Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-03-13
BELL ROPE PATIENCE.
How the Street Car Conductor Trims
Himself to Endure Cranks.
LEARNS TO BE 4 PHILOSOPHER.
He Soon Finds That II Takes All Sorts of
People to Make World.
FACTS ABOUT THE HOURS OF SERVICE
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The conductor is man With 2 grievance.
His life is a continued struggle'to to keep his
temper in spite of the crankiness Of the
public that is ever trying to eIasperate him
and sour his naturally sweet disposition.
From the time that he starts on his first
trip in the morning, until the evening when
he steps of his car and sees it drawn into
the barn for the night, he is engaged in q
controversy With short-tempered people,
who are always at their worst when on
public conveyahce. He is man Of many
tribulations and all weathers He knows
what it is to be scolded by women, cursed by
men and scowled as By persons OF both sexes
who will not take the trouble even to put
into words the contempt for him that burns
in their bosoms.
He is supposed to know where each pas
senger wants to alight, whether he has been
told or not, and if = passenger should
change his mind just before he-or, more
often, she-arriFes at the street at which
he has been directed to stop, he must have
intuitive knowledge of the workings of the
passengers mind, and take the car on
toward the right place without being in
structed.
Some OF Eis Commonest Trials.
When the track is slippery. and the
motormsn or gripman runs the. car few
yards beyond a street at which he has been
signaled to stop, it is the conductor who is
sharply asked, "What made you bring me
1t is the conductor who enjoys the argu-
ments with recalcitrant passengers who in
sist upon pulling the bell, and perhaps
s'ringing up" fare or two by accident, or
who will remain on the platform, to OBJ
struct others.
1t is the conductor who, on the slast
trip" on Saturday night, has the difficulties
with the gentlemen who have been celebrat-
ing the arrival of pay day with playful
'.jag," that has left them with just enough
strength to get on the car, but wanting in
intelligence or physical power enough to
pay the fare. How the conductor has to
coax such passengers, and watch that they
do not get past their street in their
drunken sleep, let the long suffering official
tell. He has that sort of experience every
week, until it becomes . weary story to
him.
In contrast with the trials and annoyances
the conductor suffers, there are bis 10 and II
o'clock trips on Sunday evenings, when his
car is occupied by . dozen or so Of silent
individuals, across whose features there fits
an occasional smile as they think of some
tender episode in the evening visit that has
just drawn to close.
ATrip With Meditatiye Beaux.
These individuals pay their fares mechani-
cally, and generally keep gaze fixed on the
toes Of their patent feathers as they give
themselves up to delightful musings. There
may not be more than two or three we'll
developed mustaches among the whole
dozen, but you may be sure that their clothes
are all of as choice quality as their means
will afford, and that their neckties, collars
and cuffs are irreproachable. The conductor
does not make any remarks about his pas
sengers, but we'll he knows that he is carry
ing more romance on those two Sunday
night trips than finds its way into his car at
any one time during the rest Of the week.
If he is young man he has a kindly feel
ing of sympathy with them and wishes it
we're his night of, so that he, too, might be
going home from an evening with his
betrothed.
Although conductors on street cars have
to work as hard as any class Of wage
workers in the city, their labors are light
compared with what they were five or six
years ago. The times when they were COM
PEELED to work from IA to II bours day
for pittance are over-most likely for
ever. The conductor of to-day is comfort
able, decently-paid employe, who does not
work more hours day than the average
mechanic. and who can spend at least part
of his evenings with his family or in the
pursuit of recreation, unless he happens to
be late man, in which case he has time
in the morning instead of at night.
How the Meal Hour Is Curtaiied.
On one of the principal lines of Pittsburg
the first car goes out at 5:15 a. NJ. The con-
ductor and gripman have to be ready to step
on the car as soon as the bell rings-in fact,
a little before, SO that the starter can be
sure that everything is all right. At 4:50
the car has completed its last trip, and the
men have finished their days work, having
had IS minutes in the middle of the day for
dinner Their break fast they have eaten on
the car or in the employees room at the end
Of the run, shout 8 o'clock, they having had
q 1elay-over" to enable them to do it. IF
from any reason there has been block on
the road. SO that the car has not made its !
time, the chances are that the time for meals |
will be somewhat curtailed.
Passengers have occasionally heard con- |
ductors complaining that their dinner "trip |
is thrown out by some stoppage, and when