St. Paul daily globe., 1886-03-06
SLAVES OF THE RAIL.
The Hard Lot of Pullman's Poorly Paid
Employees.
Reducing Meager Salaries by Cruel
System OF Fines.
The Public Expected to support the
Porter.

ODllgeu 10 SuOmlt 10 - auultlOidl Iemuneid-
tion OF which the company chooses to re-
main ignorant. Bu., according to the con-
ditions of the service, as related TO a
reporter by a man who has been in IL for
wears, this Is very far from the actual state
of the case. The Pullman company allows
its pOrters wages scarcely sufficient 10 pay
for the clothes aud food necessary to make
their runs" and expects passengers who
have paid for their tickets To look after the
support OF the porter and his family. If he
has one. On the trunk lines running out
of this city the pay of a Pullman car porter
is SIG month. Out of this he Is expected
TO pay for the clothes and cap required by
the regulations of the company, and for his
meals while he Is on duty. The usual run
is from New York 10 Chicago
and return. Not allowing for delays
he is on the road about thirty
even hours each way. Men who reach
Chicago in the morning start on their re-
turn trip the same night or II they arrive
there at night they must be ready to return
the next morning. While on the road they
get their meals at reduced rates from lunch
counters in eating stations, or from dining
car, II there happens 10 be one on the train.
The emplOye who gave the information for
year. and struck an average of % cents q
meal, rs cents a day, or at least S2.25 for
the round trip. This he considers an un-
derestimate of each mans expenses for food
in four trips out of five. A porter usually
has to buy two uniforms year at a cost OF
SIS each. The conductors have TO get
winter and summer uniforms at cost of
about S22 each. Shabby dress or negli-
gence of personal appearance is considered
a misdemeanor.
The Pullman car conductors get salary
of $40 month. which is supposed to be
sufficient for all his personal needs and his
expenses i'm the service of the company.
Allowing $50 month for meals bought on
the road. and S4 a month for his uniform,
conductor does well if he can get $50 a
month for his family out of his salary.
But owing to the system of inspection and
fines TO which the Pullman men must sub
init. the chances are that the conductor will
not get anything like that sum. The con-
ductOrs and porters are under the constant
surveillance of ''spotters," as the train
hands call them, or especial agents.. rs
they call themselves and are called on the
company's payroll, who report the slight
est infringement of the rules of the com-
pany. If the spotter sees any indications
on the window sills, scraps of paper on the
floor thrown there by some needless paSSen-
ger, untidy looking berths or seats. soiled
washbOwls or towels-he reports TO the
division superintendent and the conductor
has to pay for it. 1t makes no difference
| that the fault may have been porter's OF
passengers, the conductor is held respon-
sible
The usual fine for misdemeanors of all
classes is So. 4 conductor considers him.
self lucky if he gets OFF with So in fines each
month. This makes big hole in his salary.
He has no chance to explain or contradict
the charges. The spOtter is believed, and
/ the conductor must submit or leave the
service. If the porters are not promptly on
the platforms with stools to assist passen'
| gers on and off the cars when the train
stops, ten chances TO one the conductor
gets fined for not looking after them. But
the greatest bone of contention and the
most frequent source of complaint is with
the magazines and newspapers. If spot
| ter finds pile of reading matter tumbled
loosely on an unoccupied seat. he reports it.
If the passenger happens to be temporarily
chatting with some one in another seat, or
smoking a cigar, and sees the conductor
| order the porter to stTaighten out or remove
/
about it. Ignorant of the rules. he look:
upon it as a piece of unwarrantable Off
ciOusness. Then the spotter reports the
conductor for ineivility 10 passengers.
1t is not at all uncommon for a passenger
to walk off with the company comb OF
| brush, or TO carelessly smash tumbleT, and
for this the porter has to pay full price. II
| he loses berth check it costs him so cents. II
he happens TO have keen appetite and an
unfortunate month in losses the porter fire.
quently nndS that, aside from his tips" ;" hi
is actually paying the company for the priv
| ilege of working.
On nearly every full train with three ol
more Pullman cars that runs over the trunk
lines between New York and Chicago &
special detective is employed to watch FOL
graver misdemeanors on the part Of con-
ductOrs which may be considered outside
| the bailiwick OF spoilers. Necessarily, {
Pullman car conductor must handle more oI
| less money for berths not purchased in the
ticket Offices. Usually a check is kept OF
this by a diagram, which must correspond
with reports of tickets collected and re
ceived from the regular conductors on th'
railroad. If a conductor makes an error il
his diagram. thing likely to occur at an!
time when passengers are dissatisfied will
fined for it, and if the offense becomes to-
frequent he is liable to suspension.
After careful consideration conducto
said that the Pullman company paid thre'
times as much money every year To spotter
and detectives as their conductors ant
porters' salaries amounted TO. The detec
tives are usually employed from privat,
agencies. To avoid possibility of their owl
detection they pay for their accommodation
and incidental expenses OF the trip the same
as other passengers do. 1t IS their busineS:
to report something and they report any
thing. The companys rules forbid con
ductOr or porter TO smoke or drink liquO
while on duty. 1t was a common thing
the informant said, for detective to proffe
a conductor cigar or a drink and then re
port him for accepting ii. He related al
incident illustrating this deSpicable methoC
of entrapping the unwary. A few week.
ago a train was snow-bOnnd for severa
hours, and as the conductor had to be on
i'm the cold good deal passenger inviteS
him to take a drink out of what seemed
to be his sample case. After some hesitation
the conductor accepted. Hours later hi
train reached its destination and he retireC
for rest, but had been in bed only tw,
hours when he was summoned to the offic,
and suspended for two weeks without pre-
vious payment of the salary then due him
The conductor afterward ascertained tina
the seeming drummer who had tempted
him to drink was one Of the companys de
tectives.
Usually. in cases Of accident where N
blame could be attached 10 the employe
the Pullman men have been subject TO sub
stantially the same remuneration for tim
lost while injured as other railroad EN-
ployes. Recently. however, an iron-cla'
contract was issued from the general Offic
of the company in Chicago. and sent to tn
division superintendents, with instruction