The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-09-10
THE MOTORMAN.
He Must Know Something Besides
the Bell Dance.
Man at the Motor Must Learn Scores Of
Things and Remember Them.

sideration. The conductor has been en-
ployed solely on account OF h.s good
looks, his familiarity with tho names OF
tho streets and the other lines to which
you may want a transfer slip.
The motorman has come to his con-
troller through trials and training. There
was time when the motorman was sup
posed TO get his job through Q political
pull. But II ne is on the lines OF the
Brooklyn Heights Company you may
know that politics had nothing to do
with the case. That is what the company
SAYS. The motorman says the same.
When one reads of the number OF acci-
dents that occur on the Brooklyn troll
ley lines, and knows the schooling
which the motorman must have before
he is permitted to run rar, one shud-
ders at the thought of Whist might have
happened If no instruction had been
required.
The present management OF the
Brooklyn Heights Trolley Company Is
trying to reduce the number OF trolley
accidents. 1t has system OF instruction
which is rigid. Whether the company
expects to establish an institute devoted
to the science of electricity as it shall
az ply to rapid transit is not known, but
Ii already has curriculum.
An applicant for place as motorman
on this line answers enough questions
in the beginning TO secure a life insur-
ance policy, the presumption being that
he answers them satisfactorily. IL he Is
shorter than five feet eight his examina-
ton stops. IL he weighs less than 100
pounds his ambition TO run car
is cut down in It's first bloom. IL
he has swivel eye. astigmatism,
blinker, or q squint, he retires from the
examination. He must know as much
about shades as the young man who sells
ribbons 1t is not necessary that he
should explain why certain colors are,
and he need not know anything about
how certain lights are produced under
certain conditions. But he must under
go the same examination as II he were
purchasing spectacles.
There must he no premonitions of
heart disease. Fancy the comrotion in
a crowded trolley car II 1t were known
that the man at the controller was liable
sruction of his heart. The color of his
hair is OF no consequence. II be have no
hair at all he may pass. When he has
satisfied the medical examiner on these
| ana other questions he must satisfy the
company that he is honest, sober and at
tentive. He must tell who are his inti-
mate friends, and Of course, whether he
is married. The question OF divorce is
| not cor sidered.
Having run the first gauntlet, the ap-
| plicant IL sent to the shops of the com
pany, where everything necessary to make
trolley system complete is under the
supervision OF man who is master Of
the trolley business. The instructor
shows the applicant the plant In detail,
the name of every accessory, and how
everything operates separately or with
something else. This requires from two
10 three days. Then the applicant goes
into retreat and thinks over what he has
heard. Ii he is still of the opinion that
he wants the job he goes back to the
the same ground and asks him as many
| questions as there are in the shorter
catechism. The applicant may not recall
his first instructions. He may not know
how to reverse a car; he may not know
what to do IL the trolley pole should jump
the wire; nor how to shut off the run
| ming power; nor what to do IL the power
should leave the line; nor how to get the
car out OF the barn; nor whethe he
should shut off the power In rounding a
curve. lie may even have forgotten the
name of the controller.
| Chief Engineer Whittlesey ssys that 1t
is not always the smart man who makes
the best motorman. He rather distrus;s
the applicant who knows Ii ali on his
first lesson. There is always something
TO learn in this, as in anything. So the
apparently stupid applicant gets another
lesson, and still others, unless he should
show conclusively that ne can learn moth
| ing. But when he has satisfied the in
structor that he knows little the ap-
| plicsnt is put on the car In company with
an old hand. lie Is schooed 10 all of
| the eccentricities Characteristic of a
trolley car. IL lie has horse sense ind
nerve he is commended. He Is kept out
under this sort Of instruction for a month
or longer. Then the superintendent of
the shops gives him a certificate. He
takes it to Superintendept Harmon, and
he puts the mans pawe on the list. The
man gets on ns an extra, and eventually
IL may be months, there Is a vacancy,
and the pupil gets the job. il is not al
ways the new man who builds mp the
lists OF accidents on he line. The first
few months he is cautious. 1t is more
likely that he will run down a human
| life or smash wagon or break a wheel
after he thinks he knows II all.
while he is waiting for an extra trip or
for regular job he Is assigned to some
one OF the statiors. There he finds
comfortable quarters, where he can i'm
prove himself in many ways. II no
| 1919 a.. ~ - utoti1, .t