First of all, I want to encourage all of you to talk to your parents and grandparents about the past and your family history. Ask them questions to get the ball roiling and see where it goes. Some talk about things they never wanted to talk about before. Some remember the distant past better than recent events. The following stories were told to me by my dad, David Barland, who passed away 10-30-11; the last of his generation of “Barland boys.” They are about his own father, Earl Barland, who lived and worked in Camden.
Earl started his work life driving a big truck hauling coal, but he was always getting laid off. He’d heard that Airco Acetylene Gas, at 48th and Lyndale, was looking for help. He got a job there when he was 18 or 19, became superintendent, and worked there until he retired.
They mixed carbide and water at the plant to make acetylene gas; it was purified, pressurized and put in tanks to be used for welding, construction and making steel. A couple of times the plant blew up. In one of the explosions an employee’s glasses were blown clean off his face, amazingly they were later found across the river. Another time a worker was looking down a tunnel trying to loosen a stuck steel pole, when a spark caused an explosion that blew his eye out the back of his head, incredibly he lived. Earl also knew a guy who worked at the nearby cement plant; he caught his arm in machinery and it was cut off, he also survived. Needless to say, it was a dangerous work environment!
In those days discharge would run green down the river. There was always a problem storing and getting rid of sludge (used carbide). There were huge pits like swimming pools full of it. It was high in lime and people used to come with five-gallon cans to collect it and use for whitewashing their basements. They would mix it with water and put a little bluing in it, the practice was very common. But a couple of people got burns and then the company said they couldn’t give it away anymore. The Sewage Dept. also used it; they found if they put sludge in the sewage, because it was high in lime, the sewage would settle, and the water off the top could be put into the river. The company also used to get big tankers from Indian Head (now Holiday) which they would fill with a giant pump fitted with a fire hose. Then a great big tanker truck would come, bring another empty tanker and take the full one away. When the freeway (I-94) came through there were several sludge pits left. The Highway Dept. mixed the sludge with class-5 gravel and used it as base and footings.
Drug enforcement people would also periodically come to the plant. They’d go behind the plant and all around down by the river and they’d pullout wild hemp (marijuana) and burn it.
Earl always had to keep the pressure up in the boiler at work to heat the building. He’d have to run over there before he went to bed to keep it going at night. The telephone was in the boiler room, it was the only place they could have one because of the danger of sparks. He rigged up a contraption with one end of a rope attached to the telephone and the other end attached to the high-pressure steam valve. If there was a problem the rope would lift the receiver off the cradle. He could call and check: If there was a busy signal then he’d know something was wrong with the boiler; if the phone rang and rang he’d know the boiler was OK.
The workers there barely made a living until the Teamsters came in; they had an election and the union was voted in. The workers joined the 544 Teamsters and Earl became steward and handled grievances. The union brought in better labor rights: seniority, better wages, better vacations and time off. But then times started to change at the plant, it was an old building and I-94 was coming. Big shots came from Chicago and said they wanted to retire him early (he was glad).
After retirement he continued living in Camden, also spending time at his cabin on Clear Lake in Aitkin. He lived to age 85; my dad lived to age 84; and they both live on in their descendants, who cherish the memories.
Note: This is the second time Jodie Walters has been a guest writer for this column. She previously wrote “The Barland Boys Grew Up Working” for the March 2010 Camden News.
Barbara Meyer Bistodeau