Show ADVENTURERS' ADVENTURERS CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF o F FP PEOPLE P E 0 P L ELI LIKE KEY YOURSELF 0 U R S ELF I Adventure in a Pickle Factory ELLO EVERYBODY HELLO H sound note in Well sir heres here's a yarn that's going to a sour our adventure saga When I read it I thought of that old song Down by the Winegar and Id I'd be willing 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 to grow up soak them in vinegar and send lend them out into the world to decorate ham and cheese sand sand- John has a job in a pickle factory The factory is in East Northport Johns Northport-John's Johns John's home town town and and Im I'm willing to admit they've turned but ut some pretty good pickles there But if they keep on making pickles until pickles stop having hav hay having hayng ing ng warts they'll never turn out a tougher one than the pickle John got in in just from trying to keep the machinery going and the pickles moving out in a steady uninterrupted acidulous stream tream 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 by-a by a big foot 50 shaft haft 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 be went to work at it The machinery of or course was stopped while he was doing the job When he had finished he turned the power on again to see how it worked Well VelI it wasn't working so well 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 UI up the ladder toward the shaft But this time he neglected to shut off oil the power Ladder Slides Out From Under Him When lIe He Reaches Top The machinery was still running but John thought he could keep out Dut ut of the way of those spinning wheels and pulleys Besides waxing a t belt is a lot easier when the motor is turning it for you John reached Lj He was dazed when gasping bewildered gasping when suddenly his clothes started to rip the he top of the ladder ladder and went to work But he had hardly started when hen he lost his balance And the ladder went sliding out from under him SIB Instinctively John threw his body to one side side and and he landed right op up against the whirling shaft The ladder went vent tumbling to the floor but John didn't follow In the few seconds se while he k was jammed up against that shaft it had caught his clothing clothing- henn it if around and anti around In two o turns the he shaft had taken tak n up all the slack in those 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 bruised and covered with blood And still that shaft twisted and still it tightened the clothing around his body There was no one in the room at the time and John couldn't get enough breath in his lungs to call for help For a minute he thought he was going to die there alone 15 feet from the floor and dangling in mid air when suddenly his clothes started He was dazed when gasping bewildered gasping to rip Again the shaft began turning taking up the slack It tore every stitch of clothing from his back and arm arm and didn't stop until it reached his wrist There the machinery began twisting the end of his sleeve sleeve- twisting it so tightly that John thought sure it was going to take his hand off His chest was free now of that terrible tension lie He could breathe breathe he he could even have called for help But by that time John was too far gone to cry out lie He hung dangling from Irons the shaft the blood streaming down his body conscious body conscious enough to know what was happening to him but not conscious enough to todo todo todo do anything about it It lt was a thought that finally saved the day All of a sudden John thought of his wife and child What would they say when they learned what had happened to him How would they get along when John couldn't bring home the weekly pay envelope any more That thought roused me John says And then I must have let out a scream I dont don't remember crying out but my brother who also worked at the factory and who was in the next room heard a yell and came running in to see what was the matter S After Last Scream John Loses Consciousness Johns John's brother didn't come a minute too soon either For after that last thought and that last scream he had lost consciousness His brother ran and shut off the power and then ran back and picked up the fallen ladder He climbed to the top cut John loose with a pocket knife and carried him down that ladder on his back Johns John's brother rounded up a couple of other fellows in the factory and took they 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 either I III thought that Id I'd at least lose my arm he lie says but the doctor fixed it up and now its it's in good shape again When Then it was all over I thought I was the luckiest man on earth And I STILL think so They're still making pickles out in that factory at East Northport But it will be many a long day before they produce another one like that one John got into At least I hope it will Released by Western Newspaper Union |