The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1891-07-10
ALL KINDS OF Sp0TTERS.
THE WAY IN WHICH WoRkMEN ARE
WATCHED DAY AND NIGHT.

In one OF the police courts the other
day young man giving an assumed
name was arraigned on charge of
lettering, and suggestion Of suspicious
character" was also made to the Judge.
who imposed fine Of $40 upon learning
that the young man was employed by
one of the big surface railway companies
as "spotter, and he claimed that lott
ering on street corners was part Of his
unenviable calling.
The hatred displayed by the conductors
for these monitors in their affairs needs
little provocation, and is only equaled
by the anger Of bartender when the
proprietor Of saloon buys one Of those
automatic check writers and registering
machines As a rule the conductors get
to know the men who are watching
them, and they are mighty careful to
ring up every fare received when the
spy is around, and they generally keep
well posted regarding their movements,
one conductor telling another Of the
proximity Of the dreaded individual as
ne moves along the lines
ON THE STREET CARS.
The spotter who appeared at court
prisoner was searched, and in one Of his
pockets was found number of blanks
on which he keeps his memoranda The
spaces to be filled in report the day Of the
month, year and the exact time Of the
day at which a car is boarded and in
which direction the car is going, Then
follow the number of fares recorded by
the dial in the car and the number Of
fares received by the conductor in his
presence. The report goes on further to
state; Was the conductor polite? Was
he careless? Was he watchful as to as
sisting ladies' and children on and off of
his carr Was the driver careful with his
team?
The simple mention of the word spot
ter is enough to bring out a storm of in
dignation from the ordinary railway en-
ploye, Every time hear of one of
these fellows" said conductor Of
cross town car the other day, lit makes
me think that my employers think that
we are all dishonest. The bell punch
is looked upon by the conductors as a
badge of dishonor, and, as far as beating
the punch, why it is just as easy to for
get to ring it as it is to fail to pull the
strap on the big dial indicator y
ali man wants to be edish onest no bell
punch or dial can prevent him from do
ing SO could point out spoilers, any
number of them, who are laughed at by
the men on this road. Some Of the dirty
work is done by women who pretend to
be reading book, but who, in reality,
are keeping cases on the unsuspecting
conductor. II man in our business is
disposed to be dishonest and is not a
fool, all the spoilers in Christendom
can't catch him. The crowded cars are
his best field, for who can tell whether
he rings up for every passenger or slips
one here and there, At night he will
have few more nickels in his jeans
than he is obliged to turn in, but the
company Is none the worse for it,
I've run on this road now for two
years said another conductor on the
same line, land think in that time |
have seen about fifty different spoilers.
know them the minute they get on the
car. The first thing they do is to size
you up; and every time you pull the
strap they look at the dial to see If ii
registers correctly. They are unlike the
ordinary passenger, insomuch as they
wear an air of assumption that gives
them dead away"
The 81 roads have "spotters" also.
but not to watch the train hands. These
persons are called inspectors. and they
prowl around from station to station at
the most unseemly hours, just to catch
the drowsy agent or ticket chopper