San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-01-07
A WORD FOR STREET CAR MEN.


Conductors ana Drivers Declared
Honest, Efficient and COur-
teOus as a Glass.
Boston Herald
The season reminds us of the time
when "In the beauty of the lilies
Christ was born across the sea.n The
time when the heral angels struck
the new keynote to the anthem Of
human hope and progress.
No Intelligent creature in the scale
between an angel and an orge is in
different to an honest word of merited
praise.
We properly associate Christmas
with gifts, but with less propriety we
associate the gifts with the idea of
money-yet this, one of the choicest
and most coveted gifts. can not be
beaght by the millionaire, snd lt is in
| the power of the poorest to bestow 1t.
want to say word of appreciation
of the street-car men-the conductors
and drivers. I believe they are one
Of the best fruies of the social evolu-
ton; as class they are giving us a
striking illustration of honest, etfec.
tive, courteous public service.
We use them so con tinuousiy that
Ii familiarity does not breed contempt
it leads us 10 regard them az we do
the air We treathe-~ss our right, and
we. too often treat them the same;
take the good as q matter Of course,
and COMPLAIN bitterly Of the bad.
I'm my word of praise tor our street
Car man L would rot imply any crit
cism OF the corporation ne serves. I
l'kelieve the relations between them
and it are, on the whole credit to
both. But the fact remains that the
personal responsibility for the rtips
| of 8 street car calls for b high degree
of mao hood, as measured by inteih-
gene o, skill, attention courtesy, and
tact.
hsve long studied this matter, and
l am satisfied that this word of oom-
menGation is not too strong. We
sometimes hear of street car strikes
we are occasionally annoyed ny mat
| tentton on the part of street car man
occasionally, though rarely, we meet
positive discourtesy.
We ought to remember that he
stands between two masters, and that
it is as much his required duty to
bring his car through the round trip
on time as IL is to attend to all the
reasonable wants of the travelling
public, and that as these duties often
conflict the company and the public
must good naturedly divide the dis
comfort and loss between them.
| AS q physician. i am surprised that
the average street car man bears the
physical aGd mental strain of his
calling as we'll as ke.does. He is OBJ
llged to stand and to bear the con tim
ual jar of the car, which is q trial TO
his kidneys and brain.
| He must get through his trip on
time, and must bring In the Car and
it's horses or motor without injury
other than ordinary wear and tear;
he must avoid running into or over
people or vehicles; he must see the
mods and hear the whistle of the
waiting passenger; he must attend to
those who wish to get out, and fire.
quently when the caT is full, and he
hes hundred things to think of,
some one 'blandly and confidently
ASKS him to tell them when q street
or building mile or two distant Is
reached and II he forgets the remarks
OF the passenger are likely to furnish
aiob for the tears of the recording
angel.
The street car man must collect all
the fares, but must not forget and ask
any one to pay a second time; he
must see that all have seats-to the
extent of the Garland that those who
stand "move APP" so as to allow OF
the packing which he, at least, Is in
no way responsible for.
He must make change cheerfully
and accurately, insinuate himself
through the sardine mass of packed
car without crOwdlng and without
finding any of the numerous corns
lying In welt for his tired and con.
fused footsteps. And finally he must
attend to his duties faithfully and De
patient with and polite to every body.
Well, he succeeds to q degree that is
q great credit to society In general
and hiRaself in particular.
1t would be we'll If we, the public,
might at this Christmas time give
the street car man something besides
commend atoms. but 1t 10 difficult to |
know what or how.
For some years it has been my
habit to give double fares on Christ
mas day, but do this with o qualm
of conscience, for I have seen 80 much
of the hideousness OF the tip system,
ard the average street car man Is too
manly and self-respecting to be
beggar, or even oeggar's first
cousin.
But in this connection L would
make two suggestions.
If you want to work and worry the
n IL I'm
Just follow these few rules: ...