Can you read this handwriting?

I’ve been dipping into the NYC Historical Vital Records Project in search of old relations.

Can anyone tell me how my maternal great-grandfather was employed when my grandmother was born?


The handwriting is, let’s say, expressive. The first letter looks like an S. Three of the four lowercase ss on the certificate (all within words) preserve the loop at the top of the letter but lack the loop at the bottom. Which makes me wonder: could that be a capital L? Is that a quick, blurred version of Laborer? If not that, what?

The death certificate for this great-grandfather lists his occupation as porter in a printing shop. I’ve been unable to find other records with his name. (It’s hit and miss.) I’ll be grateful for any earnest guess about this handwritten word.

[The handwriting on this certificate is so, let’s say, expressive that White (for “Color”) looks like Witr.]