May 31st – I worked at a brick machine, the one that Tom was hauling brick at. That night our noses bled half of the time.
In Jesse’s day, there were a lot of local brick factories. Both Utica and Chillicothe had one, and it employed a lot of men in the community. The same is true for Shasta County, California, where the Bench boys worked for a short time. The occupational hazards in brick manufacturing, at least with older or traditional methods, includes respiratory problems from inhaling the dust, and musculoskeletal issues from lifting a lot of heavy stuff.
While we can’t be certain what sort of operation Jesse experienced, this is an example of an old school, American brick factory:
