Tango." - -"The tangle, more likely." - -"Don't you worry, mate!" - -"Ya got him?" - -"Right!" - -_Slap, slap, slap._ - -"Whoa! Wait a minute. That hammer's comin' off." - -"Hold him up." - -"Is he shifted?" - -"He's gone a bit, I think." - -"Hold your hand the other side, and feel him." - -"Now go on. Steady, mate!" - -_Slap, slap._ - -"Ho! Hooray!" - -"What did I tell you?" - -"Everybody's doin' it, doin' it, doin' it." - -"Our mate's strong this mornin'. He bin eatin' onions." - -"Give us a bit of that packing. That thin piece! Now get the pinch bar, -and prise the monkey up." - -"How's that?" - -"A bit higher. Right! That'll do." - -"Key in?" - -"Ah! Slap him in." - -"Give us the sledge." - -"Get that big un." - -"Shaft's broke in two." - -"Get the furnace one, then." - -"How about packing?" - -"Same as before." - -"Look out, then!" - -"Blow up, mate?" - -"Right away with you." - -"How tight do you want him?" - -"As tight as you can get him. Slip him in. That'll do now." - -"Hey-yup! Hammer up. He's burned a bit, mate." - -"Be hanged! You only got half a piece." - -"Can't help it. That was stoppin' to get the key out." - -"Go on. Hit him!" - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -"Whoa! That'll do." - -"What's the dies like, chum?" - -"All right now." - -"Blow up?" - -"Ah! Let's have you." - -"Tool up, mate!" - -"The chain's twisted." - -"Can't you see it's upside down! D'you want to smash the bounder? Now go -on." - -_Bang._ - -"Light again." - -_Bang._ - -"That'll do. Oil up." - -[2]"Pi, Pi, Balli! Let's have you! whack 'em along there!" - - [2] [Greek: pai, pai balle] = Boy! boy! whack 'em along. - -"Hullo!" - -_Whizz._ - -"As quick as you like, mate! We've got to move to-day. Hit him, there!" - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -"Whoa! Tool up, quick! Light, now!" - -_Bang._ - -"One more. Light!" - -_Bang._ - -"That got him." - -"Pi, Pi, Balli! All hot! All hot! Let's have you!" - -_Whizz._ - -"Hooray!" - -"Not much afore breakfast, but look out aater!" - -"Wormy's makin' some scrap on the next fire. Look at 'im!" - -"Rat, O! Rat, O! Get that rat out o' the fire, old man." - -"Don't burn 'em! Don't burn 'em!" - -"Another snider, O!" - -"The blasted jumper won't work." - -"Oil they tongs a bit." - -"Pizen that rat in the fire." - -"Go to the boneyard and dig Smamer up, and fetch he back." - -"What the hell are ya talking about? Don't you never spile one?" - -"Hair off! Hair off!" - -"Don't get your bracers twisted." - -"Tell him off, kid." - -"I'll put my hand in your mouth directly." - -"You're the finest worm I've ever seen." - -"Come on here, and not so much of your old buck!" - -"Get out of the road, and let Pep have a try." - -"Damn well get away from here! Who the hell can hot iron with you about? -Your face is enough to spoil anything." - -"Get 'em hot! Get 'em hot!" - -"Get hold of that lever, you reptile!" - -"I've seen better things than you crawling on cabbages." - -"How's that? Will that do for you?" - -_Whizz. Slap._ - -"Get that muck out o' your fire." - -"Hit him hard! Right up." - -_Bang, bang, bang. Knock._ - -"Keep off the top!" - -"You said right up." - -"Shut some of that steam off." - -"Steam's all right." - -"Shut it off, I tell you!" - -"Shut it off yourself! Mind the tongs, or you'll get it." - -_Bang, bang, bang, bang._ - -"Don't answer me back or I'll flatten you out." - -"Nothing's never right for you. You ought to be in a bigger town." - -"Tool up, there!" - -"Rope's off the wheel, mate!" - -"Shut the blasted wind off." - -"He's cut all to pieces." - -"Tha's knockin' the top. I told you of it. I shall ast the gaffer for -another mate. This'll take us till dinner-time. Go and get the spanners, -and ast Sid for a new rope, and look sharp about it!" - -"Now, Laudy! Wake up with you! We shan't earn damn salt." - -"I don't trouble. I can't help it." - -"Well! Come on, then." - -"Tongs won't hold 'em." - -"Get another pair." - -"Which uns?" - -"There's plenty more about." - -"I'm sick o' this job." - -"You don't like work." - -"'Cause you're so fond of it!" - -"Don't waste them ends off. They won't fill up as it is." - -"I reckon the fella as started work ought to come back and finish it." - -_Crack._ - -_Boom._ - -_Bump._ - -"Don't burn the damn things! Look at that! All over me." - -"My clothes is afire." - -"What's yer little game there, eh? Med as well kill a fella as frighten -him to death." - -"Oo! My grub got it!" - -"Get these others out first." - -"What O! I'm not goin' to see _my_ grub burn. What do _you_ think?" - -"All the damn lot'll be spoiled." - -"I don't care a cuss! I got some tiger in there." - -"Steady that oil a bit." - -"God! Doan it stink!" - -"Shut some of it off, I tell you. It's running all over the place." - -"Half on it's water." - -"That second one there, and keep to the top row." - -"Hey-up!" - -_Crack._ - -"Why don't you be careful?" - -_Snap. Bump._ - -"Back tool's jammed now." - -"The safety bolt's broke." - -"Shut the belt off." - -"Look out, then!" - -"Stop the oil, and pull them others out." - -"Let 'em alone! We shan't be a minute." - -"Well! Jump about then." - -"Here's Calliper King comin'!" - -"Tell him to clear off. We can do very well without him. That fellow -makes me mad." - -"If you was to put the spanner on the nuts sometimes you wouldn't get -half the trouble." - -"All right, mate! There's no damage done. We can't think of everything." - -"Your bearings are hot." - -"They'll get cold directly." - -"You might get them seized." - -"Damn good job! Shove some oil into 'em, kid!" - -"Who are you calling kid?" - -"Look out, there!" - -"I shall report you, mind!" - -"You can please yourself. 'Twon't be the first time. If you'll only keep -out o' the road we shall be all right. Blow up, Laudy!" - -_Foo-oo-oo-oo-oo._ - -"Pull the belt over." - -"Right?" - -"I'm ready." - -"Take him, then." - -_Crack._ - -_Click, clack. Bump._ - -"How's that?" - -"That got him. Now we shan't be long!" - -"Yip ho! All new uns!" - -"I got that pistol in my pocket." - -"Is he any good?" - -"Kill at hundred and twenty." - -"What? Inches?" - -"Inches be damned! Yards, man!" - -"You never killed anything with him." - -"Ain't he, though? I know he have." - -"What have you killed? A dead cat?" - -"Dead cat! You're afraid to let me try him on you." - -"You couldn't hit a barn door." - -"I tell you what I done." - -"What's that? Oh! I know. Who shot the sheep? Baa-a-a!" - -"Shut your blasted head!" - -"Pride o' the Prairie! Got any cartridges?" - -"Half a boxful." - -"Slugs or bullets?" - -"Slugs." - -"Let's have a look!" - -"Get this work done first. 'Twill be breakfast-time directly." - -"Hey-up! He's slightly wasted." - -"I should blasted well think so." - -_Crack._ - -_Boom._ - -"Hello! There's another snider!" - -_Bang._ - -"Keep him there! We don't want your scrap." - -"Pi, Pi, Balli! Tha's a good heat, mate!" - -"We haven't done anything yet." - -"What! Tell somebody else that yarn! Hear that, Jim?" - -"Wha's up?" - -"Chargeman says we ain't done nothin' yet." - -"More we ain't, have us?" - -"Have us not! Tha's only a rumour." - -"I didn't think we had." - -"You bin asleep an' only just woke up. All good uns, too." - -"We shall want 'em, bi what I can see on it." - -"What d'ya mean?" - -"Look at the next hammer! They won't start to-day." - -"How's that, mate?" - -_Whizz._ - -"Mind my toe." - -"Good shot, that!" - -"Cool your tongs out." - -"Have a drink." - -"Put it on the anvil." - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -"Whoa! Tool." - -"Ain't he slippy!" - -"Light blow." - -_Bang._ - -"That takes a bit of doing, one hand!" - -"Come on, Lightning!" - -"Unknown swank!" - -"All hot! All hot!" - -"You'll get the price cut directly." - -"Come and see the boys!" - -"I'm a-lookin' at ya!" - -"Ain't a burned one yet." - -"Don't make a song about it." - -"You got a good mate on the hammer." - -"Fifty without stoppin' the wind. All new uns!" - -"See who you are!" - -"Stand back, and mind the mallet! There's one for you, Wormy!" - -"Take a couple, mate?" - -"Come on with 'em." - -_Slap, slap._ - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -"Fire's gettin' low. Wants some more coke up." - -"Wher' d'ye want thase few pieces, Willums!" - -"Tip 'em up anywhere, Mat!" - -"All you'll get to-day." - -"You're talking wet. They won't last five minutes." - -"You'll hef to see gaffer, then. We got to change knives." - -"Get out of the road, or you'll get your whiskers singed." - -"Dossent thee fret thy kidneys. This is too damn hot for me. You got no -room to mauve." - -"Somebody got to do a bit." - -"Thee dossent do't all." - -"You'd have to go home if I did." - -"Top hammer's stopped now. Middle un's ready." - -"What's up a-top? Going to start, there? See that rope's all right! Have -the sharp edges took off the wheel." - -"We be done for." - -"What's the matter?" - -"Top block broke. Only had forty more to do." - -"Ram up, and get your dies out. Give a hand there, mates." - -"'Tis all bad luck this mornin', ain' it?" - -"'Tis the chaps as make the luck. What do you think? We get on all -right." - -"Here's the bummer in a tear." - -"Why the hell don't you be careful! You'll break all the tackle in -creation. First one thing and then another. Ropes and wheels and dies. -You wants to go home for a month. That 'ood teach 'e a lesson. You don't -trouble a damn for nothing." - -"I asked the fitters to see to it, and they wouldn't come." - -"That block was never strong enough for the job." - -"Go an' fetch Moses. What ya goin' to put in next?" - -"Pull-rod levers. Die seventy-two." - -"Don' want them. Put in hunderd an' one." - -"Chargeman says levers. Wanted urgent. Chaps bin up after 'em." - -"Let 'em wait. I'm the foreman. You knows that." - -"All right. Don' make no difference to me." - -"Did you send for me?" - -"I did. Get on wi' new blocks for piston rods." - -"Any alterations?" - -"Not as I knows on." - -"We've had complaints about the others." - -"I don't care. Let 'em file 'em. The devils be never satisfied." - -"Better have 'em a bit stiffer?" - -"They'm stiff enough. They wasn't set level." - -"They was as level as a billiard table, gaffer!" - -"I could a' shoved my finger underneath 'em." - -"I had 'em packed tight everywhere." - -"Then you didn't have yer iron hot. 'Tis no good to arg' the point. Take -care wi' the next lot, mind!" - -"Let him go to hell! He'd make anybody a damn liar. Key out. Hang on to -that spanner. Damp up, and shut the blower off. Fetch the iron trucks. -We shall want some help to get these out o' the way." - - "Billy, sing that song, - That good old song to me!" - -"Now, Jacko! Give us a hand here." - -"I can't. My leg's bad." - -"That won't hurt your leg, will it? I wants your hand, not your leg. -'Tis all in the gang." - -"I got one stuck on the jumper." - -"All right. Blind you! We'll do it ourselves. This _is_ a show! Come on, -mates! Keep the handles down, and mind he don't tip." - -"Give him a blow on that bar to get him off the jumper, can't ya; and -don't stick up there doin' nothin'. You ain't heard our mate's new -nickname, have you, Wormy?" - -"No. What's that?" - -"Flannel. Know why that is?" - -"No." - -"Cos water allus makes him shrink. Look at him! The only curly-headed -boy in the family!" - -"You hump-backed, monkey-faced baa-boon! You broke loose from the Zoo, -you did. I won't hit another stroke for nobody, now, damn if I do!" - -"Get out! I'll spiflicate you!" - -"I'll bash the tongs across your head." - -"What ya goin' to do? Take that! _Now_ what ya goin' to do? I've had -enough of your jaw." - -"Let the kid alone, can't you!" - -"I'll get my own back on him, before night, see if I don't. I'll drop -the hammer on his head." - -"Fetch him out, Wormy!" - -"Hey-yup!" - -_Whizz-z-z._ - -"Keep that hammer still, will ya! Hit him if you dares! Now go on. -Steady!" - -_Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang._ - -"Whoa! whoa! steady! steady! Light when I tell ya!" - -_Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang._ - -"Blast you! What a' you doin'? You smashed him all to pieces." - -"I told you I'd do it." - -"Workin' your breakfast-time, there?" - -"Goin' to keep on all day?" - -"Ain't you goin' to chuck up?" - -"How's the balance?" - -"What! only just started?" - -"Whack 'em along!" - -"How many more?" - -"Work 'em out!" - -"What time is it?" - -"'Ere's old Sid with the checks!" - -"What's up, Flannigan?" - -"Only wants two minutes!" - -"Flatfoot's gone by." - -"You're on late, mate!" - -"What's going to happen?" - -"Got a book-ful?" - -"Tool up, there!" - -"Put him up yourself!" - -"Put that tool up, Wormy, and catch hold o' that lever." - -"Light blow!" - -_Bang._ - -"Whoa! That'll do." - -"What cheer, Sid!" - -"Stand back, here, and let's get by." - -"Wants a lot o' room for a little un, don't ya?" - -"Not so much as you. Not so much as you. My time's precious, not like -yourn. We got summat to do, we have." - -"Ah! Sit on your backside an' count they checks out, that's all." - -"Goin' to have your bit o' brass when I offers it to you?" - -"Put him on the anvil." - -"Shan't! Take him in your hand. Lose him, and then blame me." - -"My hand's oiley!" - -"Don' matter! Wipe him in your breeches, can't you? Come on, kidney -bean-stick!" - -"Little fat maggot!" - -"Go on, bones!" - -"Pimple on a cabbage!" - -"Alpheus!" - -"Sideus!" - -"_Nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit!_" - -"[Greek: sphragidonuchargokometes]." - -"Lend my father your wheelbarrow!" - -"Using your knife breakfast-time, kid?" - -"No! I got bread and scrape." - -"Who got the frying-pan?" - -"You can have him for a fag." - -"I got a bit o' dead dog, I have." - -"What d'ya call it? Looks like a bit of Irish." - -"That never died a natural death!" - -"That drove many a man up a tree!" - -"Lend us that catalogue of firearms, Dick!" - -"He's underneath the bucket." - -"How much longer ya going to keep on?" - -"I wants to get my blocks right afore breakfast." - -"Laudy! You left that rotten stinking oil on." - -"No, I didn't!" - -"Yes you did! Stop it off, and put that board in the hole!" - -"I tell you it's shut off. That's only the stink you can smell." - -"It makes me feel rotten. I shan't want any grub." - -"Ain't it damn hot! We shall be dead afore night." - -"Hit him, Wormy!" - -_Bang, bang, bang._ - -"Whoa!" - -"What's the die like?" - -"Wants to go over a bit yet." - -"Chuck it up!" - -"Lie down, can't you!" - -"Mind your own business!" - -"Put him through the tool." - -"Got the coke ready for after breakfast, Jim?" - -"Ah!" - -"I'm going to put you through your facings, by and by." - -"I don't trouble! I ben' a-goin' to work no harder for nobody." - -"Look out for Ratty! He's peepin' about. He's going to report the first -one as puts his coat on afore the hooter goes." - -"He's worse than old Wanky!" - -"'Tis all damn watchmen here!" - -"How's the minutes?" - -"It's quarter past." - -"There's the buzzer!" - -"There he goes!" - -"Tools down, mates!" - -"Whack 'em down!" - -"Hooter!" - -"Hoo-ter-r!" - -"Hoo-oo-ter-r-r!" - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - - THE NIGHT SHIFT--ARRIVAL IN THE SHED--"FOLLOWING THE - TOOL"--THE FORGEMAN'S HASTE AND BUSTLE--LIGHT AND - SHADE--SUPPER-TIME--CLATTER AND - CLANG--MIDNIGHT--WEARINESS--THE RELEASE--HOME TO REST - - -Whatever the trials of the day shift at the forge may be, those of the -night turn are sure to be far greater. For the daytime is the natural -period of both physical and mental activity. The strong workman, after a -good night's rest and sleep, comes to the task fresh, keen, vigorous, -and courageous. Though the day before him be painfully long--almost -endless in his eyes--he feels fit to do battle with it, for he has a -reserve of energy. In the early morning, before breakfast, he is not at -his best. He has not yet "got into his stride," he tells you. His full -strength does not come upon him suddenly, it develops gradually. He can -spend and spend and spend, but cannot exhaust. Nature's great battery -continues to yield fresh power until the turn of the afternoon. Then the -rigid muscles relax, and the flesh shows loose and flabby. The eyes are -dull, the features drawn; the whole body is tired and languid. - -But this is with the day shift, working in the natural order of things. -A great change is to be observed in the case of the night turn. There -nature is inverted; the whole scheme is reversed. The workman, unless he -is well seasoned to it, cannot summon up any energy at all, and he -cannot conquer habit, not after months, or even years of the change. -When, by the rule of nature, he should be at his strongest and the -exigencies of the night shift require that he should sleep, that -strength, bubbling up, keeps him awake, dead tired though he be, and -when he requires to be active and vigorous just the reverse obtains. The -energy has subsided, the sap has gone down from the tree. Nature has -retired, and all the coaxing in the world will not induce her to come -forth until such time as the day dawns and she steals back upon him of -her own free will. That is what, most of all, distinguishes the night -from the day shift, and makes it so wearisome for the pale-faced -toilers. - -There is a poignancy in preparing for the night shift, the feeling is -really one of tragedy. This is where the unnaturalness begins. Everyone -but you is going home to rest, to revel in the sweet society of wife and -children, or parents, to enjoy the greatest pleasure of the workers' -day--the evening meal, the happy fireside, a few short hours of simple -pleasure or recreation and, afterwards, the honey-dew of slumber. As you -walk along the lane or street towards the factory you meet the toilers -in single file, or two abreast, or marching like an army, in compact -squads and groups, or straggling here and there. The boys and youths -move smartly and quickly, laughing and talking; the men proceed more -soberly, some upright with firm step and cheerful countenance, others -bent and stooping, dragging their weary limbs along in silence like -tired warriors retreating after the hard-fought battle. - -There is also the inward sense and knowledge of evening, for, however -much you may deceive your external self, you cannot deceive Nature. -Forget yourself as much as you please, she always remembers the hour and -the minute; she is far more painstaking and punctual than we are. The -time of day fills you with a sweet sadness. The summer sun entering -into the broad, gold-flooded west, the soft, autumn twilight, or the -gathering shades of the winter evening, all tell the same story. It is -drawing towards night; night that was made for man, when very nature -reposes; night for pleasure and rest, for peace, joy, and compensations, -while you--here are you off to sweat and slave for twelve dreary hours -in a modern inferno, in the Cyclops' den, with the everlasting wheels, -the smoke and steam, the flaring furnace and piles of blazing hot metal -all around you. - -Within the entrance the place seems almost deserted. The huge sheds have -poured out their swarms of workmen. The black-looking crowds have -disappeared, and the great, iron-bound doors are closed up and locked. -The watchmen, who have been patrolling the yard and supervising the -exodus of the toilers, are returning to their quarters. Only the rooks -are to be seen scavenging up the fragments of bread and waste victuals -which the men have thrown out of their pockets for them. - -Arrived at the shed you are greeted with the familiar and dreadful din -of the boilers priming, the loud roar of the blast and the whirl of the -wheels. The rush of hot air almost overpowers you. You feel nearly -suffocated already, and half stagger through the smoke and steam to -reach your fire and machine standing under the dark, sooty wall. As you -thread your way in and out between the furnaces and among the piles of -iron and steel you receive a severe dig in the ribs with the long handle -of the man's shovel who is cleaning out the cinders and clinker from -beneath the furnaces, or the ash-wheeler, stripped to the waist and -dripping with perspiration, runs against you roughly with his -wheel-barrow and utters a loud "Hey-up!" or otherwise assails you with -"Hout o' the road, else I'll knock tha down," and hurries off up the -stage to deposit his load and then comes down again to get in a stock of -coal from the waggon for the furnaces. Here the smith is preparing his -fire, while his mate breaks up the coke with the heavy mallet; the -yellow flames and cinders are leaping up from the open forge by the -steam saw. The oil furnaces are puffing away and spitting out their -densest clouds of pitchy smoke, filling the shed, while the stamper -fixes his dies and oils round, or half runs to the shears in the corner -and demands his stock of iron bars to be brought forthwith. The old -furnaceman, sweating from the operation of clinkering, shovels in the -coal and disposes it with the ravel. The forging hammers glide up and -down, clicking against the self-act, while the forger and his mates -manipulate the crane and ingot, or charge in the blooms or piles. -Everyone is in a desperate hurry, eager to start on with the work and -get ahead of Nature, before she flags too much. It is useless to wait -till midnight, or count upon efforts to be made in the hours of the -morning. - -All this is during your entry to the shed and often before the official -hour for starting work. On coming to your post you, too, strip off hat, -coat, and vest, and hang them up in the shadow of the forge, then bind -the leathern apron about your waist, see to your own fire and -tools--tongs, sets, flatters, and sledges--obtain water from the tap by -the wall, shout "Hammer up!" to your mate, and prepare to thump away -with the rest. The heat of the shed in the evening, from six o'clock -till ten o'clock, is terrific in the summer months. For hours and hours -the furnaces and boilers have been raging, fuming, and pouring out their -interminable volumes of invisible vapour; the sun without, and the fires -within have made it almost unbearable. The floor plates, the iron -principals, the machine frames, the uprights of the hammers--everything -is full of heat; the water in the feed-pipes is so hot as to startle -you. As the hour draws on, towards nine or ten o'clock, this diminishes -somewhat. The cool night air envelops the shed and enters in through the -doors, restoring the normal temperature, though, if the night be muggy, -there will be scarcely any diminution of the punishment till the early -morning, when there is always a cooling down of the atmosphere. - -Now the general toil commences in every corner of the smithy. The brawny -forger pulls, tugs, or pushes the heavy porter; the stamper runs out -with his white-hot bar, spluttering and hissing, and poises one foot on -the treadle while he adjusts it over the die, then _Pum-tchu, pom-tchu, -ping-tchu, ping-tchu_, goes the hammer, and over he turns it deftly, -blows away the scale and excrescence with the compressed air, and -_pom-tchu, ping-tchu_, again replies the hammer. Here he claps the -forging in the trimmer, click goes the self-act, and down comes the -tool. The finished article drops through on to the ground; the stamper -thrusts the bar into the furnace, turns on more oil and off he goes -again. The sparks swish and fly everywhere, travelling to the furthest -wall; he wipes away the sweat with the blistered back of his hand, -looking half-asleep, and rolls the quid of tobacco in his cheek. - -Hard by the smith is busy with his forge and tools. His mate is ghastly -pale and thin in the yellow firelight, though he himself looks fat and -well. He sets the blast on gently till the iron is nearly fit, then -applies the whole volume, to put on the finishing touch and make the -iron soft and "mellow." This lifts up the white cinders in clouds and -blows them out of the front also, so that now and then they lodge on the -blacksmith's arms and in his hair, but he shakes them off and takes -little notice of them. He jerks the jumper up and down once or twice, -turns the heat round quickly, then shuts off the blast, and with a -lion-like grip of the tongs, brings it to the anvil and lays on with his -hand-hammer, while his mate plies the sledge. Presently he throws down -his hammer, grips the "set tool" or "flatter," and his mate continues to -strike upon it till the work is completed. If the striker is not -proficient and misses once or twice, he jerks out, in a friendly -tone--"On the top, or go home," or, "Go and get some chalk"--_i.e._, to -whiten the tool--or, "Follow the tool, follow the tool, you okkerd -fella." Once, when a smith had a strange mate--a raw hand--with him, and -bade him to "Follow the tool," when he put that down the striker -continued to go for it till it flew up and nearly knocked out the -smith's eye, but he excused himself on the ground that he thought he had -to "follow the tool." - -Here is a skinny, half-naked fellow, striving with all his might to draw -a heavy bogie piled up with new blooms, half a ton or more in weight. -His head is thrown far forward, about a yard from the ground. His arms, -thin and small, are strained like rods of iron behind his back; only his -toes grip the ground. He shouts out to someone near for help. - -"Hey! Gi' us a shove a minute." - -"Gi' thee tha itch! Ast the gaffer for a mate. I got mi own work to do," -the other replies, and keeps hammering away. - -Next is a belated stamper in want of tools. "Hast got a per o' tongs to -len' us a minute, ole pal?" - -"Shove off wi' thee and make a pair, or else buy some, like I got to. -Nobody never lends I nothin'," is the answer he receives. - -This one wants a blow. "Come an' gi' I a blow yer." - -"Gi' thee a blow on the head. I got no time to mess about wi' thee." - -Another is concerned as to the hour--there are those whose thoughts are -always of the clock, anxiously awaiting the next stop. "What time is it, -mate?" - -"Aw! time thee wast better," or "Same as 'twas last night at this time. -Thee hasn't bin yer five minutes it." - -Perhaps the steam pressure is low. "Wha's bin at wi' the steam, matey? -We chaps can't hit a stroke." - -"Got twisted in the pipes, I 'spect. Go an' put thi blower on, an' fire -up a bit, an' run that slag out." - -This one cannot obtain his supply of bars from the shears. "Now Matty! -Hasn't got that iron cut? I can't wait about for thee." - -"Dwunt thee be in sich a caddle. Thee ootn't get it none the zooner. -Other people got to live as well as thee, dost naa!" - -"All right! I shall go and see _he_," (the overseer). - -"Thee cast go an' do jest whatever thee bist a-mine to. 'Twunt make a -'appoth o' difference." - -By and by the overseer comes up and shouts--"Hey! Can't you let these -chaps on, Matthews?" - -"No, I caan't! Tha'll hef to woite a bit. Ther's some as bin a-woitin' -all night, ver nigh. 'Tis no good to plag' I, else ya wunt get nothin' -done at all." - -Here is the forger bellowing at his driver. "Go on! Go on! Hit him! Hit -him! Hit him! Light, ther'! Light! 'Old on! 'Old on! Whoa, then! Castn't -stop when I tells tha? Dost want to spile the jilly thing? Gi' us up -they gauges. A's too thick now. Up a bit, ther! Hit un agyen! Light now! -Light! Light! That'll do! Whoa! Take 'old o' this bar, an' gi' us that -cutter. Now, Strawberry! turn 'e over in the fire, an' don' stand ther' -a-gappatin'. 'Aaf thi 'ed 'll drop off in a minute. Ther's a lot to do -yet, else ya won' get no balance. Hout o' the road, oot!" - -"Haw-w-right. Kip yer wool on. 'Tis a long time to mornin' it. Thee bist -allus in a caddle," the other answers. - -"Shet thi 'ed, an' mind thi own business, else I'll fetch the gaffer to -thee! Pull up ther', an' le's 'ev un out on't. We be all be'ind agyen! -Everybody else ull a done afore we begins! Hang on to that chayn, Fodgy! -Now then! ALL together! UGH!" - -So the ingot is brought out with shouts and cries, the rattling and -jingling of chains and the loud roaring of steam in the roof outside. -The blaze of the furnace and the spluttering, white-hot metal make it as -light as day in the shed. The forger and his mates stagger under the -weight of the ingot and porter-bar and incline their heads to escape the -fierce heat. Their faces and necks are burnt red and purple--of the -colour of blood-poisoning. Their shirt sleeves are hanging loose to -protect their arms; they wear thin, round calico caps on their heads and -leathern aprons about their waists. At the first blow or two the sparks -shriek around, and especially if the ingot is of steel and happens to be -well-heated. The smiths yell out at the top of their voice and rush to -save their clothes hanging up beside the forge. The men's faces look -transfigured in the bright light. Their shadows, huge, weird, and -fantastic, reach high up the wall, even to the roof. The smallest object -is thrown into relief and the shafts of the sledges cast a shadow as -sharp and clear as from the sun at mid-day. As the mighty steel monkey -descends, half covering the white mass, the shadow falls on the roof, -walls, and machinery around, and rises as the smooth, shapely piston -glides upward into the cylinder; up and down, up and down it goes, like -the rising and falling of a curtain. This continues till the heat of -the forging diminishes and the rays of the metal are no longer capable -of overpowering the light cast out from the fire-holes and the smoky, -sleepy-looking gas-jets hanging in lines adown the smithy. - -As the iron becomes cooler the hammer beats harder and harder. The -oscillation is very great and the sound nearly approaches a ring. The -steam roars overhead and leaks and hisses through the joints of the -pipes and glands. The oil in the stamper's dies explodes with a -cannon-like report. The huge hydraulic engines _tchu-tchu_ outside; the -wheels whirr and hum away in the roof, and the smith's tools clang out -or ring sharply on the anvil. Without, through the open doors, the night -shows inky black; the smoke and steam beat down and are blown in with -the wind, or the fog is sucked in quickly by the currents. Now the rain -beats hard on the roof and runs through in streams, while the wind -clatters between the stacks and ventilators overhead with a noise like -thunder; or, if it is mid-winter, the light, feathery snowflakes are -wafted in from above and sway to and fro and round and round, uncertain -where to lodge, until they are dissolved with the heat and finally -descend in small drops like dew upon the faces and arms of the forgers. - -At the end of every hour the watchman with his lamp passes through, like -a policeman on his beat, and stands a moment before the furnace to warm -himself or to watch the shaping of the ingot. The old furnaceman views -him askance, or ventures to address him with a "How do?" or "Rough night -out," to which the other responds with a nod, or a "Yes; 'Tis!" and -takes his departure into the blackness outside. At frequent intervals -the overseer walks round and takes his stand here and there, with his -hands behind him, or twisting his fingers in front, or with his thumbs -thrust into the arm-holes of his waistcoat, and glares at the men, -spitting out the tobacco juice upon the ground or on the red-hot -forging. Presently he shouts:--"Ain't ya done that thing yet? How much -longer ya going to be? He'll want a bit o' salt directly. Wher's -Michael? Ain't he in to-night? Wha's up wi' he?" - -"He's a-twhum along o' the owl' dooman to-night," someone answers. The -grimy toilers curse him under their breath and wish he would soon clear -off, which he presently does, slipping quickly away into the shadows or -climbing up the wooden stairway into the well-lit office. - -The first spell is at ten o'clock--that is, after four hours of terrific -hammering and sweating. This is the supper-hour. Here the engines cease -and the wheels stop their grinding. The roar of the blast has ceased, -too; there is not a flicker from the coke fires. The old furnaceman is -still shovelling away, for the forger was on till the last moment. Now -he "stops up," lays a little coal dust along the furnace door, shuts off -his blower, puts down the damper, and proceeds to rinse his hands in the -water bosh. All the while he was attending to his fire he had the wiper -about his neck and held one corner of it in his mouth. After drying his -hands with it he gives his grimy face a good rub, goes to his clothes -hanging up by the wall, slips on his waistcoat, stirs his tea in the can -with the blade of his pocket-knife, takes his food from the peg and -comes and sits down near the furnace, or in the sand-bunk. The one in -charge of the steam walks from boiler to boiler, setting on the -injectors. They admit the cool water with a murmurous, sleepy -sound--there is no priming yet. The furnace fire glitters through the -chinks of the door or grate like the stars on a frosty night. The old -furnaceman does not eat much. He tastes a little and bites here and -there, then he wraps the whole up again. - -"What! Bistn't agwain to hae thi zupper, then?" some one enquires. - -"No-o! Can't zim to get on wi't to-night," he answers. - -"Well! Chock it out for they owld rats, they'll be glad on't. Yellacks -is a girt un ther' now, in atween they piles!" - -Try how you will you cannot enjoy your food on the night shift. I have -carried mine home again morning after morning, or thrown it out for the -birds in the yard. I have seen men--and especially youths--go to sleep -with the food in their mouths. You are too languid to eat much, and what -you do eat has no savour. It is remarkable, also, that while you -continue working you do not feel the fatigue so much, but as soon as you -sit down you are assailed with increased weariness; you feel powerless -and exhausted and have no strength or energy left. Many, in order to -keep awake and fresh, go out into the town, deserted at that hour. Some -walk outside in the yard and bruise their shins against this or that -obstruction in the darkness. Others, again, after partaking of a few -mouthfuls of food, go on making up their fires, not only to keep -themselves awake, but also to help the work forward and earn their money -for the shift. I have many times worked all night--through both -meal-hours--in the attempt to earn my wages, and then have been -deficient. - -Here and there a small party will sit together and chat the meal-time -away, or a few will endeavour to read. Very soon, however, the newspaper -or book slips from the fingers. The tiredness and heat together prevail; -the eyes close and the mouth opens--the toiler is fast asleep. Presently -someone comes on the scene with a loud shout: "Hey-yup! What! bist thee -vly-ketchin' agyen? Get up and check, else tha't be locked out," or -another staggers round with half-closed eyes and bawls out, "'Ow beest -bi tiself, Bill?" the reply to which usually is, "Thee get an' laay -down," or "None the better for thy astin'." Occasionally several will -start singing a song, or hymn, and be immediately assailed with loud -cries of "Lay down, oot!" or "Yeow! Yeow! Kennul! Kennul!" or a large -lump of coal is thrown against the roof to break and fall in dust upon -the choristers. Some spread rivet bags in front of the furnace and lie -upon them and others lie down upon the bare bricks or iron of the floor. -A few minutes before eleven o'clock the stragglers arrive back from the -town. The old furnaceman bestirs himself, lifts the damper, sets on the -blower, routs the coals of the fire and shouts, "Come on, yer," to his -mates. The steam-hammer man opens the valve and raises the monkey, -making it glide up and down to work the water out of the cylinder, the -forgemen and smiths bustle about again and the terrific din recommences. - -So the furious toil proceeds hour by hour. _Bang, bang, bang. Pum-tchu, -pum-tchu, ping-tchu, ping-tchu. Cling-clang, cling-clang. Boom, boom, -boom. Flip-flap, flip-flap. Hoo-oo-oo-oo-oo. Rattle, rattle, rattle. -Click, click, click. Bump, bump. Scrir-r-r-r-r-r-r. Hiss-s-s-s-s-s-s. -Tchi-tchu, tchi-tchu, tchi-tchu. Clank, clank, clank, clank, clank._ The -noises of the steam and machinery drown everything else. You see the -workmen standing or stooping, pulling, tugging, heaving, dragging to and -fro, or staggering about as though they were intoxicated, but there is -no other sound beyond the occasional shouting of the forger and the -jerking or droning of the injectors. It is a weird living picture, stern -and realistic, such as no painter could faithfully reproduce. If the -oil in the stampers' forges is worse than usual the dense clouds of -nauseating smoke hang over you like a pall so thickly that you cannot -see your fellows a few paces away, making it intensely difficult to -breathe and adding a horrible disgust to the unspeakable weariness. Then -the bright flashing metal and the white gas-jets show a dull red. Even -the sound seems deadened by the smoke and stench, but this is merely the -action of the impurity upon the sense organs; they are so much impaired -with the grossness of the atmosphere as to fail in their functions. By -and by, when the air has cleared a little, it all rushes back upon you -with increased intensity. Everything is swinging and whirling round, and -you seem to be whirled round with it, with not a thought of yourself, -who you are, where you are, or what you are doing, but keep toiling -mechanically away. Ofttimes you would be quite lost, but the revolutions -of the machine, the automatic strokes of the hammer, and the _habit_ of -the job control you. And if this should fail, your mate, half asleep, -whacks his heat along and casts it upon your toe, or sears you with the -hot tongs, or he misses the top of the tool at the anvil and strikes -your thumb instead. There are many things to keep you alive, and always -the fear of not earning your money for the turn and having to be jeered -at and bullied by the chargeman or overseer and so have your life made -miserable. The faces and fronts of the smiths and forgers, as they stand -at the fires or stoop over the metal, are brilliantly lit up--yellow and -orange. Here are the piles of finished forgings and stampings upon the -ground--white, yellow, bright red, dull red, and almost black hot; the -long tongues of fire leap up from the coke forges, and every now and -then a livid sheet of flame bursts out from the stamper's dies. There is -plenty of colour, as well as animation, in the picture, which obtains -greater intensity through contrast with the blackness outside. - -The greatest weariness assails you about midnight, and continues to -possess you till towards three o'clock. Then Nature struggles violently, -demanding her rights, twitching, clutching, and tugging at your eyelids -and striving in a thousand ways to bring you into submission and force -her rule upon you, but the iron laws of necessity, circumstance, and -system prevail; you must battle the power within you and repel the sweet -soother, struggling on in the unnatural combat. The keen eye of the -overseer is upon you, who is always whipping you to your task, or the -watchman is striving to take you loitering and so bring himself into -notice; it is useless to give way. Necessity urges; the body must be -clothed and fed. There are the wife and children at home, and you must -live. I have felt it, and I know what it is. There, in the smoke and -stench, the heat and cold, draught and damp of midnight I have slaved -with the rest, not harder or with greater pains than they, though -perhaps I have noted the feelings whereas they have not. The eyes ache, -the ears ache, the teeth ache, the temples ache, the shoulders ache, the -arms ache, the legs ache, the feet ache, and the heart aches. I have -many times wished, in those dark, awful hours, that the hammer would -smash my head; that I might be suddenly caught and hurled into eternity, -and I have heard others express the same wish openly and sincerely. -Sometimes I have stolen out of the great doors to stand for a moment in -the open in the cold dark or starry night, and looked out towards the -hills, or away over the town with the whirl of the shed behind me. There -was the great red moon showing through the clouds low down, or the -fiercely glittering Mars setting in the west, or inky blackness above, -with a few tiny lights twinkling in the far-off streets of the town and -a silence as deep as death out beyond. If I could but have heard the old -barn owl hooting in the farmyard, the cow lowing in the meadow or stall, -the fox yelping in the little wood, or even the bark of a dog, I should -have been strengthened and relieved, but there was never a sound of -them--nothing but the black outlines of the sheds around, the small -distant lights of the town and the great white blaze and crash of noises -within. Even to pause there is but to intensify the torture and the cold -air soon chills you to the bone. The only course open is to keep toiling -away with the rest and wear the night out. - -The second stop is at two o'clock and is of brief duration--twenty -minutes or half an hour at the outside. It is merely a break in order to -have a mouthful of food, a something, so that it shall not be said that -the men have to toil for seven consecutive hours in that unspeakable -weariness. Here the huge engines become silent again and the heavy -pounding stops. The wheels and machinery under the wall look as inert -and innocent as though they had never moved; it would be difficult to -imagine that they were capable of such noise and uproar if you had not -heard it yourself but a few minutes before. The boilers, relieved of the -strain upon their resources, begin to prime again with a continued -crashing, shattering sound which the boilerman tries in vain to subdue -with cold water through the injectors. The furnace glitters and the oil -forges smoke. The air is laden with the peculiarly nauseous fumes of the -water-gas that make the toilers feel sick and ill and destroy the -appetite. - -This time the men are unusually silent and mopish. Each selects a place -for himself and sits, or lies down, apart from the others. Only the -tough, wiry forgeman, the strong smith, or the hardy coalies and -ash-wheelers can attack the food. The rest usually go to their jackets, -open their handkerchiefs, look at the contents, eat a little perhaps, -half-heartedly, and wrap them up again. The constitution of the forgeman -is almost like iron itself. He and the smith can usually manage their -meal, and the coal-wheelers, from being constantly out in the fresh air, -are not quite as weary as are the others, and so can relish the food -better. On Friday nights--when the men are more than usually drowsy--the -food may be a little more tempting and tasty. At six o'clock the wages -were paid, and at supper-time a few, at least, will have gone or sent -out into the town for an appetizing morsel: some sausages, rashers, a -mutton chop, a pound of tripe, a bloater, or a packet of fried fish and -chipped potatoes--the youth's favourite dainty. Then, in the early -hours, amid the din of the boilers, the black frying-pan or coal shovel -is produced and the savoury odour is wafted abroad. The greatest -pleasure, however, is usually in the anticipation of the meal. The food -itself is seldom eaten--or no more than a small part of it, at -least--the other is cast out for the rats and rooks. Years ago, in the -autumn, we boys used to gather mushrooms in the fields on our way to -work and cook them for "dinner" in the early morning and suffer severely -for it afterwards. Nature, disorganized with the exigences of the night -shift, refused the proffered dainties. It is difficult to digest even -ordinary food taken in the unwholesome air of the shed at such an -unearthly hour. - -Punctually to the moment, if not before time, the engines begin to throb -again; the piston rods, gliding slowly at first, soon attain a rapid -speed. The huge crank, flashing in the bright gas-light, leaps over and -over. The big belt strains and creaks as though it would avoid its -labour and the turning of the shaft overhead, but the heavy fly-wheel -spins round, and the little pulleys and cogs go with it; they must all -obey the urging of the mighty steam wizard lurking in the green-painted -cylinder. The donkey engines, forcing the blast, are coughing and -spitting out the white vapour and labouring painfully under the wall in -the lean-to outside. Within the fires are flashing and the flames -leaping, and the toil goes on as before. - -About three o'clock, or soon after, the weariness begins to diminish -somewhat, and the old habit of the body reasserts itself. The natural -hour of repose is passing, and the fountain of energy begins to bubble -up within you; you feel to be approaching the normal condition again. -The fatigue now gives place to a feeling of unreality and stupidity; you -seem to be dazed and irritable, as though you had been aroused from -sleep before the accustomed time. Now you experience deep pains in the -chest, resulting from loss of sleep. The head aches as though it would -burst and the eyes are very painful and "gritty," but you feel cheered, -nevertheless, with the thought of daylight, the coming cessation from -toil, and the opportunity of obtaining a breath of fresh, pure air -again. The overseer slips to and fro quickly about this time in order to -keep the men well on the move, pricking here and prodding there, and -visiting those whom he knows will tell him all the news of the night's -work--such as may have escaped him. The toilers pay him but little -attention, however, and keep plodding languidly away. - -Steadily, as the day dawns, the light within increases, red, white, or -golden, stealing through the thick glass of the roof or by the wide open -doors, and soon after one appears with a long staff and turns off all -the gas. It is really day once more, and there is not much longer to -go. At twenty minutes past five the hooter sounds loudly, calling up the -men of the day shift, and the pace flags visibly. A few, however, who -have not done any too well in the middle hours of the night, hammer away -with increased energy right up to the last, for they know the day -overseers and the chargemen will go round and feel the forgings to see -how late the others were toiling. If the iron is cool they know that -their mates have been dilatory and the tale is told around. - -A few minutes before six o'clock the engines slow down and stop and the -roar of the blast ceases. The steam-hammers are lowered with a loud thud -and the furnace fires are banked up; the mighty toil is over, for this -turn, at any rate. Now the forgers and stampers unbind their aprons and -roll them up; the smiths stow their tools, placing these in the iron box -and those in the boshes of water to soak the shafts and tighten the -handles of the sledges. After that they swill their hands at the tap, -put on muffler, jacket, or great-coat, and file out of the shed--dirty, -dusty, tired and sleepy-looking. Not for them the joy of morning, the -vigour, freshness and bloom, the keen delight in the open air, the happy -heart and elevated spirit. They slouch away through the living stream of -the day toilers now arriving as black as sweeps, half-blinded with the -bright daylight, blinking and sighing, feeling unutterably and -unnaturally tired, out of sorts and out of place, too, and crawl home, -like rats to their holes, to snatch a little rest, and recuperate for -new efforts to be made on the following turn. - -Few of the men's wives or parents in the town will be up to welcome them -at that early hour and provide them with warm tea and a breakfast. -Accordingly, some go home and straight to bed without food at all, a few -walk about the streets or out towards the country for an hour or so -till the home fire is lit, while others go home and get the breakfast -themselves. Perhaps, if trade in the shed is brisk, they will be -required to work overtime till eight or nine o'clock. I have done this -for months at a stretch and afterwards walked home to the village, -ofttimes sitting down on the roadside to rest, reaching home at about -ten o'clock and getting to bed an hour before noon, to be awakened by -every slight noise without the house. At one time I was aroused by the -old church clock striking, at another by the sound of the school bell, -or the children at play underneath the window, or by the farm waggon. At -four in the afternoon, rested or not, you must rise again, wash and -dress, snatch a hasty meal, and plod off to the town, four miles -distant, forgetful of everything behind you--the gentle peace of the -village, the long line of dreamy-looking hills, the haymakers in the -field, the sweetly sorrowful sound of the threshing machine by the ricks -in the farmyard, the eternal pageantry of the heavens, the whole natural -life and scenery of the world. The knowledge of the loss lies like lead -at the heart and fills one with a keen regret, a poignant sense of the -cruelty of the industrial system and your own weakness with it; yet one -must live. But there is real tragedy in working the night shift at the -forge. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - - INFERIORITY OF WORK MADE BY THE NIGHT SHIFT--ALTERING THE - GAUGES--THE "BLACK LIST"--"DOUBLE STOPPAGE - CHARLIE"--"JIMMY USELESS"--THE HAUNTED COKEHEAP--THE OLD - VALET--THE CHECKER AND STOREKEEPER - - -The work produced on the night turn is greatly inferior to that made by -the men of the day shift. It is impossible to do good work when you are -tired and weary. One has not then the keenness of sense, the nerve, nor -the energy to take the requisite pains. You are not then the master of -your machinery and tools, but are subject to them; even where the work -is with dies and performed mechanically, there will be depreciation. -Perhaps the stamper's tools have shifted a little. The keys want -removing, the dies re-setting and then to be rammed up tight again. But -he is too weary to do much with the sledge, so he keeps dragging along -with his dies a-twist and makes that do, whereas, if he were working by -day he would rectify them immediately and bang away at top speed. - -It is the same with the forger. He, too, tough as he is, cannot maintain -the precision he would exercise by day. The pile or ingot on the -porter-bar seems to him to have doubled in weight. The flash of the -blazing metal half blinds him. He cannot stand the heat so well; it is -all against turning out good work. Unless the bloom is kept exactly -square under the stroke of the hammer it lops over on one side and -obtains an ugly shape, which it will be impossible to rectify; there is -nothing more unsightly to the eye of the careful smith or hammerman than -a shabby piece of forging. Very often, too, a portion of slag or sand -from the bed of the furnace has adhered to the pile and, falling away, -has left a hole in the metal. Although, in the uncertain light, the -forger may think that he has hammered it quite out, when he views the -piece by daylight he finds it rough and untidy and perhaps worthless. It -may be too small now; there is not enough metal to clean up under the -tools of the slotting- or shaping-machine. - -Then there is the smith's weld or bend to be considered. In the first -place, the smith is liable to mistake the heat of his parts by gaslight, -for then they appear brighter and hotter than they really are, and when -he brings them out to the anvil, the metal, instead of shutting up well, -will be hard and glassy under the tools. It will, consequently, go -together badly and leave a mark or "scarf," which is not at all -desirable, though the weld may be strong enough inside. In such a case -resort will be had to "nobbling"; that is, covering up and concealing -the scarf with the small round ball of the hand-hammer. This must be -done secretly, for no foreman would tolerate much of it. It is looked -upon as a mark of bad workmanship, though the bluff old overseer of the -regular smiths' shed may condone it in a few cases with: "Hello! You be -at it agen then! But ther', you be no good if you can't do't. I allus -said any fool can be a smith but it takes a good man to nobble." The -smiths, under ordinary circumstances, are not allowed to use a file. -They must finish their job manfully with the sledge and tools, otherwise -they might fake up a bad forging, with nobbling and filing, and make it -look as strong as the best. - -There are more cases of ill-health among men of the night than of the -day shift, but the reason of this will be obvious to any. It is evident -that the unnatural conditions of all-night toil must weaken and wear -down the body and render it unfit to bear the strain put upon it, and -especially to withstand the cold draughts from the doors and roof, which -are the most fruitful source of sickness among the workmen--a large -number is always absent with chills and influenza. Small regard for a -man's health is had at any time in the factory. It is nothing to the -officials that he is out on the sick list, unless he happens to be -drawing compensation for an injury. I remember once, when work was slack -in the shed, the day overseer left orders for the night boss to send the -men outside in the yard and keep them there for two or three hours -shifting scrap iron, in order that they might "catch cold and stop at -home, and give the others a chance." - -Accidents, too, are frequent on the night shift; the greater part of the -more serious ones happen on that turn. Then the men, by reason of the -fatigue and dulness, are unable to take sufficient care of themselves; -they lack the quick presentiment of danger common to those of the day -shift. There is also the matter of defective light and carelessness in -the use of tools, and, very often, the mad hurry to get on in the first -part of the night--the wild rush and tear of the piecework system. It -was not long ago that "Smamer's" brother was killed at the drop-stamps -with a blow on the head, shortly after starting work. A jagged piece of -steel, ten or twelve pounds in weight, flew from the die and struck him -between the eye and ear knocking out half his brains. As things go, no -one was to blame. The men were all hurrying together to get the work -forward, but he was murdered, all the same, done to death by the system -that is responsible for the rash haste and frenzy such as is common on -the night shift. - -Nearly all whitewashing and painting out the interiors of the sheds is -done by night, when the machinery is still. This is performed by -unskilled hands--youths, for the most part; from one year's end to -another they are employed at it, taking the workshops by turn. The work -is very unhealthy and extremely dangerous. The men construct a little -scaffolding and work upon single, narrow planks, or crawl like flies -along the network of girders in and out among the shafting, with a -single gas-jet to afford them light. One false step or overbalancing -would bring them down to the ground, thirty feet below, amid the -machinery; death would be swift and certain for them if they should miss -their footing on the planks. Their wages, considering the risks they -take, are very low; 18s. or 19s. a week is the amount they commonly -receive. Several of the men, whom I know personally--steady fellows and -good time-keepers--had been getting 18s. a week for twenty years till -recently; then, after persistent applications for an advance, they were -granted the substantial rise of 1s. a week! One sturdy fellow, braver -than the rest, on meeting the manager one day, complained to him of the -low wages, but was unsuccessful. His overseer, upon hearing of it, -promptly told him to clear out, which he afterwards did, and went to -Canada and saved 150 pound in less than a year. When the small boys -asked Bill Richards, the old smiths' foreman, for a rise, he used -jokingly to tell them to "Get up a-top o' the anvul." - -The running expenses of much of the "labour-saving" plant is truly -enormous and very often so great as entirely to counteract the much -boasted profit-making capacity of the machine, but the managers do not -mind that in the least as long as they can show a reduction of hands. -If, by any means at all, they can get one man to do what formerly -required the services of two or three, they do not trouble about -machinery or fuel expenses; the losses incurred by these they make good -by speeding up the workman and getting a bigger share out of him. They -would rather pay fabulous sums for plant and running expenses than allow -the workman to get a few shillings more in wages. - -The wholesale waste of material, fuel, and energy, in many of the sheds, -is appalling; many thousands of pounds are annually thrown away in this -direction. Walk where he will the keen observer will detect waste; no -one seems to trouble about the real economy. I have seen it daily for -years and have made numerous suggestions, but to no purpose; the -overseers are too stupid and ignorant, or too haughty and jealous, to -carry out ideas, and the managers are no better. They squander thousands -of pounds in experiments and easily cover up their short-comings, but if -the machineman happens to break a new tool, or spoil metal of a few -pence in value, he is suspended and put on the "black list." - -If a workman sees a way to make improvements in processes and the like, -he immediately falls into disfavour with the overseers. Some years ago -I, as chief stamper, was anxious to improve the process of making a -forging, and also the forging itself, and waited on the overseer with a -view to having the alteration made, but I could not obtain his sanction -for a long time. At last, as new dies were to be made, I succeeded, -after some difficulty, in obtaining his consent for the improvement. -Happening to enter the die shed while the job was in the lathe I was -told by the machineman that no alteration had been authorised. Grasping -the situation, I took a bold course, carried out the suggested -alteration myself, and set the dies in the steam-hammer. The improvement -was a complete success. I was cursed and abused by the overseer, and he -was highly congratulated by the staff in my own presence and hearing. -The improvement was not to be permanent, however. Shortly afterwards the -dies were re-cut, and made in the old way again. At another time, when I -had assisted the overseer with an idea, he would not speak to me for a -fortnight. - -Many times after that I stood for improvements, and was rewarded with -the cutting of my prices and the threat of dismissal, and I had the -mortification of being "hooted" by my shop-mates into the bargain. The -fact of the matter is, workmen and overseers, too, want to run along in -the same old grooves, at any rate, as far as processes are concerned. -The foreman and manager think they have done enough if they merely cut a -price; they are too blind to see that improvements in the process of -manufacture is the first great essential. There are many jobs in the -sheds which have been done in the same old way for half a century. It is -painful to contemplate the ignorance, stupidity, and prejudice of the -staff in charge of operations. - -Every shed has an institution called "The Black List." This list is -filed in the foreman's office and contains the names of those who have -been found guilty of any indiscretion, those who may have made a little -bad work, indifferent time-keepers, and, naturally, those who have -fallen into disfavour with the overseer on any other account, and -perhaps the names have been added for no offence at all. When it is -intended to include a workman in the list, he is sent for to the office, -bullied by the overseer before the clerks and office-boy, and warned as -to the future. "I've put you on the black list. You know what that -means. The next time, mind, and you're out of it. I give you one more -chance." - -Not long ago an apprentice--a fine, smart, intellectual youth--was asked -by a junior mate to advise him as to a piece of work in the lathe and -went to give the required assistance. While thus engaged he was sent for -to the office and charged with idling by the overseer. He tried to -explain that he was helping his mate, but the foreman would not listen -to it. "Put him on the black list," he roared to the clerk. The lad's -father, enraged at the treatment meted out to his son, promptly removed -him from the works, and sacrificed four or five years of patient and -studious toil at his trade. It is useless to continue in the shed when -you have been stigmatised with the "black list." You will never make any -satisfactory progress; you had better seek out another place and make a -fresh start[3] in life. - - [3] I am told that the "Black List" has now been abolished. It - certainly existed down to several years ago. - -A favourite plan of the overseer's is to catch a man in a weak state and -force him to undergo a strict medical test. As a matter of fact, the -"medical test" is a farce; it is merely an examination by one of the -staff. Even if the workman passes the test satisfactorily it is recorded -and tells against him. Quite recently one of the forgers came to work -with a black eye, as the result of a private encounter, and the -overseer, after jesting with him concerning it, communicated with the -examiner and hustled him off to pass the "medical test." - -"What have you been at with the hammer?" said I to little Jim one day, -finding the lever working very stiffly. - -"I dunno. The luminator's broke," answered he. - -"The what broke?" I inquired. - -"That there yu-bricator, the thing what you puts the oil in," he -replied. - -Most of the articles stamped seemed to suggest something or other to -Jim's childish mind. One job, made three at a time, looked like "little -bridges"; something else resembled great butterflies. This was like an -air-gun, and that "just like little pistols." Jim's opinion of factory -work is interesting--he is a little over fifteen years of age. Coming up -to me one day, cap, waistcoat, everything cast aside, his shirt -unbuttoned, his face soot black, and with the sweat streaming down his -nose and chin, he said naively--"This is what I calls a weary life. This -place is more like a prison than anything else." After that he wished to -know if I had any apples in my garden, or, failing that, would I bring -him along some crabs in my pocket? - -"Double Stoppage Charlie" was well-known at the works. He first of all -used to keep his wife short of cash, telling her each pay-day it was -"double stoppage this week." He often figured in a public place, too, -and invariably made the same excuse. It was always "double stoppage -week" with him, so he came to be honoured with the nickname of "Double -Stoppage Charlie." There was also "Southampton Charlie," who had seen -service with the Marines, and who was for ever talking about the -"gossoons" and telling monstrous yarns of things--chiefly of bloody -fights and shipwrecks. He took pride in informing you that he had been -told he would have made a capital speaker of French, by reason of his -wonderful powers of "pronounciation." - -Jimmy Eustace--better known as "Jimmy Useless"--was full of poaching -adventures and midnight tussles with the gamekeepers and police. He was -delighted to tell you of how they dodged the men in blue and waded half -a mile, up to their necks in water, along the canal in the dark hours in -order to keep out of their clutches. This happened in his young days, in -the neighbourhood of Uffington. He was always somewhat of a rake, though -he was a very clever constructor of all kinds of iron work. Everyone -called him "an old fool," however, when Queen Victoria's new Royal Train -was made, and the workmen went out in the yard to see it. "He go to see -that thing? Not he! He could make a better one than that standing on his -head, any day." His long grey hair hung down as straight as candles and -his grey beard had the true lunar curve. He chewed half an ounce of -tobacco at a time, and spat great mouthfuls of the juice about -everywhere. - -A little humour is occasionally in evidence in the life that is lived by -the grimy pack of toilers in the factory sheds. There is, for instance, -the story of the young man engaged to be married to a smart lass, and -who gave himself certain unjustifiable airs, representing himself as -holding a position in the drawing office. After the wedding took place, -at the end of the first week, he took home 18s. in wages and was -severely taken to task by his spouse and mother-in-law. It transpired -that he was employed pulling a heavy truck about; that was the only -"drawing office" to which he was attached. - -One young fellow was subjected to the ridicule of his mates by reason of -an accident that befell him on his wedding-day. He lived far out in the -country, and, on the morning of the ceremony, just before the appointed -hour, happening to give an extra specially good yawn, he dislocated his -jaw and had to be driven twelve miles to a doctor. Another artless -youth, newly brought into the shed, when he was put to withdraw the -white-hot plates from a vast furnace, finding the iron rake much too -short, tied a piece of tar-cord on the end in order to lengthen it! - -The riveter and his mates occasionally practise the ludicrous. One day, -when "Dobbin," the "holder-up," who was short-sighted, was sitting -underneath the floor of the waggon with his head against the plate, -dozing perhaps, the riveter began to beat on the floor with his -hand-hammer and severely hurt his mate's cranium. Shortly afterwards -Dobbin unconsciously took his revenge. It is usual to "drift" the holes -with a steel tool in order to make them clear to admit the rivet, and on -this particular occasion the riveter thrust his finger through instead -and Dobbin, seeing it in the dim light and thinking it was the drift, -gave it a mighty ram upwards with the dolly and smashed it. - -Then there is "Budget," who works one of the oil furnaces, with only -half a shirt to his back and hair six or seven inches long and as -straight as gunbarrels; whose face, long before breakfast-time, is as -black as a sweep's; who slaves like a Cyclops at the forge and is -frequently quoting some portions of the speeches of Antonio and Shylock -in the "Merchant of Venice," which he learnt at school and has not yet -forgotten. He sprang out of bed in a great fright, seized his food and -ran at top speed, and only partly dressed, half through the town in the -darkness to discover finally that it wanted an hour to midnight: he had -only gone to bed at ten o'clock. His father is a platelayer on the -railway receiving the magnificent sum of 16s. a week in wages, and his -mother, after suffering five operations, was lately sent home from the -hospital as incurable; it is a struggle to make both ends meet and to -keep the home respectable. It is no wonder that Budget's shirt is always -out of repair and that he himself is racked with colds and influenza. - -There is romance in every walk of life, and legends of ghosts and -spirits that frequent desolate ruins and dark places, but few would -think to find such a thing as a haunted forge or coke heap, though they -were believed to exist by the credulous among the night-men at the -factory. "Sammy," the cokewheeler, had a mortal dread of the cokeheap at -midnight, by reason of strange, weird noises he had heard there in the -lone, dark hours, and the men at the fires often had to wait for fuel, -or go and get it in for themselves. Accordingly, certain among them -determined to frighten the old man still further. For several nights in -succession, at about twelve o'clock, someone scaled the big high heap at -the back and waited for Samuel's return from the shed with his -wheel-barrow. When he arrived the hidden one set up a loud, moaning -noise and started to clamber down the pile. The coke gave way and fell -with a crash, and Sammy, stuttering and stammering with a childlike -simplicity and in a paroxysm of fear, rushed off and told how the -"ghost" had assailed him. - -The haunted forge was in the smith's shed, adjoining the steam-hammer -shop. There a simple fellow was by a waggish mate first of all beguiled -into the belief that a treasure was hidden beneath the floorplate and -anvil, and then induced to go alone during the supper-hour in the hope -of obtaining a clue from the "spirit" as to its exact whereabouts. -Accordingly he went fearfully in through the darkness and up to the -fire, while his mate, concealed in the roof, moaned and spoke to him in -a ghostly voice down the chimney, telling how, many years before, he had -been murdered on that spot and his body buried there together with the -treasure, and promising to discover it to the workman if he would come -secretly to the fire a fixed number of nights and not communicate the -matter to any outsiders. This went on for some time, until the unhappy -dupe was made ill, and driven half out of his mind with crazy fear, and -things began to get serious. Suddenly the noises stopped, and the -midnight visit to the forge was discontinued. - -Cases have occurred in which a man has actually been driven out of his -mind by continual and systematic trading on his weakness, and by a -downright wicked and criminal prosecution of the unscrupulous game. -Teddy, the sweeper-up, who was a young married man, and highly -respectable, but who discovered a trifling weakness, was assailed and -befooled with disgusting buffoonery and drivelling nonsense to such an -extent that he became a perfect mental wreck, to the complete amusement -of the clique who had brought it about, and who indulged in hysterical -laughter at the unfortunate man's antics and general condition. To such -a point was the foolery carried that Teddy had to be detained, and he -fell seriously ill. In a fortnight he died, and those who had been the -chief cause of his collapse went jesting to his funeral. It was nothing -to them that they had been instrumental in his death; a man's life and -soul are held at a cheap rate by his mates about the factory. - -Jim Cole is considerably out of place in the factory crowd; ill-health -and other misfortunes were the cause of his migration to the railway -town. He is a Londoner by birth, and was first of all a valet in good -service; afterwards he bought a cab and plied with it about the streets -of the metropolis. As a valet he lived with a sister of John Bright, and -was often in attendance upon the famous statesman and orator. John -Bright's faith in the Book of Books is well nigh proverbial; the old -valet says whenever he went to his room in the morning he was always -sitting up in bed reading the Bible. - -As a cabman Jim was brought into contact with many celebrities, and it -is interesting to learn in what light great men appear to those who are -at their service about the thoroughfares. He knew Tennyson well by -sight. The famous poet was never a favourite with the "men in the -street." His testiness of manner and severity were well-known to them; -to use Jim Cole's words: "They hated the sight of him." "There goes the -miserable old d----l," they would say to each other. - -Carlyle was not a favourite with the cabmen either. They said he was -"hoggish," and "too miserable to live." Everyone was in his way, and -everything had to be set aside for him. His brilliant literary fame was -no recommendation in the face of his stern personal characteristics. - -Oscar Wilde was "a very nice man." There was not a bit of pride in him; -he would talk to anyone. He would not walk a dozen yards if he could -help it, but must ride everywhere. He often gave cabby a shilling to -post a letter for him. One day Jim Cole was driving him, and they met -Mrs. Langtry in her carriage. Thereupon Oscar Wilde stopped the cab, got -out, and stood with one foot on the step of the popular actress's -carriage, remaining in conversation with her for nearly an hour. At the -end of the journey Oscar stoutly denied the time, declared he was not -talking to Mrs Langtry for more than ten minutes, and refused to hand -over the fare demanded. Ultimately, however, he admitted he might have -been mistaken, and so came to terms and paid the extras. - -Once James was engaged to drive the celebrated Whistler and Mrs Whistler -to Hammersmith, and came very near meeting with disaster. That night he -was driving a young mare of great spirit, and she took fright at -something on the way and bolted. Poor Jim was in great suspense, -fearing an accident at every crossing. The mare flew along at a terrific -speed, but the hour was favourable and the traffic thin; there was a -fair, open road all the way. He strained every nerve to subdue the -animal and slacken the pace, but for over two miles he had not the -slightest control of the vehicle. Whistler was quiet and apparently well -content within; he had not the faintest idea that anything was wrong. At -last, after a great race up Hammersmith Broadway, the pace began to -flag; by the time they reached their destination Jim was able to "pull -her up" successfully. Whistler was delighted with the journey and waxed -enthusiastic about it. He clapped and patted the animal fondly on the -neck, several times exclaiming--"You splendid little mare!" Whistler was -a great favourite with the cabmen and he often chatted with them, and -made them feel quite at their ease. - -Mr Justin M'Carthy and his son were other celebrated fares. They were -very quiet and unassuming and earned the great respect of the cabmen. -Ill-health dogged the old-time valet. He is now forced to do the work of -a menial, lost and swallowed up in the crowd of grimy toilers at the -factory. - -There is one in every shed who stands at the ticket-box and checks in -the workmen at the beginning of each spell; _i.e._, at six A.M., at nine -o'clock, and two in the afternoon. It is his duty also to carry off the -box to the time office and bring back the tickets to the men before they -leave the shed. At the time office the metal tickets are sorted out and -placed on a numbered board; this the checker receives and carries round -to all the men and hands them their brasses. It is a favourite plan of -the man on the check-box to allow the workmen to drag a little by -degrees until they get slightly behind the official moment, and then to -close the box sharp and shut out forty or fifty. This causes the men to -lose half an hour, or they may possibly be compelled to go home for the -rest of the morning or afternoon. For some time afterwards they are very -punctual at the box, but by and by they are allowed to drag again and -the act of shutting out is repeated. The checker, as well as officiating -at the ticket-box, acts as a kind of shop watchman, and supplies the -overseer with information upon such points as may have escaped his -notice. - -Besides the checker, there is the regular shed detective, who locks up -the doors and cleans the office windows, and his supernumerary who -guards the doors at hooter-time and completes the custody of the place: -there is little fear of anything transpiring without its becoming known -to the foreman. As those selected to watch the rest are invariably the -lazy or the incompetent they are sure to be heartily contemned by the -busy toilers; there is nothing the skilful and generous workman detests -more than to have a worthless fellow told off to spy upon him. - -The storekeeper is another who, by reason of his extreme officiousness -and parsimonious manner in dealing out the stores, is not beloved of the -toilers in the shed. He treats every applicant for stores with fantastic -ceremony, examining the foreman's slip half-a-dozen times or more, and -turning it round and round and over and over until the exasperated -workman can stand it no longer, and sets about him with, "Come on, mate! -Ya goin' to mess about all day? We got some work to do, we 'ev. -Anybody'd think thee'st got to buy it out o' thi own pocket!" If the -applicant wants a can of oil the vessel is about half-filled; if a -hammer is needed the storekeeper searches through the whole stock to -find out the worst, if nails, screws, or rivets are required they are -counted out with critical exactness, and if the foreman is not at hand -to sign the order--no matter how urgent the need is--the workman must -wait, perhaps for an hour, till he returns to initial the slip. The time -necessary for an order to reach the shed after it has been issued from -the general stores, fifty yards away, is usually a week, and the workmen -are forbidden to begin a job until they have actually received the -official form. - -The political views of the men in the shed are known to the overseer and -are--in some cases, at any rate--communicated by him to the manager; -there is no such thing as individual liberty about the works. He whose -opinions are most nearly in agreement with those of the foreman always -thrives best, obtains the highest piecework prices and the greatest day -wages, too, while the other is certain to be put under the ban. In -brief, the average overseer dislikes you if you are a tip-top workman, -if you have a good carriage and are well-dressed, if you are clever and -cultivated, if you have friends above the average and are -well-connected, if you are religious or independent, manly, and -courageous; and he tolerates you if you creep about, are rough, ragged, -and round-shouldered, a born fool, a toady, a liar, a tale-bearer, an -indifferent workman--no matter what you are as long as you say "sir" to -him, are servile and abject, see and hear nothing, and hold with him in -everything he says and does: that is the way to get on in the factory. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - - SICKNESS AND ACCIDENTS--THE FACTORY - YEAR--HOLIDAYS--"TRIP"--MOODS AND - FEELINGS--PAY-DAY--LOSING A QUARTER--GETTING MARRIED. - - -Sickness and accidents are of frequent occurrence in the shed. The -first-named may be attributed to the foul air prevailing--the dense -smoke and fumes from the oil forges, and the thick, sharp dust and ashes -from the coke fires. The tremendous noise of the hammers and machinery -and the priming of the boilers have a most injurious effect upon the -body as well as upon the nervous system; it is all intensely painful and -wearisome to the workmen. The most common forms of sickness among the -men of the shed are complaints of the stomach and head, with -constipation. These are the direct result of the gross impurity of the -air. Colds are exceptionally common, and are another result of the bad -atmospheric conditions; as soon as you enter into the smoke and fume you -are sure to begin sniffing and sneezing. The black dust and filth is -being breathed into the chest and lungs every moment. At the weekend one -is continually spitting off the accretion; it will take several days to -remove it from the body. As a matter of fact, the workmen are never -clean, except at holiday times. However often they may wash and bathe -themselves, an absence from the shed of several consecutive days will be -necessary in order to effect an evacuation of the filth from all parts -of the system. Even the eyes contain it. No matter how carefully you -wash them at night, in the morning they will be surrounded with dark -rings--fine, black dust which has come from them as you lay asleep. - -A short while ago I was passing through a village near the town, and, -seeing a canvas tent erected in a cottage garden I made it my business -to inquire into the cause of it and to ask who might be the occupant. -Thereupon I was told that the tent was put up to accommodate a -consumptive lad who slept in it by night and worked in the factory by -day. On asking what were the lad's duties I was informed that he _worked -on the oil furnaces_. The agonies he must have suffered in that -loathsome, murderous atmosphere may easily be imagined. Strong men curse -the filthy smoke and stench from morning till night, and to a person in -consumption it must be a still more exquisite torture. Reading the -Medical Report for the county of Wilts recently I noticed it was said -that greater supervision is exercised over the workshops now than was -the case formerly. From my own knowledge and point of view I should say -there is no such supervision of the factory shops at all; during the -twenty odd years I have worked there I have never once heard of a -factory inspector coming through the shed, unless it were one of the -company's own confidential officials. - -The percentage of sickness and accidents is higher at the stamping shed -than in any other workshop in the factory. The accidents are of many -kinds, though they are chiefly scalds and burns, broken and crushed -limbs, and injuries to the eyes. It is remarkable how so many accidents -happen; they are usually very simply caused and received. A great number -of them are due, directly and indirectly, to the unhealthy air about the -place. When the workman is not feeling well he is liable to meet with an -accident at any moment. He has not then the keen sense of danger -necessary under such conditions, or, if he has this, he has not the -power in himself to guard against it. He has a vague idea that he is -running risks, but he is too dazed or too ill fully to realise it, and -very often he does not even care to protect himself. He is thus often -guilty of great self-neglect, amounting to madness, though he is -ignorant of it at the time. When he is away from the shed he remembers -the danger he was in, and is amazed at his weakness, and vows -resolutions of taking greater pains in the future, but on coming back to -the work the old conditions prevail, and he is confronted with the same -inability to take sufficient precautions for his safety and well-being. -Where the air is good, or even moderately pure, the workmen will be more -keen and sensible of danger. Both their physical and mental powers will -be active and alert and accidents will consequently be much more rare. - -As soon as a serious accident happens to a workman a rush is made to the -spot by young and old alike--they cannot contain their eager curiosity -and excitement. Many are impelled by a strong desire to be of service to -the unfortunate individual who has been hurt, though, in nine cases out -of ten, instead of being a help they are a very great hindrance. If the -workman is injured very severely, or if he happens to be killed, it will -be impossible to keep the crowd back; in spite of commands and -exhortations they use their utmost powers to approach the spot and catch -a glimpse of the victim. The overseer shouts, curses, and waves his -hands frantically, and warns them all of what he will do, but the men -doggedly refuse to disperse until they have satisfied their curiosity -and abated their excitement. - -Immediately a man is down one hurries off to the ambulance shed for the -stretcher, another hastens to the cupboard for lint and _sal volatile_; -this one fetches water from the tap, and the "first-aid men" are soon at -work patching up the wound. In a few moments the stretcher arrives and -the injured one is lifted upon it and carried or wheeled off to the -hospital. Some of the men inspect the spot at which the accident -occurred and loiter there for a moment; afterwards they go on with their -work as though nothing had happened. - -If the injured man dies word is immediately sent into the shed. A notice -of the funeral is posted upon the wall and a collection is usually made -to buy a wreath, or the money is handed over to the widow or next-of-kin -to help meet the expenses. There are always a few to follow the old -comrade to the grave, and the bearers will usually be the deceased man's -nearest workmates. Occasionally, if the funeral happens to be that of a -very old hand, and one who was a special favourite with the men, the -whole shed is closed for the event. Within two or three days afterwards, -however, the affair will be almost forgotten; it will be as though the -workman had never existed. Amid the hurry and noise of the shop there is -little time to think of the dead; one's whole attention has to be -directed towards the living and to the earning of one's own livelihood. -For a single post rendered vacant by the death of a workman, there are -sure to be several applicants; a new hand is soon brought forward to -fill the position. Though he does not wish to be unnatural towards his -predecessor, he thanks his lucky stars, all the same, that he has got -the appointment; it is nothing to him who or what the other man was. It -is an ill wind that blows nobody good, and that, for the most part, is -the philosophy of the men at the factory. - -There is one other point worth remembering in connection with the matter -of pure or impure air in the shed, and that is, that the quality of the -work made will be considerably affected by it. The more fit a workman -feels, the better his work will be. If he is deficient in health it will -be unreasonable to expect that his forging will be of the highest -quality; there is bound to be a depreciation in it. The same may be said -of the workman's relations with his employers--his satisfaction or -dissatisfaction with existing conditions. If he is treated honestly and -fairly the firm will gain greatly thereby, in many ways unknown to them. -The workman, in return, will be conscientious and will use his tools and -machinery with scrupulous care. But if he is being continually pricked -and goaded, and ground down by the overseer, he will naturally be less -inclined to study the interests of the company beyond what is his most -inevitable duty, and something or other will suffer. In any case it is -as well to remember that in such matters as these the interests of all -are identical; where there is mutual understanding and appreciation gain -is bound to accrue to each party. No general has ever won a battle with -an unhealthy or discontented army, and the conditions in a large -factory, with ten or twelve thousand workmen, are very similar; the -figure is reasonably applicable. - -The year at the factory is divided into three general periods; _i.e._, -from Christmas till Easter, Easter till "Trip"--which is held in -July--and Trip till Christmas. There are furthermore the Bank Holidays -of Whitsuntide and August, though more than one day's leave is seldom -granted in connection with either of them. Sometimes there will be no -cessation of labour at all, which gives satisfaction to many workmen, -for, notwithstanding the painfulness of the confinement within the dark -walls, they are, as a rule, indifferent to holidays. Many hundreds of -them would never have one at all if they were not forced to do so by -the constitution of the calendar and the natural order of things. - -Very little travelling is done by the workmen during the Easter -holidays. Most of those who have a couple of square yards of land, a -small back-yard, or a box of earth on the window sill, prepare for the -task of husbandry--the general talk in spare moments now will be of -peas, beans, onions, and potatoes. The longest journeys from home are -made by the small boys of the shed, who set out in squads and troops to -go bird's-nesting in the hedgerows, or plucking primroses and violets in -the woods and copses. Young Jim was very excited when Easter came with -the warm, sunny weather; it was pleasant to listen to his childish talk -as he told us about the long walks he had taken in search of primroses -and violets, going without his dinner and tea in order to collect a posy -of the precious flowers. Questioned as to the meaning of Good Friday, he -was puzzled for a few moments, and then told us it was because Jesus -Christ was born on that day. Though he was mistaken as to the origin and -signification of the Festival, there are hundreds of others older than -he at the works who would not be able to answer the question correctly. - -At Whitsuntide the first outings are generally held. Then many of the -workmen--those who can afford it, who have no large gardens to care for, -and who are exempt from other business and anxieties--begin to make -short week-end trips by the trains. The privilege of a quarter-fare for -travel, granted by the railway companies to their employees, is valued -and appreciated, and widely patronised. By means of this very many have -trips and become acquainted with the world who otherwise would be unable -to do so. - -When the men come back to work after the Whitsuntide holidays they -usually find the official noticeboard in the shed covered with posters -containing the preliminary announcements of the annual Trip, and, very -soon, on the plates of the forges and walls, and even outside in the -town, the words "Roll on, Trip," or "Five weeks to Trip," may be seen -scrawled in big letters. As the time for the holiday draws near the -spirits of the workmen--especially of the younger ones, who have no -domestic responsibilities--rise considerably. Whichever way one turns he -is greeted with the question--often asked in a jocular sense--"Wher' -gwain Trip?" the reply to which usually is--"Same old place," or "Up in -the smowk;" _i.e._, to London, or "Swindon by the Sea." By the -last-named place Weymouth is intended. That is a favourite haunt of the -poorer workmen who have large families, and it is especially popular -with the day trippers. Every year five or six thousand are conveyed to -the Dorsetshire watering-place, the majority of whom return the same -evening. Given fine weather an enjoyable day will be spent about the -sands and upon the water, but if it happens to rain the outing will -prove a wretched fiasco. Sometimes the trippers have left home in fine -weather and found a deluge of rain setting in when they arrived at the -seaside town. Under such circumstances they were obliged to stay in the -trains all day for shelter, or implore the officials to send them home -again before the stipulated time. - -"Trip Day" is the most important day in the calendar at the railway -town. For several months preceding it, fathers and mothers of families, -young unmarried men, and juveniles have been saving up for the outing. -Whatever new clothes are bought for the summer are usually worn for the -first time at "Trip"; the trade of the town is at its zenith during the -week before the holiday. Then the men don their new suits of shoddy, and -the pinched or portly dames deck themselves out in all the glory of -cheap, "fashionable" finery. The young girls are radiant with -colour--white, red, pink, and blue--and the children come dressed in -brand-new garments--all stiff from the warehouse--and equipped with -spade and bucket and bags full of thin paper, cut the size of pennies, -to throw out of the carriage windows as the train flies along. A general -exodus from the town takes place that day and quite twenty-five thousand -people will have been hurried off to all parts of the kingdom in the -early hours of the morning, before the ordinary traffic begins to get -thick on the line. About half the total number return the same night; -the others stop away till the expiration of the holiday, which is of -eight days' duration. - -The privilege of travelling free by the Trip trains is not granted to -all workmen, but only to those who are members of the local Railway -Institute and Library, and have contributed about six shillings per -annum to the general fund. Moreover, no part of the holiday is free, but -is counted as lost time. The prompt commencement of work after Trip is, -therefore, highly necessary; the great majority of the workmen are -reduced to a state of absolute penury. If they have been away and spent -all their money--and perhaps incurred debt at home for rent and -provisions beforehand in order to enjoy themselves the better on their -trip--it will take them a considerable time to get square again; they -will scarcely have done this before the Christmas holidays are -announced. - -At the end of the first week after the Trip holiday there will be no -money to draw. When Friday comes round, bringing with it the usual hour -for receiving the weekly wages, the men file out of the sheds with long -faces. This is generally known at the works as "The Grand March Past," -because the toilers march past the pay-table and receive nothing that -day. The living among the poorest of the workmen will be very meagre, -and a great many will not have enough to eat until the next Friday comes -round, bringing with it the first pay. The local tradesmen and -shopkeepers look upon the Trip as a great nuisance because, they say, it -takes money away from the town that ought to be spent in their -warehouses; they do not take into consideration the fact that the men -are confined like prisoners all the rest of the year. - -Work in the sheds, for the first day or two after the Trip, goes very -hard and painful; everyone is yearning towards the blue sea or the fresh -open country, and thinking of friends and kindred left behind. This -feeling very soon wears off, however. Long before the week is over the -spirit of work will have taken possession of the men; they fall -naturally into their places and the Trip becomes a thing of the past--a -dream and a memory. Here and there you may see scrawled upon the wall -somewhere or other, with a touch of humour, "51 weeks to Trip"; that is -usually the last word in connection with it for another year. - -There are three general moods and phases of feeling among the workmen, -corresponding to the three periods of the year as measured out by the -holidays. The period between Christmas and Easter is one of hope and -rising spirits, of eager looking forward to brighter days, the long -evening and the pleasant week-end. The dark and gloom of winter has -weighed heavily upon the toilers, but this has reached its worst point -by the end of December; after that the barometer begins to rise and a -more cheerful spirit prevails everywhere. - -From Easter till Trip and August Bank Holiday--notwithstanding the -terrible trials of the summer weather in the case of those who work at -the furnaces--the feeling is one of comparative ease and satisfaction. A -series of little holidays is included in this period. The men are -encouraged to bear with the heat and fatigue through the knowledge that -it will not be for long; a holiday in sight goes far towards mitigating -the hard punishment of the work in the shed. The summer sunshine and -general bright weather, the occupations of gardening, and the prevalence -of herbs and salads, fresh, sweet vegetables, flowers, and fruits all -have a beneficial effect upon the workman and tend to distract his -attention from the drabness of his employment and make the weeks go by -more easily. The period is one of lightness. It is the time of -realization, the fulfilling of dreams dreamed through the long, dark -winter. - -From August till Christmas the feeling is one almost of despair. Five -whole months have to be borne without a break in the monotony of the -labour. The time before the next holiday seems almost infinite; a -tremendous amount of work must be done in the interval. Accordingly, the -men settle down with grim faces and fixed determinations. The pleasures -of the year are thrust behind and forgotten; day by day the battle must -be fought and the ground gained inch by inch. The smoke towers up from -the stacks and chimneys, the hammers pound away on the obstinate metal, -the wheels whirl round and the din is incessant. Day after day the black -army files in and out of the entrances with the regularity of clockwork; -it is indeed the period of stern work--the great effort of the year. -Whatever money the workmen save must be put aside now or never; the -absence of holidays and lack of inducement to travel will provide them -with the opportunity. Now is the time for purchasing new clothing and -boots and for getting out of debt--if there is any desire to do that; -it is in every sense of the word the great productive period. - -It is also interesting to note the various moods and feelings common to -the workmen during the passage of the week. Monday is always a flat, -stale day, and especially is this true of the morning, before -dinner-time. It might reasonably be supposed that the workmen, after an -absence of a day, or a day and a half, would return to the shed rested -and vigorous, and fit for new efforts, but this is far from being the -actual case. As a matter of fact, Monday is an extremely dull day in the -shed. Everyone seems surly and out of sorts, as though he had been -routed up from sleep before time and had "got out of bed on the wrong -side." The foreman comes on the scene with a scowl; the chargeman is -"huffy" and irritable; the stampers and hammermen bend to their work in -stony silence, or snap at each other; even the youngsters are quiet and -mopish. Work seems to go particularly hard and against the grain. It is -as though everything were under a cloud; there is not a bit of life or -soul in it. This feeling is so general on the first day of the week that -the men have invented a term by which to express it; if you ask anyone -how he is on that day he will be sure to tell you that he feels "rough" -and "Monday-fied." By dinner-time the cloud will have lifted somewhat, -though not till towards the end of the afternoon will there be anything -like real relief, with a degree of brightness. By that time the -tediousness of the first day will have worn off; the men's faces -brighten up and a spirit of cheerfulness prevails. Now they speak to -each other, laugh, whistle and jest, perhaps; they have won the first -skirmish in the weekly battle. - -Tuesday is the strong day, the day of vigorous activity, of tool- and -also of record-breaking. The men come to work like lions. All the -stiffness and sluggishness contracted at the week-end has vanished now. -There is a great change, both in the temper and the physical condition -of the men, visible about the place; they move more quickly, handle -their tools better, and appear to be in perfect trim. The work made on -Tuesdays is always the greatest in amount and usually the best in -quality. Everyone, from the foreman to the office-boy, seems brighter -and better, more fit, well, and energetic--great things are accomplished -on Tuesdays at the works. - -Wednesday is very similar to Tuesday, though the men are not quite as -fresh and vigorous. The pace, though still smart and good, will fall a -little below that of the day previous. Three days' toil begins to tell -on the muscles and reserve of the body, though this is counterbalanced -by the increase of mental satisfaction and expectation, the knowledge of -being in mid-week and of getting within sight of another pay-day and -cessation from work. - -Thursday is the humdrum day. As much work will be done as on the day -preceding, but more effort will be required to perform it. An acute -observer will perceive a marked difference in the general behaviour of -the workmen and in the manner in which they manipulate the tools. They -will begin to look tired and haggard. When they leave the shed at -meal-times they do not rush headlong out, pushing and shouting, but file -away soberly and in comparative silence. - -By Friday morning the barometer will have risen considerably. -Notwithstanding the tiredness of the individual, he is nerved to fresh -efforts and induced to make a final spurt towards the end of the weekly -race. His manner is altogether more cheerful, and he becomes quite -affable to his mates. If the manager or overseer passes through the shed -more frequently than usual and comes and times him at his work, he takes -but very little notice of him. Those who are by nature gruff and surly -melt a little and show a more genial disposition on the Friday. The -secret of all this lies in the fact that Friday is both the last whole -day to be worked at the shed, and it is pay-day, too. The men's faces -brighten considerably at the approach of that happy and eagerly-awaited -hour. When they collect together around the pay-table they indulge in -jocular remarks with one another, and the majority bubble over with -good-nature. As they pass the table in single file they grab up the box -containing the money with commendable determination. If the pay is a -full one there will be a broad smile, or a grin, on the faces of most of -the men as they remove the cover and pocket the coin; that is about the -happiest and most triumphant moment of all for them. - -To draw the wages each man is furnished with a metal check having a -number, corresponding with his name in the register, stamped upon it. -The check is issued to the men as they enter the shed after dinner, and -is a guarantee that they have wages to receive on that day. Each man's -wages are put up in a tin box, which is also stamped with his number. -The foreman takes his position at the head, and two clerks stand behind -the table. Of these, one calls out the number upon the box and the other -takes it and claps it sharply on the table. The men are waiting ready -and take it as they walk past; two hundred may be paid in about five -minutes by this method. Extras for piecework are paid fortnightly. -Whatever stoppages and contributions are due for the local Sick and -Medical Fund, coal, wood, and other charges, are deducted on the normal -week, and this is called "stoppage week." Accordingly, the day of great -good-humour comes fortnightly, and that week is known among the men as -"balance week." - -Saturday is the day of final victory, the closing up of the weekly -battle, though a great part of the eagerness evinced a day or two before -will have vanished now that the time to take the hebdomadal rest is -really at hand. It is strikingly true, even here, that expectation is -better than realization. Notwithstanding the fact that the men are tired -and worn out they do not appear to be as keen for the rest as might be -imagined; they now seem to have recovered their normal powers and work -away quite unconcernedly up to the last moment. The boys and youths, -however, will be restless; they whistle and sing and rush off like shots -from a gun as soon as the hooter sounds. - -Sunday is the day of complete inactivity with most of the workmen, and -it is possibly the weakest and the least enjoyed of all. If the weather -is dull and wet a great number stay in bed till dinner-time, and -sometimes they remain there all day and night, till Monday morning -comes. This will not have done them much harm; they will feel all the -more refreshed and the better able to face the toil and battle of the -coming week. - -Every day, as well as the year and week, has its divisions and a temper -and feeling on the part of the men corresponding with each of them. In -the morning, before breakfast, nearly everyone is sober and quiet, very -often surly, and even spitefully disposed. During that time the men in -the shed rarely speak to each other, but bend down to the labour in -silence. After breakfast the tone improves a little, and continues to do -so till dinner-time, when the tempers of the men will have become about -normal; they are restored to their natural humour and disposition. When -they return after dinner a still greater improvement is discernible, and -by five o'clock in the afternoon they are not like the same beings. In -the evening, after tea, greater good-fellowship than ever prevails, and -if a man meets his mate in the town he is quite cordial. By the next -morning, however, he is metamorphosed again; the old conditions obtain, -and so on day after day and month after month. The best work of the day -is always made in the morning, between the hours of nine and eleven. - -If a workman oversleeps in the morning and is too late for admittance -before breakfast, he may start at nine o'clock. This is called "losing a -quarter." There are those at the works who are noted for losing -quarters; they are usually absent from the shed before breakfast once or -twice a week. Such as these, by the frequency of their absence, are not -noticed very much, but if one who is habitually a good timekeeper -happens to be out unexpectedly before breakfast, means are taken to -celebrate the event. When he arrives there will be a little surprise -awaiting him. He will find an effigy of himself standing near the forge, -and will receive a salute composed of hammers knocking on steel plates, -and the rattling of any old pot that chances to be at hand. During the -meal-time the workmen obtain several coats, a hat, and a pair of boots, -and fix them on the handles of the mallets and broom, and then chalk out -the features of a man upon the coke shovel. Afterwards they assemble in -a gang and greet their comrade with an overpowering din. If he is wise -he will take it all in good part and join in with the fun, and the din -will soon cease; but if he loses his temper--as is sometimes the -case--he is assailed more loudly than ever, and driven half mad with the -uproar. - -A somewhat similar reception is given to a workman who has just been -married. As soon as it is known that the banns are published--and this -is certain to leak out and news of it be brought into the shed--he -becomes the object of very special attention. The men come to him from -all quarters and offer him their congratulations, sincere and otherwise, -very often accompanying them with advice of different kinds, sometimes -of a highly sarcastic nature. Many insist upon shaking hands with him -and, with mock ceremony, compliment him on his decision to join the "Big -Firm," as they call it, assuring him, at the same time, that they shall -expect him to "stand his footing." Occasionally, if their mate is poor, -the men of a gang will make a small collection and buy him a present--a -pair of pictures, a piece of furniture, or a set of ornaments. Perhaps -this may be carried out ridiculously, and the whole thing turned into a -joke, whereupon the prospective bridegroom loses his temper and soundly -lashes his mates for their unsolicited patronage. - -If the workman divulges the time and place of the wedding there will -certainly be a few to witness it, in order to see how he behaves during -the ceremony. Very often they wait outside the church with missiles of -several kinds, such as old shoes and slippers, rice, barley, Indian -corn, and even potatoes, ready to pelt him. Occasionally, however, it -happens that the wily mate has deceived them with regard either to the -time or the place, and if they turn up at the church they will have to -wait in vain, the laughing-stock of all passers-by. When the newly -married man recommences work he is received with a loud uproar. This is -called "ringing him in." A crowd of men and boys beat upon any loose -plate of metal that will return a loud clang--such as lids of -tool-chests, steel bars, anvils, and sides of coke bunks--and make as -much noise as possible. This is all over by the time the hooter sounds. -With the starting of the shop engine the men fall in to work, and the -marriage is forgotten by the crowd. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - - COLD AND HEAT--MEALS--FAT AND LEAN WORKMEN--WAYS AND - MEANS--PRANKS--ALL FOOLS' DAY--NEW YEAR'S EVE - - -Two kinds of weather go hard with the toilers in the shed; they -are--extreme cold and extreme heat. When it is very cold in the winter -the men will be subjected to a considerable amount of draught from the -doors and roof; on one side they will be half-baked with the heat, and -on the other chilled nearly to the bone. The furnacemen and stampers -will be drenched with perspiration day after day, in the coldest -weather. When they leave the shed to go home at meal-times and at night -they will run great risks of taking cold; it is no wonder that cases of -rheumatism and lumbago are very common among those who toil at the -furnaces and forges. The workmen, for the most part, wear the same -clothes all the year round, winter and summer; they make no allowance -for cold and heat with warm or thin clothing. - -Very few wear overcoats, or even mufflers, in the coldest weather, -unless it is wet. They are often numbed with the cold, for they feel it -severely, and they commonly run up the long yard in order to keep -themselves warm in frosty weather on their return to the shed after -meals. If you ask them why they do not wear a cravat or muffler they -tell you it is "no good to coddle yourself up too much, for the more -clothes you wear the more you will want to wear." A great many--of the -town workmen especially--do not possess an overcoat of any kind. -Whatever the weather may be they journey backwards and forwards quite -unprotected. I have known men come to the shed drenched to the skin, -many a time, and be forced to work in that condition while the garments -were drying on their backs. Now and then, though not often, a bold and -hardy workman will remove his shirt or trousers and stand and dry them -at the furnace door. If he does this he is certain to be shied at and -made the target for various lumps of coke and coal. Amusement is -sometimes caused by the shirt taking fire; I have more than once seen a -workman reduced to the necessity of borrowing an overcoat to wrap around -him in lieu of upper garments. Sometimes the clothes of half the gang -are set alight with sparks from the hammers, and burnt to ashes. - -The heat of the summer months, for those who toil at the furnaces and -forges, is far more painful to endure than are all the inconveniences of -cold weather. This is especially the case in close and stuffy sheds -where there is a defective system of ventilation, or where the workshop -is surrounded by other buildings. The interior of these places will be -like a hot oven; it will be impossible for the workmen to maintain any -degree of strength and vigour at their labour. In the early morning, -before eight o'clock, the air will be somewhat cooler, but by the time -of re-starting, after breakfast, the heat will be deadly and -overpowering; the temperature in front of the furnaces will be -considerably over 100 degrees. Where there is a motion of air the -workmen can stand a great amount of heat on all sides, but when that is -quite stagnant, and thick and heavy with the nauseous smoke and fumes -from the oil forges, it is positively torturous. The exigencies of -piecework will admit of no relaxation, however; approximately the same -amount of work must be made on the hottest day of summer as on the -coldest day of winter. - -There is one inevitable result of all this--the work made under such -conditions will be inferior in quality, for the men cannot spend the -time they should over the hot metal. If you stand and watch the stampers -you will see, from their very movements, how wretchedly tired and -languid they are; one-half of them are scarcely able to drag their weary -limbs backwards and forwards--they are truly objects of misery. At the -same time, they do not complain, for that would be fruitless, and they -know it. Lost to everything but the sense of their own inexpressible -weariness, with grim necessity at their elbows, they spend their last -effort on the job, having no interest available for the work, only -longing for the next hooter to sound and give them a temporary rest. -Those who work out of doors in the extreme heat of the sun, though they -perspire much, yet have pure air to breathe, so that there will be a -minimum of fatigue resulting from it. In the dust and filth of the shed, -however, the perspiration costs very much more. It seems drawn from the -marrow of your bones; your very heart's blood seems to ooze out with it. - -The change from cold to heat, and also the shifting of the wind, is -immediately felt in the shed; there is no need of a weather-vane to -inform you of the wind's direction. Even when there is air moving, only -one half of the place will benefit from it. Entering the shed at one -end, it will pile up all the smoke and fume at the other. This, instead -of passing out, will whirl round and round in an eddy, and tease and -torment the workmen, making them gasp for breath. - -The toilers have resort to various methods in order to mitigate the heat -during the summer months. The furnacemen, stampers, and forgers usually -remove their shirts altogether, and discard their leathern aprons for -those made of light canvas, or old rivet bags. The amount of cold water -drunk at such times is enormous. It is useless to advise the men to take -it in moderation: "I don't care, I must have it," is the answer made. -Occasionally the officials issue oatmeal from the stores, to be taken -with the water. This removes the rawness from the liquid, and makes it -much more palatable, and less harmful to the stomach. The boys are -especially fond of the mixture; they would drink it by the bucketful, -and swallow grouts and all. They do not believe in wasting anything -obtained gratis from the company. - -One plan, in very hot weather, is to wrap a wet towel or wiper about the -head, cooling it now and then with fresh water. Some hold their heads -and faces underneath the tap and let the cool water run upon them; and -others engage their mates to squirt it in their faces instead. Such as -do this tie an apron close around the neck under the chin, and receive -the volume of water full in the face. It is delicious, when you are -baked and half-choked with the heat in midsummer, to go to the big tap -under the wall and receive the cold water on the inside part of the arm, -just below the shoulder, allowing it to run down and flow off the finger -tips. This is very cooling and refreshing, and is a certain restorative. - -Now and then, during the meal-hour, a hardy workman will strip himself -and bathe in the big bosh used for cooling the furnace tools. In the -evening, after a hard sweating at the fires, many of the young men will -pay a visit to the baths in the town. Little Jim and his mates, who have -no coppers to squander upon the luxury of a dip under cover, betake -themselves to the clay-pits in a neighbouring brick-field. There they -dive down among the fishes and forget about the punishment they have -suffered to-day, and which is certainly awaiting them on the morrow. - -The majority of the workmen go out of the sheds to have their food. In -very many workshops they are not permitted, under any consideration, to -remain in to meals. On the score of health this is as it should be; it -forces the workman, whether he likes it or not, to breathe a little -fresh air. It also removes him from his surroundings for the time, and -affords him some refreshment in that way. The sheds in which the men are -allowed to have their meals unmolested are the smiths' shops, the -steam-hammer shops, and the rolling mills shed. In all these places the -men perspire considerably, and they would be very liable to take a -chill, especially in the winter months, if they were forced to go out -into the cold air to meals. Mess-rooms are provided for the men of some -shops, and tea is brewed and food cooked for as many as like to repair -to them. Very many will not patronise them, however, because they do not -like eating their food in public; they say it is "like being among a lot -of cattle." Such as these take their food in their hand and eat it as -they walk about, or perhaps they visit a coffee tavern or an inn of the -town. During fine weather a large number have their meals in the -recreation field underneath the trees. Their little sons or daughters -bring the food from home, with hot tea in a mug or bottle, and meet them -outside the entrances. Then they sit down together in the shade of the -elm-trees and enjoy the repast. - -The forgers and furnacemen do not eat much food in the shed during the -summer months. The heat of the fires and the fumes from the oil furnaces -impair their appetites, and large quantities of bread and other -victuals are thrown out in the yard for the rats and birds. Rooks and -sparrows are the only regular feathered inhabitants of the yard, if, -indeed, the rooks can be so called, for they have their nests a long way -off. They merely obtain their food about the yard during the day and go -home to bed at night. The sparrows build their nests almost anywhere, -though their favourite place seems to be in the sockets made in the -walls for containing the lamp brackets. As the lamps are removed during -the summer months, the holes afford a convenient resting-place for the -ubiquitous _passeres_. - -No starlings frequent the yard; they prefer a quieter and more natural -habitation. A robin, even, is an unusual visitor, while martins and -swallows never visit the precincts of the factory. The sweet -_chelidon_--the darling stranger from the far-off shores of the blue -Mediterranean--shuns the unearthly noise and smother of the factory -altogether; her delight is in places far removed from the whirling of -wheels and the chu-chuing of engines. - -The rooks seem perfectly inured to the smoke and steam and the life of -the factory yard; at all hours of the day they may be seen scavenging -around the sheds, picking up any stray morsel that happens to be lying -about. Four of these frequent the yard regularly. Summer and winter they -are to be seen strutting up and down over the ashes of the track, or -perched upon the tops of the high lamps. Once, during a gale, I saw a -rook try to alight upon the summit of a lamp, eighty feet high--on the -small curved iron stay that crowns the whole like a bow. Although it -secured a footing on the top, it could not balance itself to rest there, -but was forced to keep its two wings entirely expanded in order to -maintain any equilibrium at all. This it did for nearly two minutes, but -the force of the wind was so great that it could not keep its balance -and was presently blown away. To view it there, with wings outstretched, -brought to mind a bird of a much nobler reputation than that of Master -Rook; it was worthy of the traditions of the eagle. - -It is instructive to note the various types of men and to consider how -they compare with one another. Big, fat workmen invariably make better -mates than do small, thin ones. Their temper is certain to be more -genial, and they are usually more open and simple, hearty and free; -everything with them, to use a time-honoured phrase, seems to go "as -easy as an old cut shoe." Even Caesar, though very thin himself, wished -to have about him men who were fat and sleek--he was suspicious of the -lean and hungry-looking Cassius. Fat workmen, as a rule, seem incapable -of much worry. If anything goes amiss they look upon it with the -greatest unconcern and lightly brush it aside, while the thin, small -individual is forever fretting and grieving over some trivial thing or -other. It is noteworthy that hairy men, as well as being considerably -stronger, are usually better-tempered than are those who are lacking in -this respect. The little person is proverbially vain and conceited and -"thinks great things" of himself, as the Greeks would have said, while -the words of the old rhyme are uniformly true and applicable:-- - - "Long and lazy, - Black and proud, - Fair and foolish, - Little and loud." - -Small pride is discovered in the individual of sixteen or seventeen -stone weight. Nor are size and bulk in a workman always indicative of -the greatest prowess. Very many men of no more than five feet or less -in stature, and of correspondingly small proportions, are veritable -lions in strength. - -Of all styles of workmen soever the dandy, or, as he is vulgarly called, -the "swanker," is usually the least proficient at his trade. There is -another who would delight to stand with his hands behind him, or perhaps -to walk about like it: he is certain to be of the self-conscious type, -one not extra fond of making unnatural exertions. This one, whenever an -opportunity presents itself, would stand with his thumbs thrust in the -arm-holes of his waistcoat and complacently look upon all around him; -you may know him for one who would rather see you do a job than do it -himself. That one yonder is fond of standing with his arms folded, and -another would thrust his hands deep into his trousers pockets at every -stray opportunity. Such as these may come in time to draw as much wages -as the best workmen on the premises, or they may even obtain more, but -they will never be experts themselves; they are too choice, and too -dilatory. Your capital workman never adopts any of these attitudes. -Walking or standing, pausing, resting, or viewing any other operation, -his hands are down by his sides--free, and in the most advantageous -position for rendering assistance to himself, or to others, as the case -may be. - -The men of one department or shed--except in the case of a fire--never -help those of another, no matter how great the difficulty may be, unless -they have been officially lent, and this is of extremely rare -occurrence. One might think that where two sheds stand side by side, -help would occasionally be given, when it was required, but such is the -condition of things, and so rigid is the system imposed at the works, -that this is completely out of the question. The men of two contingent -sheds, though they may have been working close together for twenty or -thirty years, are almost total strangers. They may see each other now -and then, and recognise one another by sight, but they do not think of -exchanging conversations. - -There is one matter, however, in which, notwithstanding the many -facilities at hand for perfect equipment, the works resembles most other -establishments, and that is in the frequently defective supply of proper -tools for the workmen and the too great tendency to use anything that -may be lying about for a makeshift. When I came into the factory as a -boy I expected to find everything of this sort in perfect arrangement. -In the rough and ready trade of agriculture I had been accustomed to -making the best use of old, worn-out tools. The farmer, if he is not -blessed with abundant capital, is often forced to have recourse to crude -means and expedients in order to tide himself over a difficulty. He must -bind up this and patch that, and sometimes set his men to work with -tackle that is broken and antiquated. One looks for this, naturally, out -on the farm, and is surprised if he does not find it so. But in the -factory, thought I, there will be none of it. I supposed that all the -machinery would be in perfect trim, that tools would be very plentiful -and of the best description, and that everything would be ordered for -the men's convenience in order to expedite the work. - -A short acquaintance with matters in the shed soon dispelled this -illusion, however. I found that the same condition of things obtained in -the factory as was the case on the far away, deserted farm. There -something ailed the chaffcutter, the mowing- or reaping-machine, the -plough, the elevator, or the horse-rake. Some links were missing from -the traces and had to be replaced with stout wire; many things were in -use that were heavy, cumbersome, and primitive. Here something is wrong -with the steam-hammer, drill, lathe, or hydraulic machine. The -wheel-barrows are broken, the shovels are without handles, the besoms -are worn out; hammers and chisels, tongs, sets, and other tools are -almost as scarce as pound pieces. You seldom have any decent tools to -work with unless you can make them yourself, or pay the smith for doing -it out of your own pocket. Then, in nine cases out of ten, if the -machinery breaks down, the same means are resorted to as were adopted by -the farmer or haulier; any patching up will do until such time as -someone or other can make it convenient to carry out the necessary -repairs. As long as the parts hang together and the wheels go round, -that will be considered sufficient. This kind of procedure, in the case -of a farmer or other, who has no very great convenience for equipping -himself with every desirable apparatus, may be condoned, but in a large -and professedly up-to-date factory there is no excuse at all for it--it -is pure misdemeanour and slovenliness. - -Many pranks are played upon one another by the workmen, though it is -significant of the times that skylarking and horse-play are not nearly -as common and frequent as they were formerly. The supervision of the -sheds is much more strict, and the prices are considerably lower than -they used to be; there is not now the time and opportunity, nor even the -inclination to indulge in practical jokes. Under the new discipline the -men are generally more sober and silent, though they are none the -happier, nevertheless. The increased efforts they are bound to make at -work and the higher speed of the machinery has caused them to become -gloomy and unnatural, and, very often, peevish and irritable. It is a -further illustration of the old adage-- - - "All work and no play - Makes Jack a dull boy." - -There is one matter for congratulation, however, and that is that the -youngsters are not to be deprived of their sports and amusements on any -pretext whatever. Though you set them to do almost impossible tasks they -will find the time and the means to exercise their natural propensity to -playfulness. - -It is a bad sign when there is a total absence of play in the shed. It -is bad for the individual and for the men collectively; it indicates too -great a subjection to working conditions--the subjugation of inherent -nature. It is of far greater value and importance to mankind that spirit -and character should be cherished and maintained, than that the trifling -and petty rules of the factory should be scrupulously observed and -adhered to. At the same time, no sane person would recommend that an -unrestricted liberty be allowed the workmen. There is bound to be a -certain amount of law and order, but where everything is done at the -piece rate and the firm is not in a position to lose on the bargain, it -is stupid obstinately to insist upon the observance of every little rule -laid down. Piece-rated men seldom or never work at a perfectly uniform -speed; there are dull and intensely active periods depending sometimes -upon the physical condition of the workman and sometimes upon the -quality known as "luck" in operation. Give the workman his head and he -will fashion out his own time-table, he will speedily make up for any -losses he has incurred before. The feeling of fitness is bound to come; -he revels in the toil while it possesses him. There never was, and there -never will be, a truly mechanical man who shall work with the -systematical regularity of a clock or steam-engine; that is beyond all -hope and reason, beyond possibility and beyond nature. What is more, it -is absolutely unnecessary and undesirable. - -One prank that used to be greatly in vogue in the shed was that of -inserting a brick in the sleeve of a workmate's jacket as it was hanging -up underneath the wall or behind the forge. This was sometimes done for -pure sport, though occasionally there was more than a spice of malice in -the jest. Perhaps the owner of the garment had been guilty of an -offence, of tale-bearing, or something or other to the prejudice of his -fellow-mates, and this was the means adopted for his punishment. -Accordingly, a large brick was quietly dropped into the sleeve from -inside the shoulder and well shaken down to the cuff, and the jacket was -left hanging innocently in its position. At hooter time all those in the -secret congregated and waited for the victim of the joke to come for his -coat. Suddenly, as the hooter sounded, he rushed up in a great hurry, -seized his coat and discovered the impediment, while all the others -speedily decamped. He had considerable difficulty in dislodging the -brick from the sleeve. After trying in vain for ten minutes or more he -was usually forced to cut away the sleeve, or the lining, with his -pocket-knife. - -Another favourite trick was to place some kind of seat under a wall in -order to entice the unwary, and to fix up above it a large tin full of -soot, so arranged as to work on a pivot, and operated by means of a -string. The soot was also sometimes mixed with water, and stirred up so -as to make an intensely black fluid. By and by an unsuspecting -workman--usually an interloper from the yard or elsewhere--would come -along and sit down upon the improvised seat. Very soon one of the gang -shouted out "Hey up!" sharply, and as the victim jumped up someone -pulled the string and down came soot, water, and very often the pot, -too, upon his head. If the joke was successful the dupe's face was as -black as a sweep's; a loud roar of laughter went up from the workmen -and the unhappy victim very quickly got outside. Sometimes, however, he -did not take it so quietly, and I have seen a free fight as the outcome -of this adventure. - -The water-pipe plays a great part in practical joking in the shed, -though this is more usually the juvenile's method of perpetrating a jest -or paying off an old score. There is also the water-squirt, which is -another juvenile weapon. It is sufficient to say that the use of this, -whenever it is detected, is rigidly put down by the workmen themselves; -it is universally looked upon as a nuisance. Great injuries to health -have been done, in some cases, by senseless practical joking with the -water-pipe. I have known instances in which a workman has thrust the -nose of a pipe up the trouser leg of another as he lay asleep on the -floor in the meal-hour, during night duty, and he has been awakened by -it to find himself quite drenched with the stream of water and most -wretchedly cold. One lad, who used to drive the steam-hammer for me, was -often treated to this by some roughs of the shed, and, as a consequence, -was afflicted with chronic rheumatism. Finally he had to stop away from -work altogether, and he lay as helpless as a child for nine years, with -all his joints stiff and set, and died of the torture. - -There is a touch of humour in the situation sometimes, however, as when, -for instance, upon breaking up for the Christmas holidays, a group of -workmen were singing "Let some drops now fall on me," and a wag, in the -middle of the hymn, shot a large volume of water over them from the -hose-pipe. Another trick is to fill a thin paper bag with water and -throw it from a distance. If it happens to strike its object the bag -bursts, and the individual forming the target receives a good wetting. - -All Fools' Day is sure to be the occasion for many jokes of a suitable -kind. A common one at this time is to take a coin and solder it to the -head of a nail, and then to drive the nail into the sill of a door, or -into the floor in a well-frequented spot where it is bound to be -noticed. As soon as it is spied efforts will certainly be made to detach -the coin, and, in the midst of it, the party of youths who prepared the -trap rush forward and bowl the other over on the floor, at the same time -greeting him with boisterous laughter and jeers. Even the chief manager -of the works' department has been the victim of this jest. In this case -an old sixpence was strongly soldered to the nail, which was then well -driven into the floor. Presently the manager came along, saw the coin, -and made several attempts to pick it up. It needs not to be said that -the jest itself was witnessed in respectful silence; the bowling over a -chief might have been attended with certain undesirable consequences. - -New Year's Eve was always suitably observed and celebrated by those on -the night-shift. When the men came in to work they set about their toils -with extra special celerity, and the steam-hammers thumped away with all -possible power and speed. This effort was maintained till towards -midnight, and then everyone slowed down. At about one o'clock a general -cessation of hostilities took place. The steam-hammers were silenced, -the fires were damped, and the tools were thrown on one side. All that -could be heard was the continual "chu-chu" of the engine outside forcing -the hydraulic pumps, and the exhaust of the donkey engine whirling the -fan. In one corner of the shed a large coal fire was kindled on the -ground, and around it were placed seats for the company. Then an -inventive and musical-minded workman stretched a rope across from the -principals and came forward with two sets of steel rods, of various -lengths and thicknesses, and capable of emitting almost any note in the -scale. These were tied about with twine and suspended from the rope in a -graduated order, from the shortest to the longest. Someone else fetched -a big brass dome from a worn-out boiler, while others had brought -several old buffers from the scrap waggon. Two were trained to strike -the rods, and the others were instructed to beat on the dome and -buffers. - -Shortly before midnight, when the bells in the town and the far-off -villages began to peal out, the workmen commenced their carnival. Bells -were perfectly imitated by striking the bars of steel suspended from the -rope; the buffers contributed their sharp, clear notes, and the brass -dome sounded deeply and richly. This was called "Ringing the changes." -When the noise had been continued for a sufficient length of time food -was brought out and the midnight meal partaken of. Although strictly -against the rules of the factory, someone or other would be sure to have -smuggled into the shed a bottle or jar of ale; this would be passed -round and healths drunk with great gusto. When supper was over a -melodeon or several mouth-organs were produced, and selections were -played for another hour. After that the majority had a nap; they seldom -started work any more that morning. The foremen and watchmen were -usually missing on New Year's Eve, or if they should happen to arrive -upon the scene they never interfered. For once in their lives they, too, -became human, and accepted the situation, and perhaps the old watchman -sat down with the men and drank out of their bottle and afterwards -puffed away at his pipe. If the high officials at the works had only -known of what was going on at the time they would have sacked half the -men the next day, but even they, sharp as they are, do not get -intelligence of everything. - -All this happened some twenty years ago and would not be possible -to-day. The shed in which it took place has been deserted by the forgers -and transformed into a storehouse for manufactures. The kindly disposed -old watchmen are dead, or have been superseded, and a new race of -foremen has sprung up. Of the workmen some are dead and others have -retired. A great number are missing, and many of those who remain have -altered to such an extent under the new conditions that I have sometimes -wondered whether they are really the same who worked the night shift and -jested with us in the years ago. So striking is the change that has -taken place, not only in the administration, but in the very life and -temper of the men of the factory during the last decade. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - - GETTING A START--THE NEW HAND--TOWN AND COUNTRY - WORKMEN--PROMOTION--DISCHARGING HANDS--LANGUAGE OF THE - SHED--EDUCATION--THE EDUCATED MAN NOT WANTED--GREASING - THE FORGE - - -Formerly, when anyone was desirous of obtaining a start in the factory, -he tidied himself up and, arrayed in clean working costume, presented -himself at one or other of the main entrances immediately after -breakfast-time so as to meet the eyes of the foremen as they returned -from the meal. Morning after morning, when work was plentiful, you might -have seen a crowd of men and boys around the large doorways, or lining -the pavements as the black army filed in, all anxious to obtain a job -and looking wonderingly towards the opening of the dark tunnel through -which the men passed to arrive at the different sheds. The workmen eyed -the strangers curiously, and, very often, with contempt and displeasure: -it is singular that those who are safely established themselves dislike -to see new hands being put on. They look upon them as interlopers and -rivals, and think them to be a menace to their own position. - -Those in want of a start were easily recognisable from the rest by -reason of their clean and fresh appearance. Many of them were clad in -white corduroy trousers, waistcoats of the same material, with cloth -jackets and well-shone boots, and they wore a plain red or white muffler -around the neck. Some of them were very modest and bashful, and quite -uneasy in face of the crowd; the boys especially were astonished to see -so many workmen at once passing by like an army. - -As soon as the men had disappeared within the entrances the hooter -sounded and the great doors were shut. Shortly afterwards the staff -clerks came along, the foremen walking between them at the same time. -Very often the two classes were not to be distinguished; in such a case -the overseers passed by unchallenged. It usually happened, however, that -the foremen were known to one or other of the crowd. As they came up the -word was sent round and there was a rush to see who should be the first -to put the usual question--"Chance of a job, sir?" This was sometimes -accompanied with an obsequious bow, or the applicant merely raised his -forefinger to his forehead. If the foreman was not in need of hands, he -simply said "No" to each applicant and pushed by them all. If he -required any he asked them where they came from and what they had been -doing, and furthermore questioned them as to their age. If the answers -were satisfactory he merely said, "Come along with me," and conducted -the men off, and they followed with alacrity. - -The boys hardly ever had the courage to address the foremen. If they -could summon up the necessary resolution, however, they said, "Please, -sir, will you give me a job?" and if the reply was favourable they -followed off in high glee, wondering all the way at the strange -surroundings, the busy workmen, and the vast array of machinery. Boys -usually had but little difficulty in obtaining a start; they were soon -taken on and initiated into the mysteries of the sheds. When the foreman -saw them outside he went up to them and asked them if they wanted a job -and promptly told them to "Come along." - -When an applicant was taken in hand by the foreman he was conducted to -the shop office. From that place he was sent, in company with the -office-boy, to the manager's department, where he had to submit to a -whole code of formal questions, and was also required to read the rules -of the factory and to subscribe his name to them, pledging himself to -their observance. After that he was required to undergo a strict medical -examination, though one not so severe as that now in vogue. If he was -successful in this he was told to present himself at the shed, and was -there informed when he might begin work. This might be at any hour of -the day, though it was usually fixed for the early morning--getting a -start commonly occupied one day entire. Sometimes it happened that a -man's references were unsatisfactory; in that case, after working for -several days, he was discharged and another was brought forward to fill -the vacancy. - -The boys were always frightened at the thought of one painful ordeal -which they were told they would have to undergo. They were seriously -informed by their new mates in the shed that they would have to be -branded on the back parts with a hot iron stamp containing the initials -of the railway company, and very many of the youngsters firmly believed -the tale and awaited the operation with dreadful suspense. As time went -on, however, and they were not sent for to the offices, they came to -discredit the story and smiled at their former credulity. - -Different methods are now employed in engaging new hands. They are now -seldom taken up from the entrances, but must apply at the works' Inquiry -Office and begin to pass through the official formula in that way, or -the foreman is supplied with names from private sources. This is another -indication of the times, a further development of system at the works. -By reason of it many good and deserving men and boys are precluded from -the chance of getting a start in the factory, and many less competent -ones are admitted; it affords an excellent opportunity for the exercise -of favouritism on the part of the overseer. Whoever now has a mate he -would like to introduce into the shed approaches the foreman. If he is a -favourite himself room will be made for his friend, somehow or other, -but if he is a commoner, and not reckoned among the "lambs," he will be -met with a curt refusal, or his application will be put off -indefinitely. The officials do not gain anything by the method; they -will not be able to exercise as great a choice in the selection of -hands, but must have what is sent them. - -Another tendency at the works is that to keep out all those who do not -live in the borough or within a certain area around the town, or, if -they are given the chance of a start, it is only upon condition that -they leave their homes and come and live under the shadow of the factory -walls. It is said that this rule was first introduced chiefly in -deference to the tradesmen and shopkeepers of the town, because they are -under the impression that all wages earned in the town should -necessarily be spent there, either in the payment of rent or the -purchase of provisions and clothes. - -When a new hand enters the shed he attracts considerable attention; all -eyes are immediately fixed upon him. If he has worked in the factory -before he will go about his duties in a very unconcerned manner, but if -he is a total stranger to the place he will be shy and awkward, and will -need careful and sympathetic instruction; it will be some time before he -is entirely used to the new surroundings. If he is rustic in appearance, -or seems likely to lend himself to a practical joke, the wags of the -place soon single him out and play pranks upon him. It sometimes -chances, however, that they have mistaken their man; they may meet with -a sudden and unlooked for reprisal and be beaten with their own weapons. - -The workmen who come from the villages are usually better-natured and -also better-tempered than are those who are strictly of the town, though -there are exceptions to the rule. On the whole, however, they make the -more congenial mates, and they work much harder and are more -conscientious. They dress much more roughly than do their confreres of -the town; the last-named would not think of wearing corduroys in the -shed. There is often a great temperamental difference between the two, -and they differ widely in their ideas of and adaptability for work in -the shed. The country workman is fresh and tractable, open to receive -new ideas and impressions of things. He brings what is practically a -virgin mind to the work; he is struck with the entire newness of it all -and enters heart and soul into the business. He is usually more active -and vigorous, both in brain and body, than is the other, and even where -he falls short in actual intelligence and knowledge of things, he more -than makes up for it with painstaking effort; he is very proud of his -new situation. - -The town workman, on the other hand, is often superior, disdainful, and -over-dignified. There is little in his surroundings that is really new -and strange to him. He has always been accustomed to the crowds of -workmen, and if he has not laboured in the shed before he has heard all -about it from his friends or parents. His mind has often become so full -of the occupations and diversions of the town that it is incapable of -receiving new ideas; it is like a slate that has been fully written over -and is impossible of containing another sentence or word. Instead of -exhibiting shyness or reserve he immediately makes himself familiar and -causes his presence to be felt. Before he has been in the shed many days -he knows everything and can do everything, in his estimation, and if you -attempt to reason with him, or offer any advice as to how to proceed, he -will inform you that he "knows all about it without any of your -telling." - -Many of the town workmen, and especially those of the more highly -skilled classes and journeymen, though village-born themselves, show -considerable contempt for the country hand newly arrived in the shed, -and even after he has worked there many years and proved himself to be -of exceptional ability. They consider him at all times as an interloper -and a "waster," and make no secret of their dislike of and antipathy to -him. They often curse him to his face, and tell him that "if it was not -for the likes of him" they would be getting better wages. "If I could -have my way I'd sack every man of you, or make you come into the town to -live. All you blokes are fit for is cow-banging and cleaning out the -muck-yard; you ought to be made come here and work for ten shillings a -week," they say. All this has but little effect upon the countryman, -however, and he seldom deigns to reply to it. Whether his coming to the -factory to work was really better for him or not, prudent or otherwise, -he does not attempt to argue. There is no law that prohibits a man from -changing his occupation and taking another place when he feels inclined -so to do. - -When the average boy of the town first enters the shed he is not long in -finding his way about and taking stock of the other juveniles and men; -he is here, there, and everywhere in a few moments. With his -shirt-sleeves turned up to the elbow he walks round, whistling or -humming a tune, and greeting all indiscriminately with a wink or a nod, -and a "What cheer?" or "Pip! pip!" If the men beckon to him--with a sly -wink at their mates, intending to ask some ridiculous question or take a -rise out of him--the youngster shakes his hand at them and retires -straightway with a knowing nod and the expression, "I don't think," -laying great stress upon the don't. By and by, however, as he becomes a -little more proficient and "cheeky," the men get hold of him and treat -him to a little rough play. They will either twist his arm round till he -cries out with the pain, and nearly crush him in a vice-like grip, or -dip his head in the nearest bosh of water. - -The country lad behaves in a manner quite the reverse of this. He -remains strictly near his machine or steam-hammer, and is usually too -bashful to speak, unless it be to his immediate mates. He is afraid of -strangers, and it will be some weeks before he ventures to walk to the -other end of the shed. Even when he does this it will be not to converse -with the other boys and men, but in order to watch the machines, the -furnaces, and steam-hammers. There he will stand with great attention -and view the several operations, and if anyone shouts out at him he will -move quietly away and watch something else with the same earnestness, or -go back to his own place. His conduct is altogether different from that -of the other, and he is often singular in turning up his shirt-sleeves -_inside_, and right up to the very shoulders. Before the town boy goes -home from the shed he is careful to wash off the black from his face, -comb his hair, and tidy himself up. The country boy, on the other hand, -wears his livery home with him; he likes everyone to see that he has -been engaged at a hot, black job. In a word, town boys are ashamed of -the badge of their work, while country boys are proud of it. - -Perhaps, when the village boy starts in the shed, one or two kindly -disposed workmen will immediately take notice of him, and, calling him -to them, will ask him where he comes from, and upon what kind of work he -was before engaged, and all about himself, and so win him over with -their friendliness; no matter how long he remains in the shed he does -not forget their former kindness to him. In contradistinction to this -the wags of the shed make him a ready mark for their diversions, running -away with his cap, or sending him on many ridiculous errands and -confounding him with stupid questions and conundrums. One favourite jest -was to send him to the engine-house after a "bucket of blast," and -another was to despatch him for the "toe punch." The "toe punch" -consisted of a vigorous kick in the posterior, which the youngster, if -he obeyed the instructions given, was most certain to receive; but he -very soon came to know what was intended and sturdily refused to run any -more errands. - -A great alteration, physically and morally, usually takes place in the -man or boy newly arrived from the country into the workshop. His fresh -complexion and generally healthy appearance soon disappear; his bearing, -style of dress and all undergo a complete change. In a few weeks' time, -especially if his work is at the fires, he becomes thin and pale, or -blue and hollow-eyed. His appetite fails; he is always tired and weary. -For the first time in his life he must go to the surgery and obtain -medicine, or stay at home on the sick list. His firm carriage--unless he -is very careful of it--leaves him; he comes to stoop naturally and walks -with a slouching gait. His dress, from being clean, tidy, and -well-fitting, partakes of the colour of soot and grease and hangs on his -limbs; I know cases in which men have lost ten pounds in weight in a -fortnight and regained it all in a little more than a week's absence -from the shed. - -The change in character and morals is often as pronounced as is the -physical transformation; the newcomer, especially if he is a juvenile, -is speedily initiated into the vices prevalent in the factory and taught -the current slang phrases and expressions. Some of the workmen are -greatly to blame in respect of this, and are guilty of almost criminal -behaviour in their dealings with young boys. They use the most filthy -language in their presence, purposely teaching them to swear, and -sometimes also producing obscene pictures and books for their perusal. -The foremen are not free from blame and responsibility in this matter. -Many of them use the most foul language, and curse the men openly before -the youngsters upon the slightest provocation. There is a species of -Continental picture card that is far too popular in some of the offices; -where the example is set by superiors it is small wonder that the rank -and file are affected with the contagion. The managers themselves are -guilty of coarse language and vulgar expressions. Certain remarks of -theirs are frequently repeated and circulated in the sheds, and do not -tend to improve the morals of the workmen, or to increase respect for -those who made them. - -Promotion among the workmen is very slow and tedious, unless there -happens to be an influence at work somewhere behind, which is often the -case. It is superfluous to say, moreover, that the cleverest man is not -the one usually advanced; that would be contrary to all precedent at the -factory. He is more usually the very individual to be kept under; the -foreman will be sure to keep him in the background and hide his light -underneath the bushel, or try his best to snuff it out altogether. The -only material advancement possible to a workman, besides being appointed -overseer, is that of being raised to the position of chargeman. A few -privileges attach to the post of chargeman, especially if there is a -big gang; his wages are higher, and he draws a sum called percentage, -equal to 10 per cent. of his own weekly wages, deducted out of the -"balance" earned by the gang. - -The system of paying percentage is very unpopular with the rank and file -of the workmen; whether the chargeman's behaviour is good or bad, he is -heartily hated by most of the men in consequence of it. Foremen they -must tolerate, but a chargeman they fully despise. They do not like to -think that any of their earnings go to pay for his supervision, although -in most cases he is quite a necessary individual. In times past the -chargeman used to pay the piecework "balance" to the men, having -received the money in a bulk from the company, and he was often guilty -of scandalous robbery and cheating. The chargeman could and did pay the -gang what amount he pleased, and kept several pounds a week extra for -himself. All that is past and done with now. The "balance" is paid to -the man with his day wages; no opportunity of cheating him is given to -the chargeman. - -As soon as it becomes known that it is intended to discharge a number of -hands considerable anxiety is evidenced by the rank and file, and -especially by the unskilled of the shed. They begin to quake and tremble -and to be full of apprehension, for it is usually men of their class who -are chosen to go, together with any who may be old and feeble, those who -are subject to periodical attacks of illness, who have met with an -accident at some time or other, those who are awkward and clumsy, -dwellers in country places, and those whom the foreman owes a grudge. It -can generally be surmised beforehand by the men themselves who will be -in the number of unfortunates. Groups of workmen gather and discuss the -situation quietly; there is great suspense until the notices are -actually issued. Sometimes as many as a hundred men of the same shed -have received their notices of dismissal in one day. The notices are -written out upon special forms and the clerk of the shed, or the -office-boy, carries them round to the men; it is a dramatic moment. -Although fully expecting to receive the dreaded "bit of paper," the men -hope against hope; they are quite dazed when the clerk approaches and -hands it to them, for they know full well what it means. The young men -may not care a scrap. To them all the world is open. They have plenty of -other opportunities; but to those who are subject to illness--contracted -on the premises--or who are getting on in life and are becoming old and -grey and unfit for further service, it is little less than tragedy. One -day's notice is served out to the men; they are quickly removed from the -shed and are presently forgotten. - -Of the number discharged a great many loiter about the town for several -weeks, unable to find any sort of employment. These scatter about among -the villages and try to obtain work on the farms; those are assisted by -their relatives and kindred in various parts of the country to leave the -locality altogether. Some find their way into the workhouse and end -their days there, and others develop into permanent loafers and outcasts -and beg their food from door to door, picking up stray coppers around -the station yard or in the market-place. - -Great relief is felt in the shed when the discharging is over. A common -remark of the workman who is left is, "Ah well! 'Twill be better for we -as be left. 'Tis better to sack a few than to keep us all on short time -here." That is invariably the view of the well-established in the -factory. Occasionally, when a workman knows he has been selected for -dismissal through spite, or personal malice, he may go to the overseer -and "have it out with him," but there is no remedy. The foreman has had -the whole batch in his eye for some time past. Whatever little -indiscretion is committed he records it and the man is marked. The -overseer boasts openly that he shall "get his own back," sooner or -later. "We don't forget it, mate, you bet, not we! His time'll come all -right, some day." After the last great discharge of hands at the -factory, in the year 1909, when a thousand men were dismissed in order -to "reduce expenses," it was reported that every manager at the works -was granted a substantial increase in salary. In less than a month, for -some inscrutable reason, a number of new hands, equivalent to those who -had been discharged, were put on again. - -The speech of the workmen in the sheds necessarily varies according to -the country or locality which gave them birth or to the part in which -they were settled before coming to the railway town, and to the degrees -of culture existing among them. The majority, including foremen, -fitters, smiths, and other journeymen and labourers, speak a common -language, plain, direct, and homely; there is little pretence to fine -words and "swell" phrases. The average workman detests nothing more than -to be bound to a mate who is always giving himself airs, who lays stress -upon his claim to superior knowledge of grammar and other matters, and -who makes use of affected or artificial language and "jaw-breakers," as -the men call them. Sometimes a new-comer to the shed may attempt to make -an impression with a magnificent style of diction, though he is only -mocked and ridiculed for his pains, and he soon conforms to the general -rule and habit of the workshop. Even if he really possesses culture, it -is soon effaced and swallowed up amid the unsympathetic environment of -the shed. Occasionally one meets with an individual--it may be a -workman or a clerk--who can never speak simply, but tries to express -everything in ridiculous and fantastic language, and who at all times -looks upon himself as a perfect hero. The blunt and matter-of-fact -workmen take an entirely different view of him and his jargon, however; -they look upon him as a perfect fool or an idiot. - -One habit of speech is particularly noticeable amongst the men, that -is the adding the suffix "fied" to a number of words; you often hear -them make use of such expressions as "Monday-fied," "sweaty-fied," -"bossy-fied," "silly-fied," and so on. Another peculiarity is the adding -the letter y to a surname, usually a monosyllable, and especially to -those ending in dentals and labials, such as Webb-y, Smith-y, Legg-y, -Lane-y, Nash-y, Brooks-y; you never find the termination used with such -words as Fowler, Foster, Matthews, Jerrom, or Johnson. This is no more -than an extension of the rule which is responsible for such forms as -Tommy, Annie, Betty, Teddy, or Charlie. - -If one workman asks another how he is feeling, he usually receives for -an answer--"Rough and ready, like a rat-catcher's dog," or "Passable," -or "Among the Middlings," or "In the pink, mate!" as the case may be, -with the common addition of "Ow's you?" A few are still to be found, and -these among the town dwellers, too, who can neither read nor write. I -especially remember one youth, of a very respectable family, of good -appearance and fairly well-to-do, who could not write his name or read a -letter. Such cases as this are happily rare now. Where there is an -illiterate workman, if the cause of his deficiency be carefully sought -out, it will usually be found to have been entirely through his own -fault. - -As for the fruits of education exhibited among the men in the sheds -generally, that is rather a difficult and delicate matter to touch upon. -One thing, however, is obvious to any who care to pay the slightest -attention to it: extremely little of those subjects taught with such -assiduity at school remains with the individual in after life--such -things as grammar, composition, history, geography, arithmetic, and -chemistry are universally forgotten. The boys of the town are especially -remarkable for shortness of memory and general forgetfulness; they have -few powers of mental retention, and are almost incapable of -concentrating upon a matter. You have often to instruct them upon each -trivial detail half-a-dozen times, and before you can turn round they -have forgotten it again. The least occurrence is sufficient to distract -their attention. Scolding will not help matters, it is really a natural -defect. When I have had occasion to reprove boys for apparent -carelessness and neglect they have more than once replied--"I can't help -it. I forgot it." There is great truth in the first of those sentences. - -Sport and play, and especially football, claims the attention of the -juveniles. The love of the last-named pastime has come to be almost a -disease of late years--old and young, male and female, of every rank and -condition, are afflicted with it. Whatever leisure the youngsters have -is spent in kicking about something or other amid the dirt and dust; -from one week's end to another they are brimful of the fortunes of the -local football team. Many a workman boasts that he has denied himself a -Sunday dinner in order to find the money necessary for him to attend -Saturday's match. Politics, religion, the fates of empires and -governments, the interest of life and death itself must all yield to the -supreme fascination and excitement of football. - -There is an almost total lack of spontaneous interest in anything--with -the exception of sport and politics--that happens in the world without -the factory walls and the immediate vicinity of the town. The great -business of life is entirely ignored; small inclination is -discoverable--even if there were opportunities--to pay attention to -anything but the ordinary duties and routine of the shed. The beauties -of wood and field, or hill and down, scarcely appeal to the average -working man. Though magnificent downlands and historical relics are -within easy reach of the town's-people, few are tempted to walk so far -from the smoky atmosphere of the factory as to visit them; a great -indifference to the compelling attractions of Nature apparently exists. -Yet, on the other hand, if you should happen to enter the shed with a -handful of common wild flowers--willow-herb, rosebay, bell flower, -oxeye, and so on--you would immediately be surrounded by a crowd of -boys, and men, too, full of admiration for the lovely strangers, and all -eagerly inquiring after their names, thereby discovering an innate -passion for them, though lack of opportunity and other circumstances had -almost obliterated it. Every man, woman, and child, though they may not -be well aware of it, is a nature-lover at heart; they all have a fond -regard for the simple, natural things of the earth--birds, plants, and -flowers. The men of the shed are always eager to listen to and take part -in political discussions, but they are, as a rule, totally indifferent -to the interest of literature. At the same time, if you have anything to -tell them of birds, flowers, and animals, life on the farm, haymaking, -reaping, threshing, ploughing, and so on, they are full of attention: -they evidently derive great pleasure from the relation of these simple -matters and occupations. - -As for general culture, it may at once be said that the educated man is -not wanted at the factory. What is more, the managers will not have him -if they can by any means avoid it; there is a great antipathy to him on -the part of the staff in and out of the shed. Where a workman is known -to possess any intellectual abilities above those commonly found and has -the courage to raise his voice in any matter or to interest himself in -things pertaining to the town, or if he has in any way access to the ear -of the public, he is certain to be marked for it; at the first -convenient opportunity he will be shifted off the premises. Every -workman who desires to improve himself in any direction other than in -that which tends to promote the interests of the company is looked upon -with suspicion; he is immediately included in the number of -"undesirables." - -Several years ago the manager of a department, who was at the time -Chairman of the local Educational Authority, sent for me in order to see -whether I might be of any use to him in his office. After a lengthy -interview he expressed his disappointment at being unable to offer me -any position, and took care to point out to me the folly of my ways. My -intellectual qualifications were beyond his consideration, said he. I -was so full of many matters as to be quite worthless to him. He must -have certificates. What was the use of my trying, anyhow? He would quote -two words to me--_Cui bono?_ The world was full of better men than I. -What was the good of literature? His advice to me was to go back to my -furnace, look after my wife and family, and trouble no more about it. - -At the forge, however, the steady persistence of my efforts towards -self-improvement was not appreciated. Day after day the foreman of the -shed came or sent someone with oil or grease to obliterate the few words -of Latin or Greek which I had chalked upon the back of the sooty -furnace in order to memorise them. Even my tool-boxes and cupboard, -always considered more or less private and sacred, were periodically -smeared with fat and the operation was often carried out in a very -offensive manner. The plan was not successful, however, and I was often -more amused than annoyed, though it was most seriously intended by the -overseer, who always said he was acting under the manager's orders. At -one time he had caused the furnace back to be tarred. Before the tar had -completely dried I innocently chalked upon it several words that figured -in my studies for the day. By the next morning the characters had become -permanent. The colour of the chalk had set, and as often as the overseer -or his agent came with the oil-pot and removed the dust and soot, -thinking to baffle me, he was confronted with the Horatian precept, _Nil -desperandum_, a quotation from the _Hecuba_, and [Greek: Stauroson -auton] (Crucify him) from the New Testament. The one most appreciated at -the works is he who remains silent and slavishly obeys every order, who -is willing to cringe and fawn like a dog, to swear black is white and -white is black at the bidding of his chief, to fulfil every instruction -without ever questioning the wisdom or utility of it, to be, in a word, -as clay in the potter's hand, a mere tool and a puppet. - -Where the cultured person does exist in the shed he must generally -suffer exquisite tortures. There can be no culture without a higher -sensibility, and he will be thereby rendered less able to endure the -hardships of the toil, and the otherwise brutal and callous environments -of the place. As for the view, held in some quarters, that education -will make a man happier at work and better satisfied with his lot and -condition, that is pure myth and fallacy, and the sooner it is -dispensed with the better. On the other hand, it will most certainly -produce dissatisfaction, but such, perhaps, as will speedily wake him up -to his real needs and requirements--a larger freedom, and the attainment -of a fuller and better life. Any kind of education that tends to make -the workman at all subjective to his lot is worthless and retrograde; he -must be roused up to battle towards perfection of conditions and must -himself be prepared to make some sort of sacrifice towards the -accomplishment of that end, unless he is content to occupy the same -level for ever. Nor will it be sufficient for him to have obtained -higher wages and greater leisure if he does not attempt to derive -something more than a mere physical or material benefit from them. -Whatever advantage is gained in the future must be turned to sterling -account--to the acquisition of useful knowledge and the increase of -mental strength and fitness, otherwise the battle will have been fought -greatly in vain. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - - SHORT TIME AND OVERTIME--"BACK TO THE LAND"--THE TOWN - INFLUENCE--CHANGES AT THE WORKS--GRIEVANCES--THE POSITION - OF LABOUR--ILLS AND REMEDIES--THE FUTURE OUTLOOK - - -Frequent spells of short time occur at the works, which are most certain -to be followed by brisk and busy periods, as though the officials were -anxious to make up for every moment of the previously lost time. It -usually happens that the change is made direct from prosperity to -adversity and _vice versa_. One week the machinery in the sheds is -running day and night and every man is working unusual hours; the next, -everything is changed. Short time is declared; only half the output will -be needed and about half the time worked. Similarly, after a period of -short weeks, a full-time notice is posted, and by the next night all the -men are pell-mell on overtime, working as though they had but a few -hours to live. Whether it is necessary or not is never ascertained; -there is apparently an astounding want of order and foresight on the -part of the managing staff. - -It is remarkable that, notwithstanding the terrific nature of the -hardships endured, the majority of the men at the factory do not show -themselves seriously averse to the working of overtime. There is even -satisfaction evinced at the prospect of putting in an extra day, or day -and a half, a week, and drawing a few shillings more in wages. The few -who dislike it from principle and on other grounds must swallow their -objections and join in with the rest; whether they like it or not they -are forced to follow the crowd. If a man refuses point-blank to work -after the usual hours he is punished either with suspension from the -shed or instant dismissal. Unfortunately for the good of the working -classes generally, those who are satisfied with the ordinary rate of -hours are insignificant in number. The highly-paid workmen and -journeymen are about as unreasonable in the matter as are the lowest -paid labourers. Very often they are the more insatiable of the two; they -will put in any number of hours provided an opportunity is given them -for so doing. The trade unionists are usually as well agreed as the -others to work extra time; there is but very little difference -discovered between them. No matter how loudly they declaim against the -system and advocate the abolition of overtime, should the order be -issued they commonly obey it with alacrity. - -Occasionally, though not often, it is announced that the working of -overtime may be optional. In the extreme heat of summer, when overtime -at the fires is prevalent, the overseer may relax a little and cause it -to be known that any who wish it may go home at the ordinary hour, but -few take advantage of the offer. I have known those who were highly -paid, on the hottest days of summer, to be so severely punished with the -heat that they could scarcely stand at their posts, almost incapable of -further effort and exhausted with the toil, yet though it was free for -them to leave at the usual hour they would not go home. They cling to -the shed as long as they possibly can; they have an unnatural fondness -for the stench and smoke. Such as these are often teased and twitted and -told to "bring their beds" with them, or an outspoken workman will tell -them they ought to die and be buried on the premises. - -A great part of the overtime, moreover, is not always genuinely -necessary, but is artificially engineered in order to please this or -that one and to provide someone or other with additional pocket-money. A -few chargemen in every shed systematically nurse the overseer and -entreat, or influence him, directly or otherwise, to allow them to work -a few quarters, a Saturday afternoon, or a Sunday. - -Very often, too, some of the men live in houses owned by their foreman. -In that case a little overtime will expedite payment of the rent; it -will not then be amiss to allow them to work a few quarters. The putting -on a few new hands and the addition of a night shift would obviate much -overtime and give the unemployed a chance, but the daymen are offended -should that proposition be made. I have actually heard men volunteer to -work double-handed at the fires and promise to turn out considerably -increased quantities of work on their turn rather than for the foreman -to run a night shift and so prevent them from working overtime. - -The men's takings at such times as these are fairly high. Some of the -new hands are astonished when they receive their wages, with the -piecework "balance" added, on a full week. One of them, in the days of -the old foreman of the frame shed, was so aghast at the amount he had to -draw he could not believe it was all intended for him; he thought there -must be a mistake somewhere. Accordingly, holding the money in his hand, -he went back to the foreman, and, in front of all the other men -cried--"Be this all mine, sir?" The foreman, who happened to be in an -ill-temper, cursed him for an idiot and promptly told him to "clear -out." - -At another time, when the men were being paid on breaking up for -Christmas holidays, a good-natured country lad, whose earnings were -small, chanced by mistake to draw the wages of another, much more -highly rated than himself, and, thinking the extras were intended for a -Christmas-box, promptly went and laid out the money in presents for his -mother and dad. He was quickly called to account, however, and had to -refund the cash at once, and he furthermore received the imputation of -being a sly rogue and a thief. Without doubt money is plentiful during -overtime, though the extras are far from being all profit. It costs more -to live. The workman requires more to eat and drink, more clothes, -firing, light, and other sundries, to say nothing of the sacrifice of -freedom and life. - -It is little real gain to the workman, even though he have a trifle -better food and clothing, a finer house and costlier furniture, while he -has to work excessively long hours in order to pay for it. The more -expensively he lives the more time he must spend in the smoke and stench -of the shed and the greater must be his dependence upon his employer. He -that lives simply in a modest cottage is much nearer to freedom than the -other can ever hope to be, for he is bound down to life-long servitude. -Every hour spent outside the factory walls is a precious addition to -life; whoever willingly throws away the opportunity of enjoying it is -guilty of the highest folly and negligence. He is the curtailer of his -dearest rights and liberties, the forger of fetters for himself and his -children after him, and the sooner the working classes can be brought to -see this the better it will be for them. - -There is a great deal of talk, chiefly with a political bias, about the -sheds, of getting back to the land. Many of the men tell you they are -sick of town life and conditions and would like to see themselves -established upon a dozen acres of land far away from the noise of the -factory, but they never make the slightest effort towards the -consummation of the wish. The fact is that, notwithstanding all the -punishments and hardships endured in the workshop, they are still -strongly attached to it or to the life they are enabled to live by -reason of it. They have no intention whatever at heart of changing their -occupation. They are content to mix with the crowd, and are unable to -withstand the novelty and excitement of the town existence. - -During the many years I have spent in the works I have known of but one -case in which a man left the shed to go back to the land as a small -working farmer. He had always been careful and thrifty, and seemed to be -well fitted for the agricultural life, but he could not succeed in it. -After five or six years of hard labour, trying in vain to prosper, he -returned to the shed, a disappointed and ruined man: he had spent his -savings and lost the whole of his small capital. He is still working in -the shed, and he has no intention of repeating the experiment. The wages -at the works, though low as compared with those obtainable at other -towns, are much higher than what the farm labourer receives. Youths of -eighteen years of age in the sheds often draw more than the carter or -cowman, who may have to maintain big families. - -Consequently, while the cry of "Back to the land" is heard on all sides, -there is at the same time a most passionate desire to get away from it -and to come into the town to work and live; whoever is of the requisite -age will be certain to appear at the factory gates to try and obtain -admission there. The whole countryside, within a radius of six or eight -miles of the town, is almost destitute of good strong workmen. Only the -feeble and decrepit are left behind to work on the farms--those who -cannot pass the physical tests and those who formerly worked in the -factory and were discharged through old age or other causes of -unfitness. Once a man becomes settled in the factory he is very -reluctant to leave it. Notwithstanding the rigour of the system imposed, -he usually remains there till the end of his working days, unless he -happens to meet with an accident or dismissal. He soon loses his -self-confidence and independent spirit. The world is considerably -narrowed down in his view; he feels bound to the life with indissoluble -fetters. - -As for the work itself, men do that in the factory they would scorn to -do outside or upon the farm. They would not be seen milking or -"clod-hopping," or carrying a yoke and pails, a truss of hay on their -head, or a little pig in their arms, or driving cattle to market. At the -same time they are not ashamed to scour down filthy roofs and windows, -to do white-washing, to clean black and greasy engines, to wheel coal -and ashes up or down the stage, to tar the axles and wheels of waggons -and vehicles, to stand at the furnace or machine all day in a -half-fainting condition choked with the smoke and dust of the shed; as -though it were not more wholesome to have to do with cattle and crops -than to be for ever penned up within four walls! - -Although perhaps not as keen intellectually as are some of those who get -their living in the town, and not receiving as much in wages, the best -of the farm-hands are healthier, happier, and generally more well-to-do -than are the factory labourers. At the same time, it is but natural that -a man should desire to leave the country to come into the town. Though -the work is much sharper and infinitely more painful while it lasts, the -shorter hours and higher pay are powerful inducements for him to make -the change. He will be free on Saturday afternoons, and there is no -Sunday labour, while his wages will often be half as much again as what -he would get on the farm. It is idle to say that the desertion of the -countryside is a modern symptom; that has very little force, for it was -always the same among highly civilised communities. The Greek husbandman -left the soil and flocked to Athens to sit in the Agora, the Egyptians -thronged the streets of Alexandria, and the Italians deserted the plough -and sickle and crowded in Rome to see the circus games and other -diversions of the "_Urbs Terrarum_." - -Those who, most of all, use the cry of "Back to the land" are they that -obtain the highest wages in the sheds, and who are themselves the least -likely to set the example. Men with families enlarge upon the blessings -and privileges of agricultural life, but they take great care to get -their sons started in the shed at the very earliest opportunity. As soon -as they leave school they are brought along in knickerbockers and -presented to the overseer, with the earnest hope of a speedy admission -to work on the premises. I know of several cases in which workmen have -been offered financial help in order to instal them in small-holdings, -and they have refused point-blank. When I asked them the reason they -replied that they "would rather go home at half-past five, if it made no -difference," and that is the crux of the whole matter. Not only this, -there is the football match, the railway "Trip," the privilege fares, -the theatre, the cinematograph, the skating-rink, and the trams, all -which must be sacrificed if the workman determines in favour of the -simple life on the farm or small-holding. The class of men to secure for -the land is the pick of the agricultural labourers, those who are -uncontaminated with the life of the town; it is useless to think of -reclaiming those who have once entered the factory and become -established there. - -Even very many of those who dwell outside the town are not content to -spend their leisure in the village; in the evening and at week-ends -they wash and dress and flock back to the street corners or parade up -and down the thoroughfares. Innovations such as the cinematograph and -the skating-rink, though harmless enough in some respects, are of little -real value to the workman; with all their claims to be "educational" and -"health-giving" the town could very well afford to dispense with them. -There is little that is really manly and vigorous in roller-skating, and -many of the cinematograph pictures serve only to indulge the craving for -the novel and sensational. Half the boys of the shed, and even the -infants of the town, can think of little but those ridiculously stupid -and often debasing entertainments, of blood and thunder, crime, and -mawkish love dramas; their minds are rendered quite incapable of -imbibing sound and useful knowledge. - -Even the trams, useful as they are, prove in several ways detrimental to -the toiler and contribute to the restriction of his liberty. Scores of -workmen I know wait at their doors or at street corners for five, and -very often for ten minutes, in order to ride a distance of about a -quarter of a mile. I have nothing to say against the habit provided the -man can afford twopence or threepence a day for fares. At the same time, -considered from the point of view of health, walking the distance would -often be much better, and every copper needlessly spent by the worker -tends to make him more and more dependent upon the shed. Where a man is -engaged upon very hot and laborious work he is often too tired to walk -home. The wages of such a one ought to be sufficiently high to enable -him to make the journey in a taxicab, if he desired it. - -Very different from this, however, is the lot of the small-holder. He -must rise early all the year round--in summer and winter, light or dark, -hot or cold weather. His work is not of five-and-a-half, but of six or -seven days. Where cattle are kept there can be no such thing as a day -off; dumb mouths must be fed and their needs ministered to. He has no -trams to take him to work, very often no shelter from the storms and -showers, no shade in summer and no steam-heated refuge in winter. His -leisure is short, his companions few, his whole life laborious. But he -is happy and strong, healthy, and vigorous in body and mind; he is in -many ways a better man than is his _confrere_ of the town. Considerably -more skill, knowledge, and human feeling are also required on the part -of the carter, cowman, and shepherd in dealing with their teams, flocks, -and herds, than in the case of those who merely superintend mechanical -processes and have to do with lifeless blocks of iron and steel, yet the -countrymen are more or less despised by the factory workers and are -greatly deficient in wages. Low wages are given on the farm simply -because it is the custom so to do; if the Government were to intervene -and fix a higher rate the extra money would be paid as a matter of -course. This is the only kind of reform that would really popularise -work on the land from the point of view of the poor man and help to -check the wholesale migration to the towns. Not until such improvements -have been made will the labourer be willing heartily to respond to the -cry of "Back to the land." - -One thing is especially to be deplored in the factory, and that is the -serious lack of recognition and appreciation of the skilful and -conscientious workman; there is very little inducement for anyone to -make efforts in order to obtain better results at the steam-hammer or -other machine. If a workman proves himself to be possessed of unusual -skill and originality, instead of being rewarded for it he is boycotted -and held in check. Even the managers are not above exhibiting the same -petty feeling where they find their ideas have been eclipsed by those of -less authority. It is their habit to think that anything they suggest is -the best possible of its kind. - -Whatever inventions are produced by the workmen, whether in leisure time -or at the shed, become the property of the railway company; they claim -the right of free and unrestricted use of all patents applied for by -their employees. Consequently, if a workman discovers means by which he -might assist the firm with a new process he holds his peace and troubles -no more about it. He knows that he would not be thanked for the -information, and he is also aware that if the scheme were adopted his -prices would consequently be reduced. In more up to date sheds, and -particularly in America, bonuses are given for the best work made and -every man is induced, by all reasonable means, to think out new methods. -An "idea box" is kept on the premises; every "happy thought" is written -upon a form and slipped into this. The managers alone inspect the sheets -and any suggestion considered worthy of being adopted is paid for.[4] - - [4] Since these pages were penned the railway authorities - have invited the workmen to submit to them any ideas they - may have for the improvement of dies and plant, but, - unfortunately, the local foreman still stands in the way - and blocks progress. On the publication of the notice a - workman of the shed put forward a brilliant and original - idea in respect of a complex job upon which he was - engaged, but the foreman promptly cut him short and told - him he was a ---- fool, and there the matter ended. - -Bonuses are paid to firemen and engine-drivers on the line for economy -in fuel. The same plan might profitably be adopted in the factory. It is -well-known that certain men invariably produce the best work. One -furnaceman will waste as much again fuel as another. One machineman -breaks no end of drills and tools. The work of this or that smith always -looks rough and shoddy. One stamper spoils more dies in a year than -another will in ten and often gets his work sent back, while the other -does never. If the best men were the most highly paid there would be no -just cause for complaint, but they are not. They are all classed the -same. The incompetent receives as much as the competent and is usually -held higher in esteem. - -That great changes have taken place in regard to everything connected -with the factory of late years is not to be disputed. Different schemes -of work and other methods of dealing with the men have everywhere been -introduced. New machinery has revolutionised many branches of the labour -and it usually happens that where an appliance that saves 50 per cent. -to the firm is adopted the men are hustled into double activity; the -great delight of the managers is to boast of the large amount of work -produced by a machine, and to add that "one man does it all." In -addition, prices all round are continually being sharpened; "balance" is -earned with greater difficulty and only by increased effort. The -officials declare openly that piecework balance is merely given to the -men when they earn it without strenuous efforts; they will not admit the -reasonableness of working with any degree of sanity and comfort. - -As well as new machinery, which has revolutionised many branches of work -in the factory, there are such things as fresh laws and regulations -touching accidents and compensation for injuries, which have helped -considerably to modify the tone and character of the sheds. Only those -in perfect health are now admitted to the works; those possessed of -flaws of any kind are rejected. The tests are almost as severe as are -those used for recruiting for the Army and Navy, and young men are -refused on account of the most trivial ailments and infirmities. - -When a man shows signs of being subject to recurrent spells of sickness -he is marked out as an undesirable; as soon as an opportunity comes he -will be quietly shifted off the premises. If a workman falls ill he must -not only satisfy the medical authorities at the works' infirmary, and -notify his foreman of the fact, but, after passing the doctor's -examination and clearing off the funds, he must present himself at one -of the manager's offices and be further interrogated before he is -allowed to start again. This last-named examination is deeply resented -by the rank and file, and many, though ill, continue at work when they -ought to be at home because they do not like the irritating process of -passing the test and the certainty of having something or other recorded -against them. - -In reality this is a system of espionage, a cowardly inquisition, but -one that is in high favour with the foreman because it gives him the -chance of getting rid of a man on so-called medical grounds without his -suspecting that he has been discharged for other reasons. By this means -the shed foreman may remove anyone against whom he has a grudge and he -cannot well be blamed himself; the victim is told that he is "medically -unfit," and there is an end of it. The game is played by putting a -private pen mark upon the official slip to be presented at the office. -If the foreman desires to retain the workman he puts a private mark upon -the paper, and if he wants to get rid of him and has not the courage to -tell him so to his face the mark is omitted. This is so arranged in -order that if the workman suspects that the paper contains something to -his detriment and demands to see it, there shall be nothing that he can -cavil at. The damaging thing is in that there is no sign upon it. -Honest Mark Fell, who was one of the finest smiths that ever worked at a -forge, an excellent time-keeper, and who was possessed of a grand -character, died rather than go out on the sick list and be forced to -pass the dreaded inquisition. He was run down with over-work, and was -badly in need of a rest, but he did not like the idea of going to the -offices. Accordingly he kept coming to work day after day, and grew -weaker and weaker. When at last he did stay out it was too late; his -strength and vitality were gone and he died within a week or two -afterwards. - -A decade and a half ago one could come to the shed fearlessly, and with -perfect complacence; work was a pleasure in comparison with what it is -now. It was not that the toil was easy, though, as a matter of fact, it -was not so exhausting as it is at present, but there was an entirely -different feeling prevalent. The workman was not watched and timed at -every little operation, and he knew that as the job had been one day so -it would be the next. Now, however, every day brings fresh troubles from -some quarter or other. The supervisory staff has been doubled or -trebled, and they must do something to justify their existence. Before -the workman can recover from one shock he is visited with another; he is -kept in a state of continual agitation and suspense which, in time, -operate on his mind and temper and transform his whole character. - -At one time old and experienced hands were trusted and respected, both -by reason of their great knowledge of the work, acquired through many -years, and as a kind of tacit recognition of their long connection with -the firm, but now, when a man has been in the shed for twenty years, -however young he may be, he is no longer wanted. There is now a very -real desire to be rid of him. For one thing, his wages are high. In -addition to this, he knows too much; he is not pliable. It is time he -was shifted to make room for someone lower paid, more plastic and more -ignorant of the inner working of things. - -If a workman has a grievance it is useless for him to complain to the -overseer, who is usually the cause of it, and if he takes it upon -himself to go and see the manager he gets no redress. The manager always -supports the foreman whether he has acted rightly or wrongly, and the -man is remembered and branded as a malcontent; he will be carefully -watched ever after. The safest way to quell a man is to keep him hard at -work. While his nose is firm upon the grindstone there is no danger of -his indulging in speculations of any kind; he could no more realise -himself than he could hope to see the stars at midday. - -While the men are inside the walls of the factory, they are under the -most severe laws and restrictions, many of which are utterly ridiculous, -and out of all reason considering the general circumstances of the toil -and the conditions in vogue; they are indeed prisoners in every sense of -the term. In the midst of the busiest period of hay-making and -harvest-cart, ploughing or threshing, a short stop is always made for -refreshment, or the labourer takes a crust of bread and cheese from his -pocket and eats it at his work and is strengthened with it, but in the -factory one must not be seen to crack a nut, or eat an apple or biscuit, -much less to partake of any other food. If he should break the rule and -be seen eating, he will be marked for it and told to "get a pass out and -go home." Four or five hours is a long time to keep up a strenuous pace -at the fires. A half-way relaxation of ten minutes would be good for -everyone; the workman would more than make up for it afterwards. - -A regrettable dulness is discovered by very many of the men, which may -be bred of the labour itself and the extremely monotonous conditions of -the factory. There is little or no thought taken for the future, no -knowledge of the value of life, and not much desire to know, either. The -workmen do not think for themselves, and if you should be at the pains -of pointing out anything for their benefit they will tell you that you -are mad, or curse you for a Socialist. Anyone at the works who holds a -view different from that expressed by the crowd is called a Socialist, -rightly or wrongly; it would need an earthquake to rouse many of the men -out of their apathy and indifference. It is more than education at -fault. There is something wrong at the very roots of the tree. The whole -system of life requires overhauling and revolutionising; the national -character is become flat and stale. - -I have already, in the first chapter, referred to labour unrest. That is -the perfectly natural outcome of modern conditions of labour, the long -spell of commercial prosperity, and of the spread of knowledge among the -working classes. It is not to be viewed with misgiving at all, at any -rate, not by those who can look intelligently into the future and brush -aside the paltry prejudices that are common everywhere to-day. The very -fact that working-men are rousing themselves and showing a masterly -interest in problems of the hour, and are prepared to fight fairly and -bravely for better conditions should be a source of satisfaction to -everyone. It proves, at least, that they are awake and alive; that they -have cast off torpor and stagnation and put on power and virility, and -that is surely a good omen both for the future of democracy and for the -nation at large. The extent of the riches of this country is so great as -to be inconceivable to the workers; if they knew how much wealth there -really is they would need to have no scruples in pressing with all their -might for a fairer share in the profits of their labours. Where the pace -is so much faster and the output considerably increased it is natural -that there should be a demand for higher wages and shorter hours. More -leisure and rest are absolutely indispensable in order properly to -recuperate for the increased demands made upon the workmen's physical -powers. The difficulties of forming agreements with the men are not -nearly as great as they are represented to be. Drastic changes could be -made with but very little inconvenience or loss to the firm; the -transition would be almost imperceptible. - -The idea that the general factory week should be completed in five -turns, the day shifts to finish working by Friday night, and the night -shifts to complete their toils by Saturday morning, has long been in my -mind. The having two clear days of leisure would give the worker an -opportunity of entirely shaking off the effects of confinement in the -shed at the week-end, and of starting work a new man on the Monday -morning. It is impossible for one to recuperate sufficiently in the -short space of time at present allowed; he is never free from the -effects of the hurry and speed of the machinery. There is, moreover, no -time to get away from the shadow and ugliness of the factory walls and -to make the acquaintance of other scenes in the country round about. -When the sheds are closed on Saturdays for short time, crowds of workers -either leave the town on foot and walk around the adjacent villages, -enjoying the fresh, pure air, or take short trips by the train and come -back strengthened with the change; you hear many a one say, during the -following week, that he feels extra fit and well. - -If a week of forty-eight hours were divided out and completed in five -turns, instead of six, it would be both popular with the men and -economical for the employers. The fuel and light, the cost of steaming -up the boilers and the general wear and tear of machinery on the sixth -turn and for several hours a day besides would be saved, and there would -be about an equivalent amount of work produced. It is useless for -critics and calculators to come forward with figures and quotations to -disprove the statement and show its impossibility; I have worked in the -shed long enough to understand the true significance of things. What is -more, the workman is not, and never will be a mathematical machine; his -efforts and powers are not to be calculated by the set rules of -arithmetic. - -The whole trend of things in the industrial world is towards shorter -hours, better wages, and a greater proportion of liberty for the -workman; all the objections that can be raised and schemes devised will -not stop the progressive movement. Sooner or later the barriers must -give way, and the goal will have been reached; the wonder then will be -that the change was not effected earlier. I would bid all toilers and -moilers, in and out of factories, to be of good hope and cheer, to fight -on and press steadily forward; victory will be certain to follow. At the -same time, one must not expect to arrive at an utter immunity from -hardships, nor, perhaps, will the whole of the differences between -capital and labour ever be absolutely removed and every problem solved. -Many conditions, however, will most certainly have been bettered, many -disputes settled and evils overcome, and this, it will be confessed, is -worth living and hoping for. - - - - -APPENDIX - - -Table of average day wages per week of fifty-four hours paid to men -employed at Swindon Railway Works, July 1914:-- - - Foremen 70s. - Foremen, Assistant 50s. - Draughtsmen 35s. - Clerks, Monthly Staff 30s. - Clerks, Shop 25s. - Forgemen 33s. - Smiths 33s. - Rolling Mills Men 30s. - Furnacemen 28s. - Stampers 28s. - Stampers' Assistants 22s. - Smiths' Strikers 22s. - Pattern-makers 35s. - Boilermakers 34s. - Fitters and Turners 34s. - Fitters, Engine 34s. - Fitters, Carriage 28s. - Die-sinkers 34s. - Coppersmiths 30s. - Tinsmiths 30s. - Moulders 26s. - Wheel Turners 24s. - Machinemen, General 24s. - Carriage Body-makers 30s. - Carriage Finishers 28s. - Waggon-builders 28s. - Road-Waggon Builders 28s. - Carpenters 28s. - Painters 26s. - Saw Mills, Timber 24s. - Riveters 26s. - Bricklayers 28s. - Labourers, Skilled 22s. - Labourers, Unskilled 20s. - Labourers, Fitters' 21s. - Storekeepers 23s. - - - - -INDEX - - - Abingdon, 44 - - Accident, 14, 243 - - Accumulators, 149 - - Africa, 92 - - Agora, 298 - - "Ajax," 141 - - Alexandria, 298 - - All Fools' Day, 270 - - America, 92, 102, 150, 301 - - Annealed, 21 - - Antiquated, 25 - - Antonio, 234 - - Apprentices (smiths), 90 - - Aquatic plants, 44 - - Archaeologist, 177 - - Army, 77, 302 - - Ash-wheelers, 47 - - Athens, 298 - - Athletes, 63 - - Atlantic, 139, 169 - - Atlas, 73 - - Avon, river, 22, 45 - - Axles, 20 - - - "Back to the Land," 296 - - Balance, 283 - - Balance-week, 254 - - Balling-up, 17 - - Bank Holidays, 245 - - Battleship, 110 - - Bays, 10 - - Beam-engine, 151 - - Beltage, 100 - - Besom, 85 - - Bible, 32 - - "Big Firm," 256 - - Birmingham, 92, 151 - - Bogies, 11 - - Boilers, 136 - - Boilersmiths, 74, 113 - - Bonuses, 301 - - Borough, 18 - - Boss, 134 - - "Black List," 230 - - Blast-furnace, 116 - - Blood-poisoning, 213 - - Bloom, 108 - - "Blower," 150 - - Bricklayers, 48 - - Bricklayers' labourers, 49 - - Bridge, of furnace, 46 - - Bristol, 13, 44 - - Broad-gauge, 67 - - Broadway, Hammersmith, 238 - - "Bucket of blast," 281 - - Buffalo Bill, 77, 156 - - Buffer, 23 - - Bullion van, 70 - - "Bummer," 134 - - Burns, 19 - - Burs, 23 - - - Cabin, 25 - - Caesar, Julius, 264 - - Callipers, 102 - - Canada, 228 - - Canvas belts, 147 - - Cape of Good Hope, 102 - - Capitalist, 2 - - Carlyle, Thomas, 237 - - Carriage body-makers, 56 - - Carriage finishers, 38 - - Cassius, 264 - - _Castellum_, 12 - - Casuals, 69 - - Catastrophe, 38 - - Ceremonious, 57 - - Ceylon, 157 - - Chalk-pits, 13 - - Channel Islands, 173 - - Chargeman, 282 - - Charities, 97 - - Cheapjack, 173 - - Check-box, 130 - - _Chelidon_, 263 - - Cheltenham, 92 - - Chemicals, 33 - - China, 102, 157, 173 - - Cinematograph, 298 - - Cirencester, 13 - - Clay-pits, 262 - - Clinkering, 46 - - "Clod-hopping," 297 - - Coal-heavers, 14 - - Coffee stalls, 129 - - Compensation, 227 - - Compressed air, 172 - - Condensation, 11 - - Consumption, 126 - - Contraband, 31 - - Corporation, 62 - - Cotswold Hills, 45 - - Cottage Hospital, 97 - - Countershaft, 145 - - Covered goods waggons, 71 - - "Cow-banging," 279 - - Cramp, 94 - - Cricklade, 44 - - Cushion-beaters, 41 - - Cutting-down, 68 - - Cyclops, 208 - - Cylinder, 18 - - - Deadwood Dick, 77 - - Dee, river, 22 - - Democracy, 294 - - Detectives, 37 - - Detonators, 23 - - "Diagonals," 23 - - Dinner-can, 112 - - "Discontent," 4 - - "Dolly," 69 - - Donkey-engine, 150 - - Donkey-man, 109 - - Door-boy, 110 - - Dorsetshire, 247 - - Double-handed, 306 - - Dowlais, 173 - - Draughtsmen, 133 - - Dredger, 45 - - Drop-stamp, 153 - - Dumb-bells, 144 - - Durham, 92 - - - Earthquake, 18 - - Ebony, 15 - - Educational Authority, 289 - - Egypt, 173 - - Egyptians, 298 - - Electricity in belts, 147 - - Engine-cranks, 104 - - Entrenchment, 13 - - Erin, 173 - - Espionage, 303 - - Examination, 93 - - Excursionists, 26 - - Exhaust of engines, 63 - - Exhibition, 88 - - Ex-Hussar, 73 - - Explosions, 36 - - - Fable, 133 - - Factory Acts, 74 - - Factory system, 103 - - Falstaffian, 181 - - Fan, 145 - - Feed-pipes, 210 - - Feudal times, 1 - - Fire-engine, 33 - - Fires, 34 - - First Aid Men, 244 - - Fitters, 101 - - "Flatter," 21 - - Flying Dutchman, 68 - - Fogmen, 23 - - "Foreigners," 86 - - Forgemen, 106 - - Forging, 18 - - Fortress, 11 - - Foundry, 116 - - France, 150 - - Freight trains, 123 - - "Fuller," 21 - - - Gallery-men, 87 - - Gauge-glass, 166 - - Gazing-stock, 186 - - Geological data, 50 - - Germany, 20, 150 - - Gloucester, 44, 92 - - Government, 8, 300 - - Greeks, 1, 289 - - Grindstones, bursting of, 152 - - Grossness of atmosphere, 249 - - Gun barrel, 17 - - - Hammer-driver, 107 - - Hammersmith, 237 - - Heavy-weights, 73 - - _Hecuba_, 290 - - "Hell Corner," 142 - - Hercules, 52 - - Hereditary, 91 - - Hibernian, 182 - - Historical relics, 288 - - Holder-up, 69 - - Hooter, 125 - - Horatian, 290 - - Horse-rake, 266 - - Hustle, 183 - - Hydraulic work, 171 - - - Idea-box, 301 - - "Ierky," 59 - - Improvers, 90 - - Incendiarism, 34 - - Inferno, 208 - - Injector, 215 - - Inquiry office, 276 - - Inquisition, 303 - - Irishmen, 173 - - "Ironopolis," 105 - - Italians, 298 - - - Jackboots, 17, 111 - - Jam, 148 - - "Jaw-breakers," 285 - - Jefferies, Richard, 12 - - "Jersey Lily," 173 - - Jesus Christ, 246 - - Jew's harp, 166 - - "Jogglers," 82 - - "Joggling," 14 - - John Bright, 236 - - Journals, axle, 13 - - Justin M'Carthy, 238 - - - Kennet, river, 22 - - - Labour unrest, 1 - - "Lambs," 177 - - Lancaster, 92 - - Latin, 289 - - Laughing-stock, 29 - - Lean-to, 142 - - Library, 248 - - Liddington Hill, 12 - - Lightning, 10 - - Literary Society, 135 - - Liverpool, 92 - - "Loco" boiler, 164 - - Loitering, 29 - - London, 44, 45, 68 - - - Magnesia, 166 - - Malcontent, 305 - - Malleable steel, 103 - - Mallet, 83 - - Marines, 232 - - Mark Fell, 304 - - Mars, 219 - - May-pole, 63 - - Medical Report, 242 - - Mediterranean, 263 - - Merchant of Venice, 234 - - Mess-rooms, 262 - - Middlesborough, 105, 173 - - Midlands, 105, 155 - - Militia, 174 - - Mines, 1 - - Moliere, 154 - - "Monday-fied," 257 - - "Monkey," of hammer, 109 - - Monsieur Jourdain, 154 - - Monthly staff, 133 - - Motherwell, 173 - - Moulders, 119 - - Mrs Langtry, 237 - - Mulatto, 174 - - Municipalities, 2 - - Mushrooms, 221 - - - Narrow-gauge, 67 - - Navy, 77, 143, 302 - - Newcastle, 116 - - New Testament, 290 - - New Year's Eve, 271 - - Nicknames, 77 - - Night shift, 206 - - "Nobbling," 113 - - - Oatmeal, 261 - - Obsequious, 275 - - Officialism, 7 - - Oileus, Ajax, 141 - - Oil furnace, 3, 139 - - Oscar Wilde, 237 - - Output, 5 - - Overalls, 101 - - Overseer, 7 - - Overtime, 292 - - Oxford, 13 - - - Painters, 38 - - Palmy days, 21 - - Pandemonium, 71, 135 - - Paris, 158 - - Parliament, 8 - - Parrot, river, 22 - - _Passeres_, 263 - - _Pater familias_, 127 - - Pattern-makers, 38 - - Pay-day, 253 - - Pension, 32 - - Percentage, 51, 283 - - Piece-work inspector, 134 - - Piers and panels, 10 - - Pig iron, 117 - - "Piles," 16 - - Platers, boiler, 113 - - Pneumatic riveting machine, 70 - - Police Court, 53 - - Politics, 287 - - Porter-bar, 105 - - "Pride o' the Prairie," 198 - - Provocation, 4 - - "Puddling," 17 - - "Puller-up," 71 - - Pull-rod, 201 - - Punishment, 15 - - Pushfulness, 53 - - - Railway Institute, 248 - - "Ram," 104, 143 - - "Rasher-waggon," 111 - - References, 276 - - Refrigerator van, 70 - - Repairs, 37 - - "Riddle," 83 - - River Liffey, 155 - - Rivet-boys, 75 - - Road-waggon builder, 54 - - Rolling mills, 15 - - Romans, 1, 85 - - Rome, 298 - - Rooks, 263 - - Rotherham, 92 - - Royal train, 233 - - Rubbish heap, 61 - - Ruffianism, 56 - - - Salisbury, 157 - - Sanitary, 32 - - Scientist, 20 - - Scotland, 13, 20, 105 - - Scrap-waggons, 21 - - Serfs, 1 - - "Set-tool," 82 - - Severn, 22 - - Shear-off (bur), 172 - - Sheer-legs, 14 - - Sheffield, 13, 92, 105 - - Shingling, 16 - - Shop clerks, 133 - - Shunters, 25 - - Shylock, 234 - - Sick and Medical Fund, 253 - - Signalmen, 68, 124 - - Skating-rink, 298 - - Skulker, 47 - - Slag, 171 - - Smithy, 82 - - Smoke-box, 115 - - Smoking, 27 - - Smudging, 37 - - "Snap" (rivet), 78 - - Sneak, 31 - - Snowstorm, 121 - - Socialist, 36 - - Sole-bar, 67 - - Sop, 5 - - Speeding-up, 5 - - Stamping, 98 - - State, 8 - - Steam-saw, 16 - - Steamship Company, 2 - - Stoppage week, 254 - - Storekeeper, 239 - - "Strappie," 148 - - Sunderland, 116, 179 - - Supper-hour, 215 - - Surgery, 281 - - "Swanker," 265 - - - Tamar, river, 22 - - Tarpaulin, 22 - - Taxicab, 299 - - Teak, 13 - - Telamon, 141 - - "Tell-tale," 28 - - Tennyson, 237 - - Thales, 1 - - Thames, river, 22, 45 - - Theft, 30, 81 - - Throw-off (wheels), 152 - - "Ticket," 131 - - Tipperary, 182 - - _Titanic_, 191 - - Titans, 139 - - "Toe-punch," 281 - - T pieces, 20 - - Towy, river, 22 - - Trades Union, 2, 102 - - Trams, 299 - - Transfer, 40, 43 - - Transport, 44 - - Transvaal, 173 - - Traversing Table, 161 - - Trespassers, 67 - - Trimmer, 210 - - "Trip," 245 - - Troy, 141 - - Tubing (boilers), 113 - - Tug-of-war, 73 - - Tyres, 13 - - - Uffington, 233 - - Ugliness, 12 - - Under-strapper, 61 - - "Undesirables," 289 - - Upholsterers, 38 - - Up-setting, 142 - - - Vacuum arrangement, 41 - - Ventilation, 10 - - Viaduct, 22 - - Virgil, 1 - - - Wages, 5 - - Wales, 179, 181 - - Washer, 21 - - Washing-down, 37 - - Waster, 279 - - Watchmen, 25 - - Water-closet, 32 - - Water-gas, 220 - - Water-pipe, 270 - - Weather-vane, 260 - - Weekly staff, 133 - - Welsh pits, 14 - - West Indies, 173 - - Weymouth, 247 - - Wheel shed, 57 - - Whistler, the artist, 237 - - Wiltshire, 158 - - Witney, 13 - - Worcester, 92 - - Works' Institute, 135 - - Wye, river, 22 - - - Yankee hammers, 133 - - - - -_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ - -A WILTSHIRE VILLAGE - -BY ALFRED WILLIAMS - - -"We have found it a gentle and continuous delight. To the reader it can -hardly be anything but a joy to find the old village life, which perhaps -he himself remembers, set down so fairly and fully, with the charge of -monotony roundly dismissed and all the events and pleasures recorded.... -Wonderful little descriptions. Here is a vivid portrait that will seem -to many like that of an old friend--Jemmy Boulton, the carter.... We -knew and loved him ever so many years ago. And it is because Mr Williams -knows and loves him, as he knows and loves the woods and waters, the -plants and the beasts, that he makes a country-side live for us again as -it still is here and there, as it will not be anywhere for -long."--_Times._ - -"Here is one who has never been drawn from his allegiance to the -country-side by the allurements of big cities. An extremely interesting -book, concerned not only with village life, but wandering far afield to -the advantage of the thoughtful reader. The beauty of his descriptions, -the quiet dignity of his well-considered inclusion of details, the -manner of introducing us to this 'character' and that, call for -appreciation, and the reader closes with reluctance a fascinatingly -discursive record which he has followed with genuine pleasure and -unabated interest."--_Country Life._ - -"He brings to bear the same observation and love of nature which are the -salient features of his delightful 'Poems.' There is in him much quaint -lore and wide knowledge of birds and animals. He has many good things to -say on this subject."--_Evening Standard._ - -"A book which is as charming as it is uncommon. Makes a deep appeal to -the naturalist and lover of the country. Mr Williams writes of what he -knows, and that fact adds a special value to his book."--_Field._ - -"A faithful description of a quiet corner of rural England, so well -written in strong simple English that it deserves a place of honour on -the shelf where country-side books are treasured."--_Daily Mail._ - -"Written from personal experience and with the closest observation. -Those whose interests are centred on rural matters generally will take a -keen delight in it. There is food for much reflection in this volume; -and be it noted that sincerity runs like a golden thread through every -page."--_Daily Chronicle._ - -_Crown 8vo, 305+xvi pages. 5s. net, postage 4d._ - -DUCKWORTH & CO., COVENT GARDEN, LONDON. - - - - -_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ - -VILLAGES OF THE WHITE HORSE - -BY ALFRED WILLIAMS - - -"If there were a Mr Williams in every county, how rich our libraries -would be in records of real rural life! We hope Mr Williams will keep on -writing as long as he has material in his collections with which to -picture the kindly, stout-hearted, humorous folk of the -Downside."--_Manchester Guardian._ - -"This book cannot be too strongly recommended for general reading, as a -charming picture, full of changing interest, of a tract of country of -great native beauty, and of the people, sturdy and characterful, who -inhabit a score of villages, so independent and self-centred that the -mere story of their industries makes no small part of the charm of this -delightful book."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ - -"The author is on friendly terms with all the oldest inhabitants. He -draws vivid pictures, tells many delightful stories. The book is one of -great interest, and we should be glad to see others of a similar -sort."--_Athenaeum._ - -"Especially has he been successful in his portraits of old characters -with whom he has talked. He is good on farm customs, good, too, when -he writes of the lore of the countryside. The whole life of the -country lives in his book, which is a valuable and delightful book, -and should be bought by everyone who loves the country: bought -because it is emphatically a book to read many times and to special -friends."--_Observer._ - -"He writes with the insight, the humour, and something of the poetry of -Richard Jefferies. A knowledge and a cheerful humour which are -refreshing."--_Yorkshire Post._ - -"We have only one quarrel with the Author of _Villages of the White -Horse_: the book should have been twice as long. With a genuineness -which is not inevitably behind the reviewers' summing up, we bear -testimony to its sterling qualities--its simple strength of style, its -sweetness, its fine balance, its sanity of outlook, its flashes of -rollicking humour, its informativeness, its warm sympathy and quick -comprehension, and its unfailing gentle charm."--_Wiltshire Advertiser._ - -"A series of dramatic pictures and sketches, full of life, anecdote and -humour, together with charming Nature-studies. It introduces us to the -people in their homes and in the field. It gives the most vivid -impression of how they live, of what they think and of what they -say."--_The Academy._ - -_Crown 8vo, 290+xvi pages. 5s. net, postage 4d._ - -DUCKWORTH & CO., COVENT GARDEN, LONDON. - - - - -_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ - -COR CORDIUM - -BY ALFRED WILLIAMS - - -"_Cor Cordium_ confirms Mr Alfred Williams' remarkable position among -writers of contemporary verse. It has all his sincerity and clear -vision. We prefer his ecstatic reckless lyrics to the longer poems, in -which he gives us nineteenth-century philosophy in admirable eighteenth -century verse."--_Manchester Guardian._ - -"Mr Alfred Williams' position as a poet is fully established."--_Times._ - -"That remarkable poet, Mr Alfred Williams, adds another triumph to his -list of volumes of verse."--_Daily Citizen._ - -"Mr Williams is one of those writers whose books we often pull down from -their place when the town lies heavy on the heart."--_Observer._ - -"Mr Williams is a simple and a genuine poet, simple because he is not -tempted away into decorative effects alien from the spontaneity of his -lyrical impulse, and genuine because he breathes the utmost strength of -his spirit into every line and phrase. He is circumscribed neither in -the concentration nor the intensity of this impulse, but in its range. -The energy and feeling which quicken his expression are sufficient in -themselves to create a responsiveness in the reader which registers the -vicissitudes in the mood and sensibilities of the poet. That is a great -quality. Mr Williams' strength lies in the clear and exquisite treatment -of a common sentiment."--_The Nation._ - -"Every line is the expression of a calm, determined purpose, buoyant in -its own well-measured, well-disciplined confidence."--_Daily Chronicle._ - -"The serious manliness and good sense of these pieces are qualities so -rare in the verse of to-day that when we find them they have a sort of -exotic piquancy. There are times when Mr Williams wears with grace the -mantle of the Jacobeans."--_Spectator._ - -"His lyrics in strict form are often wonderful. We do not think that -such lovely lyric verse can fail to give its creator a high place among -the poets of to-day."--_Poetry Review._ - -_Large 8vo, 82 pages. 3s. 6d. net, postage 3d._ - - PUBLISHED BY ERSKINE MACDONALD - 16 FEATHERSTONE BUILDINGS, LONDON, W.C. - - - - -_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ - -NATURE AND OTHER POEMS - -BY ALFRED WILLIAMS - - -"It is seldom, even among the romantics, that we find so ecstatic a rage -for nature. The purpose and sincerity of the author bear him along, and -there are times when he achieves a rare beauty. He has depths yet -unplumbed to draw from."--_Times._ - -"The expression of a mystical exaltation of spirit. Truth and sincerity -are the impulse of Mr Williams' poems."--_Edinburgh Review._ - -"A rare blend of Goth and Latin."--_English Review._ - -"Mr Williams' work has the passionate throbbing purity of the later -Richard Jefferies."--_Bookman._ - -"Mr Williams' work has a splendid detachment and a splendid -essentiality. It is pure rapture."--_Academy._ - -"The poems have the fragrance and simplicity that come from a strong, -sincere mind. To read them is to be refreshed."--_Observer._ - -"There is movement, joy of life, strenuous bliss of existence throughout -the book; it is a real and rare pleasure to read."--_Poetry Review._ - -"The work, which recalls Cowper, is delightful."--_Athenaeum._ - -"Written in glowing strains of rare quality."--_Publishers' Circular._ - -"Mr Williams is a poet of a school uncommon in these days. His robust -and shapely verse is a counterpart of his wholesome philosophy of -life."--_Spectator._ - -"Those who read the other books of this man, who has triumphed over -circumstances so remarkably, will know that pleasure awaits them on -every page."--_Outlook._ - -"Works of high merit. Remarkable human documents."--_Swindon -Advertiser._ - -"Mr Williams is a singer whom we should place very high."--_Literary -Monthly._ - -_Large 8vo, 90 pages. 3s. 6d. net, postage 3d._ - - PUBLISHED BY ERSKINE MACDONALD - 16 FEATHERSTONE BUILDINGS, LONDON, W.C. - - - - - -A LIST OF THE LIBRARIES AND SERIES OF COPYRIGHT BOOKS PUBLISHED BY -DUCKWORTH & CO. - -3 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN LONDON, W.C.2 - - -DUCKWORTH & CO.'S LIBRARIES AND SERIES - -THE POPULAR LIBRARY OF ART--_continued_ - - THE PRE-RAPHAELITE BROTHERHOOD. By Ford Madox Hueffer. - - PERUGINO. By Edward Hutton. - - MILLET. By Romain Rolland. - - WATTEAU. By Camille Mauclair. - - THE FRENCH IMPRESSIONISTS. By Camille Mauclair. - - WHISTLER. By Bernhard Sickert. - - - - -MASTERS OF PAINTING - -_With many illustrations in photogravure._ - - -A series which gives in each volume a large number of examples -reproduced in _photogravure_ of the works of its subject. 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By Mary J. H. Skrine. - - VAGROM MEN. By A. T. Story. - - LIGHT AND TWILIGHT. By Edward Thomas. - - REST AND UNREST. By Edward Thomas. - - ROSE ACRE PAPERS: HORAE SOLITARIAE. By Edward Thomas. - - - - -STUDIES IN THEOLOGY - - A New Series of Handbooks, being aids to interpretation in - Biblical Criticism for the use of the Clergy, Divinity - Students, and Laymen. _Cr. 8vo. 5s. net a volume. - Postage 5d._ - - - CHRISTIANITY AND ETHICS. By Archibald B. D. Alexander, M.A., - D.D., author of "A Short History of Philosophy," "The - Ethics of St Paul." - - THE ENVIRONMENT OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY. By Samuel Angus, - Professor of New Testament Historical Theology in St - Andrew's College, University of Sydney. _Cr. 8vo. 2s. 6d. - net._ - - HISTORY OF THE STUDY OF THEOLOGY. By the late Charles Augustus - Briggs, D.D., D.Litt., of the Union Theological Seminary, - New York. Two Volumes. - - THE CHRISTIAN HOPE. A Study in the Doctrine of the Last - Things. By W. 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By William - West Holdsworth, M.A., Tutor in New Testament Language and - Literature, Handsworth College; author of "The Christ of - the Gospels," "The Life of Faith," etc. - - FAITH AND ITS PSYCHOLOGY. By William R. Inge, D.D., Dean of St - Paul's, Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, Cambridge, - and Bampton Lecturer, Oxford, 1899. - - THE THEOLOGY OF THE EPISTLES. By H. A. A. Kennedy, D.D., - D.Sc., Professor of New Testament Exegesis and Theology, - New College, Edinburgh. - - CHRISTIANITY AND SIN. By Robert Mackintosh, M.A., D.D., - Professor of Apologetics in Lancashire Independent - College; Lecturer in the University of Manchester. - - PROTESTANT THOUGHT BEFORE KANT. By A. C. McGiffert, Ph.D., - D.D., of the Union Theological Seminary, New York. - - THE THEOLOGY OF THE GOSPELS. By James Moffat, B.D., D.D., of - the U. F. Church of Scotland, sometime Jowett Lecturer, - London, author of "The Historical New Testament." - - A HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN THOUGHT SINCE KANT. 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Wheeler - Robinson, M.A., Tutor in Rawdon College; sometime Senior - Kennicott Scholar in Oxford University. - - TEXT AND CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. By Alexander Souter, - M.A., D.Litt., Professor of Humanity at Aberdeen - University. - - CHRISTIAN THOUGHT TO THE REFORMATION. By Herbert B. Workman, - M.A., D.Litt., Principal of the Westminster Training - College. - - - - -DUCKWORTH & CO.'S TWO SHILLING NET SERIES - -_Stiff Covers, Crown 8vo. Postage 4d._ - - - THE BRASSBOUNDER: A TALE OF THE SEA. By David W. Bone. - - BROKEN STOWAGE. By David W. Bone. - - IF AGE COULD. By Bernard Capes. - - THE HOUSE IN MARYLEBONE. By Mrs W. K. Clifford. - - THE WIDOW'S NECKLACE: A DETECTIVE STORY. By Ernest Davies. - - WRACK: A TALE OF THE SEA. By Maurice Drake. - - THE EXPLOITS OF DANBY CROKER. By R. Austin Freeman. - - BEYOND THE ROCKS. By Elinor Glyn. - - HALCYONE. By Elinor Glyn. - - THE REASON WHY. By Elinor Glyn. - - THE REFLECTIONS OF AMBROSINE. By Elinor Glyn. - - THE VISITS OF ELIZABETH. By Elinor Glyn. - - GUINEVERE'S LOVER (THE SEQUENCE). By Elinor Glyn. - - THE VICISSITUDES OF EVANGELINE. By Elinor Glyn. - - WHEN THE HOUR CAME. By Elinor Glyn. - - THREE WEEKS. By Elinor Glyn. - - THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH. By Elinor Glyn. - - ELIZABETH VISITS AMERICA. By Elinor Glyn. - - THE CONTRAST AND OTHER STORIES. By Elinor Glyn. - - THREE THINGS. By Elinor Glyn. - - LETTERS TO CAROLINE. By Elinor Glyn. - - THE MAN AND THE MOMENT. By Elinor Glyn. - - SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES. By W. H. Hudson. - - OLD FIREPROOF. By Owen Rhoscomyl. - - WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED. By Grant Watson. - - THE MAINLAND. By Grant Watson. - - THE OILSKIN PACKET. By Reginald Berkeley and James Dixon. - - - - -Transcriber's Note - -Spelling and word usage have been retained as they appear in the -original publication except as follows: - - Page 47 mumuring and complaint is always imposed _changed to_ - murmuring and complaint is always imposed - - Page 86 heats with a minimum amount of labour _changed to_ - beats with a minimum amount of labour - - Page 93 the knowledge of their own usefulnesss _changed to_ - the knowledge of their own usefulness - - Page 156 thick chunks of break and _changed to_ - thick chunks of bread and - - Page 170 for removing the scale and excresence _changed to_ - for removing the scale and excrescence - - Page 172 superflous metal, an ounce or more _changed to_ - superfluous metal, an ounce or more - - Page 197 makes me bad _changed to_ - makes me mad - - Page 200 got to channge knives _changed to_ - got to change knives - - Page 247 domestic rseponsibilities--rise _changed to_ - domestic responsibilities--rise - - Catalogue - Page 3 DUCKWORTH & CO.'S LIBRARIES AND SERIES - A page is missing from the scans used to prepare this - ebook and an alternative has not been located. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Life in a Railway Factory, by Alfred Williams - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE IN A RAILWAY FACTORY *** - -***** This file should be named 40975.txt or 40975.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/9/7/40975/ - -Produced by crana and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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