The herald., 1896-04-27
BOYS WHO RUN ELEVATORS
Peculiaritics Of the Little Aut0crats Who
Control the cliff"
Some Observations on New Species That Has
Been Developed by the Needs Of Our
Modern Civilization

"If the Lord ever made anything
more cusSed than q fresh elevator boy.
l would like to see what it looks like"
was the impatient remark of we'll
known business man in one of the
large office buildings, as he stood on the
top floor and repeatedly rang for the
elevator
A Herald reporter caught the remark,
as he, too, had been quarantined for
some seconds. and was wondering where
the hitch came in. The cage" had re-
peatedly approached within one or two
floors OF the top landing, when it would
again make trip to the bottom. FL
nally the youthful autocrat condescen-
ded to answer the top floor, and when
asked the cause of the trouble only re-
Piled, with an exasperating grin, "Oh,
we had load on the lower floor" as he
opened the door on the ground floor
and allowed his prisoners to escape.
We'll, that is about the meanest one
OF the tribe have struck yet" said the
business man, as he walked UP the
street, with look of disgust on his face.
AS the reporter was going in the same
direction, he continued: "Yes, that
youngster is about the freshest Of the
species that have come across in many
days. You see, my business is such that
l frequently have to use elevators. and
I have unconsciously fallen into the
habit of studying the men and boys who
run them. The position is not a pleas
ant one, and there are many disagree
able features connected with it, but it
is a responsible one, nevertheless, and
care should be exercised in the selection
Of persons qualified for the place. 1t
would, of course, be much better to have
men in these places, but as this is not
always practicable, good, steady boys
OF genteel manners should at least be
provided. and there would be much less
kicking"
"Yes, have derived some little amuse
ment out of my study of this new spe-
cies of the genus boy developed by our
modern civilization. For instance,
there was one aggravating little bri-
gand in San Francisco who made a
practice of always stopping the cage a
foot or two too high or low when he had
fat passenger aboard. and seemed to
take a fiendish delight in seeing the
heavyweight try to scramble up or jump
out, as the case might be, apparently
mentally considering whether they
would have to call on him to raise on
lower the elevator to meet the emerg-
ency.
Then there was another chap whose
great delight was to frighten nervous
women by jerking or humping the
elevator when it struck the ground floor.
and when he could raise scream
IIOln LIE leIIllleu l6IlldlG he Was DIS
happy as a clam.
GAS a matter of fact, you can always
tell how bfy has been brought up by
the way he runs his elevator. You will
find boys who are always pleasant and
agreeable, no matter under what con-
ditions you find them, affable, agreeable
and ready at all times to answer ques-
tions, who knows every tenant in the
building, and while a veritable walk
ing encyclopedia, is never obtrusive
Such boys are treasures, and I never see
one without trying to at least say some
thing encouraging. Then there is the
stupid boy the autocrat who makes
you feel as If he were doing you favor
every time he condescends to pull the
rope, and the fresh boy. Let us hope,
however, that the coming generation
will be an improvement; there is plenty
of room," and the business man wan
dered off to continue his studies.