The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-03-14

but. of course, I couldn't let him keep that up,
next 20 him accused me Of striking the pas.en.
ger. and said he would make It hot for me nc
S seaSSssrt %sn. T to he Ss ss11isa down 10 asi and a,d me
move again. II the company changed an en-
ployee every time a complaint WIS made
ened to make COMPLAINTS made them. there
Would have to oe a separate Post Office for
the increase Of the malls
II thought IL was against the rules for a
ticket agent to sell tickets to drunken people,"
so It IT," answered the guard. land I tell
you how 30 many drunken people get aboard.
once In the atmosphere OF a car il seems to de.
velop their drunkenness. I've seen q man get
on at one station apparently perfectly sober.
and By the time we've made three or four sta
tons he is as drunk as a gay dragon. It's
tn. same way with women. too
II had TO laugh the other night. and i Sas
mad. too." put In a Catemon." Two mon and a
woman got on an uptown train at twenty
men stopped aud tried to scratch n match on
the cancelling box. | demonstrated, and the
an officer and had him arrested. lie gave his
name, and address, and the woman said she
HOUSE. the man man realized that be had been un.
gcnt!cmanly, and apologized The woman was
e. distressed that | Withdrew the COMPLAINT.
We shook hands and called the thing oil.
ticket seller at the forty-sccond street station
the other night. Wien be reused to sell him
.. ticket. becnuse lac was drunS. the man de-
slhTcu tlh nc WOulu Walk u los hOlHt anu
had started out to do so when he was arrested.
His little airing cost him So In the Jefferson
Market Court next morning."
Occasionally we get hold Of a cantankerous
waiting room %loafcr." sald a ticket AGENT.
Not long ago q eontleman was sitting on z
been there so long that n platform man asked
him Why he was there. ,,,,o.
'weytd; ,,u, e. ,,,o ,.,,, 80 down.
stairs said tho platform man.
But 1 refuse To do either argued the man.
About this time the platform nan tire
hrst / knew OF The row. and after ]Inquiring
into IL I told the man that taere would be no
1 tSs os,, 70 ,hnis waIiinK f ph me m irie lra,! ann . sghs
fled. hut when his friends did con about an
hour later. no stuck his finger in the platform
~ told YOU so, didn't II Now. do you
think yor know your business very wellt'
course. we have to he very careful in
dealing with such people. and any on. is nor
mittcd to wait u reasonable length Of time IL q
waiting room. but We must guard AGAINST loaf
srs FOR the protection and comfort OF our pas
sengerI.
soon after this man and his friends had gone
on up csme.a newsboy to the WAITING room.
He mesndered up TO the office do2r and began
taliziig way. and finally the only passenger IN
tho waiting room Mt the time. a man, roproved
an older person. The boy promptly told him
To mind his own business.
Don't you get too fresh. or I'll pull your
nose retorted the passenger.
before | knew II they clinched and had n
Intil the train pulled in. when the man jumped
aboard and ,sss OIL"
'Jno OF the ticko. agents at Battery place
told me "a good one" spoke up somebody else.
He said that , man got OH the train and asked
him the number OF the train, giving rs his roa;
son for wanting | that he had been insuited
befo.e the car full of people. lie said that
when he was ready to get Of he picked w two
Conductor asked him why lie didn't take al he
could sec, He declared thcy were his own
papers and promised tne conductor to report
him. But a passenger on the same train, the
general passenger agent for a French line or
Porting business. lie vent straight to his Office
and wrote the " hole circumstance to the general
I know that man. He is a crank from
C-nnksville. and we've had two or three ex-
periences with him. I Sc. him in the cars
hve cents entities him to. Is de, idcdly obtru-
sive. and his LANGUAGE Is anything but that
wer. not his. and the conductor WAS perfectly
justified IN speaking 70 him A. lc did
~ letter from a person n standing Ike
thar counts for a great deal aud .avcd the COM
pany the ir3uulr Of an il rcS,tsation. for. sure
enough. the old nan entered his complaint"
That was n case Of pure cuss,duess. vol
/ "Now. [ don't mind dealing with hnli crasJ or
, half drunkcu people. nut II. nelty. mean. so.
her pcon,o that Guido me. I'm Atickct assent
. SH the a rG hnit. sRSnus ei saas' t an' t oiae = i Gsf. hi lit
, csme TO the window and purchased a ticket.
, anu ! dnt notice any me- alton OF ns being
ami then he broke loose and began TO swear AT
|, and In ,uit every passenger WHO came un !
: told him n he did not behave ! would call an
l SEAL an onisher, thon,, he answered:
, YOU hurry ~hic~thay's Just what / want, an
ofi.hcr. / want 10 be rested. shce?'.
> I sold and got so bad / had to SOP. lie
wouldn't let any one 90 near the window. and
do so wnen went GU, TO get him away. liz
, tore my coat nearly off. but finally | got hin
= out. Bu; he came back, and after swearing o
down where he could lie arrested. and sure
. eaouah lie did. Every agent and Ga;einnn has
mnny queer experiences. but they break, the
! monntony for u. aud II Isn't ofteh we have
AM, trouble thai amounts 70 reH. trouble :,
II think IL II really remarkable. said w. J.
. FrRnsioli. the general manager Of the road,
that our employees who handle tn passen'
, gers have 30 few unusual experiences. VIZ
require every one to send in a daily report o.
the slightest unusual occurrence that Gomez
= under his observation. and still we don't have
, more u m twelve thousand OF these reports q
year. That IL wonderful ". on ono considers
: that we carry 100000 passengers daily,
When ASKED II the ticket agents and gate,
men had TO pass an exnmination.lef Secur,
ing:e employment. Mr.. Frapsioll replied! 49,.
Yes. thev have to pass an examination
? Our requirements are most practical.
D "A pplicants for employment are received fo'
the places OF gate nan or car cleaner only. The
applicants must be- over q. and and.r 4:
l years OF age. They must be at least . feet
, fuli possession Of every faculty. and able q
! read and write the, English Language. w,
; also require the n 10 be familiar with the streets
n and street cur lines OF the city. It's points OF IN,
, terest. and the terminals and routes OF the nd
l iac~nt surface railroads and ferries, At pres
: ent we employ 46b gatemsn. 1885 ticket agent
4 $50 conductors, 1000 guards. 400 engineers
and 400 fremrn. OF course. the ticket agent,
and gatemen handle the passengers fist hand.
p might saJ, because they can't get on tho trains
, until they've bought and deposited thcIl
tickets. These mon get to be rs shrewd rs
. sharp politician. A man who wishes to lie
. come a gateman or &c LET agent hrst enters tn,
service as an irregular extra gntsman. then IA,
, becomes q regular gatemsn at n night sta
tion, and finally he gets to be a regular day
! gateman. lie hasn't reached the TOP round
: yet, and he longs to sell tickets. His first steT
I toward gratifying his ambition comes when h,
. is permitted to become an acting ticket agent
. and by that l mean he takes the place OF the
: regular agent when the latter Is absent. From
. that he gets To be night ticket agent, and a
: last he finds himself the regular dav agent, A
. Ra,eman. from the day. OF his appointm"nt: re
U ceives 81. o5 n day. and rt tho end OF the FIRST
J year his pay lie raised to 81. so. Aoting agents re
j, ceive ST. rs = day. while regular agents Get 3"
= Both gatemen and agents work twelve hours q
u DAY on all tho lines except the Second avenue
. That 10 only operated from . O'Clock IN th'
. morning until l NJ night, so the service Of eAcl
: man there is only ter hours a day. Our oil
' .at bav poan nm the ntbpr linas cau 10 IN IN,