Morning journal and courier., 1880-06-16
street-Car Conductors.
The Experience Of One who Thinks that
 Theirs Is not Happy Lot.

The Experience Of One who Thinks that Theirs Is not a Happy Lot. 1 Letter in New York sun.I
 About the last one who seems entitled to hearing is man who is obliged to carry strap round his neck to keep him from steal ing. Yet as such, ask permission to say word in defense of men who, although con- tinually serving the public, are seldom given credit for any good service that they render. A man may be man. even though he does have hanging from his neck an instrument which says, plainer than words, This is thief ;o and may not even the street-ear con- ductor claim the benefit of being held inno- cent until proven guilty?
 The position of conductor on a street car seems to be the refuge of nearly all kinds of men when shut out from every other en- ployment. It is the last place they seek The experienced and inexperienced, the old and young all turn to railroading as a drowning
 man clutches a straw. Yet, however old he
 is or however experienced, he can generally learn something He can see if observant
 many phases of humanity and human nature
 which would be hard to see elsewhere. In this way close observer is in part rewarded for the thanklessness of his post.
 Why do people look upon the street cars as entirely unlike anything else? Why do they seem to think that to be in a car is to be where the rules of eivility are suspended There are ladies who seem to have a code of etiquette expressly for street cars-etiquette with politeness left out. I use the word fla dy' in the too common acceptance of the term-the person who wears silks satins
 and sealskins who bangs her hair, and is often hundred times more attentive to the little poodle which she carries in her arms than to her children. This lady halls the car from the sidewalk, where she calmly waits
 for it to stop before she starts for it. If it
 goes six inches beyond the crossing, no words
 are strong enough to express her indignation.
 When she reaches it, no matter if another
 lady wishes to get off, she crowds right on nothing short of a brick wall could stop her, and she marches in with an air of one who could build forty De Lessep canals When asked for her fare she dives down into a huge pocketbook, which she always carries in her hand Inside of this is another one from which, after poking over some coppers, samples of cloth, &c., she finally brings up three-cent piece and hands it to the conduc- tor, ready to declare that it is a dime. All this time the conductor is patiently waiting. Many of the passengers wondering why he doesn't attend to business better; some one wants to ask where the car will bring him to; another wants room for a seat, while some one else is frantically pulling the bell to stop the car and no matter what goes7wrong, the conductor has to shoulder the blame. If we so unfortunate as to have balky team or to be blocked, about half of the passengers demand that their fares be returned and the other half want to know the exact number of minutes before we intend to start again. And in this way they sympathize. with us for the dinner or supper which we lose by the delay.
 Every one expects the conductor to have his eyes in all directions at the same time, to be looking behind as well asA ahead and if a passenger is chasing the car, he should not only notice it, but stop the car immediately. If he doesn't, woe be to him: for, should the passenger succeed in catching 1t, the conduc- tor is asked if he is deaf, blind, or dumb has he been at the business long? Is he working in theGnterests of the company, or for him self? If no reply is made, the passenger inn mediately whips out his notebook, proceeds to take the conductors number, and seeks revenge by paying his fare in small three cent pieces. If the man does not succeed in catching the car, there are enough others who are ever ready to take his part and abuse the conductor for not stopping to inform him exactly what his orders are, and to give him general lecture on how to run the car I have seen great deal of this, and have mo- ticed that about nine times out often the pas senger is at fault the other time it is the rules of the company.
 It is a game of watch on all sides. The con- ductor must watch the passengers, the pas sengers watch the company, and the compa- ny in turn watches the conductors and, in the end, I think the conductors get about as much of the watching as any one.
 Did you ever notice that there are invaria- ply more ladies in smoking car than gen tlemen, and that if there are but six men on a car, and plenty of room inside, those six are always on the rear platform in the con ductor's way?