The sun., 1898-12-11
WHITE SLAVES.
"A Motorman Explains Why So Many
Accidents Occur on the Railway,
Due to OVerWOrk,

DuC CNooSCI"OFh.
The following letter is from the pen O,
Well-known motorinan in the employ
OF the Wilmington City Railway Com.
pany, and fully explains the cause of &C.
cldents that frequently occur:
WILMINGTON, Del, Dec. 10, 1898.
EDITOR OF The Sun.
DEAR SIR: humbly beg and pray that
you will allow Inc a short space in your
worthy paper, in order that you and the
public will know what we white slaves
have to contend with in order to keen
soul and body together.
Delaware avenue, under the old sys-
tenn, we had six cars, minutes lay over
and Is minutes for meals.
The new system is run with six cars.
including the Rising Sun car, with no
lay over, and from to l2 minutes for
meals.
People wonder why they have to wait
so long for car. If you ask the con-
ductor if he is not late, he will look at
his watch and say "No, right on time"
and then you notice how quick the mo-
torman will get his car in motion after
he receives the bells. If the conductor
would tell you that he was late, and he
happened to have an accident, and the
company found out that he had told
the passengers that he was late, his ser
vice would be no longer required. He
IS ordered to keep all from the public he
can.
You wonder why there are so MANY
accidents. These men work from IL to
Is hours a day ON long days, and s.
hours and 10 hours on short davs.
will say that these men have been
known to work 100 hours for weeks at a
time. L he people wonder why so many
get killed and why SO many wagons are
mashed.
On West Eighth street. under the old
system, we run with u cars, minutes lay
over and IL minutes for meals.
Under the new system we run with 4
cars, no lay over and from 3 to 5 minutes
for meals.
These men are informed by the "loaf-
ers,' as we call the bosses, that thev
must make and run on time, and do the
same work as 6 cars did. If they can't
90 it they will put other men in their
places, and you wonder why so many
people and wagons suffer by cars running
at the rate of 20 to 80 miles per hour in
the thickly populated part Of the CITY,
and men without proper rest and time
to eat, all for the sake of paying big
dividends.
On West Fourth street under the old
system we ran with three or four cars.
The new system is run with two cars.
These men work the same hours as the
others and have to rent and pay fer
places to eat their meals or else eat them
IN the street, as the bull dogs provide no
place for them. Judge.
Front street under the old system was
run with six cars; under the new system
it is run with three cars, and the men were
told that three cars mad to take the place
OF six cars. These men work eighteen
hours every long day and ten hours
short days. These men often have to do
extra work and people wonder why there
are so many people getting injured and
wagons torn up. Can you wonder when
the men are worked half to death and
not allowed time to eat and attend TO
themselves? Judge
East Fourth street is run on the same
principal as the others and that is 90 as
hard as the devil will let them 90.
Judge!
East Eighth street under the old sys-
TEN, was run with six and seven cars:
under the new system it is run with four
cars and the men are told that they have
got to do the same as six cars. TO show
a sample of this one of the slaves while
trying to run and keep on time, struck a
wagon and damaged it. The next pay
day he went for his hard earned wages
and out of $l2 he had but So coming to
him, to keep his family on the next
week. He was told that he ought to have
better luck. These men work the
same as the others, these men are all
worked to death. Judge.
AWHITE SLAVE.