T - International Brotherhood Of Electrical Workers

NOVEMBER, 1{942
Editor:
L. U. NO. B-i, ST. LOUIS, MO.
in these try og timns anyon e might on
dcr why a press secretary old want to
rite about a clirus. Well, "THERE'S
SOMETIIING ABOUT A CIRCUS" besides
the tanbark, anials. clowns. al-Walists. pa
redes. big top. ide shows. pagealtry, tgo. -
IT IS THAT which concerns the BRItFrT
LIGHTS, pulling of MOTORS, hummrog of
GENERATO(RS and the men who anaage
and maintain that p)art whirh is o vita to
keeping the sho"w gong ni'ht and dkayc
Our h., Is off to "Whitie" (Ed. Versions
who is a her Ce of C Local No. I 16 I', Fe,
Worth, Texas.
Let ulg start oII in an informal 1kvlay.
ligs tartred an eleetti cal job> a-ross the
tracks froa the big shw ... I M. oelay , rning
in October, you could hear the rumbe
of heavy wago..l ia-d inel the ... ir f g[od
cooking a1lllmrning. At noon, someone nontoned
that the big telt was being raised
and a performanc was going to start at
2:15. Well, it started and the 1,te was
heard all afLernlo and four other afitr
Fri day evening Saturday aIternoon, and
Sunday ... cting the writer spent with tle
chief electricia. Whlitie.
Whitie is a native of Baldwin, Calif.; has
a ranch called Ranc ho Glades not oany
mliles from a desert. is a bachailur and
enjoys life on the fly. lie has worked for
most of the large pie troducers in llollywood
and stated his eircus career with
P. T. Blarnes circus iu Culver, Col., several
years ago. Now 1942 is his second seasaon
with Ri,,gIig Brotliers, Barnui and Bailey
Combined Shows. lie is a rather naive., '-
thing fellow about 45 years of age and
would not lend you to believe he is as
friendly is lhe turned nut to be. We talked
in his waIgoil all through the first evening
performanre and he was very wiling to
give Ile the information C alm, writing in
this artile. Sonday mornit i we had break
fast together arid the writer escorted hin.
over the town describing vario us poits of
I tereeat, nt forgetting to mentid n that he
R E A D
Interest on our War Bonds goes to
Navy Relief, by L. L. No. 70.
Electricians share in another Navy
"E," by L. U. No. 80.
Modern plant, an asset to the city
and the nation, by L. U. No. 617.
Simplex e phyees .. don the "EC" pin,
hy L L. No. B-1262-
Labor's wat aims, as expressed by
L. U. No. 923 and L. U. No.
B-] 098.
Scribe offers proof that Rrotherhood
members read JOURNAL, by L.
U. No. 728.
We are proud of I. B. E. W.. record,
by L. U. No. 103.
These letters visualize adjustment
o, members to war conditions,
and their unswerving
loyalty.
was in the town where the I. B. E, W. was
born.
Eight poweor wagons arc lo ated at differen
t spots on the circus lot coyering 15
acres. They are General Motors Dieseldriven
geterator plants, 60 kw 3-4 Wire
each. With each plant there is a switchboard
th ree feet wide siai lilve feet high. All cop
per exposed is chroniin plated. The inkitors
are done in cream enamel and trim medi in
cehr 0r0 iu n -
The Big Top lighting is central control
operated wlie hile acts enter the arena, like
a stage switchboard. Provision has jhen
iade fur o n of the three-setilon flood
lights at the ceiling for blackout lighting.
One of the fea tures in lighting effects
is the footlights placed in asbestos-li ued
553
boxes placed at advantageous points around
the three rings for flooding the aerial acts
high in the air. These footlights have 10
1,000 watt, 50) hour lamps in each box. There
aret 45 motors from one quarter horsepower
to three horsepower, the largest motor in
ush-.
Account of the war the Big Top is made
of dark blue canvas and dyed sawdust and
talnark -trvers the arena flor. There are
10,000 feet of 30 No. 139 strand heavy duty
rubber cable feeders, and 15,.00 feet of
mna]Icr ciruit wrinff of the same type as
the fOldet r
Air .ondtriin, wvas the bi U feature for
corn fort. 0 tg the full capacity of one 60
Cw niachine lowering the temperature 20 a
below thai outside. The two getilla cages
have s a eparate air conditioning power plant
to keep the temperature in the cages (with
hat terp ro .f glass of two thie kreson with
a vacuum betweeini, at 72 wIll oil]y a
variation of 5 or 6'. GorulTIs are subject
to pneumnd ia and must live in an even
temaperature.
Four ,O00-watt spotlights on the four
center poles are played on special features,
eaking the circus as Ip tI date as the
modern theater. Nearly 3.000 light bulbs
foinl 10 watt Ito 5,000 watt ador, nhe circus
grounds together with some Tfluoresent light
On the pylons for the entrance to the
midway.
The photo shows the inside of the Diesel
enlgine shop, winter quarters, Sarasota. Fle.
-and ]d. Versteeg, chicf electrician, in
cn of ter picture.
The show carries enough stock of electriali
tatorial to stock a silallI wholesale eleetrical
supply house.
The writer knows aly eletrician -who is
interested iI, his business would enjoy seeing
the equipment and wiring job used for
a cireus. Someonie told is this was a queer
subject to write about. espneia/my in wartime.
May I quote the editor and publisher
of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey
Circus "War Time Circus.?
"The Greatest Show on, Earth must go on.
. .a season dedicated to the task of
hriruging to our people an hour or so of
joyous escOpe fro, thie high ahtl demanding
job of winning this war . .. There's little
time out, relaxation but mu-L sometime relieve
grim, determined endeavor"
More than 2,000 soldiers from Jefferson
Barracks saw this show during its five days
stay in St. Louis, the hnne of your first
I. B. E. W. Local NO. 1.
WAR BONDS YOU TOGETIHER WITH
YOUR NATION. ElTY MORE OF THEM.
NA. A. " MeRdy" N'EWMAN,
The Lover of *Light" Work.
L. U. NO. B-3, NEW YORK, N.Y.
Editor:
Please publish the following contribution
from Brother Frederiek Eich. an officer of
our educational committee
Local No. I gets glimpse of circus behind scenes with Ed Versteeg of L. U. No, 116.
Photo shows some of the electrical enuipment af the moden "Big Top."
War or no ar., industry and big business
are not givitg up their efforts to wreck the
labor iovenillt. One only need read the
editorials and hlased llew, items in the reactionary
tewspapers to realize that someone
is paying big hmlney for propaganda
intended to break downl the confidence of
the peopie in organ i ze laor hy constantly
playing up minor wildcat strikes and by
still tryhig to make the public heleve that
the "40 hour week" is delayini the war
effort. We h( hadl the aged but not too
much re eted Xew N York H erald Tribune
publishing cartoons by Darling constantly
making it appear that labor anid government
are delaying the war effort while "poor industry"
is straining every nerve save to the