Show t- t td d J ADVENTURERS ADVENTURERS' CLUB H HEADLINES E A D L I N E S FROM FRO M THE L LIVES I V E S So o OF F P PEOPLE E 0 P L ELI LIKE KEY 0 U R S ELF I Adventure in a Pickle Factory ELLO EVERYBODY H HELLO Well Vell sir heres here's a yarn that's going to sound a sour note in our adventure saga When I read it I thought of that old song Down by the Winegar and Id I'd be willing willingto to bet that place was right next door to the one where John Mains of Long Island had his lifes life's big adventure You see the concern John works for is one of those outfits that catch juvenile cucumbers before they get a chance t 1 grow up soak them in vinegar and send them out into the world to decorate ham and cheese sandwiches John has a job in a pickle factory The factory is in East Northport Johns Northport-John's Johns John's home town town town- and Im I'm willing to admit they've turned out some pretty good pickles there But if they keep on making pickles until pickles stop having warts they'll never turn out a tougher one than the pickle John got in iQ just from trying to keep the machinery machin machin- ery cry going and the pickles moving out in a steady uninterrupted uninterrupted acidulous stream John is a machinist at that East Northport pickle foundry and it was on January 18 1935 that he ran into Old Lady Ad Ad- venture The machinery in the factory is run by a big foot 50 shaft suspended just below the ceiling Belts running from this shaft furnish the power to the various machines and on this day one of the belts had broken John was ordered to replace that broken belt and he went to work at It The machinery of course was stopped while he was doing the job When he had finished he turned the power on again to see how bow it worked Well It wasn't working so well veIl at that The new belt was slipping Now one way to stop a belt from slipping is to wax It It So John got a can of wax and started up the ladder toward the shaft But this time he neglected to shut off orr the power Ladder Slides Out From Under Him When He Reaches Top The machinery was still running but John thought he could keep out of the way of those spinning wheels and pulleys Besides waxing a belt is a lot easier when the motor is turning it for you John reached He was dazed when gasping bewildered gasping when suddenly his clothes started to rip the top of the ladder and went to work But he had hardly started when he lost his balance And the ladder went sliding out from under him Instinctively John threw his body to one side side and and he landed right up against the whirling shaft The ladder went tumbling to the floor but John didn't follow ollow In the few seconds while he was jammed up against that shaft it had caught his clothing clothing- began twisting it around and around In two turns the shaft had taken up all the slack in in those duds of ot Johns Then it began putting on the pressure John felt his body being squeezed until he thought his ribs would break His chest was flattened until he couldn't breathe He was hammered and pounded against the ceiling until he was wis bruised and covered with blood And still that shaft twisted and still it tightened the clothing around his body There was no one one in the room at the time and John couldn't get enough breath in hi his lungs to call t for r help For a minute he thought he was going to die there alone 15 feet from the floor and dangling in mid air He was dazed when gasping bewildered gasping when suddenly his clothes started to rip Again the shaft began turning taking up the sl slack It tore every stitch of clothing from his ba back k and arm and didn't stop until It reached his wrist There the machinery began twisting the end of at his sleeve sleeve- twisting it so so tightly that John thought sure it was going to take his hand off His llis chest was free Cree now of that terrible tension He lIe could breathe breathe he he could even have called for help But by that time J John olm was too far gone to cry out He hung dangling from the shaft the blood streaming down his body conscious body conscious enough to know V what was happening to him but not conscious enough to todo todo todo do anything about it It was a thought that finally saved the day All of a sudden John thought of ot his wife wiCe and child What would they say when they learned what had happened to him kim How would they get along when John couldn't bring home the weekly pay envelope John And then I any more more more- That thought roused me says must have let letout out out a scream I 1 dont don't remember crying out but my brother who also worked at the factory and who was in hi the next room heard a yell and came running in to see what was the matter After Last Sc Scream John Loses Consciousness Johns John's brother didn't come a minute too soon either For alter that last thought and that last scream he had lost consciousness His brother ran and shut off oIl the power and then ran back and picked up the fallen ladder He climbed to the top cut John loose with a pocket knife I and carried him down th that ladder on his back Johns John's brother rounded up a couple of other fellows in the factory and they took John to a doctor John was there quite a while before he came to again When the doctor heard what had happened he just simply couldn't see how John had managed to live through his experience And that's a thing John doesn't quite understand nd either cither I thought that Id I'd at least lose my arm he says but the doctor fixed it up and now its it's in good shape again When it was W all over I thought I 1 was the luckiest man on earth And I STILL L think so They're still making pickles out in that factory at East Northport day before they produce another one like But it will be many a long that one John got into At least I hope it wilL Released by Western Newspaper Union |