Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-06-06
RAILROAD CONDUCTORS.

RAILROAD CONDUCTORS.
One Of Thorn Tells Of the Inequalities and
Trials Of the Work.
IL have been a railroad man twenty
three years and a conductor ever since
/ could work out of a brakeman's po-
sition,' said conductor at the Polk
street depot yesterday. Il have had
through runs and have served my time
in suburban service. and think l
know most of the difficulties and an
noyances which conductors expert
ence. In more senses than one our
position is not enviable. We are re-
quired to be polite and attentive to
passengers, and. while most of us
want to be, we find it q pretty hard
task. We are held responsible for the
safety of the passengers and of the
train, and are blamed for things for
which we are not at all at fault In
short, we are between two fires, one at
headquarters and the other right on
the spot whenever and wherever any
body takes a notion to kick.
There is all the difference in the
world between the work OF different
conductors. The men who have the
long runs on express trains have the
easiest time, unless you except the
conductors of emigrant trains, who
have nothing to do but take up tickets
and not hear questions. On the linn
tied express trains that stop but few
times between here and New York,
for instance, the conductors work is
not comparable with that required on
an accommodation train. The one
conductor can sit down most of the
time. the other has to go through his
train between stations regularly. The
men working on suburban trains catch
it the worst, and yet many conductors
prefer these runs because they en-
able them to be 1T home more.
This stopping at every third or
fourth street like a horse car, when
the danger of accident from careless
ness or Indifference is greater than
on the through routes, is one of the
things that make the suburban serv-
ice any thing but desirable from
a conductors. standpoint People
don't think that going back and forth
is travelling, and they get careless,
They stop and chat till the last
moment and then get of after tho
train is under way. Now. Mary
Jane, you will come and see me,
won't you? And bring your work and
the baby and BY this time the
train has started and we are expected
smilingly and gallantly to help the
lady off and throw her bundles after
her. This illustration is not forced
1t Is enacted every day on the subur-
ban roads. The greatest annoyance
on the through routes, of course, is
the asking of questions often natural
enough in themselves, but reiterated
by one passenger after another till the
thing becomes SO stale as to be almost
nbearable. Often one passenger will
make inquiries, and in less than ten
minutes somebody in full hearing OF
my answers will ask substantially the |
same questions. l have seen times
when l actually thought people were
guying me by making their inquiries
1T would naturally seem that the
men having different routes should get |
pay proportionate to the work required
and the privations undergone. This. |
however, is not the case. The pay is
uniform, whether we live at home or
have to board part of the
time at hotel, as we have
to do when our runs are long. Con.
ductors get better pay than they used
to. Now our pay runs from $SS to 500 |
per month. There is growing GUS
tom of paying conductors by mileage,
which affords them much better wages
than the ordinary method, aud l ap-
prehend that this plan will some day
prevail. In point of remuneration !
think conductors have seen their worst
days"
"How about the opportunities for
cribbing?''
I'm that regard they have seen their
best days The conductor who tries to
pocket fares to-day is fool. The inge-
nuity of railroad managers is too highly
developed to permit the cribbing that
once was so common. The conductor |
who attempts to get rich at the COM
pany's expense will be tripped up be-
fore he has got even the cornerstone |
Of his fortune laid. Chicago News
Washington's Namesakes.