The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-08-21

Wheel Shicid--rhc trlcrut 81 Change
Lost Through the Openinss-NVhy Green
Hands Are Preferred.
Singular things happen sometimes to q
street car conductor. have been con.
ductor ell my life-that Is for good part
81 Hy life, rot always, OF course. but
whcn | went 10 work | was driver on a
car In an eastern city. | came west and
got position as a conductor on the Olive
street line. and have held it ever since.
Tho reason make these preliminary re-
marks is that | want you TO believe what
tell you about making change. and the
loss Of money that people suffer from
rapid transit. never thought Of this
when | was on n horse car, but now
know whereof | speak" When a pas
senger gives the conductor of horse car
80 cents or 81 and gets handful of
nickels and dimes in change. if he drops
one he will stop to pick it up 1t gener.
ally rolls to some quiet spot on the plat
form and stops and the passenger stoops
down and gets it.
Now, if | am on the platform and |
hand man dime and he drops it, no
VIII never 20 IL again /. rolls faster
than it does on Il horse car, and il always
starts straight for the edge. The passen-
ger will wait until he hears il ring on the
granite pavement and then he'll stamp
hercely with his foot at the place he last
saw It. but. of course. he is too late, and
the fate of The coin is TO fall into the
hands Of some small boy who happens to
see it. There is another way that money
is lost. We conductors don't like to work
both sides of car. and we always go
down on the right hand side The pas
sengers of the left hand have to reach
over TO us and we hand the change back,
and. you may not believe me, yet it is
true. the amount of money that falls
through the hole i'm the floor that the grip
comes through would pay one conductors
wages Tho funniest part of it is that
have never struck 4 passenger who would
let me bear the loss Even stingy men
insist that they will bear il, but for the
life Of me don't know why. desire to
inform you, though. that | shall never
kick when they insist that the loss is
theirs.
HGI DRESS on FIRE.
Did you ever hear OF q NIP car setting
fire TO n vOman's deVssy Impossiblep
Well III bet it isn't 20. it isn't a phe.
nomcnou at all. It's a. easy rs rollingoff
D log lou notice that orr grips are very
low and the wheels stick MP through the
loor Well. Of course we have TO cover
hem and SO We put wrought iron shield
)yer them. But when we get q big crowd
IN board the ear is pressed down by the
weight and sometimes the wheels rub
igainst the shield, and in a run of two
locks ne shield will get red hot | had
lady passenger sitting over one Just the
thcr day. and all of sudden she Jumped
Up and screamed like some one had hit
Ger. Every man in the car looked at mo
S though | had done something. but |
admit. AMI | didn't know any
lore about it than they did. But
he woman kept on screaming Just tho
anne, and jumped off the car She nearly
ELL down and | think Id have been
murdered if she had. but the gripman
topped the train, and | ran to her to sec
that WAS the matter | was nearly scared
D death when | saw her skirts burning.
ecause | couldn't imagine what had set
re to them, but took off my coat and
the blaze, and when we went
ack to the grip found that the shield
no had been sitting over was red. I'm
retty sure ! saved my life by pointing it
1t to the men who were on the car They
ere awfully terocious. Ii had hit the
dy they could not have glGred at me
orse, but when showed them what was
ie matter and sent about half Of them
eek in the coach ~ that the springs
uld lift the car of the shield, they were
Imbler.
A very clipper young fellow was talk
e to me about my gripman. He asked
O why we didn't get railroad men to
)rk the grips, and il was all because We
tied his nccktie out of place when We
ire making crossing. | gave him q
zee of my mind. and what | told him is
nc, too. People talk about professional
ilroad men As though railroading was
netting You had to go to college to
I'm as you do law or medicine, but
At 5 all nonsense. It's just like every.
ing else in this age; it's mechanical
III know that yOCr own city editor has
his business down SO fine that he
isn't turn the reporters loose and tell
IN to bring in what they get He tells
IN what TO go and get. Isn't that SOP
No"iS' IL - anu IL y JuSt so Win every
hg else nowadays. The best men
road are not those who tell
superintendent that they have
n railroading for century, they arc
green hands. You take fellow that
'nly half 4 professional ana nobody can
him anything Just the same, he
It know his business. But bring in O
enhorn and he will throw up his hands
say: Il don't know nothing and you
teach that fellow the business, and in
ow months he will be an expert and
IT know it. No, | amt fooling.
will be an expert and won't
w that he has learned anything
ut railroading. He never will lind it
until some other road offers him more
ley than he is getting, and then no
lders what they do it for, because no
WIS he has been railroadng q little
lie and he can't get the idea through
head that he has learned anything
Louis Republic.