The herald., 1896-08-28
THE MEN WHO READ SLIPS
And Give Information to Parties
Interested
ALWAYS ON THE LOOKOUT
And Ever Ready to Act When the
Time Comes
A Strange Calling by Which nsny Ten Live
BY Mlsfortunes Which Happen
to Others
ALWAYS ON THE LOOKOUT

@
Not day passes but that many policemen
assist certain professions in a business
way, although they do tho work involun-
tarily and in the direct line of their duty.
At the central Office of police In Mulber.
~ street, down in the basement, in that
part Of the building where the click of tel
egraph instruments is the only sound to
be heard day and night, there is u curious
little oul dc sac hallway. 1t is such an out
OF the way place that person might go
through the big building any number Of
times without coming upon it, There is
not much to see, even when you do find it,
but there Is no department in the building
which forms the starting place for more
activity than this little spot. 1t is scarcely
more than 3 feet wide, inclosed on two
aides by dirty walls and ON tho third
by a partition, half of which is of glass.
Beyond this partition there are two wires,
strung close to the glass, and on these
wires, SO that they can be seen from the
hallway, are always pinned "a number of
slips Of paper. 1t is these slips of paper
that bring people to tho dingy hallway and
that have made the place familiar to thou
sands these many years.
When sightseer goes through police
headquarters, if he is taken into the tcls-
graph room, his guide may casually point
to these bits Of paper. If he does he will
merely say:
"And those are the Slips
"Slips?" the visitor repeats. And the
guide will go on: Eyes; when anything
happens throughout the city and police
man makes report to his station, it Is
telegraphed at once to headquarters and
slip OF the occurrence is posted there in
the window" Ten chances to one the
visitor never asks anything more about
the slips. He listens while his guide tells
him that there are seven telegraph oper-
ators constantly on duty, that at least
1000 messages q day are received and sent
to and from the various precinct stations,
but tho slip box' doesn't seem to him to
play an important part in these matters.
And yet 1t does, for there are half IL hum
drcd people who make a living by merely
reading these slips and telling other peo-
pie what are on them.
When tho visitor enters the headquarters
building, he will notice number Of
young men standing near at hand. They
are always about somewhere and never ap-
pear TO have much to do. They are the
slip readers. First are those who look out
only for slips having reference to fires
part of the city a slip is hung on one of
the slip box wires, telling tho number of
the box from which the alarm has been
sent Shortly after that another slip tells
the location of the fire and the amount of
damage done. The slip readers employed
by various fire insurance companies Of tho
smaller sort, by fire adj justers and by compa-
nics that insure furniture are on the alert
in u moment. They take a copy of the
slips and In few minutes are out of the
little hallway telephoning the matter to
their employers. The information they
convey Immediately starts a dozen men on
a run for tho scene of the fire They go
to look after damaged property or secure a
right to adjust tho losses If the place
which has been burned was not insured,
there are other men who are soliciting in
surance, while the house is yet burning,
against its ever burning again.
There are other slip readers who pay no
attention to fire reports; but let the slip
of an accident be posted, and they are
right on hand. When q man falls and
breaks his leg OF is struck by cable car
or wagon and injured slightly, some
people might be foolish enough to think
that was the end of him for some time.
Not q bit Of it. The slip readers are after
injured men in minute. There are GER
tains lawyers whose agents are always
near the slip box waiting to notify the
lawyer the moment there is an accident
case, so that some one may be sent forth
with to the injured man to tell him he is
entitled to heavy damages for the injury
done TO him. Even if he only falls on the
sidewalk he is told that some one should
pay him damages. Then there ore the
oil
agent at once notifies them from the slips
that another man has fallen and should be
seen SO as to offer him the opportunity Of
receiving insurance money in case he
should fall again
The time was, and not very long ago,
when the slip readers took copies Of the
slips and reported them once or twice a
week. But that time is gone; the age is
entirely too progressive for such methods,
and now the contents of the slips must be
telephoned within few minutes ofSbeing
posted in order that business may be
transacted without delay.
There is another class of slip readers for
all sudden deaths. People who die in
their Offices or in the street, people who are
killed or die IN any manner that makes it
the duty Of the police to report, are all
looked after. In such cases it is the duty
OF the readers for undertakers to watch
the slips and notify their employers.
People who sell household goods on the
installment plan have the slips watched for
them carefully. This is where the fire slip
readers como in again. People who arc
burned out must buy more furniture, and
the installment man, notified by the slip
reader, is on hand with his pictured cata.
logue and any family can be burned out
In the morning and have an entirely new
outfit in the afternoon without the slight.
est trouble.
Besides these there are dozen othe1
businesses that employ the readers and The
market of readers is beginning to be over.
crowded Some of the readers make &
good living, working for dozen or more
people at the same time and getting on an
average of SO week from each. They are
energetic workers. and are always on the
lookout for new customers for their slips.
New York Recorder.
A Pie Hint.
The great annoyance Of people who are
baking fruit pies comes from the loss of