The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-10-24
Spoilers ON TROLLEYS.
EVERY ELECTRIC TRACTION CON-
PANY HAS A LARGE CORPS.

In all large cities having an electric
railway system there Is an important
branch Of service which never reaches
the gaze Of the public, states the Phil
adelphia Record Few people have
any idea that the company pays a
number Of men TO ride on It's cars as
passengers every hour of the day The
object is to keep a strict watch on
its conductors and motOrmen for any
breach Of the rules. These men are
called inspectors by the company, but
the employees call them spoilers"
It is not only the passengers who
are ignorant Of the identity Of these
men, but no one connected with the
company except the chief of the in.
spectors know them. In making their
reports all the inspectors must sign
by numbers.
These are given then by the chief to
use instead of their names The chief
is not permitted to give the name Of
any inspector to any one except the
auditor when the payroll is made out
each week. Another element in the
absolute secrecy Of the service is the
fact that inspectors do not know each
other. They do not work In pairs, as
in other secret service, but each man
works Independent of any other along
certain lines of directions given by
the chief.
The duties Of these men are many
and exacting. They must make a
careful study Of all the rules. regula-
tons and orders of the company and
any infringement of these must be re-
ported. These include the proper and
polite treatment of passengers, care
full running of the car on the part Of
the motorman in respect to CROSS
streets, pedestrians, wagons and the
application of the power and brakes.
Perhaps the most important duty of
all is to see that all the fares are col
lected, and, what is still more import
ant, that they are all registered cor
rectly 1t is this duty that requires
tact, good Judgment, an understanding
Of human nature and good eyesight.
The inspector must keep constantly
in mind the fact that the man he is
watching may be a little sharper than
he, and any false move on his part
would prove fatal to his usefulness on
that car. Each trip made by the in
spector must bear record on his final
report. He must give the badge num-
Der of the conductor, the block number
Of the car, the street and time he got
on, the street and time he got off, to-
gether with the register statements.
All these facts must be kept in mem
DRY until he gets OF the car, when he
makes a record of them on his trip
card.
At the end Of his days work he must
make final report Of all trips made,
amount of cash paid out for fares and
full descriptive report of any wrong
doing or accidents witnessed by him.
These reports are given the next day
to the chief ON reporting to the Office,
who in turn forwards them to the gen.
eral superintendent
After a careful reading by the SUI
| perintendent all the men who have
been inspected and have no bad re-
ports against them are given good
credit on their record. On the other
hand, if any have bad reports made
against them the reports are placed on
file, and if any have been reported
for stealing or where a number of COM
plants of a minor nature are on file,
the man is ordered to be specialized"
By this is meant that on every trip
the suspected man makes in a day,
week OF month, he has on his car an
Inspector This fact shows how care
fully the man is watched. Each in
spector who goes on a special" detail
is required to make a full detailed re-
port, either good or bad, Of the mans
actions If a majority Of these re-
ports agree as to wrongdoing the SUI
perfntendent makes the basis for dis
ciplfne.
The position in itself is not perma-
Rent, nor does it offer any chance for
advancement. These facts are told
the applicant with emphasis on his
/ first interview with the chief. A
working day consists of nine and a
half hours, with a sliding schedule
of reporting hours for every week. He
can have no holidays and very few
Sundays off, About twice a week he
starts at 4 a. m, and on two other
days at p. m. The other days of the
week are means between these ex-
tremes. The wages Of an inspector
arc $2.25 per day and cash paid for
fares.
Another thing to remember is that