The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-08-03

The "spotter'' never goes near the office of the company. He is known to only one man by sight-the man Wno hires him. And he Is not hired as oth- CT employees are, at the offices or the company. Even this preliminary IS as secret and underhanded as all the moves he makes afterward-as ms work on the cars and his reports ro ms superior. When a new man Is wanted the official In charge of the secret ser- vice makes the want known to one or the "spotters" and requests him to ma some trustworthy man who can De de- pended upon by the company. This IS easily done and an appointment IS made for a meeting down toWn-1n the doorway of an office building or in the offices of the railways legal counsel any place away from the barns and of fees. There the new man is subjected to a sharp scrutiny and cross s-examina- ton, and if he emerges from the ordeal he is engaged at two dollars day, with $125 a day allowed for street car fares.
 There is as much system about the work of the "spotters' as there is about that of the motorman and con- ductors. Their time is mapped out for them and they are obliged to fill it in to the letter. Each man is supposed to ride twelve trips a day on different cars, riding from twenty to twenty five minutes on a car and strolling around the intersections of the car lines be- tween trips observing what is going on The result of these trips are submitted to the company on regular report forms, including the number of the car, the hour and line, the number of the conductors badge, and the figures on the register and anything the "spotter' may have observed while in transit. It is not only dishonesty that the "spotters" are on the lookout for, but the general actions of each train crew are under surveillance. Anything tending to the detriment of the compa- ny is at once reported, and the conduct of conductors and motormen toward the general public is closely watched. The conductor who gives the starting signal too soon is the especial prey of the "spotter," as numerous accidents, with resulting damage suits, have been caused by the hurry of conductors to start their trains when passengers were getting on. Conductors who are snappish and cross grained with pas sengers who ask questions are likely to fall under the ban and on the other hand those who cultivate too close friendships and become engaged in chatting or story telling with passen- gers on the rear platform and neglect the signals of passengers are often re- ported.
 One thing the company is particular ly anxious to prevent is knocking of the company by its employees. Reali- zing that there is already sufficient prejudice in the public mind against street car companies, the officials are by no means anxious to have 1t fed by the men who are getting their living from it still, and the conductor who is thoughtless enough to embark in long plaint to some stranger about hard work. long hours, stringent rules and insufficient cars is likely to be brought up with a short turn, for the stranger may be a "spotter," for all the sympa- thv he expresses while talking with the street car man. The wise conductor at tends strictly to his business, rings up every fare and is ordinarily courteous to his passengers. Then he will escape censure and possible discharge.
 One thing in particular the secret ser vice men of the street car companies keep a close watch on is the transfer system. The companies are none too much in love with the system at it's best and it is beyond doubt true that they miss many a nickel which would otherwise be theirs through the accep- tance of the bits of paper for fares, Conductors are supposed to watch closely the punch marks on all trans ; fers and refuse to accept them after they have expired On the south side road the time limit Is twenty minutes, but an some of the lines a half hour is allowed after the time punched by the issuing conductor before the slips are dead" Many people take advantage of this time by taking a transfer and thtransacting half an hours business in the neighborhood of the transfer point, afterward continuing their jour nev on the cross-town line. While this cannot be guarded against, the idea of the transfer is for a continuous trip and the companies do not approve Of passengers wandering away from the transfer point and allowing several cars to pass before proceeding. The only creek on it is to reject the trans fers after the time tlimit has expired. Conductors often become careless and take the transfers without glancing at the punch mark, recognizing the ticket merely by it's color and the date stamped in large figures.
 To test them on this point the "spot- ters'' are supplied with bundles of transfer tickets and punches A "spotter' will sometimes at three