THE LURE OF HOLE DIGGING

Evening Star, Issue 20315, 25 October 1929, Page 12

THE LURE OF HOLE DIGGING

One of the surest methods of drawing and holding a crowd is to put a gang of men at work digging a hole in the street. Men put in immediate appearance, others join them, soon there is a real crowd that appears to find the work of the pick and shovel crowd intensely interesting. The crowd will come in generous numbers, but will not stay if the task is the opening of a trench. 'Most men slop, lake a hurried look, and walk on. The trench is an object of passing curiosity, but the hole in the ground has a stronger pull; men spend hours watching the operation. The peculiar fascination that digging operations appear to have is shown at its largest and best when a steam shovel is wheeled into place and starts work on HU excavation for a large building down town. There is nothing # new or novel in equipment or operation, but great crowds of men will stand and watch the procedure for a whole day, and appear to be entertained in the most satisfactory manner. The curiosity remains in evidence as long as the noisy steam shovel is used. They watch the shovel force its way into the earth, they note the noisy puffing as the load is lifted, they note the dexterity of the shovel engineer as the load is swung to the right place and the load dumped into the truck. Over and over that operation may be repeated, and the crowd remains to watch and note each operation.