Sunday Washington globe., 1902-04-20

Va AAC DAAHNE5 W AAN AAAb
Fined From One to Eight Dollars
for ORenses They Never Commit.
Another Illustration Of"Prosperity''
and Republican Labor Legislation.
The Home Safety OIL Delivery Company
of Anacostia employs about twenty drivers
in the delivery of oil in cans to consumers.
These drivers are a we'll disciplined COM
pany Of free born American toilers of the
Caucasian or superior race. They are a de-
velopment or rather evolution of the ante
bellum American workingmau, the evolu-
tiOu being due to the (un) natural causes
brought about by Republican prosperity
and protection to American labor"
The majority of the employees of the
Home Safety Oil Company are married
men with families. The company to en-
courage, as it were. the reproduction Of such
admirably Disciplined toilers have a system
of fines as ingeniously devilish as the rules
and regulations of modern penitentiary.
It is as impossible to escape the company's
fines as it is to avoid breaking the prison
rules, some Of which prohibit the prisoner
from looking pleasant"
The fines Of the Home Safety Company
range from one dollar up to eight dollarsl
This latter amount has been deducted moie
than once from the plutocratic drivers
weekly stipend of ten or twelve dollars
wages. The maximum wages are earned
conditional that the drivers dispose Of 800
gallons of oil each per week. Under this
number of gallons the wages is .sduCed to
$40 per week less the fines. Thus if a
driver dispOses of fourteen hundred gallons
only he loses two dollars on his weekly
wages. Sometimes the driver disposes of
the full number of gallons, but he is short
on cans returned. For each gallon can one
half cent is deducted, but no allowance or
refuuder of the one-half cent is made when
he returns over the number Of cans Tue
oil Is put up as stated, in one gallon cans,
and there are nine cans in a box. Each
wagon is supplied With FIVE ard siv gallon
cans Of the fluid, from which they can fill
their customers one gallon cans, the new
customers of course, receiving the can
with the oil. and for the retention of which
by the customer the unfortunate driver has
to pay the company one-half cent. There
are government inspectors prowling around,
among whose other duties il is to see that
the one gallon cans contain one gallon of
oil. The company has provided for such
emergency by furnishing each wagon with
what is known as government box"
On no account must the drivers disturb
this box containing the full cans. The box
has a string attachment so that the driver
may distinguish IL from the rest and not get
mixed up. This precaution has been
adopted FROM the ingenious device of the
Irish dancing master who compelled his
pupils to wear a straw rope around the one
leg and hay rope around the other as they
became often confused when the dancing
master called out as they went through
their steps, right foot. left foot" etc. By
the straw and hay device the matter was
simpli6ed, and no mistake of the wrong
foot rising" instead of the left one occurred
as the teacher had only to call out hay
foot" straw foot" ETC., and the pupils
knew hay from straw even If they were
unable to distinguish theirsright from their
left legs.
The Anacostia drivers Of the Home Safety
Oil Company in like manner are posted"
on the government box" by the piece of
string hanging therefTom. Why is il neces-
sary to thus distinguish the government
boxl" Well, the cans in the government
box contain the full complement of oil
There is no deficit or shortage. The oil is
there to the full quantity and the inspectors
are satisfied This would imply the deduc.
ton that the cans of oil sold to customers
and consumers are not quite full and the
deduction is correct the drivers allege But
their allegation is unnecessary. The device
of the string and the designation govern
ment box" is sufficient
Here is a tip to both consumers and in
spectors.
Coming back to the Fl .es imposed upon
the drivers aud TO euum rate some of them
the story becomes traR !. A man named
Dixon, for instance, was fined eight dollars
for an accident to his wagon for which he
was not responsible. Another driver was
compelled to pay 81 so for shoeing the horse
he drove because the horse lost his shoe
ana ought to have known better The com
pany couldn't fine the horse so they com
promised by fning the driver An old
halter, worn out was called 10 the attention
of the company but no attention was paid.
The horse slipped his head out finally and
the driver was fined City cents for the
horse's misbehavor.
Another driver had the single tree of his
team broken or damaged for which he was
in no way to blame, but he paid one dollar
fine just the same. An ex employe was
seen riding in one of1he company's wagons
a few rods, for which the driver was fined
fifty cents and got of lucky
The driver for the ,lme Safety Oil Com
pany is an exception, who draws his full
weeks wages free ines.
The company, ht ever, must be com
mended for someth' {, as corporations any
more than individua are not entirely bad
The company instructs its drivers to see
that the fruit store sellers get their full
measure of oil, as mis- is the best class Of
patrons for the oil.