Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-01-09
. District" TELEGRAPH. Boys.

instead Of. merely sending messages
from one person to another, instru-
ments are placed in private houses,
and the occupants, by merely pressing
o knob, can summon q policeman. or
give an alarm in case OF fire, or call
messenger to do any service that may
be required. The principal company
in New York which controls such tel
epraph system, is the American Dis
trict Telegraph Company. The boys
in this company's employ have many
duties to perform which are not re-
uuired of the Western Union boys, and
they therefore have great many things
to learn before they can be provided
with work. When the hirer of Dis.
trict instrument calls for messenger,
the boy can never know what he may
be wanted for. He may be told to hur-
~ for o physician, he may be given
package for delivery. or bill to col
lect, or he may be sent by broker to
deliver stock or to have check certi-
fed In fine, his duties are too varied
for me to name them all. When it is
remembered that about $500 District
instruments are now in use in New
York, and that l ,513 .265 messages we're
delivered by the District boys in the
year ended September 30, 1877, some
notion of the manifold services re-
quired of them can be formed.
It is easy to see that an inexperienced
and nnskillful messenger in such an
employment would only prove himself
nuisance to the public and an injury
to the company. Every boy, there.
fore, who is employed by the American
District Telegraph Company is put into
q training.sch and this school is
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 stu
alton 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 messenger
boy soon acquires more complete
knowledge OF the city's thorougfares
than many an old resident can boast of.
In one part of the room are telegraph
instruments such as the company uses,
and the boys are taught how to send
and receive messages on them. Then
there is o miniature bank, where they
are taught about the use Of checks, and
there is kind of make-believe brokers'
Office, whore they are taught how to
deliver stock, etc. Much attention is
and in the brokers' Office, as bankers
and brokers use the messenger-boys
constantly.
There is, beside all this, a great deal
for tho boys to learn about the compa.
ny's methods Of business, which I need
not explain in detail. They must make
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 record 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.
: 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, according to its location,
and every boy is expected to serve ten
hours 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 o 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
examination successfully, he takes q
seat ready for duty. The boys respond
to calls in the order of their numbers
early IA the morning; afterward they
take their turns.
A faithful boy in the employ of this
company is never dischar ged merely
because business is dull, the resigna-
tions Of boys who tire of their duties or
leave for other causes, and the dismissal
of boys who are unsatisfactory rapidly
decreasing the force when additions
are not made. It has required no little
skill so to arrange the service that in
efficient messengers may be detected
among so many; but this has been &C.
complished by an admirable system OF
records, 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. A. LINN, in St.
Nicholas.
A BOTANICAL UsURpER.-A curious
instance Of the invasion OF country
by plant Of foreign origin is seen in
the history Of the mango in Jamaica.
In 1882 specimens OF the cinnamon,
iack-fruit, and mango were sent to the
botanic garden of the island. There
the cinnamon was carefully fostered,
but proved to be difficult Of culture in
the island; while the mango, which