The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-08-20
THE SEATTLE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS SUNDAY. AUGUST 20

messenger officer. With . laugh, - Is
year-old messenger boy weighing. say. 10
pounds. trying to steer q 45-yeax-old boy
weighing 10 pounds. to his cab after the
old boy has been having Q might or
with his chums.
But they do II. The call comes In, Send
. messenger with cab to such and such
. place
I'VE send him, the messenger not know
ing who or what Is going in the cab or
where II Is going He rings at the club
or house door ana pretty soon there is
handed over to his tender mercies at the
bottom OF the stairway very fun ard
q very fat cluhman who wants to 60 home.
by . series of short tacks and numer-
Gus admonisions to brace up the messen-
ger finally wears the clubman around to
tho hack. and they both tumble In.
NOW, II the messenger is wise. and he
generally Is. he says to the ciubman for
whom he is acting as convoy. Where Is
your latchkeyr The key found. and like
wise the destination. the messenger again
helps the clubman, much like little tug
docking big ship. to the door, softly m
serts the latchkey. as softly opens the door
and pushes the clubman inside Then he
closes the door and comes back home.
= ~
amusing as such an errand Is for an
outsider--for there Is no fun In 1t for the
boy-it is no more amusing than very
similar call but for very different pur-
pose This call may sometimes be for
messenger and hack or for a messenger
only. often depending upon whether the
street cars have stopped running or not.
"A messenger Is sent, Il years OF age.
but fully alive to all requirements, and
finds maiden lazy OF forty. big enough to
turn the messenger over her knee and
spank him. She wants to go home and
is AFRAID to 20 alone. She generally lives
IN the very outskirts Of the city. q Etsle
way beyond the car line terminus. II he
has cab the messenger is happy and en-
tertains his charge as best he can. but II
he has to ta.le the last car out and walk
in. then grief overwhelms his soul and
clogs his utterance. He sees the wom-
an home and then turns and walks his
lonely way back home In safety, while
the woman who was big enough to take
him under her arm and walk away con-
graduates herself on the fact that there IS
. service in the city which at shortest no.
tice furnishes belated females with safe
escort.
Xx&
And this brings US to the question of
pay Of the messenger boy said the o.
ficer. The boys, ranging in age from II
to 20 years. earn on an average in saiary
ST per month. but in almost every case
the tips are fully that much more, and
often double that amount The tip Is
what makes t so difficult to control the
messenger force on the strictly moral lines
We s.iould be most happy to follow. Tn
fortunately II Is the very people whom
moralists say messenger boys should not
be allowed to serve that tip the boys most
literally. The consequence is that the
boys, from desire to earn money only,
are ever anxious to serve the people that
pay them best.
Stop the tips.' says somebody who
does not know. The only answer is. you
might as well try to stop the motion
of the earth. Not that the people who
tip literally get any better service. but
they get more willing service, and II
we were to try to stop tips and make
each messenger. as he came in, answer
the question. Did you receive tip. yes
or nor the result would be that we would
soon manufacture a stan OF unmitigated
falsifiers out of what would otherwise
be truthful boys. Neither We nor society
would gain anything and the boys would
lose everything. for, in my experience.
the step between telling a falsehood
where value Is concerned and stealing
Is very short one
MNx
''Did you ever think of the reverse OF
the tip system! Let me tell you a story,
a true story. Nearly all the boys have
bicycles which they own. Now, a BIZ
cycle is alike a benefit to a messenger
boy and his customer, in that It enables
him to do his work more speedily,
oftimes when speed is a matter OF value
to the customer. Likewise 1t saves Gus
toners money, In that 1t saves time. for
on certain messages we charge accord
lvxer t~ fha tfyyrn naVC In
the orders. But to the messenger the
bicycle means a source Of revenue. II
ne answers a call which takes him out
OF ordinary limits and into what Is known
as street car limits, T. e., where the Gus
toner must pay car fare In addition to
the message fee. the boy on the bike
rides his wheel and saves the car fare