Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-08-19

HNS~~SitTS1 1OOnu. Iris man Is
Ijn - W zNA the railway baggage
'NA&VU master. No one con-
nected with the rail-
way service can occa-
sion more CONSERVATION and downright pi O.
family than he. He eyes a new trunk with
ghoulish glee as 1t comes aboard his train on
it's way to some prominent summer resort In
the month of May or June. but, with the
tact of diplomat, he handles 1t fondly and
carefully and contents himself with the
thought of the harvest he will have later
on on it's return to the city.
No one represents that vulgar phrase
LET her go. Gallagher" with more accu-
racy than he. as he stands In the doorway
an empty baggage truck. 1t is said, with
how much accuracy we cannot say. that
that slangish sentence originated with
him.
Picture in your minds eye a trunk pack
ed to bursting; an empty trunk. say with
a fall of six feet; an assistant perched on
is ready yelling out: Let 'er go"' There
are lots of Gallaghers in the railroad ser
vice and that one of that family should be
a baggage master would only be in the
usual line. What more likely than that his
name should be coupled on to that reckless
phrase and now almost obsolete slang
sentence should be completed.
OF course, like everything else, the good
is mixed with the bad. but temptation Is so
persstently thrown in the baggage mas
ter's 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 a par
ticularly bulky trunk an extra twist as it
goes on its way to the receiving truck.
The readers of the daily papers of today
seldom come across the stories of the bag
gage smasher. such as were current 20 or
80 years ago, which carried with them con-
siderable interest, not to say individual
concern.
clusively to assign reasons for the decline
of the trunk story. Certainly the baggage
master is as powerful as ever, and surely
he cannot have lost in the comparatively
brief period of twenty years that fine sense
of humor that once prompted him play
fully to drop a trunk and break it open. 1t
seems more probable that he has shared
with the rest of mankind in that steadily
advancing refinement of methods which
has marked our progress in recent years
that he Is not less humorous. but only less
boisterous than he was and Ii may be. too,
that the fact that trunks generally are
made stronger than they were has some
thing to do with 1T. In past years the bag
gage master had little hope of advancing
TO the lucrative position Of conductor; now
he can reach that goal by strict attention
plants against him hastens this end. This
may be the real cause of his reformation
the man9er 70 - sand sEe ~ nis1ae iac,s us 10
ing Star reporter corralled one Of the fra
ternity in the depot restaurant and over a
hearty meal the following conversation took
place:
Considerable nonsense and fabrication is
INDUCED In at the baggage masters ex-
pense said the reporter. Won't you Sell
me something OF your every day life and
avOcation?'
The Baggage Masters story.
well. the reporters stories don't hurt me
In the least the baggage master replied,
'snd they generally make good reading.
The only thing 1 don't Ike about them is
the belief they create that we smash bag
gage out of pure deviltry and take no pains
to see that baggage reaches its destination
IN good shape II poor trunk is broken
through the most careful handling We al
ways hear of it, but when We tie a trunk
together and in every way try to save its
owner from loss nothing Is heard from 1t.
ana II there Is 1t Is an even wager that our
endeavOrs are misconstrued. Not long since
i received a trunk out there in the shed that
my experienced eye told me would not last
the journey through. l hunted up piece of
stout rope and wrapped 1T around the trunk
several times. At the Union depot in Bal
hinges and but for my rope the contents
of that trunk would have been scattered all
over the platform. The owner on receiving
his trunk made complaint to the proper
authorities and demanded damages I have
been with the company considerable per-
iod and have very good record. They be-
his best in legal way and they would meet
him half way. They never heard Of him
afterwards; Had that been a new baggage
master slice of his salary would have been
followed.
The tendency toward large trunks is
what breaks my heart. Many people do
not stop to think that human beings will
have TO handle their baggage ana as a
consequence will buy a trunk that with
way from 800 up to 500 A pounds the
Now to let these trunks down
easy is an impossibility. If they are made
constructed of wood and sheet iron it is
all wrong The first trunks out of a car
are the ones that suffer the most, as they
a buffer for those that follow. All we
baggagemen ask is that a little common
sense be displayed when trunk is pur-
chased and. also. when it is packed Heavy
articles should never be placed at the top
or bottom of trunk, but directly in the
center If possible. This prevents the sharp
contact which is usually 50 fatal to a ma
jority of ell-put-together trunks. Let me
say good word for trunk manufacturers.
The average traveller will save pretty
penny by investing in an expensive trunk
and In the long run it will be cheap.
Commercial drummers and theatrical
folk always use the best trunks. This
should be an object lesson to all travellers.
No class of people travel more and there
Is none that We dislike as positively. This
is on account of the extra amount of work
created by both. Ordinary travellers will
carry one or perhaps two trunks, but 1t
Will indeed be a poor drummer who pos
sesses only two. and a theatrical perform
er will be in hard luck that can boast of
less than four or five. We all look forward
with dread to going out on a Saturday
night run, as 1t is more than even chances
that the baggage of one and very frequent
ly two and three theatrical companies
will have to be handled. A majority of
the companies have regular men to handle
their scenery, but the baggage men have to
wrestle with their trunks and, as they
generally foot up in the neighborhood of
thirty, ii can be readily seen that the task
is not an easy one. AS l have said before.
these trunks are of the best and the work
is lightened considerably as no great care
is required in handling them"
The Check system.
How about your check SYSTEM" inquir-
ed the reporter. VERY few trunks appear
to go astray and a lost trunk is seldom
heard Of
THE system on our road Is very near
perfect" replied the baggageman, land the
post office registered letter system is al
most an exact copy of it. Many years
back. when railroading was in it's lusaucv
the local baggage master placed a check on
trunk and gave duplicate to the owner
to be presented at the end of the journey.
No account was kept of the transaction
and ii was several years before a dishonest
baggage master revoutiOnized the system.
When this dishonest fellow had investi-
gated the system and discovered it's weak
ness he resolved to profit thereby. One day
he received fine looking trunk that struck
him as being particularly valuable. I'M
media tely after the train started he took
off the check and canvas cover and in
place substituted a cover of his own that