Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-03-13

mean the loss of his dinner, it is not to be
wondered at that he is inclined to be rather
shert-tempered over the delay. The early
men, whose work is over at 10 min
ntes to 6 in the evening, can spend some
tioe with their families, although, as they
have to rise little before 5, it is not likely
that they stay up very late at night.
Working at Irregular Hours.
The other end of the story is told by the
men who take out the last car What is
known as the 'late straight trip COM
mences from the suburban end of the line at
11:45 r. M. The conductor and gripman
have been ut work since II o'clock in the
forenoon-surely fashionably hate hour at
which to commence days work, leaving
them good many sunny hours TO walk in
the park or improve their minds by study.
The last trip, the car leaving the city ct
1920, is q fsswing." These e'swings are
not faverites with the men, and it is gener-
ally the new conductors, who have not a.
rived at the advantage of possessing regu-
lar car, who are put on them.
This is a specimen ''swing:" The crew
conductor and gripman-go on at 5:15 in the
morning and work till P. NJ This con-
stitutes the morning "run." Then the
crew goes off and has rest until 4:23 in the
afternoon, when it takes hold again and
keeps on till 8:15. This is a comparatively
easy ''swing." There are others that seem
to keep the men at work all day and most
of the night, although, as they have time
off the cars between whiles, they do not
work more hours than the fortunate
possessor of a regular car, who works
''straight," and is done we'll within 12
hours, including his meal times.
The Enforcement of Rules.
There are number of rules laid down for
Ne guidance of conductors, all of which are
for the benefit of the passengers as we'll as
the company. The conductors are teid to
enforce them, but it is understood that they
may exercise discretion. For instance, pas
sengers must not stand on the platform
when there is room inside, but there are
always passengers on the platform who do
not care to stand up in the crowded car,
inhaling the close atmosphere, and losing
temper as thev were jostled to and fro.
The conductor does not think of compelling
the platform riders to 90 in, unless there
are so many outside that he has no room to
work.
step inside, gentlemen" he Is almost sure
to have difficult task in finding anyone
willing to leave the platform.
Conductors are cautioned to be polite to
passengers under all.circumstances. To the
credit of the men, it must be said that they
are all polite, as a rule, and often when the
demeanor of the passenger does not warrant
respectful replies. Most men would find
it difficult to listen to abusive language
from some half-drurken man or sharp
tongued woman, who has been carried a
few yards too far. on account of slippery
track, without replying in kind.
They Get to Be Philosophers.
But you NAV see conductors standing
quietly, with their hands on the bell-rope,
waiting till the indignant individual is
safely off the car, and not intinating by
word or look that they hear anything Of
the stream of billingsgate hurled at their
heads. This is discipline. Conductors are
trained to that sort of thing, and it is neees-
sary that they should be, or they would 60
home almost every day with a record of
half dozen fierce quarrels, if not actual
fights.
1t must not be supposed that conductors
are all perfect, however. Everyone who
rides habitually on any line of cars knows
that there are two or three conductors who
are so cantankerous that it is hard to un-
derstand why the company tolerates them.
Usually such conductors use their zeal for
the interests of the company as an excuse
for their disagreeable ways They are the
men who try to enforce the RULES to the let
tCI, dHu Wuo eCSh W ShJos thClHbSAFVo III
proportion to the annoyance they can infiict
upon the patrons of the road. It is they
that haul passengers aboard almost by the
scruff of their necks, that demand fares as
if they were highwaymen with pistols in
their hands to enforce the order, that make
the cars either unbearably hot or miserabfy
cold, that push their way through the car
when it is crowded without regard to corns
or clothing, that
Do Net Answer Passengers
who ask them to stop at certain streets, so 4
that one does not know whether they hear
or not (although they are sure to stop at the
street), that run the cars on the principle
that their chief duty is to make time, and
who are, in q general way, detested by all
the regular patrons of the road. and very
often rebuked by strangers There are some
of these men in every walk of life. but they
have better opportunity to show their
cloven hoof on the platform of a street car
than in a private capacity, and we know
them there when we might not notice them
elsewhere.
As class, the conductors do not remain
on the cars very long. While there is
certain proportion that does not wish to be
anything else, exemplifying the old-fash-
ioned saying that "once street car con-
ductor, one always" most of the men you
meet in the railway uniform are only work |
ing atthe business until they can get into |
something else.
G. c.. J.