The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-09-14

| Ai6ht opportunities within reach of such
d man. we want him. Tt is to our adj
vantage to do all we can to increase his
eIhclency and that me ans his general and
his technical knowledge. We want men
we can promote, and that means we
want men who are ambitious and capa-
Ole OF Independent thought We can't
nave too many Of that kind
III Is further asserted that these Ii
brarles have another good effect. in that
! they bring the officials and the men in
closer touch with each other-in fact
tend to make them all part of one great
\ FAMILY. The more the road does for the
men, the greater the interest of the men
/ 1n the road They come to feel that
they are actually part OF 1t; more than
1iiele eHpioyes. They become person
ally interested in its welfare; it adds TO
| their contentment and the contentment tn
thelr families. In a slightly lesser de-
/ gree their wives and children are given
the same privileges that the men have.
4he lectures are for ALL the social en-
tertalnments are for all. the books
Drawn from the library are for the whole
FAMILY and on certain days the reading
rooms are open to the wives of the en-
ployes, so that they may have the adj
VantaSes of the magazines This nat
, urafly pleases the women, and, as one
OF the officials Of the road put it, when
/ the women are happy and contented
there is little chance Of trouble with the
men, There is good bit of philosophy
In this too. No man Will go out hunt
ing for chance to change existing con-
dltlons so long as his wife is satisfied
I and his home life happy
Now. regarding the libraries them
selves. In the first place, it is mistake
! 10 call them either braries or reading
rooms, Tor they are more than that. They
! are clubs, of when the reading room is
| d prominent feature. In addition TO this
there is card loom, a billiard room and
oath rooms. and in some cases there are
! also sleeping rooms and bowling alleys
| In TACT the facilities for rational enjoy
meht have been constantly increa. SrE-
! TO such an extent indeed, that some of
! the Old buildings are being torn down to
/ make way fer Better and more commedi-
! Gus structures. In certain instances. too
| the CLUB or reading room was given a
! part OF -'rg in which some of the
! comFany's offices were located, but eEe
| directors are SO well satisfied with what
was at hrst an experiment that the ten
[ buildings for the exclusive use of these
clubs.
"A At present there are fourteen, of them,
+ 1PoGat e{1 at ,ktmpor-a, Newton, Dodge City.
| Purcel, Woodward, La Junta, Ration
san Marc al, Albuquerque Wnslow
Seligman, Needles. Bars,ow and East
! Yards. Just to show that there is no
I attempt to force out the Young Mems
! Christian association reading rooms it
! may be said that there are Sc JeraI of
! these located at differ mt points a eng the
! road, and that the company contributes
| to their support
In the rooms under Mr.. Bussers charge,
however, there is a greater variety of
ENTERTAINMENT, and no charge except for
/ laundry work. For the use of the bath
! rooms a, fee of 10 cents is charged if the
/ company furnishes the towels. in order
! TO cover the laundry expenses but it is
the privilege of the men to bring their
| own towels, in which care there Is no
! charge. Books may be kept out two
| rfrr l,N e
other two weeks if desired and the only
stipulation is that a book lost shall be
replaced by the man who lost it, The
rules and regulations permit the grea ties {
! amount of individual liberty compatible
with good order In fact the men are
made to feel that the rooms are theirs,
and 1t IS to their interest to see that
/ everything is conducted properly and the
best of care given to the equipment 1t is
a matter of honor and of pride with
| them that there shall be no ground for
| criticism, and Mr. Busser asserts that
there is none. In the matter Of entertain
n1ents there is a VIDE diversity. To show
| the latitude given Mr. Busserr expla ':ed
| the system as follows:
when l meet a. specialist on any sub
Ject, geology, astronomy. electricity. me-
chanics, or any subject of interest to the
men, have the privilege of sending him
! out to lecture to the men. There is also
/ a question drawer in each room, ard il
| the lecturer viii permit it. many bright
! questions will be fired at him. We fire.
qUently have a social gathering of the
men and their families, with music and
I closing with a dance. The object of all
! development. An intelligent employee is i
| better employe. We have learned by ex-
| perience that human. life and properly
are safer in the hands of such men," o. "
T A sample entertainment was one re-
! Gently given at Albuquerque, when Prof
! Thomas H Dinsmore Jr., of Syracuse; n.
! Y. lectuTed on the forces. beauties and.
| harmonies of the human body, with lad
I tOI- y1cfT-o long of
| try CT the organs. and IN cam ctiCn W IN
| this the following announcement was
made:
1.-THE superintendent wishes to make it
clear that this entertainments is com
/ pliment of the railroad company, and is
! free to all employees, their families and
friends. At the. close there will be So
| cial reunion to meet Prof. -binsmoTe and
| his wife, to dance if any desire ard TO
talk about the reading rooms and WON
ems clubs"
| Capt. Jack Crawford on Frontier Life
and still another consisted of an address
on How to Draw, Illustrated with
charcoal sketches by Mrs. VIII E. Cha
and Power. by Mr.. Chaplin. A dance
and reception almost invariably follows
! these entertainments, and dances are fire.
qnently given Independently. As very
few of the reading rooms are large
enough for such gatherings, it is the
custom of the raili DAD company to hire
a hall for such occasions.
And still the company holds that it
payS-that the expenditure indirectly is
more than returned into the treasury
in better and more faithful service and
less likelihood of accident. The fourteen
reading rooms have cost all the way from
81, eco to s., 1000 each, the equipment is fair
ly costly and the maintenance eats up
quite a bit of money, but zhard-headed
men of business say that it is a good
business investment, and are planning
to spend much more money, in the fu
ture
AS for Mr.. Busser. he is an enthusiast.
His face lights up when he talks about
it. and yet even he asserts that it is not
matter of sentiment. One has only to
hear him discuss it to know that he is
wholly wrapt up in his work and still IS
thoroughly practical He has seen the
system grow and he has kept in such per
feet touch with it that he knows the re-
suits. At present, he SAYS. 20 per cent
OF the books are fiction, 20 per cent ref
eronce works, 10 per cent historical, %
per cent biographical and 10 per cent
general literature. and the more solid
Wo: ks are receiving more and more az
teTtion every day. OF the last purchase
made 20 per cent was historical and 20
per cent scientific. As the aim is to get
what the men want, that seems to teal
: the story of their intellectual progress
under his kindly and thoughtful SGpefvi-
sion. He has been at the head of the
system from the beginning. but he gives
the credit for staring it to President Rip
ley-at least he says 1T Is the outgrour~
Of the latter,s lacge-heartedness anu pro-
gressivenesS.
In closing, it may be said that. in or
der that the advantages of this system
NAV extend to all connected with the
road. the magazines are held at the read
ing rooms for three months and then
sent to the trackmen and others VINO are
located where they cannot well reach the
libraries In this way it is believed they
vul