Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1885-05-29
CAR CONDUCTORS.
The Position OF a Street-Car En-
Gineer Not an Enviable One.
Their Trials and TribulatiOns as Depicted
by One OF Them-No Knocking
Down Uuder the Present
System-Spotters-
tSan Francisco Post. |

lSan francisco PoSt
81 don't want any more street-car work
IN mins," sighed one OF the old time con
ductors on the Market street cable line, re-
Gently, whose face Is familiar to all the old
patrons OF that line
whats the matter now, Joe?" asked
Post reporter, to whom the remark was
addressed.
swell, tO use slang expression. I've got
the q. b. which means that my services
are no longer required on the line. I'm
not sorry, though, for it's got so there's
nothing but niggardly, starve-to-death
wa es. and awful long hours work now"
''How does it differ from the former
days." queried the inquis torial reporter.
''In .Ots OF ways Before the Internal
bel punch was invented / made a good,
fat thing Of it; and even after it came on
the line did pretty well for a sma man
with large family, but, tell you, tie
company has got 50 it don't depend on the
punch alone, and has adopted an assistant
punch, which generally dresses in petit
coats and succeeds In making b .ngs trJp-
icai foc the conductors. In my opinion it
I eats the punch all TO thund-r. Tne name
Of the internal contrivance is 'spotter,' and
the company pays - day for its serv-
ices.
"You understand what l mean. The
company hires n certain number Of these
spoilers to travel on the line and take
notes Of tho number Of passengers that get
on and OF, the number OF fares collected
and the number of times the punch is used,
which they report to the office. Most OF
these spoilers are young misses, who are
faxn 10 u, 4 el,o
put on another, until the cond actors have
had time to forget their faces, for we are
always ON the lookout for them. They
generally have a book to read, and sit
where they can see on all sides, keeping
OF card n their pockets record of the
trip. Some Of the boys are 50 keen that
they can almost smell a spotter Le;ore
they see 1t. But. as allmsn are human,
and street car conductors more SO, they al
sooner or later come to grief and 90 down
into the valley of suspicion, from which no
ordinary conductor has triumphantly re-
turned. These spoilers include old and
young men, girls, widows and crippies,
aud there's no more use OF tryin t. knock
down fares and get away with them than
there is to try to attempt to be a iank
cashier and keep from eio. inS to Canld..
"It's the m-anest business on Gods
foot-s;ool to-day. 1t don't make any di:-
ference whether a man is honest or nos,
he is almos- sure to get 'hred' before he
has been long on the line. l. som.
cranky old cuss happens to hail your car
from block away, aud you dol't see hi n.
{ n TO one he will take the number an I re-
port you, which means in plain English,
that you can hunt for a new jon. Then.
again, X some fat old fool of a woman
persists in getting off the car before it
SOS, an |. as Is generally the case, sits
d wn on the besalt blocks with the force.
OF u plle-driver, nearly dIslocatiug her
spinal column and loosening the ii ling
in her back teeth, you must expect
trouble; and II she rises in her dignity anil
" Gth and waves a wild aud veh emeIt
ALI TO you with her parasol as you
glide down the grade, you may as wei
b.gin to arrange your earthly affairs foc
a sudden change of base, for it is in the
Dir.
"ThiS persistent practice of the dear
public in getting Off OF moving cars, and
either turning backward somersaults or
roller coasting over the slippery paving
stones on their omachs has los. more
situations or street-ca conductors and
drivers than any thing know o., because
they are blamed for it.
''One OF the most exasperating expert
ences that the conductor has to grapple
with almost every day is getting Tar out
Of absent-minded people and those who
wiliuliy lie n order to get out of paying.
Why, / have seen well-dressel women
who would take advantage of the fact that
car was crowded, and declare in the
most spiteful manner that they had pun
gled their nickel, when 1 knew that they
were lying. But what can a man do! They
know that they have the drop on him, and
50 does he. The result is that they get a
frs ride, for it would not do to try and
put them of. Absent minded people who
think they have paid their fares are Just
as troublesome
"It's a sweet scented, encouraging bus
iness to new beginner, the way thin.s
are managed on some lines. man must
go TO work as a green horn. of course, and
he is lucky IL he averages eight bits a day
for n couple of months. For a single man
this is bad enough, but KIN W more than
one poor fellow with a family who is
starving along, trying to keep soul and
body together on that pay until he can get
on as n regular at g 80 per day of six
teen hours. And the chances are ten to
one that he will not hold the place three
months when he gets 1t. Some fine day he
g'ts his walking papers, aud there is no APP
peal from the judgment Ii his fam ly is on
the verge OF starvation IL makes no differ
ence; he must go. Add to this the fact
that nearly every line in the city keeps
black list Of the discharged employ 8, and
that when a man gets the bounce his name
is furnished TO the o.her companies, YOU
can readily see that a man must, when
discharged, apply for work un Ter an as
sumed name, or rustic for some Other kind
Of employment
Then again, when he is so fortunate as
G. get on as an extra he must report at
{ car shops at the unholy hour of 4:3O
in the morning, help out cars and ssuDe,
around, basing his hopes on the slim pos
sib lity that some one of the sress' will
want 10 lay on for day. II he wants to
be an extra man he must report at that
hour every morning, even IL he don't get
days work once in a week. When he
works day on this layout he gets .S2.5l
For this he must work sixteen hours, and
dIring that Il ne must he on his feet con-
stantly, the rules not allowing a conduc-
tor TO sit down while on duty. The grin
mem get $40 q day, working the same
number OF hours.
''Oh, yes; it's nice business; but pov-
erty will bring a man to do almost any,
thing, and II he IL honest he will prefer
though 1 am hanged IL don't think the
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