Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-30
"A BAGGAGE RECORD.
Woes of the Smasher More Than
Doubled by the Rush. (
TWO SUSPENSION BRIDGE PLANS
State Chairman Kerr Says Public Sentiment
is With Pattison.
THE LUMBER OUTPUT SMALL THIS YEAR

Also for the poor baggage smasher! He
has earned his salary this summer, and split
open more trunks than he ever did before in
a specified period. When the passenger
business is rushing the baggage man knows
it, and with his increased work comes
tougher muscles and temper to suit his new
conditions. The man who handles the
heavy trunks of the period must necessarily
have Herculean strength. The truth is, few
men are fitted by natural endowments to
hold such positions. Like the poets and
other geniuses that go down into history,
the clever baggage smasher, as he has come
to be Familiarity called, is born, not made.
Whether the fault of the baggage handler
or the result of that dominant principle of
humanity to overload the willing horse,
certain il is that the modern trunk is made
larger every day, and contains more iron
and steel to the square inch than many
Safes The baggagemen complain OF their
great weight, aud the trunk maker retorts:
eve have TO make them so. You fellows
handle them so delicateIy that an ordinary
trunk will not stand the rough usage of q
trip"
THEY WATCH EACH OTHER.
Thus do these two classes use the retort
elegant, and each pursues the course
mapped out for himself. The trunk man
hints for the heaviest and strongest armor,
and the baggageman trains down his super
fuous flesh and keeps in condition for the
affray. @ i ~
But the baggage smasher is much
abused man, and this summer he has suf-
fered more than usual. Do the sweet
misses and old ladies bound for long vaca-
tion during the hot summer DAYS into the
country, at the seaside or in the mountains,
as they pack and push the many articles
into the big, old-fashioned trunk, ever stop
to think of the strength needed to lift it in
a car, or of the stout stevedores with their
faces begrimed and covered with perspira-
tion tugging to see that it is safely stored
away? They don't pick up trunks as q
mother would babe, but with one mighty
toss they throw them into the car. Can you
blame them very much? Most men do not.
AN ENORMOUS BUSINESS.
A reporter yesterday finally nerved him
self to the point to ask the chief agent at the
Union depot about the business done this
summer. he smiled pleasantly, and taking
off his cap invited the newspaper man 10
sit on a truck with him and have no fear,
as he was harmless. Have we handled
many pieces?" he began. "Well, in all my
experience I never saw such heavy passen-
ger traffic as we are having now, and the
thought of all those trunks and grips COM
ing back again makes us weary. We en-
ploy about 30 men in this depot, and during
the excursion season extra help is required.
In July. on the Pennsylvania road, We
handled 20, 900 pieces of various kinds.
This doesn't include the baggage on the
Ft. Wayne and Pan Handle roads, which
will probably swell the number to 10000
for that month. So far, according to our
reports, August has broken the record, and
if the pace keeps up we will make reputa-
ton for ourselves. You see, my boy, how
we have to work, and our life is not c per-
petual picnic"
THE B. 81 o. NEEDS MORE MEN.
The same state of affairs exists at the B.
& o. station. There the men complained
that there were not enough of them to han
die the baggage without greatly overwork-
ing themselves. They have altogether not
more than 10 men at the furthest conueceed
with the department They have had their
hands full this summer. The agent remarked
that ever since they went into the new depot
they have had twice the amount of baggage
to handle. which would indicate that the
business had increased that much. At
both the Union station and the Baltimore
and Ohio depot the agents reported that the
bulk of the baggage went East, principally
to seaside resorts. The mountains have.
been popular with some, but the ocean has
had the call all season. The unprecedented
travel is something the boys can't account
for, and they wonder when their turns will
come to have rest. This has been a
remarkable summer for the railroads, and
the baggage man has not been any too happy
over his hard lot.