Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1879-12-18

fied-in fine, his duties are too varied
for me to name them all. When it is
remembered Chat about 4, 800 District
instruments are now in use in New
York, and that 1913 266 messages
were delivered by the District boys in
the year ended September 30, 1877,
some notion of the. manifold services
required of them can be formed.
1t is easy to see that an inexperienced
and unskillful messenger in such an
employment would only prove himself
a nuisance to the public and an injury
to the company. Every boy, therefore,
who is employed by the American Dis
trict Telegraph Company is put into a
training school, and this school is a
very interesting one.
The school room is provided with
wooden benches, like those found in
old-fashioned country district schools,
but the instruction given is entirely in
regard to the business of the company.
Every candidate for place must know
how to read and write before he can be
put into the school. 1t is of course
necessary for the boys to know the
situation of every street in the city. A
large map of the city is therefore placed
before them, with the streets marked
on it, but without their names. The
teacher points out different streets to
his pupils, and they are required to
name them. In this way a messenger
boy soon acquires a more complete
knowledge of the city's thorOughtares
than many an old resident can boast
Of. In one part of the room are tele-
graph instruments such as the company
uses, and the boys are taught how to
send and receive messages on them.
Then there is miniature bank, where
they are taught about the use of checks,
and there is a kind of make believe
brokers' Office, where they are taught
how to deliver stock, etc. Much atten-
ton is given to the instruction in the
bank and in the brokers' Office, as bank
ers and brokers use the messenger boys
constantly.
There is, beside all this, a great deal
for the boys to learn about this cOmpa-
ny's method of business, which l need |
not explain in detail. They must make
themselves familiar with the " tariff
book" which tells them how much a
boy must charge for going from any
one place in the city to any other. They |
must learn the use of the different kinds |
of tickets, on which the temporary rec
ord of their service is kept. They must |
know when to charge for car or stage |
fare and when it is proper for them to |
walk. .5
The American District Telegraph |
Company employs on an average $50 |
boys, who are distributed throughout |
the city among twenty-three offices.
Each Office has from five to eighty boys |
in attendance, accordingto its location,
and every boy is expected to serve ten
hours a day. In some of the offices
constant employment cannot be found
for all the boys during this time, and
one form of promotion is to send boy
to an easy district"
When boy arrives at his Office in
the morning he goes to the Sergeant,
who notes if he is on time or not. Then
he puts on his uniform and reports to
the Manager, who ascertains whether
or not his hands are clean and his hair
is neatly brushed. If he passes this ex-
animation successfully, he takes seat
ready for duty. The boys. respond to
calls in the order of their numbers early
in the morning; afterward they take
their turns.
A faithful boy in the employ of this
company is never discharged merely
because business is dull, the resigna-
tions of boys who tire of their duties or
leave for other causes, and the dismiss
al of boys who are unsatisfactory, rap
idly decreasing the force when addi-
tions are not made. 1t has required no
little skill so to arrange the service that
inefficient messengers may be detected
among 50 many; but this has been ac-
complished by an admirable system of
and discipline is enforced by
means of fines and extra hours, which
soon lessen the wages, or prolong the
period of daily service, of those boys
who prove remiss. W Il. Linn, IN ST.
n