Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-04-05
ON THE REAR pnATFoRNr.
The Unfortunate Conductor and the
Profits of street Railroad.

fronts OF a street Railroad
From the Neao York Tribune.
eyes, a conductors lot is anything but
happy one," said an intelligent member
of the craft as he leaned on the brake
handle and poured his woes into the ear
of sympathizing passenger. ''Tve been
at this business nearly four years, and
Pm a physical and moral wreck. My
knees are stiff, the veins are swelled as
big as your finger, and it takes three or
four trusses to hold me together. why
don't you come to church with your
familyY says TIE priest. Sure and how
con Up says l, when l work eighteen
hours day, seven days in a week Then
everybody thinks we are thieves, because
they see young fellows with nobody de-
pending on them knocking down fares.
We can't get day off for anything less
than a death in the family. | killed off
all my relations long ago. You've got TO
be on hand twenty minutes before your
car starts and sign time book. If a man
gets around at nineteen minutes and
half before tie hour, NO you DON'T says
the time-keeper, as he sits there with his
watch before him, you can't sign that
book;' and then the poor fellow is thrown
out and has to work his way up through
ali the substitutes before he gets a car
again"
"Why do they work you so hard, if
they only pay by the trip and have plenty
of substitutesY' asked the passenger.
SO, they want old hands and steady
ones. You see after mans been running
about so long they gauge him, md about
how much he can turn in a day, and ii
he falls below that, there's the old boy to
pay. A good man will turn in $40 u day
in fair weather, sometimes nell run it up
to S23, while new man wouldn't get
more than SIS or SlS, and they have to lay
it to his greenness. 80. he forget fifteen
or twenty fares, or ran by as many more,
they say. Still there is the awful suspi-
clOn all the time that may be he putitin the
wrong pocket and that's what they want
to get ria of by not having gTeen hands.
| Now if | was to run three or tour dollars
behind on days ike this I'd get the g. b..
or be put on hard tack for week. Hard
! tack is what we call running two trips q
| day, at - cents a trip. But it makes a
| good days work, for one of them is at 6
a. m. and the other at midnight. Hard
/ tack is the diet for wrongdoers of all kinds.
! Now that fellow ahead of us is lOating.
| He's laying back to pick up my fares,
| and his own too; he's two minutes behind
| time, and if the spOtter should come along
ED get put on hard tack for three or four
| days to brace him up.
"Hhen the public tries to gouge us too.
Only the last trip lady dropped quar-
ter on the floor in trying to give il to me,
so l rang up the fare and gave her twenty
cents change, meaning 10 pick up the
rack when the car was empty and get the
money. Pretty soon an old dutfer comes
along, spots it, gets out his knife and
works the quarter up, while Pm not look
! ing. Then gentleman at the other end
of the car begins to wink ferOciously at
me, and nod his head toward the Old cod
! ger, till finally l see that the quarter has
him and said, Did you pick up that quar-
ter, sir?
"'What if didY says he.
Nothing, only it's nine said l.
"'HoW do know IbatY said be.
"'Pll leave it TO this gentleman re-
| peating all the circumstances.
'''The quarter belonged to the conduc-
| tor said the gentleman.
"'That don't make any difference as
long as | found it, snarled the old codger.
/ Then | went for him. | could see the
| quarter in his hand, and it didn't take me
! long to get him down on the seat and
grind my knuckles into his fist until he
opened it and / grabbed the coin. How he
did swear and shake his fist as he got of
and waited for the next carp
Chow much does it cost day to run a
! car, and how many are there on the line?'
! asked the passenger, as his mind re-
verted to the $40 taken in as receipts.
"Wel, It's a good ways under $40, i
! know. Our wages came to about 81
They haven't touched the track for two
years. The car cost about $500, but when
| anything happens to it the cost Of repairs
| is taken out OF our wages. Most Of the
expense goes into the stable, for there are
| about 500 men working there and a fine
lot of horses. In all shere are some 200
cars running"
(Which makes clear daily income Of
at least $1,000" remarked tbs passenger
as he inwardly resolved to sell out his
gas stock and put his money into horse
railroads.