The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-06-05
THE PULLMAN MAN.
HOW HE MANAGES TO GET AHEAD
OF THE lNQUiSlTVE SPOTTER.


The Duties of a Sleeping Car Conductor.
Putting Porter Mark on "A Spoilers
ShOes-Raising tho Accounts-On Hotel
Cars.-The Art of ''KnooI,ing Down.
Eyes" said ar ex-mernber of the Pullman
force, who had a run through from New
York TO the far west on the most frequented
highways Of travel, "there arc great OpPor-
tunltleS in the experience of the sleeping car
man. 1t takes a man with head on him to
know what he is about. And l guess there
are fewer Of them caught in any monkey
business than any other set of trusted EN-
plOyes in the country. There are new men
going on the road all the time, and those who
have predispOsition TO crookedness are
never allowed TO grow old in tho ways ct
sin"
$50 they knock down"
"Wen, that's a broad question. They don't
all do it. But there is just the same chance
for Pullman man as there is for a street car
conductor, but the risks are greater and he
has more TO lose by it, But the knock down
system is by no means an ancient custom.
It's devious paths are known; sometimes the
broad light Of investigation TRACES in upon
them, and the man who is caught loses his
head and SI25 a month.
"TO begin with a sleeping car man must
familiarize himself with an intricate system
of single-entry bookkeeping. On every trip
he carries with him "A whole set of clerical
apparatus for keeping his accounts They
comprise diagrams of the berths, check books,
markers, accounts of receipts and blanks to
make receipts out the same a ships mani
fest, and if he wants to pocket couple OF
dollars, or a five or a ten, he has to keep track
of an immense amount of detail doctor up
his accounts in good shape, keep an eagle eye
on the porter and run the gauntlet of spot
ters."
"Spotters"
ayes, spoilers. There is a whole army Of
them on the road incessantly-male and
female both. Pullman keeps them employed
all the time. They never use passes If they
go through from New York to St Louis, OF
from Boston to Washington, they buy first
class tickets, and pay for them with checks
just the same wealthy railroad tourists
But they become known. They've got to
hang around the car in day time a little, to
get track of things, and good fly porter who
can't size up u spotter when he sees him ainf
worth having.
TRACING THE CRoOKEDNEss.
"a spotter, when he starts out to get the
drop on a suspected conductor, carries along
a diagram of the car and a full set of equip
ments. He keeps an accurate account OF all
beVths sold or occupied between Important
the line. The first trace of c'ookedness viii
he followed hy several more spoilers follow
ing UP the s4,cs conductor, unUI the evidence
is dead against hin, and then there Is a sud
den vacancy in the force.
But the career of the spOtter is not path
of roses. If the conductor doesn't tue. ble to
him. the porter does in nine cases out Of ten,
and then that innocent spotter is marked for
'fe
" When he turns III at night he sticks bis
shoes under the lower berth. The porte :
comes along after a while, marks the number
Of the section on them, and takes them to the
rear Of the car to put quarter of a liar
shine on them. The first thing the porter
does Is TO examine them closely, nd If there
are no marks on the shoes, ne proceeds in a
calm, matter-of-faCt way to "brand" them
He puts a 'porters mark on the shoe, thai
vvery Pullman porter from here to San Fran
cisco viii comprehend the instant he lays his
eyes on it. Everywhere that spotter travels
the little hieroglyphic on his shoes does him
up, and he never gets down to the cause of it.
They work the women's shoes, too, when they
can find them, and when they can't they
mark their little caba or valise IN some con-
Veuicnt place
"Then the spoilers have the game stocked
up against themselves sometimes. If he looks
MA offensive fellow, of more than the
overooe rneo1fJiess, he stands in jeopardy.
Tvbe norrer ralles fh~from s. to $40 ON an
average run, and the conductor says, See
here, George, we've got to bull the market,
and the porter knows what that means and
chips in Then the conductor makes up his
accounts $40 above what they ought to be,
fixes up the diagram, and punches a few
moro checks. When he makes his report in
stead of turning in $40, he turns in $50 The
spotter, who has been trained in the school OF
spotlesS virtue and umblemiShed truth, only
makes it out $40.
MISTAKE IN THE FIGURES.
"The next thing that happened to the spot
ter, he is taken to the front and investigated.
The manager says: Look here, Mr.. Spotter
this thing amt right; how is it you only show
up S40f
ing mysterious, and sort of distrust in thu
arithmetic he studied at school.
We'll, it amt right-you're SO short
We won't want you any more. Wen &c
somebody who can count up better, and tina
spotter will never find out what happened Z
him, and forever lose confidence in his owl
intelligence. These are tricks that are vain
but those who are on the wing night and day
dashing along over the continent, don't pu
in their time without learning as they &C
I've known men TO show up tricks to Pullman
himself that he never dreamed of. The oil
men on the road have sowed their wild oat
and never need watching. 1t is an object TO
them to keep their places. But the youn
men were coming and going all the time, an
applications are constantly made at head
quarters for run 1t is a good position 70
a young man with grit enough to keep t
a straight line. It's big experience.
.SThe big work can only be done on tn
buffet or hotel cars on long run. That's
bonanzn. A conductor has to keep an az
count of every article he takes out with him
bring back all the scraps and have ther
weighed, and return correct account of HOY
everything was disposed of. But they ca
easily knock the Companys eye out for a sot
thing, if they sharp enough. \ cor
ductOr is given n whole ham, which weigh
so much, so many steaks and other articles
OF course they are the best the market ca
give. But the porter can buy another har
for less money and stow it away, and tn
conductor can have a nice juicy steak cut i
two 1t looks hard to work all these thing
without detection, but they've been don,
and the thing used to work like a gold mine
a hotel car conductor can get to be a stOcl
holder in a bank before he is 50 without an
trouble. '-Cilobe-DemOcrat Interview.
latter Day Saints in Ohio.
An interesting revival Of MOrnODigu