Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-10-05
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81 g Be The M@G@rmn@1l.

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prov;so that the company does not hoio
him liable for the accident.
CHILDREN'S DANGEROUS FRANKS.
How can a notorman be wholly
blameless In an accident? Easy!
For instance. take cases where chill
dren wilfully, yes. malcionsiS. ooose
hack and forth before the cars. You can
see it every day on tho Third avenue
lines. With the new rachel brake we can
stop a car in forty-fve yards. but wfak
is forty-tire yards when little rascal
suddenly decides to see how near he can
come to being hit without doing it?
81 remember about six years ago my
wife took it into her head to go back
to her home in Chicago. SO I threw up
my Job in New York and got run that
took me right through what is known as
the Polack quarters. We had q fat out
that way, too, and If there Is anything
more aggravating Than a Polack young
ster with streak of American devilment
stirred in, I'd like you to show it.
There was one boy VINO seemed to
think that because he lived in our neigh
borhood It was fun to scare the motor
man. and he'd give me heart failure just
father about it. but the old man got gay
and talked back. At last, when the kid
had been particularly aggravating one
day / armed myself with a good, long.
blacksnake whip and as / jerked up my
car, presumably to spare the little deV'ls
life I leaned over and warmed his legs
good and plenty. Well, his father took
the matter up with the company. telling
his side Of the story only. When the
superintendent heard my side, he JUS,
grinned and said that II the motormen
were all equipped with blacksnake whips
perhaps the company would have less
damages TO pay. And that was the last
I heard of the case.
TROLLEY CAR SUICIDES.
cit seems like nasty choice for
method of committing suicide, but sure
it is that more persons than you dream
Of go by this route.
Shortly after got back to New York
I was running on the Amsterdam-a
line and, you know, we make pretty
good time going down those hills, I saw
chap standing 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 spin
ming down. he threw himself right in
front Of the car and we were
over him before I could as much
as shut my eyes. There was no
installing that he deliberately stood there
waiting for death to come his way, but
heaven only knows why it happened
to be in the form Of my car. He proved
to be bum and a dope fiend, probably
tired of life. At any rate, we could get
no trace Of relatives or friends and he
was buried in the Potter's field.
Another trick responsible for many
accidents is the Observation-Disclosures of
women out shopping.
II have stood at the intersection Of
Sixth avenue, Broadway and Thirty
fourth street and wondered how so
many escaped A woman will stand
gancing leisurely through her shopping
list, or picking things over, in her purse
Several cars will pass, chances for
crossing the street in safety will come
and go, and she will not notice. Then
suddenly. the notion to get onto the
other side of the street will strike her,
and like an arrow she darts away. Cars
may be coming from both ways and
diagonalIy on Broadway, forty people
may yell at the top of their lungs, but
by some mysterious working Of Provi-
dence she lands on the opposite side
walk, stops coolly enough and looks
about her as much as to say What
arc you all making so much fuss
about? If she doesn't happen to make
it-well it's the careless motorman
again. Have you ever seen a woman
reading her shopping list or studying
a clipping from the bargain ads in the
morning papers while she crossed
crowded thoroughfare? Can you look
on that picture and then fail to feel some
sympathy with us motormen?
A HOODOO HOUR FOR ACCIDENTS.
Nov here IS another funny thing. We
have noticed that 10 o'clock Sunday night
r ,,~{@y
companies We have more small acct
dents then than at any other time Of the
week. More women are dragged or
thrown from moving cars and it puzzled
the officials for awhile But after a time
we found that most of the victims were
servant girls, particularly Irish and col
ored girls, and the accident was generally
due to leaving the car before 1t stopped,
and incidentally stepping off the wrong
way Then by a system Of reasoning that
Sherlock Holmes might scorn-it is so
siInple-they decided that the accidents
were due to the anxiety Of these women
to get to their homes. It seems that in
all boarding-houses and in many prl-
vate families rule prevails that girls
must be in by 10 o'clock. A girl is late
and in her anxiety to get in before the
house is closed for the night, she throws
personal safety to the winds and-jumps
from the moving car.
LAS to all this nonsense about mobs
forming to attack reckless motormen,
let me tell you that in nine cases out of
ten these riots are started by thugs who
pick pockets when the crowd FORMS The
company has found this to be true over
and over again. Recently one of our
head officials witnessed just such an oc-
currence in the northern part of the city
on the East Side The car had run over
and badly injured a little girl. The am
bulance had arrived, the motorn1an had
agreed to appear in court at a certain
hour. the inspector had done his work and
the crowd was dispensing when noto-
rious tough in that section came out of
a saloon with some kindred spirits at his
heels an. melted the crowd. It was all
the inspector and policemen could do to
protect the motorman and get his car
under way But the official had been
watching the other end of the game. He
saw what those in the thick of the rioters
did not see, and when it was over there
were some quick arrests, and two men,
bers Of the gang owned up to the scheme
The one district where a riot of this sort