Evening star., 1896-01-11
TRAINED M0FORMEN
CT II.
Brains and Character Required to
Operate Electric Cars.
TEST OF THE SYSTEM OF PRIZES
Street Car Positionso More Re.
sponsibIe Than in Former Years.
TRIALS OF A GER
TRIALS OF A MANAGER

instruct the employees as to the operation
Of the air brake and its uses.
A car of similar character, but having
all the appliances of an electric street car
would be good thing for the instruction
Of the men employed on street railroads.
The electric road being built between
Washington and Baltimore will be COM
pleted by next summer, and motormen on
that road will have to be far above the or
binary type of motormen If a safe and
quick service Is to be inaugurated.
This question of educating the motormen
has become quite formidable one to SUBJ
urban and city railway managers as the
travel correspondingly increases with the
new lines constructed. During the recent
six days session Of the American Street
Railway Association, held in Montreal,
Canada, an entire day was given up to the
discussion of the proper education of mo-
tormen, and consensus of opinion of
those present was that it pays to employ
men of brains.
Locomotive engineers can be likened to
motormen in many respects, but many
weary years are spent by firemen grasping
every detail and developing character be-
fore they are allowed to control an engine
or given in charge the lives of passengers.
Then again their wages are about triple.
Statistics have shown that in railroad acci-
dents, the blame for which had been placed
on the engineers, nine-tenthS were of Or
binary education, and that the brighter
men seldom made mistakes. Courage is
very essential both in engineers and motor
men, but coupled with brains great de-
gree of common sense is. developed that
makes the posseSsors of the same extreme
ly valuable to the corporations that en-
ploy them.
Results of Education.
In Brooklyn during the first year of the
adoption of electricity on street railways
people were killsl like sheep not to speak
extravagantly both by being run down
by cars and in collisions at crossings. The
city became the butt of silly jokes from
all over the country, and game called
trolley whist" in which the killing of
man, woman or child. counted for so much,
was said to have originated in that city by
the motormen. The conditions are now
changed for the better. The companies
took the motormen in hand. educated them
in the details of electricity prizes for good
service were offered, AMI now Brooklyn'S
record is among the first class as to eff
cheney and safety. Philadelphia has taken
Ter place in the mattor of killing and
manning people, the record for last year in
the Quaker city being appalling, over hun
dred persons being Cru5iei to death under
the wheels.
Sometimes l am go vexei at the actions
of some of my men that 1 think they o'.ght
to be dubbed " remarked a manager of one
of the city roads to Star reporter
Gently. 1T is strange that men possess
ing fair degree Of Intelligence should fail
to exercise their Judgment when it is
qu!Ted. If trouble arises and two are con-
cerned they will surely disagree, and both
insist in doing the opposite, and both will be
in the wrong. This is especially in cases of
break downs or blockades. OF course they
notify the office if anything serious hap
pens, but they ought to do something in the
meantime.
When asked afterward why this or that
procedure was not carried into execution
the answer invariably is that it was not
thought of at the time. This is what pro-
vokeS me. Such excuses are poor ones. !
am rather ihelined to the belief that just
such answers would not come from educate
men or from men that are paid better saIa-
ries. system made up Of rewards either
OF money or better runs, would, no doubt
stimulate the men. They mean we'll enough
and perhaps with rewards awaiting them
they would not be so forgetful in time of
trouble.
The Prize System.
Some Of the street railway managers of
the United States are going to try the plan
of giving prizes to motormen and con-
ductors who make faultless records in a
given period. A Brooklyn company has set
apart $4,000 for this purpose and as one
result news of street railroad disasters
has not come from Brooklyn for the past
six months. The prize system has been in
operation in Montreal for years, and l be-
ileve the managers grasped the full mean
ing Oh the system at our last meeting up
there during the past summer Every three
months there is distribution. Two motor
men and two conductors who have eX-
celled for that period receive S25 each. This
little sum comes in mighty handy when
one or the men wants new suit of clothes
or the wife and children at home need
dresses.
ut has been found that the Montreal
plan works exceedingly well. 1t inspires
considerable rivalry among the employees
to make records. Not infrequently there
are several who have scored clean record
for three months. When that happens, the
badges of the men entitled to prizes are
put in a hat. Two are drawn out and the
conductor motorman to whom the
badges belong receive the money.
THE Brooklyn plan of prizes is more
elaborate and may prove more successful
than the Montreal idea. distribution of
the entire $4,000 will be made after May
next. All conductors and motormen who
are now in the company's service and re-
main with clean records will share 1t. To
make clean record an employe must have
had no accident causing either injury or
damage to other persons or property, or to
the company's property, and must not have
been suspended for violation of the COM
pany's rules. Among all. who show such
records the $1,000 will be, divided pro rata
From the returns of damage suits in that
city this $4,000 will bear interest at the
rate of about 100 per cent, and can well be
offered by the company. h
They Disregard Orders.
''It is one of the hardest things in the
world to get the motormen to do what you
want them to. I want the doors Of the
cars kept closed in cold weather, and want
the car ventilated to some extent. Many of
the men are first-class, and attend to these
details, but many DON'T and we have
hard time wedding them out 1 do not
want any coasting down hills, yet 1T is
done every day. There are other orders in
existence which they are expected to obey,
but I am sorry to say, many of them are
disregarded. To do the right thing at the
right time requires a constant strain.
which, added to the legitimate duties of
the motornlen and gripmen, it can be in
ferred that they must possess fair num-
her of virtues if they are TO call forth
praise from their superiors.
"Then, again, take the question of fen
ders. One or two things must be done to
prevent the too rapid destruction Of these
safeguards. We must either reward the
n'otormen or gripmen who keep their fen
ders intact, or charge up to them the cost
of the repairs. The motormen, as a rule,
have considerable patience, but they are
tried terribly sometimes, and I can hardly