Omaha daily bee., 1902-09-28

working Of Providence she lands on the
opposite sidewalk, stops coolly enough and
looks about her as much as to say, What
are you all making so much fuss about? p
II 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 bar
gain ads in the morning papers while she
crossed a crowded thoroughfare? Can you
look on that picture and then fail to feel
some sympathy with us motormen?
Hoodoo Hour for Accidents.
Now here is another funny thing. We
have noticed that 10 O'Clock Sunday night
is a regular hoodoo hour for the motor com
panies. We have more small accidents 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 colored girls. and the accident was
generally due to leaving the car before It
stopped and, incidentally, stepping of the
wrong way. Then by a system Of reasoning
that Sherlock Holmes might scorn, it Is so
simple-they decided that the accidents
were due to the anxiety Of these women to
ge to their homes. It seems that in all
boarding houses and In many private fami-
lies a 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.
"As to all this nonsense about mobs form
ing 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. Re-
Gently one of our head oflcials witnessed
just such an occurrence in the northern
part of the city on the East Side. The car
had run over and badly injured a little girl.
The ambulance had arrived, the motorman
had agreed to appear in court at a certain
hour, the inspector had done his work and
the crowd was dispensing when a notorious
tough in that section came out OF a saloon
with some kindred spirits at his heels and
melted the crowd. 1t 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
1t was over there were some quick arrests
and two members of the gang owned up to
the scheme. The one district where a riot
Of this sort is apt to be genuine and where
the motorman is really in danger is the
italian section where their passionate love
for children will set the whole population
afre.
Accidents Where Danger II Least.
Another popularity about accidents Is
that they seldom occur at points where
the danger is known TO be great. For in
n---
teenth street and Broadway. Every subur-
banite who comes into town shopping.
every out-of-town man who has read any
thing of New York. looks out when he
comes to that corner. but let him be cross
ing at some level, smooth, straight grade
and he gets careless. Then, when you
think about cities which have very steep
grades, like Kansas City and Omaha, there
is a small percentage Of accidents, for
everyone is careful. II there is an accl-
dent like the one on that steep hill in
Cincinnati, where a car plunged straight
down the incline, 1t is sure to be ter
rife and fatal to all concerned, but these
occur so seldom that in the long run a
company that has a less dangerous route
to cover loses just as much through
damage suits, because familiarity breeds
contempt and people get careless.
Personally, l don't think tenders are
much as life savers.
I'VE can't very we'll prove how efica-
cious they really are. II there is an acct
dent you can't tell how much worse II
might have been If no fender was in use.
On the other hand, IL you have no fender,
you can't tell whether the use Of a fender
would have prevented the accident. From
what have seen l believe tenders are
-..IIr -. -AuaA fhARApnh-
fare like Broadway, where cars run every
half minute. A pedestrian crossing the
street hurriedly sees only the car, meas
ures the distance to the car with his eye
and forgets the existence Of the fender. l
think many a leg is broken unnecessarily
by tenders.
woman the Chief Oub
But with all their troubles motormen
stick to their Jobs. OF the 1000 men in the
employ Of the Metropolitan Street Railway
company 2,700 have been witt the road for
five years or more. Some Of us have had
the same runs, too, for a long time.
Yes, there's lots in the way you handle
teamsters on your line. For instance, down
on lower Broadway. or, more particularly,
In the great wholesale districts like West
street and West Broadway, if a fellow is
good natured, hale fellow we'll met, he can
get through the tangle Of truckmen as a
churlish chap never can. A hearty, Give
US a show, Jack. we want to get up the
line,' will do more than a string Of curses
every time. It's a big thing, too, to have
your road in good standing with truckmen.
II the other laboring classes are down on
a road for any reason they can make 1t
mighty hard for US. Good will is worth
more, in making time, in a city like New
York than a good, up-to-date equipment.
You can't make time against a sullen team
ster.
"a motorman must have patience and in
g%enuity, too, when his car is blockaded by
an overloaded team or a balky horse.
but, take it all around, the root Of all
evil for the average motorman is woman.
And the p~rettier she is the harder she
makes II for US, for the sympathy is all her
way. And the man who can teach the fair
sex to leave a car with their faces forward
and their right feet out, and not to leave it
until II stops, will gain not only the I'M
dying admiration OF our fraternity, but a
monument when he Is dead-a real granite
shaft with a touching inscription"
Fighting Under the Banner.
Half a dozen veterans who had been at
tending the confederate reunion in ST. Jo-
seph, Mo, we're on their way home and