New-York tribune., 1896-05-31

therein all the trunks lot tle ->e"-iOih' ->e"-
Haven and Hartford road are cared for An
other is connected with the waiting-rooms of the
Harlem division. 1t is just round the corner in
Vanderbilt-ave.. and farther up this same avenue
is the baggage-room OF the New-fCrK |eh''a'
and Hudson River Railroad.
conservative estimate as to the volume or
baggage handled in the course of year places
the number OF pieces at 100000 in New-fork
City. At least this is the round estimate OF
quantity handled by the two great baggage
transfer companies Dodd's and Westcotts.
whose delivery system is confined to the cities or
New-York and Brooklyn And OF all the bag
gage that passed over the three lines into the
receiving room at the Grand Central Station
last year not a single piece went astray. IN
fact, while baggagemen have the proVeroiai
reputation OF being cold. heartless wretchea'
with predisposition. nay positive love Tor
wrecking smashing and generally obliterating
trunks it Is all a mistake 1t seems.
THOSE TIME-HONoRED JOKES.
ASS veteran remarked to The Tribune reporter:
THAT tale about the baggage e-smasher and the
fun he has with bothersome trunks is good deal
Of a piece with the many mother-ln-law stories
that float about through the papers. You look at
a baggage porter swinging big lot OF trunks In
a hurry and 1t seems 10 you as II there wouldn't
be anything but few splinters before he got
through but he isn't doing any damage. There
Is a knack about handling baggage just AZ there
is In any other kind OF work. You can't. for IN
stance take a trunk like that'-and he pointed
To an enormous ironbound creation such as are
used by travelling men-"and handle It as II II
was a nursing baby. Why. you wouldn't get 1t
on 10 the baggage-car in a week. And green
horn In the baggage-room would almost break
his back over 1t. Blu veteran porter VIII just
take that trunk by one end and. with n deft
movement he will land II almost anywhere this
side OF kingdom come and let It down as gently
az need be. He will take the same trunk and
throw It on top OF stack Of others in the re-
ceiving -room and II will land in It's place as
smoothly and as nicely as possible. and there
won't be even a scratch on the other trunks about
It to show that 1t had been stacked there. Now.
IL 1t was TO be picked up by two men and showed
in 1t would take the paint off Of everything in
sight. and possibly few check-straps would be
cut before II was done with.
Another thing baggage porters have to work
fast Take the hvc-minute truck that goes out
Of the baggage-rooms for outgoing trains. II
leaves the baggage rooms just five minutes be-
fore the train starts and carries all the late
rivals The men have to run the entire length OF
the station with that truck and get the stuff into
the car before the train moves out II anybody
thinks It's oafng Job, let him come up here and
tackle II at once He'll soon find out his mis-
take The truck has TO be rolled along from the
Forty -second-st. end clear to Forty hfthst. three
blocks. the streets run. Why. I've seen green
men laid up with lame backs that would last
them week before they had been at work day.
If man has any sense at all, however. he soon
comes to understand that he must think as we'll
as work Then ne doesn't require any introduce
ton to a trunk to know what to do with 1t. He
just sizes 1t up at glance. gets the right sort OF
a hold on 1t, and the thing Is done. 1t isn't every
man who makes a good porter, and the most OF
the porters in the various stations In New-York
and across the North River have been with the
companies for years. Many OF them have been
promoted to posts Of responsibility because OF
their faithful service and intelligence. SO you
see that even the baggage-smasher, so-called. has
his reward"
There are some inventions Of human skill that
almost possess sentient qualities and this quality
is one Of the most striking things about the bag
gs ge check and it's evolution into n perfected sys-
tenn. To the perfection or this scheme Of identi-
fcation Is due the triumph noted above TO the
good account of the New-York Central that not
a single piece went astray last year. Nor Is the
Central exceptional In this regard for the sys-
tenn of one OF the trunk roads is the system OF
them all
SCENE AT THE GRAND CENTRAL
The big clock high up in the circle OF the
arched roof in the Grand Central Station is Just
on the stroke Of 10. The vast building is as
light as a multitude of arc lamps can make 1t.
Outside the entrance. under the roof OF the porch,
eight cabmen drawn up In a rigid line. They
are the chaps fer whose benefit a rigid line OF
exclusion from the confines of the station has
toen drawn. The air of attention all of them
have assumed is sufficient indication that some
thing is about to happen OF Importance. Looking
out toward the train entrance end OF the station
the observer Is able 10 note that all the tracks
are clear. Soon there is commotion further up
the track toward the end of the tunnel great
red eye suddenly springs out OF the dark. and
with rush and a roar the Empire State Ex-
press sweeps majestically into the shed Hardly
has the powerful machine In its front ceased 10
throb with the display OF power than another
single orb Of flame flashes It's glow from out
the black darkness OF the night and the Boston
Express rolls into the trainshed The East and