The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-11

Il LII A1NJ1A4N LINZ ~ IL
able consequences of a charge of dishon-
esty, no matter how guilty the party in
question may be, and, second. 10 keep the
spotter as much in the background as pos
sible. Ii is needless to say that the moment
he becomes known his usefulness is at an
end
This reminds me, by the way, of a
curious story. When Col. HoXie, now
dead was managing the Texas Pacific for
jay Gould he decided TO organize a detec-
tive bureau on his own, and accordingly
established one with headquarters at st.
Louis. One day a dozen or so of his men
were loating in the central Office when an
operative came in boiling over with rage
and told the chief he had just discovered
that the Pullman porters were cutting
crosses on the soles of the spoilers shoes.
1t seemed tht the darkies would mark
every spotter they located, while they
We're backing his shoes at night, and
when hew ent on another section the next
porter would be on the alert to pass the
news along. As he told this tale of woe
every man in the office crossed his legs
and looked at his shoes. They were all
branded. I won't repeat what they said.
In street car work in former days we
resorted to all kinds of schemes to keep
track of passengers who got on the car.
of beans and drop one in the right coat
pocket every time a fare was collected.
8 woman spotter who did good deal of
work in town. but who has since married
and gone out of the business, couldn't
manage the beans very well, so she used
to carry a book which she pretended 70
read, and turned down a page for each
passenger. Now all that is done away
with and this little devise is generally
used"
The speaker drew from his pocket a
small nickel-planted contrivance about the
size and shape of a ladys watch. The
dial was gagged, like cyclometer, up 10
1000 and registered every time the steam
was pressed.
you see" he continued, this may be
carried unobserVed in the palm of the
hand, and the spring easily operated by
the thumb. II is quick. noiseless and ac-
curate, and by carrying two of them I
can keep a complicated record of people
getting on and off together with pass
and pay passengers. good many of
these Instruments are sold to theatrical
managers on the road who use them in
checking up a house against the record of
| the ticket takers.
Il could tell any number of queer
stories of my business. Lots of times 1
| have had conductors take me for old
railroader, and some of them have become
| confidential and owned up that they were
| sticking to some of the cOmpanys cash.
| On one occasion, not very long ago either,
| l was after a sleeping car conductor in
another state, and he told me- while
chatting, that he was in the worst kind
| of trouble 1 know there's a spotter on
! the line he said, but we haven't got
| him located yet and meanwhile I'm
| afraid to make full returns for fear they
will give me away by comparison with
! my other reports. 1 advised him to keep
h eIri a
old tourist from Chicago as probably be-
| ing the spotter. l can assure you me
! crew made that chaps trip a nightmare
to him. The last thing the buffet coon
did was 10 spill a cup of boiling hot
! chocolate down his back.
But, as l say, spotting is a mighty
! poor business. A good man, known to be
| reliable, is paid "a a day and expenses,
| bur 81 is nearer the average. As far as
| reporting on employees for business
| houses is concerned that work is usually
! done by the agencies, and We are seldom
called in. l can say, however, from Der
| sonal knowledge, that almost all big con-
| Germs make a point nowadays of knowing
| the habits and expenditures of employees
] who handle their money. The reports are
| quietly pigeon -holed and If the man is
| all right he never dreams of their exist
| ence."
Naturally enough, the officials of trans
portation lines are not inclined TO discuss
! the subject Spoilers are not as gener-
| ally employed as outsiders suppose" said
| the only gentleman who could be induced
| to go beyond sweeping profession of
! ignorance. Their principal value is in
| their moral effect like torpedo boats. If
| a man realizes that he is liable to be
! checked up at any minute the necessity
for so doing rarely arises. See? AS a
| standing scarecrow the spotter is a sue
cess, and, of course, it's undeniable that
we use EN- now and then, but not often,
| not often"
An interesting detail of the subject is
the change that has taken place in the
methods of the sleeping car spotter It
was formerly his custom to check up an
entire car. This was done some time dur
| ing the night. When the conductor con-
| cludes his work and turns in the porter is
| supposed to remain on duty, but as a
| matter of fact he generally follows suit
and goes to sleep, too, as soon as he gets
! a chance This was the spoilers opportu-
nifty, and quietly slipping out of his berth
he would pass rapidly from section TO sec
| ton and fill out a diagram blank which
| was a duplicate of that carried by the
| conductor. A comparison of these at head
! quarters showed how the land lay.
| In time, however, this scheme leaked
out and self-preservation made the dar-
kies so wakeful that it could no longer
be put into execution. So the up-to-date
spotter contents himself with paying his
sleeping car fare in cash and taking a
| careful private 'mem." of date, distance
and amount. Then if the cash fails to
turn up in the conductors settlement, off
| goes his head.
BISMARCK'S PHILOSOPHY.