Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1894-06-27
THE STREET CAR CON.
HE MUST BE EXCEPTIONALLY GIFTED
AND WELL TRAINED.


Patience, Politeness and Readiness Re.
quired In the Position.
The common notion that the army OF
men employed by the street railway
companies of this town average low in
education, intelligence and skill is hard
ly true. The man who holds his place
for several years as street car conduct
or must be much above the broad aver
age in all those things, and what is
true of conductors is true in greater or
less degree of other classes of street rail-
way employees.
It is not easy to pick from 1000 men
so who have the faculty of detail sufi-
ciently developed to make them good
conductors. The permanent body Of
conductors is picked corps of men
that has been sifted out by long proc.
ess. The labor unions have been able
to enforce some of their demands as tc
pay, hours and some minor regulations,
but they have not been able to prevent
the discharge Of conductors for seeming
ly slight offenses-when the offense
was not a pretext for reaching man
who had made himself too active as a
member of the union
No conductor, therefore, can long re-
tain his place unless he have the mem
ory and the will to observe a host of
petty regulations. The man who cannot
accept the discipline of such regulations
must make some mistake and bring
about his own dismissal Only men
who are prompt, sober, patient and po-
lite can hold places as conductors A
man of violent temper, of ill controlled
nerves, of easily confused head, is sure
to have short career.
1t thus happens that one almost never
sees conductor drunk ON duty; that
the great mass of conductors keep their
wits about them when the cars are
crowded; that conductors are rarely i'm
polite to passengers. Men taken at ram
dom even from the learned professions
could hardly be expected to discharge
the duties Of a conductor with success.
The men show the effects of their disci-
pline III a hundred ways, and it would
not be difficult for an observant person to
pitch upon newly appointed conductors.
There is for the faithful conductor
the prospect of more OF less distant pro-
motion. The peculiar qualities of the
men are quickly brought out by the
stress of the trade, and when conduct
or has been thoroughly proved there is
a chance for him when vacancy occurs
in the grade Immediately above his own
Education and natural intelligence
count much in the matter Of promotion
Any man who will take the trouble to
have word with the conductor now
and then will soon discover that con-
ductors, as class, are above the aver
age in education. Their speech is not
elegant, but it is usually free from the
blunders Of the densely ignorant.
Men Of more than average intelh-
gence and education are willing to be
street car conductors, partly because the
work is more agreeable than that of
many manual laborers of about the same
pay, partly because an efficient and
faithful man is sure of his place, and
promotion. The permanance of the place
is perhaps its chief attraction. Street
railways never shut down even in the
dullest times
The force is reduced at certain sea-
sons of the year, and small percentage
Of the cars are taken off, but the major
ity of the conductors are needed the
year round, and when dismissals take
place the inefficient and inexperienced
men are the ones to 60 The companies
like to keep track of promising men,
for there always comes a time when
the force must be increased, and the
companies prefer men they know.
The situation of drivers, hostlers and
the like is not so fortunate as that Of
conductors, because these classes Of
workmen are on the average less inteli-
gent and educated than the conductors.
Then, too, these times, when motive
power is changing, are hard for men who
know horses only. The driver who can
not develop into gripman or trolley
man is in ticklish position.
AS to the men above the grade of con-
ductors, they are Of many sorts, but most
Of them are undergoing the discipline
Of hard work under the watchful eyes
of their superiors. Pay is not high, but
places are reasonably secure. The man
who has risen from the grade of con-
ductor to an executive post must have
acquired an unusual faculty of detail,
promptitude, alertness and decision. In
all these matters the street railway COM
panies are schools where the practical
lessons of life are taught by daily itera-
ion.
The result is that each company has
trained army of men, whence the idle,
incompetent and negligent have been
weeded out, in order that the company's
work may be done with precision and
dispatch. No two companies require ex-
aetly the same sort of men for those
places that bring them in contact with
the public, and the character of con-
ductors especially is noticeably diferen-
tiated on various lines. New York Sun.