The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-11-19
THE STATION AGENT
a RAILROAD MAN WHO HAS MANY
DUTIES 70 PERFORM.

Tho Practical Dinhcnl,ies That Daily Bcsc.
His Pathway - A Man Of All Work.
Romantic siGc Of the agents Life.
urbanity.
Tho term ''station agent means. practi-
cally, the person in charge Of srslll or
medium SIZED station When one Of these
men is promoted 20 the charge Of large city
station, either freight or passenger, be be-
comes really a local superintendent. his duties
then consisting very largely in the supcrvis-
ION Of an army Of clerks and labcrers, who
must each IN liis place, be as capable as the
agent himself The agent ut small station
has a great multiplicity Of duties 90 perform.
IIo must sell tickets. bc "a good bOoLkccpcr
and faithful swiichtendcr. He generally
must be a telegraph operator aud must be
vigorous physically lie must DO ready, like
The conductor, - submit 10 some abuse from
al bred customers and should be the peer Of
the business men o. his town lie often en-
counters almost as great a variety Of hnOtty
problems as the superintendent himself,
though he has the advantage that lie can
generally turn them over 10 a superior If lie
fecls unequal 10 them. The practical Diff
cultics that most beset him arc those incident
10 doing everything Ia a hurry. People who
buy tickets wait until the train Is about 90
start before presenting themselves 40 the
Office
Then the agent has dozen other things 10
attend to and must therefore, detect cJup-
terfclt $40 bills with the cxicrtness Of a
Washington treasury clerk. Jus, os O train
reaches bis station tho train dlspgichcrs
click is heard on the wAcs and De Iaust drop
everything and receive for Che CONDUCTOR
telegram in which au error Of single word
would very likely involve the lives of pas
scnCcrs. Alta very sna station the check
ing of baggage dcvoiyes on the agent, lis
over burdcned back being thus loaded ~i'h
ono more straw.
A NAN-oF-ALL-wORR
He is in many cases agent Tor The express
company, and 50 must count. seal, super
scribe aud way bill money packages and
handle oyster kegs and barrels Of beer at
moments notice. Women with wagon loads
Of loose household effects o. go by freight,
and shippers of carloads of cattle, for which
a cur must be specially fitted up, VIII appear
Just as tho distracted station man is rcceiv-
ing "A telegram with one side Of his brain and
selling ticket with the other. The house
hold goods must lie weighed and tagged. tho
sewing machine tied up and tables repaired;
the cattle shipper must b. given "A short lee
turc on the legal bearings Of tho bargain for
transportation which be is about TO make,
and his demand n at his live stock shall he
carried 800 miles more quickly than human
animals arc taken over the Same road is TO
4c gently rcrrcssed IL is not every day that
a small station is Cuhvened by tins fCrt Of
excitement. yet 10 il common and is familiar
40 every station agent.
The variety in the duties Of this position
is. however, great advantage 10 the am
bilious Young man, because 1t serves 10 give
HIM a good lift toward a valuable business
education He can learn about tine methods
and knacl,s and tricks Of many different
kinds of business, and can profit by the
knowledge thus gained. Thomas j. Potter,
the lately deceased vice president Of the
Onion Pacific railway, whose memory it is
proposed 20 perpetGate 10y bronze statue,
began his railroad career as agent at a small
station ia Iowa. Others of equal ability and
perfection Of character have risen from
similar places and 10y the same means.
THE ROMANTIC SIDE.
The agent az small station catches his
breath between trains. There is then eener-
ally ample time for calming the nerves and
preparing for the next onslaught III ne Is a
telegraph operator he can chat with the
operators 40 other stations common re
source if the wires ere not occupied with
moro important affairs. In the class period
reals ~ operators and railroad men. refer
ences o. this phase of their life may be con-
stautly seen. and incidcut- OF even romantic
interest are not infrequent Many Of the
men at small stations arc young and AN
married, while at places where the bushes
has increased enough o. warrant the employ
ment of am assistant "a young woman @ do
the tolegraplug Is frequently tho FIRST. helper
ENGAGED With tbs combination DO is I'M
necessary to tell what follows III IRON bars
and stone walls are the things which Cupid
LAUGHS at, am electric telegraph wire is the
thing which makes him "salcker right out,
If we may use the language Of tAo circus ring.
At the railroad station next larger in size,
the work is more divided One man sells
tickets. another attends - the freight office,
another g. the baggage, and so on. Tac
ticket seller must make D cent bargains
with tlo same urbanty that is glNcn 70 a
500 trade and must bc able 90 toss or The
latter iu two minutes If occasion requires, or
to spend an hour iu helping the passenger
choose the best route among s.oro Of posi-
bic ones The fusillade Of questions that
must be met by the ticket seller every time
hc opens his window is familiar TO every one
who has ever watched place Of the kind for
ten ninutes.-B b. Adams, Jr, IN Scrbners
Mura.lno