The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-06-13
MUST BE A DIPLOMAT.
NO OTHER KIND OF MAN CAN BE A
SLEEPING CAR CONDUCTOR.

Watches of His Nighe-Rigid EXAMINING
ton of Applicants For tho Position,
No man who is not born diplomat
need apply for a position as o sleeping
car conductor. 1t will be time lost for
him He may have all the other quail
ties that would make him a success mt
anything else, but unless he has that
! peculiar and indofinable ability to get
along we'll with all sorts and conditions
Of men, which Is called diplomacy for
want of better term, he had better
keep off the sleeping cars and take up
something easier, such as law, medicine
or the ministry.
Few Of the thousands who nightly
sleep at tho rate of 40 miles an hour or
Whereabouts realize how we'll tho man
who has charge of the car in which they
sleep looks after their comfort directly
and indirectly. They think it Is all the
work of the porter, whom they reward
accordingly with tips The conductor
doesn't get many tips He has the 10.
sponsibility, which is u poor substitute,
and he has his wages, which are good
wages, to DO sure, but he earns all that
no gets If he thinks he doesn't get
enough, there are hundreds of others
ready and eager to take his place
During this year." says an official
OF the Wagner Car company, 1--WE havo
had. should say, close to IL thousand
rejected applicants for every one accept
ed. The tests, though not ironbound MS
to form, are pretty rigid In the first
place, tho candidate must have letters of
recommendation If these arc saisfacto-
~, he makes out an application blank
which gives us some idea of his educa-
tional limitations. This being satisfac-
tory, he is talked to by somo one of the
officers and told to return in day or
two, when he has another consultation
with other officials who put to him such
questions ms they desire.
III this way WE get some inkling of
|. the mans neutrality-suspicious. he is
of good appearance, Intelligent, polite,
easy i'll manner and of good address
These are very important matters, and
many candidates otherwise qualified
fail here The successful candidate goes
Cu the waiting list, and when his turn
comes he IL sent out under the care of
some old conductor to learn the ropes
First, last and all the time he is in
structod 10 he courteous to his passengers
and attentive 20 their wants Often
man fails, for some unforeseen cause, to
become good conductor after he has
been tried Really first class men are
hard to get, but we keep on trying can
dldatos' until we find tho right one On
entering our employ the man is required
to furnish bonds for $500. Our men are
usually bonded by II security company
They get from $40 to 500 ~ month
wages and from this buy their own uni
forms. "
Having socurl bonds, a. uniform and
experience, tho candidate becomes full
nelgcd conductor. Hero his troubles be-
GIN. His duties arc many, but he soon
gets used to those. He must in the first
place look after tho sleeping car tickets
and at night must take the train tickets
aS well, handing them over 10 the train
conductor i'll the morning. Then he must
look after the car i'll general, keep III
eye on the porters, apportion the bcrths
properly, nOwiSc easy matter some
times and see that the temperature and
atmosphere of the cars are all right.
He must be up and moving at every
station where passengers are likely to
board the train, answer any number of
questions, be prepared to take charge of
matters i'll case of breakdown or other
accident, furnishing full report later
10 the company, sec that the passengers
are all informed of the whereabouts of
the dining car i'll the morning wake
them up in time, act as arbitrator i'll
cases of difficulty between passenger and
passenger or between passenger and por
ter and do IL thousand other little things
that cause wear and tear on his brain
But these are not the matters that
bother him. 1t is the personal ,ccen-
trlclties Of the passengers themselves
which turn the conductors hair gray
Some one once said that to know Il man
as he really is you must travel with
him. a conductor will tell you that to
know man as he really oughtn't to be
you must travel with him i'll sleeping
car. III general, those who travel by
night may be divided into three classes:
First-Thosc who sleep themselves
and let other people sleep
Second-Thosc who sleep themselves,
and keep other people awake
Third-Thosc who don't sleep them
selves and won't let anybody clso sleep
1t might be supposed that there is one
other ciass-viz, those who lie awake
themselves and let other people sleep
but these specimens are SO rare as not to
form u class. They arc abnormal like
white crows or two headed calves A
Wagner conductor, who has grown gray
i'll the service, says that he never knew
but one Of this kind, and he was an in
sano prisoner i'll charge of two officers.