Some jobs are large enough that the union will send in guys from all over to fill a need.  The Union called them Travelers.  In the Union we called each Local by its number.  The Union Local in New Orleans was 1.  Local 2 was in New York.  Spokane, Washington was 73.  Great Falls, Montana was 122.  Havre, Montana was 393.  The local number designation progresses from smaller to greater in direct relation to when the local was formed.  The newer the local, the larger is its number designation.

There came a time in Havre where we had a job large enough that travelers from other locals came in to fill out the electrician needs.  While working that job, one of the local electricians came up and asked me if I wanted to join the FLEs.  (The acronym was pronounced like you were saying “fleas.”)  I wasn’t sure what they were, but I remembered the Business Agent for the Local saying that we should watch out for the FLEs and not to get involved.  He was pretty vocal about it.

I asked the Local guy that was suggesting I join the FLEs; “What are the FLEs?”

It seemed the “F” stood for faith, the “L” stood for love, and the “E” stood for excellence.  Well the guy that I was talking to didn’t seem to do any more of an excellent job than anyone else.  It felt like a “Union within the Union”, all very secretive and exclusive.  Besides that, I was already reporting to the business owner, a superintendent, a foreman and the business agent for the union, and I thought that was enough, so I declined.

During the course of the job the Business Agent said he wanted all the men on that job to meet at the union hall.  I suspected that he might have something of a pejorative nature to say about FLEs.  I also knew that there would be some in attendance that were FLEs.  I wanted to warn him to use caution when speaking, but I wasn’t sure how I could get it done discreetly.

I owed a month’s worth of dues, so I wrote a check and put it in an envelope.  In small letters on the flap I wrote; “The woods is full of fleas, and some are Three-Nine-Threes.”

I handed the envelope to him as I entered the Union Hall.  I sat down and watched him to see what he would do.  He opened the envelope and took out the check.  Then I could see him notice the writing on the envelope flap.  He didn’t change his expression or change anything.  He didn’t look up and out at the audience.  He just put the check back in the envelope and put the envelope in his inside pocket.

That night he said nothing about the FLEs, but the rest of the time I was in that local he would remind me that he was happy I had warned him in such an interesting way.

I don’t know what became of the FLEs.  I don’t know if they were a local phenomenon or if they were regional, country or international.  I never heard of them again, and I never heard an electrician mention the FLEs again.

I think my first experience working with 480 volts was at a Strammit plant.  A Strammit plant would cram straw under high pressure between two sheets of asbestos.  Though for awhile the product had popularity, it cannot be used today.  Probably there are few people who have ever heard of Strammit.

Another electrician and I were sent out to the Strammit plant.  I don’t believe either of us realized how dangerous 480 volts can be.  The location where we were to work on one of the circuits was across the building from the panel location.  We determined which circuit we were going to be working on and shut it off.

As we were working, we accidentally touched two wires together.  Doing so caused a huge, unexpected arc.  The other fellow went back to the panel and discovered that after we shut off the breaker to the circuit, someone had turned it back on.  Boy! Did he read those people the riot act!

We learned a valuable lesson that day.  If you are working on a circuit, control the environment by putting a padlock on the breaker in the off position, open up the panel board and disconnect the wiring to the circuit, or even hang a big sign on it.  Today that particular circumstance has all kinds of safety measures to adhere to.  I support all of them.

My last experience with high voltage was at the Spokane Airport where we were assigned to change the oil in two big transfer switches.  The two switches we were working on ran the whole airport.  For planned redundancy, the power at the airport came in from two different power sources.  If the power went down on one source it could be switched to the other, so that energy is always available.

Today, the oil used in those transfer switches has been outlawed because of environmental pollution.

I wonder how many of those transfer switches and transformers in the country, using that particular oil, have never had their oil replaced.

When I talk of high voltage, I generally mean 480 to 50,000 volts.  Some construction sites, like dam building, generally use 480 volts for all of their electrically powered tools like electric saws, hammers, etc.  At 480 volts this equipment runs very smooth and even.

Most commercial and industrial buildings will use 480 volts.  However, higher voltage means higher danger and more rules.

While working with 120 – 240 volts I have probably been “bit” 100 times.  After 70 years and more, I still survive, but I have heard many horror stories about high voltage.  I recall one story one of my relatives told me.

He was an apprentice working with an old experienced journeyman.  There were two high voltage cables running through an underground cement tunnel.  One cable was dead, the other one live.  Their job (should they choose to accept it) was to cut out the dead cable and leave the other one running.

The cables traveled down the tunnel, went out through the concrete side of the tunnel, and reappeared back through the tunnel walls further on.

Not having the equipment we have today, they could not determine which cable was alive and which was dead.  After much tracing  of the circuitry and wire routing, and making “educated guesses”, they proceeded with the task.

The journeyman got a great big cable cutter out and told the apprentice; “You go back up the tunnel and around the corner.  If you hear a loud explosion and see a bright flash you run out of the tunnel as fast as you can go.  It will be too late for me.”

The apprentice did as he was instructed and the journeyman cut the cable.

It was the correct one, so nothing happened.

I sometimes wonder if this had anything to do with the apprentice leaving the electrical trade and getting into something else.

Stay tuned for more.