Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-01-08
THE STREET CAR. spoTTER.
&c Keeps Tab ON the Conductor by Means
of Pocket Register.

OF rocket Register.
There are men who habitually stand on
She rear platform of street cars. That is
she spoilers position. Professional spot
tiers never give themselves away" by
counting passengers. The spotter carries
small noiseless register in enc of the
pockets of his overcoat. He is most likely
to appear on car that is to carry u big
load. He takes his place on the rear plat
form and always appears to be the most
unconcerned man on the car. The first
thing he does is to glance at the register in
the front of the car. He makes mental
note of the number of fares that have been
rung up. Every time a passenger gets on
he presses the button of the little register
in his pocket. He never appears to be
watching the persons who are getting in
the car. but he must be careful not to miss
one. He rides on the platform until the
fares of all the persons who have got on
the car since he took his position have
been collected. His last act before getting
off is the mental registration of the num-
her of fares indicated by the register in the
rar IF he has another test to make before
making his report, he will probably stop
under the first electric light, write down
on the blank furnished him the number of
fares registered when he got on the car
and the number registered when he got
off He subtracts one from the other and
has before him the number of fares tbs
conductor should have registered. Then
he locks ut his indicator, and if there Is n
discrepancy between his count and the
count the conductor registered he reports
the fact to the company.
A conductor who is discharged is never
accused of having stolen money from the
company. the charge is improperly
collecting fares 1t is not often that a
conductor is discharged the first time it is
reported to the company that he is lin
properly collecting fares" The test is ap-
piled to him frequently, and if it is found
that he is habitually not ringing up fares
fer al! the persons who take passage on
his car he is dismissed. Conductors be-
lieve that the means employed by spoilers
are unfair They shy that it is often I'M
possible for any man to get all the fares
OH II car; that it is an easy matter to get
oil the fares when Il car is not crowded,
but when so or GO persons board Il car
bound up town it is next to impossible to
collect without an error. Often persons
will get off the car before the conductor
has reached them, and hampered as be IS
by the crowd, they say, be cannot prevent
this Then persons are getting on and
off, exchanging seats and doing other
things that mystify the conductor az he
pushes his way through the crowd in
search of the nickles that are due thecom-
pany.
Persons who travel regularly on the cars
are sometimes surprised that conductors
do not lose their temper oftener They
are not permitted to ''talk back" 10 mat
ter how great the provocation may be,
Recently one of the old conductors On the
Illinois street line lost his temper. The
next day he lost his position. a woman
got on his car at Illinois and Washington
streets. She offered him Il transfer ticket,
which, he said, had expired.
''It cannot be so" said she, "for got
this ticket just few minutes ago"
MADAM, you lie," said the conductor,
who maintained that tie woman had re
ceived The ticket from q representative OF
the company ct another crossing nearly an
hour earlier. One Of the company's de-
tectives overheard the remark of the CON
ductor and reported him. indianapolis
News.