The morning call., 1894-05-27
HALCYON DAYS FOREVER GONE.

! are still drawing princely sums. The pub
! lie includes in this list of fortunate mOrtals
the smiling hotel clerk, the debonair rail-
road man, that happy-Ro-lucky chap. the
insurance man, and also the young men
| who handle the coin in the financial insti-
! buttons.
| The public is wrong. Not one of these
| heretofore favored mortals has escaped the
eagle eye OF the man who cuts down sala-
ries. No longer are they members of band
specially favored of mOrtals. They have
! Joined the great majority which laDors
hard and gets very little for it.
ln the old palace OF the Stuarts in
Whitehall there is 4 communicating, I'M
obtrusive window in the far corner 1t
! bears no interest for the ordinary traveller,
and would hardly be noticed except for the
fact that il is very small compared with
tile others. Yet that window should be
the most interesting piece Of handiwoGk in
all English architecture. 1t marks period.
! From It Charles / stepped out on 10 a
scaffold and lost his head and the doctrine
OF the divine right Of Kings was forthwith
relegated. There Is no window in san
francisco Of any such Importance. There
Is probably nothing else here ID an archi-
tectural way to call the attention of
future generations TO & hardly less telling
blow at an accepted right. The AK of the
capitalist has fallen, however and the
nearly divine rights of hote clerks have
been wiped away at one Tell swoop. The
| hotel clerk is the only monument left of
the tragedy. and he has lost much of that
savolr falre which was won't 10 distinguish
him among mOTtRls.
Once upon a time the comic weekles
were prone to represent this high dignI-
taTy rOty-cheeket and pOrtlv grasping the
| horny hand of Farmer WaybAck, while
the rays OF fire from gorgeous solitaire
cast dazzling refulgence over the mise
en- scene. In those halcyon days, and they
were not so very long ago. either, the no.
tel clerk was really good thing, and he
viewed life through roSe-cOlOred glasses.
lie drew big salary and spent 1t like
prince. lie was popular idol. He is
shattered now and must take his place as
other laDorers Ia the vineyard and answer
long strings of lOathsome questions to the
representatives of labor bureaus.
Within the year the salaries of hotel
clerks nave been cut deeply. Where for
merry many were getting away over $3.50
rer month and all the house could afford
the great majority are now getting less
! than $50 This in hostelries, too, rated as
/ first class. Many more are getting great
/ deal less.
/ The lot CT those composing the clerical
! forces in railroad Offices is even harder
! still. In MANY instances they are receiv-
| ing only twO-thirds of the salary and doing
| twice the work cut out for them II year
ago. over at Fourth and Townsend, in
/ he SOemn-lOOkiDg building of the
Southern Pacific Railroad Company, at
this time year ago clerks were as thick
as summer flies. Now many desk is va
cant and those who remain fit through the
halls after the manner OF lost sous. They
saw wood and say nothing. not knowing
when the edict may again go forth to de-
climate their ranks.
There was time when a position in a
railroad office was worth something The
hours were good, the duties were fairly
/ light and salaries were quite generous.
Industry and sOOriety, coupled with abIl-'
] lty TO perform the duties assigned were
/ guarantees once position was obtained
/ OF lis certain tenure. 10 less than one
! short year what a change has come. The
volume of business has not materially
! diminished, yet the reduced force Is hand
! ling 1t and on reduced salaries. The rail
/ road company is probably not greatly af-
/ fected by tue financial strlugency. but
! that does not prevent il from taking il as
| a cue 10 cut down expenses and the clerk
| Is one OF the unfOrtunates vi no suffers.
There is more $40 month salaries than
! one would dream. and ii is only the en-
! ploye holding very responsible position.
! aud one who has had long experience
! with the company who is getting $50 a
! month. By taking these figures, the gem
eral public will find, on comparison with
those it had in its mind, that the life of a
railroad clerk is not all the milk and honey
they were willing TO concedo
! And, thusly, another popular idol i,
shattered; another general delusion dis
! PEELED.
! To be a good accountant was, at one
| time, thought to be a height from which
a man could engineer his pull on the good
/ things of earth with the greatest facility.
! nInr
more than SlOO per month up to over $500
/ were said to be common, and the man
! commanding them had plenty of leisure to
! be a good fellow.
! The expert accountants salary has
| formed into line for the guilotine and
/ made the cutting acquaintance of NJ de
! Paris. The trunk has fallen back with n
! tbud as the once magnificent head rolled in
/ the sawdust. only to be grasped again by
! the CORY locks and held up, a ahastly
spectacle 10 Mortified public. This head
less trunk OF salary is what the expert
accountant and bookkeeper is getting now,
| and following out in the line of a public
| axiom, ''the moro you do the less Won get
! for IT,, the accountant Is a strong ex-
/ ample
Bookkeepers. of a kind, are turned out
with machlne-like rapidly, and cOmpeti.
ton, as much as the financial furry has
! caused the present reduction in salary.
!
bookkeeDrrs holding positions which do
not pay more than $40 per month. They
are graded from this low-water mark by
stages OF five, in ordinary mercantile lines.
TO 500 per month. There are instan cos.
however, where they so as high as Sl5O.
| lnese are rare, and those commanding
| such salaries are the pOssessOrs of know
edge N lines OF business requiring tech
meal detail. IL is safe To say from all the
ngures gathered that no accountant be his
duties what they may, commands at tho
| present time in San Francisco a salary of
| 5000 month
1t Is hard to arrive at conclusions re-
gafdlng the stipend received by bank en-
! ployes. The air of secrecy invariably
| maintained about monetary affairs seems
TO thicken wonderfully when one comes to
| the question of salaries. The public TAX
| Ing IL Tor granted that a man who circu-
lated on the inside of the ratings, where
gold was thickest was, naturally, paid
| wei, certain amount Of glamour has at
t4ched to the personality of the employe,
| OF banks. There Is n romance in the ciinlk
OF golden con, and the bank clerk was the
hero OF most of it, He did nearly rise IN
| 10 public expectation once, but he hasn't
| TOT long time now. The financial strin-
gency was first felt in banking circles. anu
| me Immediate consequences were first
lelt By the employees salaries, and num-
oers were cut, and now the brIph,
| young men who hand out the coin aud
Keep records OF dts fluctuations are work
| ing Tor prosy salaries enough, Thirty nor
cent slashes at salaries in many instances
are known to have been made. All of