The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-27
TITH THE BAGGAGE KING.
nlr3y Baggage Masters And Their
Routine Work.
r..e,l Points and Good Stories-How
=, Handle and Pack Trunks to Ad-
-.r+aee The Tourists Incubus.
-, the washington Star

IrOTl the w uolAAAAE AoA t1AdAs
With the return of the many summer
..,.i.rs from seashore, lake and mountain
.o5ividual looms up with whom they
oil have dealings of considerable import
r'. and for whom their respect will be
.,.t nrofound. This man is the railway
ice master. No one connected with
.se railway service can occasion more
.,,starnation and downright profanity
.or he He eyes a new trunk with ghoul-
IN ,.as as it comes aboard his train on its
~ IN some prominent summer resort in
,bc month of May or June, but, with all
,Se tact of a diplomat, he handles it
sondIy and carefully and contents himself
nth the thought of the harvest he will
have later on on its return to the city.
M one represents that vulgar phrase
aTet her 90. Gallagher" with more accu-
rasr than he, as he stands in the doorway
If Ills car. trunk in hand at the head of
an empty baggage truck. 1t is said, with
how much accuracy we cannot say, that
hat slangish sentence originated with
him. IL. .,-
r,cked 10 bursting an empty trunk, say
TTffU a
% an the handle of the same and as ev-
errtbipg is ready yelling out: HLet Ter
C,ir There are lots of Gallaghers in the
r,iroad service and that one of that fam
ilr should be baggage master would on
" he in the usual line. What more likely
Than that his name should be coupled on
IN that reckless phrase and now almost
obsolete slang sentence should be com
peted.
Oood is mixed with the bad, but tempta-
lion is so persistently thrown in the bag
GAGE masters way that the latter class
undoubtedly predominant. Their work is
hard and with the heat soaring among
the nineties one can hardly blame them
for giving particularly bulky trunk an
extra twist as it goes on its way to the re-
ceving truck.
The readers of the daily papers of to-
day seldom come across the stories of the
baggage smasher, such as were current
% or 30 years ago, which carried with
them considerable interest, not to say in
dividual concern.
1t might not be easy in paragraph
cOnclusively TO assign reasons for the de-
cline of the trunk story. Certainly the
baggagemaster is as powerful as ever,
comparatively brief period of twenty
years that fine sense of humor that once
prompted him playfully to drop a trunk
and break it open. 1t seems more proba-
be that he has shared with the rest of
mankind in that steadily advancing re-
fnement of methods which has marked
our progress in recent years-that he is
not less humorous, but only less bolster
GUS than he was, and it may be, too, that
the fact that trunks generally are made
stronger than they were has something
to do with it. In past years the baggage
master had little hope of advancing to the
lucrative position of conductor; now
he can reach that goal by strict atten-
ton to business, and the less number of
against him hastens this end.
This may be the real cause of his reform
alton.
Desiring to CLEAN some inside facts as
to the manner of handling baggage an
Evening Star reporter corralled one of
the fraternity in the depot restaurant
and over hearty meal the following con-
VersatiOn took place:
considerable nonsense and fabrica-
tlon is INDUCED IN at the baggage mas
ters expense, " said the reporter. "Won't
you tell me something of your every day
life and ayocatiOn?'
THE BAGGAGE MASTERS STORY.
"Well, the reporters stories don't hurt
me in the least the baggage master re
pied, and they generally make good
reading. The only thing / don't like
about them is the belief they create that
we smash baggage out of pure deviltry
and take no pains to see that baggage
reaches its destination in good shape. If
a poor trunk is broken through the most
careful handling we always hear of it..
but when we tie trunk together and in
every way try to save its owner from loss
nothing is heard from it, and if there is
II IS an even wager that our endeavorS
are misconsTued. Not long since | re-
celyed trunk out there in the shed that
my experienced eye told me would
not last the journey through. l hunted
up a piece of stout rope and
wrapped it around the trunk several
llnes. At the Union depot in Bal
Iylnore one of the local men shattered the
hinges and but for my rope the contents
Oi mat trunk would have been scattered
all over the platform. The owner on re-
CelFlng his trunk made complaint to the
proper authorities and demanded dam
ages l have been with the company a
considerable period and have a very good
record. They believed my story and told
Ihe owner to do his best in a legal way
ana they would meet him half way. They
never heard of him afterwards Had
S!dU oeen a new baggage master a slice of
ms ms salary would have been lost or, per-
uap S suspension would have followed.
Inc tendency toward large trunks is
MDaI breaks my heart. Many people do
i Ioy stop TO think that human beings will
nole TO handle their baggage and as
~ Gtgnsequence will buy trunk that, with
aSS yony entS, will weigh all the way from
wv wv up 10 500 pounds. Now to let these
t " ,uIhS down easy is an impossibility If
hue S,t2 are made of leather it is all right,
guV II they are constructed of wood and
tr iron 1t is all wrong The first
fau .'I tl out of car are the ones that suf-
f for iue most, as they will have to fall the
t5otSFS and serve as buffer for those
tb ,ot IouoW; All we baggagemen ask is
WIZ i,'U HJtle common sense be displayed
WI trunk is purchased and, also,
new ryl II IS packed. Heavy articles should
r, 'CL DC placed at the top or bottom of a
bIo I'M ~, ouU directly in the center if posi-
VIII ms prevents the sharp contact
Vol ,I0n Is usually so fatal to a majority of
g,a5 puI-LOgether trunks Let me say
syor WORD Tor trunk manufacturers. The
h, ti.age traveller will save pretty penny
IN IN, ibi1GlStlng in an inexpensive trunk and
y'te long run it will be cheap.
FIJI numerical drummers and theatrical
sb ,n ~ ways use the best trunks. This
ers a De an object lesson to all travel
thor no class of people travel more and
Tbis =; IL none that we dislike as positively.
W ,,,G Is on account of the extra amount of
ere M, N treated by both Ordinary travel
bnt " III carry one or perhaps two trunks,
poss lS VIII indeed be a poor drummer who
iorr 9lsSeS only two, and a theatrical per-
boa'sste VIII be in hard luck that can
loo I9t ro oI less than four or five. We all
O. ward with dread to going out on