Wichita eagle., 1888-12-20
Daily eagle
THE STATION AGENT"
u RAILROAD NAN WHO HAS MANY
DUTIES TO PERFORM.

The Practical Difficulties That Daily Beset
His Pathwzy-A Man of AL Work.
Romantic Side of the Agents Lie.
! Crbanity.
The term station AGENT means, practi
cally, the person in charge Of a small CT
medium sized station. When one Of these
men Is promoted TO the charge Of large city
: station, either freight or passenger, be be
& somes really a local superintendent, his duties
1 then consisting very largely in the supervis
ion Of an army of clerks and laborers, who
must, each in his place, be as capable as the
agent himself. The agent at small station
has great multiplicity OF duties TO perform.
he must sell tickets, be e good bookkeeper
and faithful switchtender. He generally
must be a telegraph operator and must be
vigorous physically. He must be ready, like
the conductor, TO submit TO some abuse from
ii bred customers, and should be the peer Of
tie business men OF his town He often en-
counters almost as great a variety Of knotty
problems as the superintendent himself,
though he has the advantage that he can
generally turn them over to a superior If he
feels unequal 10 them. The practical diff
eulties that most beset him are those incident
" ND4l1s5 eve lA4As HUII IcODAe 10
')1y tickets wait until the train is about to
start before presenting themselves at the
flee.
Then the agen: has dozen other things TO
ettend TO and must, therefore, detect coun-
terfeit SO bills with the expertness Of
Washington treasury clerk. Just as a train
reaches his station the train dispatcher's
click Is heard on the wires and he must drop
everything and receive for the CONDUCTOR
telegram in which an error Of a single word
would very likely involve the lives of pas
seagers. At very small station the check
ing Of baggage devolves On the agent, his
4 over burdened back being thus loaded with
one more straw.
A MAE-OF-ALL-woRG
lie IS in many cases agent for the express
f3ulpany, and so must count seal, super
-ribe and way bill money packages and
handle oyster kegs and barrels Of beer at q
moments notice. Women with wagon loads
Of loose household effects to 30 by freight,
and shippers Of carloads of cattle, for which
4 car must be specially fitted ID, viii appear
Just as the distracted station man IS recelv-
ing telegram with one side OF his brain and
selling q ticket with the other. The house
hold goods must be weighed and tagged, the
sewing machine tied up and tables repaired;
the cattle shipper must be given a short lee
ture On the legal bearings Of the bargain for
transportation which he is about to make,
and bis demand that his live stock shall be
carried so miles more quickly than human
animals are taken over the same road is 10
Sc Gently repressed. It Is not every day that
. small station Is enhvened by this sort OF
excitement, Yet II is common, and IS familiar
70 every station agent.
The variety in the duties Of this position
IS. however, 4 great advantage 10 the am
bilious young man, because 1t serves to give
him & good lift toward valuable business
education. He can learn about the methods
and kuacEs and tricks Of many different
kinds Of business, and can profit by the
knowledye thus gained. Thomas J. Potter,
the lately deceased vice president of the
Union Pacific railway, whose memory it is (
proposed % perpetuate by a bronze statue,
began his railroad career as agent at a small
station il Iowa. Others OF equal ability and
perfection Of character have risen from /
f5lnilar places and by the same means
TIE ROMANTIC SIDE.
The agent a. a small station catches his +
breath between trains. There is then geuer-
ally ample time for calming the nerves and
preparing for the next onslaught II ne is
telegraph operator he can chat with the
operators at other stations-a common re. /
source if the wires are not occupied with (
more in1rortant affairs. II the class period. I
icals Of operators and railroad men. refer /
encas u this phase of their life may be CON !
stanrIy seen and incidents OF even romantic /
interest are not infrsquent Many Of the /
men 1t small stations are young and IN
married, while az places where the business
has increased enough to warrant the employ +
ment Of an assistant, 4 young woman to do /
- telegraphIng Is frequently the first helper
Rreei With this combination it Is IN
>+-sscassary to tel what follows. If iron bars
and stone walls are the things which Cupid
laughs at. IN electric telegraph wire is the /.
thing which makes him smoker right out I
If we may use the language Of the circus ring. (
1T the railroad station next larger in size /
the work IS more divided. One man sells I
tickets. another attGlds 20 the freight Office .
another 70 the baggage and 50 or. The (
ticket seller must make ; cent bargains .
with the same urbarIty that is given to a
500 trade and must De able TO toss off the I.
latter in two minutes if occasion requires, or /
70 spend an hour IN helping the passenger I
choose the best route among q score Of posi- /
bic ones. The fusillade OF questions that /.
mast be met or the ticket seller every time I
= opens his window IS familiar TO every one I
has ever watched place Of the kind for I.
ulinutes.--B. 3. Adams, Jr., in Scrlbner's /
Magazine.