The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-01-30
A TROLLEY Wall.
The extras" Gorgeous Uni
form Brings in Little Pay
and Much Risk.

The life of a motorman or conductor on
the cars of the Consolidated Traction Com
pany is not ''all beer and skittles' as many
careless thinking people imagine, 1t seems
easy to 'turn wheel" or ring the fares up
and all the inconvenience of such a life APP
pears to be to stand on the front or back
platform in the dirtiest kind of weather and
direct the motor on its trip. But there are
grievances which the men endure and the
travelling, grumbling public never dreams
of. Some of these were aired yesterday af-
ternoon to representative of this paper by
very intelligent deputation from that
class of the Traction Company's men
known as ''extras."
If any man is fired with ambition to be-
come a motorman or conductor, he should
ponder on the woes of an ''extran to which
category he must first belong before he can
be known as regular"
Supposing he wishes to run a car, he goes
first to some one of sufficient Importance,
whose letter to the company's superintendent
will receive attention. Having procured the
letter he presents it to Supt. Sayers who, if
he engages him, instructs him to get his uni
form. The candidate buys his uniform and
that outfit costs exactly $33 so. Arrayed in
these gorgeous habiliments he presents him
self at the offices ON Montgomery street and
is at once put on the ''extra" list. On that
list he is liable to stay for months and never
once be put on a car.
There are, it is alleged, cases where a man
bought his uniform and was put on this list
in December last, and has been patiently
waiting every morning for a chance to get
onto car ever since. Others have made
four trips, or sixty cents, Ia two weeks
while one poor fellow received last week his
final salary, consisting of the magnificent
sum of four dimes, from the company after
being on the list for three months.
THE CoMPANY's PLAN.
The absurdity and injustice OF such an ar
rangement lies in this:-The men, it is al
legged, are not placed on equal footing. If a
regular is late in the morning and not on
hand when his car is scheduled to leave, the
first name on the extra list is called, and
that man is put on the car; but the next
morning the regular" being on time, is put
back on his car, and the extra" goes back
to his first place. Supposing, as was the
case yesterday, that there are forty-three
names on that list, how long VIII it be before
the forty third man gets an opportunity to
make days pay While he has laid out
nearly twenty-four dollars on his uniform,
he is liable to be dismissed instantly without
hope of having chance to reimburse HIM
self for the expenditure.
THE MEMS PROPOSAL.
Now the extras say that if the company
would adopt this plan with the 'trippers, it
would De 1alr all round.
When a man is late for his car he should
be placed at the bottom of the waiting list,
and thus allow others to rise to the top He
| would then have to work his way to the top
like the others. This proposal naturally,
excites the indignation of the regulars and
the ridicule of the company's officials.
Another complaint made by the extra"
is that the company has provided no place
for him to stand. He must be on the line
at the Montgomery street car, stables on the
police drive him away and he is thus placed
between the devil and the deep sea. If he
doesn't stand at the door he may lose an OPP
portunity to secure car. If he does stano
there, the police are liable to run him in.
Indeed, yesterday the intelligent police of
the Seventh precinct arrested two of the
extras for doing that thing.
NO TINE TO STOP FOR PASSENGERS
Lastly, the 'Sextra" complains that after
all the trouble, after all the long wait, when
he does attain the height of his ambition and
turns wheel" or Jerks a rope" he Is
allowed such a short time wherein to make
his trip that he cannot possibly stop TO take
up passengers at every block or unload
them because he would be behind and then
be liable to dismissal. The extra" does not
explain how he is worse off then the ''regu-
lar' in this respect. This state of things,
the extra" points out, accounts for motor
gliding by a group of people standing on
street corner, waiting to board the car. If
the motorman stopped to take them up
he would be late on his trip, and he knows
the direful results-dismisSal. And what be-
comes of the money spent on a uniform, to
him now useless?