The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-06-30
TRIALS OF A M0TORMAN.
TIE CONSTANT WEAR AND TEAR
ON HIS NERVES.
Soma OF His Experience With Careless
People. Thick loaded Draymen, aud
Logs and Cats-No Timc to Eat

io<e and CASINO ifuc to Eat
II there is one man in all the world
whose nerves and patience are conunu-
ally put TO a supreme test, that man Is
the mot0rman on trolley car. You see
him merrily rolling along with care
less Kind CT smile as though nothing ever
appealed 10 the mans judgment or pres
eIce OF mind You see him again, when
his car, with forty passengers, Is pitching
down illls at a rapid rate. ana a lazy
drayman refuses to pay attention 10 ms
quick, Jerky gong. 1t Is often question
OF a moments decision; there Is no time
20 wait; the mOtOrmans nerves are at
the top notch: he grits his teeth. hurts
the break on at lightning speed. ana re-
verses his current. Even then, Wneh
every available caution has been prompt
ly taken. the thick-headed drayman
makes no effort Whatever to get out OF
the way, and fingers on the track until
the car has crashed into the vehicle anu
smashed a wheel. Then the poor motor
man, all out Of breath, relaxes into
kind OF helpless state, and thinks
thoughts unfit for publication. His car
is delayed twenty minutes, ne mas 70
make a report at headquarters. and some
times has 10 forfeit his job. Then 1t ID
that you don't envy the motorman.
HARD on HIS NERVES.
The heaviest wear and tear on the mo-
torman's life falls not on his biceps, Dut
on his nervous system. lie has hundreds
OF trials OF the most aggravating nature
a result Of carelessness, or malicious
ness and pure "cussedness,' on the
part Of the public. The long hours he
stands at his post, the snow, or hail, or
rain, are not the hardest trials he has 70
bear. Sometimes his car slips; frequently
a wire burrs out; often the trolley leaves
the wire 10 delay his car. but none Of
these fiji his life with woe as DO the NJ
tie irsitating things which could be avoid
ed If humanity was a little more thought
full.
He starts out fresh and vigorous in the
morning from the West End or the East
End, as the case may be, whstiing Il
merry snatch from a topical song.
Bang goes his trolley, ana then ne mas
to swing his break around In moment
and shut off the current. He stops whist
ling, and thinks a thought all 70 himseH.
TRIM THE woMTN.
That little aggravation Is repeated a
dozen times or so within an hour, anu
later in the day the female shoppers 90
out in full force. Down the street goes
the car. and at Tenth ana Main sld afse7
a woman viii appear on the scene, aller
the car has reached the pOst-Olhce.
Wait Waltz" she cries. waving her
parasol frantically, and the motormah
throws on the breaks and brings the car
10 a stand-sul The woman gets aboard.
Just as the vehicle has started. femi-
nine correspondent rushes out OF lhe
pOst-Ofiico. and screams for the motor
man to stop. While he Is waiting the Mo-
man runs back TO post letter ana thci
reappears fair and flushed like circus
rider. She drops a bundle. and II comes
united After she has picked up her DUN
die and reached the car. the motor
man gets little blue I'm the face, some
of the passengers sympathlze WIN nm.
Then the woman sees that the car mas
been stopped. and she takes her time,
and walks slowly 10 the rear OF the car;
DO you 90 up seventeenth street, she
inquiries. 1.,... -..oo. ,,ro D,
saws the conductor
Dear me. and ! ran all that distance
too" she muimurs. and the mOtorman
filings on his current and moves MS Ups
I'm manner that shows he Is not a pro-
Tossing Christian.
THOSE COAL CARTS.
About the time the mctOrman gets his
temper smoothed down some passenger
on the front platform treads heavily upon
his corn, and the beg pardon doesn
helm the cause a bit from a ph%slcdl
standpoint. On rolls the car Tor Two OF
three blocks. At Eighteenth and Main a
coal wagon is backed up against the
pavement, and the forelegs of the mules
are on the track. The wagon is unload
ing and the mOtOrman stamps MS SOuS
Violently. Dong, dong. dong!! goes the
bell, resOunding for couple OF biOchs
around but the driver pays no attention
whatever. II Is repeated. prolonged ana
accompanied by an oral message, when
is likely to make the mOtOrman unp0PU-
lar with the driver. Finally, when the
coal has been Unloaded, the driver pnilS
his team along slowly off the track. The
back wheels slide along the rail for seye-
raj feet and the car resumes lis trip.
Two other cars have come up, ana there
is a little blockade. Each motOrman re-
hot In f..a4H a I-
not a Sunday-schOol teacher and the
driver casts back a kind Of conscious look
of superiority, and the other cars move
on.
ANAHRow SHAVE.
Twenty minutes late" says the con-
ductOr The controller is swung TO the
fun and the ear leaps ahead. The cir
cult has been almost completed, and the
car approaches the jefferson Hotel sud
denly there dashes across the track two
boys playing tag or chasing ball.
The brake WhiZzes around with Whlr-
ring sound. The motorman gets blue IN
the face. The car stops with lunge
that throws people together and the boys
barely escape with their lives. For the
next few minutes the Recording Angel IS
kept busy.
After narrowly grazing the wheels Of
several wagons. the car is stopped al the
corner of Belvidere and Main by a pass
ing freight train. That is only passing
trouble. When IL reaches the car-shcds,
the mOtorman has to report that he Is
twenty-five minutes behind schedule time.
DOGS AND CATS.
At night the poor motOrman has TO be
more watchful than ever At the corner
of Seventh and Main. at Ninth and Main,
Fourteenth and Main, the Old Market ana
half a dozen places along the Maln-strect
line: at Seventh and Broad, Ninth ana
Bank Scvcteen1h and Franklin. and sew
oil. Il.t FREQ al
at may points on the Manchester and
North-side lines. his eagle eye has 10 be
wide open. Crowds OF people continually
crossing the tracks, children. nurses,
news-boys and all have 10 be kept IN
mind. and dogs and cats have a way OF
creating great annoyance. The average
dog takes great delight in lying down on
the car-tracks He sometimes goes 10
sleep. and the poor m0torman has 70
wake him up. Bang" goes the express
siVe bell and the terrOr-stricken dog or
cat crouches down and looks up into the
eyes of the motorman Ia a pleading way.
The tender-hearted mCtOrman often stops
the car. gets down and tries 20 shoe the
quadruped OF the track. The animal
sometimes runs. awed by the glare or
the light. keeping just ahead OF the car
all the while This Is kept up for a
block until the trolleyman grits his teeth
and declares he Will run over the beast;
Then the animal gets on the track ana
hides behind a tree.
Thousands of other trials and tribula-
tons force themselves upon the POOR mo-
torman. He joys along through them all
somehow, hooking toward a rest at the
end Of his day. The mCtOrman's lot Is
not an easy one. He has no practical ac-
quaintance with nOwery beds OF ease.
No TIME TO FAT.
The motorman is just like the horse
who was thought 10 live without eating
He can be taught: but about the time he
graduates lac shuffies OFF the mortal coil
Ho Is oiven M snecial time to eat and