Documenting the American South Logo oral histories of the
American South  Finding work and witnessing workplace accidents
Illutrating the face-to-face workings of the early twentieth-
century job market and some workplace dangers, Burt describes
how he got his first steady job. A friend brought him to what he
calls the Bull Factory and presented him to his boss, who
immediately put Burt to work packaging cigarettes. Burt soon
moved up to loading and unloading an elevator, which became the
site of a catastrophic accident he narrowly avoided. Frightened,
he left to become a bricklayer, but managed to witness a second
accident, which he describes here.  Citing this Excerpt   Full
Text of the Excerpt  How did you end up doin' any work at the
Bull factory? Is there any reason you worked at that factory?
There was an openin' there. You got to get on a job where
there's an openin' for you. A man quit or lay out or somethin'
and they let him go, if they see you and you be lucky enough,
you could get that man's job. S