The sun., 1897-08-22
STREET RAILWAYS ROBBED
n FORMER BOSTON coNDuoror
TELLS HIS STORY

a.
Mako the Men uoncst--The go. 900 por.c.
elips-A Conductor who Tried % ru.
chase the Road-spotteru aud Their wor.
II was considerably surprised AS Ncll a, on,
tertained by = story l read In TUE Sun at,v
Sundays ago." said n produce commission r,n
chant last week. 1t was the remiu,s, cn,Cs a,
an old New York conductor, ami the Way n yr,
told took mo back 10 old times in iuston wnr,,
drove a team OF street car horses Tor a Lcrin
ming rs a country lad. and then became in su,
cossion conductor, starter. nnL soiueihiug hisA.
or, which dom, care 10 mention, as II mlvu,
Identity me among some OF the old.t.uurs I
got to know pretty nearly everyth,ng intt wa
going OH. and can toll you that If Boston va,
any criterion that story ot the old eundur,o,
about corruption ON the roads In this city va,
not exaggerated. Every device that you could
imagine was resorted to by the conductors then
just to get enough money for the drivers, btart
ers, and receivers. and to have little Icu 40,
themselves ut the end OF the day.
when was a conductor became ono OF a
party of eleven rearendars who were 30 thick
with ono another that une could not sueuzs
without the others knowing about 1t, Veal
lodged together, and had u little clubhouse on
tho outskirts besides. which we paid ren, for
and left a man and HE wife to care Tor. They
kept house for u.s. Some of the boys had horse,
aud buggies and ne kept yacht.
The hrst thing we had mudo sensation all
over tho country. it was tho original bell
punch. tho Invention OF u woman in Buifslo She
was the wife OF James II. Small, WHO was EN-,
ployod In the Office OF OF tho street gar CON.
panies ana said TO her one evening: Oh;
wish we could get up something to stop thii
knocking down OH the road she thought evcr
the matter and devised tho punch and slip. The
first ono was a crude affair weighing soou,
three pounds. but Boston concern got told 0,
1t and had 1t perfected and manufactured ty
George Hart Of Newark, who Is now the expsr,
Of the Waterbury Watch Company. Thou
sands OF these and oth-7 punches were made In
Newark a few years utter the first one came ou.
remember how we beat tho first punch. We
did not neod dummy punch TO work With then.
These punches were fastened with q snap latch
which was covered By thin disk Of wood. The
examiner opened the punch by bursting
through the wooden seal With an awl and
sprnRing the lock. We learned this aud used
to split the disk with the grain and slip one hal.
over the other. Then we would open the punch.
correct it according to our views. and put the two
halves of the disk in place. When the receiver
plugged 1t with his awl he could 20: tell that
1t had been split before. Some discharged con.
ductor gave the snap away. and then oo,nbina.
ton locks we're put on the punches. Tha. 70
what brought the dummies into use.
II forgot to say In place that when tho rumors
ous trouble and It was proposed sf 10
waylay tho promoters Of it. The thing nearly
caused riotous strike among the conductor, IN
threw up their jobs. Following the bell punch
came the liver pad. This was. REGARDED By
hand hnG iem punch. It ' was % co6trsp,ion % hun; @
upon a leather, pad upon the breaa, Q,
snd another Ground his hFs Waist
devices of this kind was patented In May, 1883,
by W J. Richardson AID was a most elaborate
senGer could see the time. 1t had two ieyers and
| two bells Of different tonos, ono for fvs.cent
fare and the other for a three-cent fare. When
| either of these levers was pushed lown II net
| only rang an inclosed dial, but moved secreted
| concealed by metal cap upon the back OF The
device , which was secured oy Re Yale iO1t 50
about this device was OF III. best workmanship
and it was burglar proof. The watch Inovemens
so that the conductor could wind 1t. but could
not set It. or alter the time Each register was
not sold but were leased to the companies. 4
mechanic who worked upon the device told me
ina Aboait tsi f, the % s.@e % time i'm ,hero was another
somewhat similar liver pad in nse but 1t con.
se the to
a change Of form of the bell punch, and was out
a little befor- tho Richardson device. whiGh in
| turn gave place to the clock tSed faro
| register in the car. Men rebellei against carry
| ing the registers on their breasts. but not any
harder than they did against the punch; but
when the big clock register came along they
hadn't a word Of protest They had had suceumbed :.
be supposed that any mechanical device stopped
| stealing. 1t merely abatei 1t to a degree No
clockwork will make man honest II he wants
| to be crooked.
| About the time the liver pad came into use
In Boston big system OF stealing was discov'
and one @ evening a division s9perinienten,, who
| was looking over the receivers work at eta
tion. picked up ticket casually. and while hold.
| ing 1t observed that there was rasSc iness
about one OF tho lines In the President 5 sigma
ture He was startled, and grabbing handtul
eighteen or twenty tickets which he felt slro
Putting a good ticket in tie place 2; 2;
his sample Without H saying word ia TO
! that night and early next morning the dcto,'
tives were sent out. Two days later they were
driving along a country road ana saw sciao
Jumping the fence, they found box cont taiEIns
over 5000 tickets. The boys said that the boI
who drove rapidly up the road an hour be'ore.
The fugitivcs had evidently been tipped of that
the Jig was up and we're ere, skippnE The o ,3wn: w.
were two discharged conductors whom knew.
and that the tickets had been printed tor them
In Canada. y was said thu they had dispose.
OF over $4,000 before tho trick WAS discovered.
The company discharged five or six men and
that WAS the last Of the utter.
There was always more or loss stealing on
street railroads. but tho checklist thing cvei
heard OF was about the attempt OF u conductor
named Rush to buy q bankrupt road ont N Ter
sey. lie went there In rags, and after four years
OF work owned a house. a horse and buggy
diamonds. and u lot OF jeweiry. WhcN the road
was knocked down for $2+, 900 no was second
best bidder and close up to one OF the Glicttors
who finally bid it in.
| The best scheme tho COMPANIES have eYei
struck 10 the detective. or protective system
known as spotting. Il Is done for them 1y
regular agencies at a H. Xcd price per yelT. and
is most thorough in its details. These cumpanie:
employ hundreds OF experienced men and
women. who are shifted about from city 10 city
so that their faces do not become fam liar TO ihe
conductors. They are furnished with money
for fares TO n ccrtlin amount and are IN ,Grr
spotted by spoilers. These repor.s are aoi
merely confined TO detailing the numhrr O
passengers and tn condition OF the fare reg sicr
but are quite comprehensive. Each report I:
made out upon II separate shrct and hppIcs "a
one trip upon certain car. After giving LAY"
time and numbers OF car aud con !uctor. /. tea
the condition OF the car, noting everything
out OF order, oven to Hat wheels or N ~
gears: the manner Of the conductor wh"'he
! polite or surly; any unnsnal mr9,pl
how tho moi orman and conductor acted; 'h'
state OF the fare register and ,hC number q