Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-10-09

nceS-Other Cail1nSs.
 Who and how many are there of those who turn night into day-who labor from sunset to sunrise. and sleep while the great masses are toiling! Quite respectable in numbers when all are taken into account, and their ranks are daily increasing as new industries spring up certain lines of business prosper and demand more help for their develop ment
 In the lead in numbers are the newspaper workers-printers, editors, pressmen, re- porters, mailing clerks, stereotypers, proof readers and other branches of the occupa- tion. The five morning newspapers of Chi cago employ well up in the neighborhood of 20O persons each in their various depart ments, so that hero is in round numbers a thousand men and boys-for the softer sex has fortunately kept comparatively clear of night work, and thOughplenty of women find employment in various ways at printing, it Is raro indeed that one can be found con- nected with the morning newspaper-at least | in such way that tho burning of the mid night oil is demanded In many cases, too, | there is not demanded of the man who earns | his living on any of the papers strict night | work. The afternoons and evenings are | taken up by editors and reporters, but long before midnight the ma jority have completed | their laborS. Still there is remaining by far | the greater proportion of the employees who are on duty into the early morning hours | The most numerous of these are of course 1 the printers.
 1 THE PRINTERS WAYS. | Odd people are some of these printers and l full of fancies, but as a rule sober, quiet, 1 decent members of society. The time has 1 gone by when to be printer it was also nec- | essary to be thoroughly familiar with the | various brands of liquor at the all night sa- | looms tO mt iIl the day ot ba tah l after a night at the cease" The ''bum'' l printer has no place in Chicago offices today. l Iherc has been a revolution, and without l any crusade q temperance reform has swept away such of the old timers as had not sue | cumbed to earlier cxceSSeS, and 1t is so we'll l recognized that sObriety is essential to secur- 1 ing and holding situations that few nowa- | days venture to overstep the bounds. But, l as stated, there are odd characters here and | there among them Expectations in a degree | are some. Their dreams are full of mean | ing, and they pin their faith so firmly to
 these visions of sleep that many a dollar has | gono to the policy or lottery shop on the l strength of certain numbers that had passed l through their minds in the midst of their | slumberS. speculate" is a ruling passion 1 with some, and, while there is little fascina-
 tion i'll cards or dice, the printers own game,
 known as ''jefirg," and which is simply not
 to be explained to the outside world, has in | times past had its adherents by hundreds,
 and though now tabooed in all we'll regu-
 lated offices is still talked of lingeringly and
 lovingly by its former devotees.
 Next to the printers the bakers form per
 haps the most numerous class of all night
 workers. There ill Chicago about TOO of
 those who are employed in the night time
 Picturesque figures they make, too, covered
 with flour, white aproned and white capped,
 and with look about them-despite their
 late hours of labOr-which speaks we'll for
 the healthful nature of their calling and their
 regular habits out of service. It is a strongly
 marked fact that there has been revolution
 in the ways of the bakers well as the fol-
 lowers of other occupations, and that the
 moral standard has been elevated in recent
 years. Tho mon are sober, industrious and,
 as a rule, saving; they look after the welfare
 of one another in sickness, and have nn in-
 surance system and burial fund, which fur
 nish relief for widows and orphans. Their | hours are somewhat lengthy, but arc in re-
 aHty much shorter than demanded of day
 workers while the pay is better. In fact, it
 might be stated here that the average day" l of all night workers does not exceed eight l hours and that the compensation is more
 than propOrtonatcly increased.
 THE TELEGRAPH OPERATOR.
 At the Western Union and postal tele- |
 at night in both instances. Taking advantage | of the half rate thousands of dollars worth 1 of business pOurS over the counters after 6 l o'clock in the evening. The great volume of | dispatches handled for the morning news 1 papers, too, require many intelligent and i fast operators. There are about 250 night l operators in Chicago. The ma iority are young I men, but some are gray haired veterans i whose years of service at the key ought to | 5nrr,or76 tbpir> retiraDlent n pension roll
 something not yet established by the way. l Thero is fascination in pounding the key
 or transcribing its clickings to paper when | the world is sleeping that exerts so potent an l influence that these veterans cannot break | away from it. II have tried day jobs half
 dozen times" said one, ''but couldn't accus-
 tom myself to the increased whir and rattle
 and activity, so I always drifted back to the old way. I have grown up in that way. l was a night messenger boy in New York years ago, and have held down night sits al- most continuously since that time, so that it ) isn't to be wondered at that I love the dark ness, and not because my deeds are evil,
 either"
 The hours of the night telegrapher are 1 short. Seven and half hours labor winds him up, and all work after that is paid for
 at an extra rate.
 , The ''cabbies' are also a numerous class.
 There are q hundred or moro who have stands scattered around over the city. l Strange stories they could tell-romances, stories of wild revelry tales of crime-were ! they not close mouthed and clannish to a re- markable extent. Dull times now" said
 one. ''The closing of the saloons and gam bling houses has cut down trade, and things
 are not lively like they used to be-" In most of the restaurants force is kept busy until midnight or 1 o'clock in the morn ing. But these workers scarcely come under the head of the toilers with which this article
 treats.
 l Then there is the small army of policemen 5 and still greater army of watchmen-Pink- erton men, the Veterans patrol, the private
 employees of the big down town firms and in
 the residence districts; the carriers who serve
 tho papers at breakfast to thousands, and
 who report for duty at 3 a. m. the drug
 clerks, some of whom sleep with one eye 6 open, others remaining at their posts all f night: the street SweeperS, the car drivers