Omaha daily bee., 1902-09-28
he has Them A-Pl'ntyj Sc Many, in Fact,
They Haunt BIS Sleeping Hours.
WOMEN AND CHILDREN ANNOY HIN MOST
Former step on Backward and the
Latter Use tracks for Play
Eround-HoodoO Hour
for Accident.

be felt"
So said a New York motorman with a
gilt band on his sleeve, as with the light
ing Of a fresh pipe a reminiscent look
tame into his eyes.
"You see, it's this way: When We get
into a smashup the first thing we feel is
the awful shock-physical and nervous-a
feeling that heaven and earth are coming
together and we're right smack in the
middle. Then there comes a sickenlng
sensation Of sorrow for having hurt some
one and at last an indefnable fury with
the person hurt, for nine chances out Of
ten it was his fault. not ours.
Now, hold on a minute. Don't say we
are a reckless lot until you've heard our
side of the story. Ever notice the peculiar
yell a motorman gives when he's almost
run you down? You think It is a warning,
don't you? Well, It amt. 'Twould be too
late for warning. 1t is just an expression
Of horror at what he has almost done.
And then you look up and wave your UNI
brella and threaten to report him to the
company and use epithets not found in the
books Of Moses and wonder why the
motorman looks so mad. anyhow. But,
Just the same, after you get over this
scare, say in about ~forty-eight hours,
you're back at your old trick of lodging
between two cars coming from opposite
directions.
whenever I read something in a paper
about the unfeeling motorman that has run
down some helpless child l get Just 'dotty'
mad. Unfeeling! What do reporters know
about the way the motorman feels? II a
man in such a position is wise he says
nothing. His company respects an employee
who does not talk until he is put on the
witness stand or Is called up to report
before his superiors. A motorman may be
standing coolly at his post after an acct
dent while his inspector is taking the
names OF witnesses, ETC., but there is no
telling what sort of a Mount Pelee is doing
business inside of him. His teeth may be
set hard, but there's a sick feeling swell
ing up inside Of him, a wild desire to yell
out or to sob aloud, or do some other fool
thing. And every time he sees an ambu-
lance for weeks afterward it'll make him
turn cold.
Dreaming of Accidents.
81 remember when l first started in. 1t
VAS over on the east side in New York,
where babies are thicker than flies and
where every trip meant two or three close
sheves. Why, sir. I'd wake up nights will
a yell Of warming, thinking there was =
youngster on my track. 1t fairly got on my
wife's nerves and finally l made up my
mind I'd have to take 1t cooler or give up
the Job. A motorman whose nerves get on
edge is useless to the company. 1t needs
a calm, easy going, philosophical chap for
that sort of work.
1T is generally supposed that a motor
man loses his Job II he has trouble on the
line, but this is a mistake. The company
finds that a man who has had his little
accident and was not to blame in the matter
generally makes a safer motorman than the
new hand whose nerves get on edge. / have
known good, steady men to score a fatal
accident, and, after proving that they were
not to blame. report for duty two days
later and go right over the same run. They
are sorry, Of course, but fretting won't
help them nor the company and it's more
likely to cause nervousness and another
accident. Then again a man will he so I'M
strung that he will report to the superin-
tendent that he prefers some other line of
work. II he has been a satisfactory en-
ploye he may be put at work in some other
department, in the offices, or around the
barns. This, of course, is with the proviso
that the company does not hold him liable
for the accident,
How can a motorman be wholly blame
less in an accident? Easy!
For instance, take cases where children
willfully, yes, maliciously, dodge back ard
forth before the cars. You can see it every
day on the Third avenue lines. With the
new ratchet brake we can stop a car In
forty-five yards, but what is forty-hve yards
when a little rascal suddenly decides to
see how near he can come to being hit with
out doing 1t?
81 remember about six years ago my
wife took 1t into her head to go back
to her home in Chicago, so l threw up my
job in New York and got a run that took
me right through what is known as the
Polack quarters. We had a nat cut that
way, too, and II there is anything more
aggravating than a Polack youngster with
a streak of American devilment stirred in,
I'd like you to show It.
There was one boy who seemed to think
that because he lived in our neighborhood
II was fun to scare the motorman, and he'd
give me heart failure Just about once in so
often. l spoke to his father about II, but
the old man got gay and talked back, Al
last. when the kid had been particularly
aggravating one day. l armed myself with
a good long blacksnake whip, and as l
lerked up my car presumably 10 spare tue
little DEVILS life, I leaned over and warmed
his legs good and plenty. Well, his father
took the matter up with the company, tell
ing his side of the story only. When the
superintendent heard my side he just
grinned and said that IL the motormen
were all equipped with blacksnake whips
perhaps the company would have less lam.
ages to pay. And that was the last l heard
Of the case.
Trolley Car Suicides.
at seems like a nasty choice for a method
OF committing suicide. but sure It is that
more persons than you dream Of 90 by this
route.
Shortly after l got back to New York |
was running on the Amsterdam avenue line,
and, you know, we make pretty good time
going down those hills, I saw a chap stand
ing in the middle of the block, near the
tracks and waved to him to go on to the
corner, where We stopped. He didn't bulge
and when we came spinning dow he threw
himself right in front OF the car and. we
were over him before l could as much as
shut my eyes. There was no mistaking
that he deliberately stod there waiting for
death TO come his way, but heaven only
knows why il happened TO be in the form
OF my car. He proved to be a bum and a
dope mend, probably tired Of life. Al any
rate. we could get no trace OF relatives or