Entry from July 12, 2004
Sand Hog (Sandhog)
It's either "sand hog" or "sandhog." The men who built our bridges and tunnels have a name. Surpisingly, this doesn't appear in Irving Lewis Allen's City in Slang (1993).
25 July 1897, New York Times, "The New East River Bridge," pg. SM6:
These "sand hogs" or caisson men are perhaps the most unique body of laborers in the world. Working in compressed air far below the surface of land or water is a diifcult, often, indeed, a dangerous trade, and the wages are proportionately high. "Sand-hogging" is not skilled labor, but few skilled laborers and master workmen get higher pay than these men. (...)
"The Bend" is the fate that awaits nearly all of the "pressure workers" as the caisson chamber men are also called. It is known, too, as the "caisson disease," and much resembles rheumatism.
25 July 1897, New York Times, "The New East River Bridge," pg. SM6:
These "sand hogs" or caisson men are perhaps the most unique body of laborers in the world. Working in compressed air far below the surface of land or water is a diifcult, often, indeed, a dangerous trade, and the wages are proportionately high. "Sand-hogging" is not skilled labor, but few skilled laborers and master workmen get higher pay than these men. (...)
"The Bend" is the fate that awaits nearly all of the "pressure workers" as the caisson chamber men are also called. It is known, too, as the "caisson disease," and much resembles rheumatism.