The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-14
ONSTREET. CARPLATfORM
SOME EXPERIENCES OF CONDUCTOR
DETAILED BY HIMSELF.
The Lot Of the Man Who Occupies the
Back Platform of the Trolley Car
Very Unhappy One.

who has lost everything but industry.
| do not say this to belittle conductors or
motormen. / consider 1t high praise. What
1 mean is that know of no form of labor,
however difficult, that is harder than work.
| ing on street car. Many men who fail
in business, cannot make ends meet in their
profession, or lose clerical positions, say,
mo, thank YOU" when they are offered
| positions on the cars. They would sooner
beg, steal or live off their friends. You may
rest assured that the conductor or motor
man. whatever his faults. is not afraid of
| hard work. 1t must not be assumed that it
Is easy to secure employment on the cars.
| In the last few years there has been a
slight Improvement in the hours and a
hundreds waiting for men to die or re-
sign. Some Of them do one or the other,
after a while. and now and then-but rarely
though-some man is discharged. In my
time, and since the introduction of the troll
ley in Chicago, where 1 first went on the
cars, there has been a distinct improvement
In the class of the men who seek the work
And yet the business is not made up wholly
| of Chesterfields and college professors. 1t
| could not be.
Sarcasm? Not at all. Let me illustrate.
When had been railroading a week had,
one night. very crowded car. A crowd
Of men and women blocked up the back
platform M called called. there's n,sntv Of
But they stood there and never moved
| an inch. I had actually to push them up
| front. had been working over ten hours
and was not feeling any too well, and did
| not use very choice language. When the
| crowd thinned out and we were near the
depot man with high silk hat and fur
| lined overcoat came out and lectured me.
| He said L rude and he had notion to
report me. He told me should treat each
passenger as If he was a guest and as If
/ were anxious he should go away pleased.
| / was angry and retorted:
do you suppose If l could talk and act
like that would be working for $40 day
| during q bliZZard?
That was enough. He did not say any
| more, but he reported me, and 1 did not
have chance to resign.
1 could not secure the transfer to another
line. Finally l left Chicago, with permits
| sion to use the company as reference.
| / went to Pittsburg, where i obtained
work easily. 1t paid "a cents an hour for a
| day of ten hours, the best wages paid street
| car men in the United States. / remained
in Pittsburg for year, and liked the place.
| While l was there the papers had a violent
| discussion over the question or public own
ership Of street railways. 1t never amount
| ed to anything. My own opinion is that
| municipal ownership would not be good
thing. The service generally becomes run
ployed is decidedly inferior. and 1T costs
the public just as much In the end. Private
rich, but service is put on a business basis
the morale of the force is elevated, and the
people come pretty nearly receiving the
worth of their money.
sinecure merely because l was satisfied
with my position. 1 have philosophical
nature, and that has always helped me on
my journey through life. My little troubles
and grievances would fill good-sized book
SUBJECT TO PASSENGERS.
A conductor on trolley car can scarcely
call his soul his own. This may SOUND
strange to the casual observer, who regards
the conductor as petty tyrant, lording il
over his poor passengers. AS matter OF
fact he is subject to the whims Of the most
insignificant person who enters his car
Any one can report him for incivility or
worse-lie about him, and he has black
mark put down against his name at the
office. Then there is that awful book OF
rules and regulations. Every man employed
has to learn the regulations by heart. He
soon discovers that there Is fine and 9
threat Of dismissal for nearly everything
under the sun-except breathing. He finds
minute directions telling how he is to act
and talk in every possible emergency.
He has to be most careful In case OF
|
trivial. If John Smith sprains his foot il
alighting from the car the conductor must
interview John Smith, and, If possible, ex.
anime his ankle; and he must secure the
names and addresses of f1ve or six persons
who saw John Smith sprain his ankle. OF
course, that Is reasonable enough but the
same thing cannot be said of some of the
other rules For instance, if a reckless
driver comes along and runs the pole OF
his wagon into car, breaking window
1 am compelled to pay for that window
| n~l.1 un'c oUnr, fob
some of the paint off the side of the car,
am compelled to make that good or lose my
position.
A conductors lot is never entirely hap.
Ply one. During the summer he risks his
life every time he goes to collect fares
along the edge of the footboard on either
| side of the car. He is liable to collide with
| a brick pile or a lime kiln at any time
and, when 1t occurs. he is either killed oil
laid up for repairs. In the winter time HI
is on the back platform, half frozen. 1t Ii
only fair to say that the Enclosures around
the platform of the cars of to-day are
great protection during inclement weather
do not believe the companies deserve any
particular credit; it took special act o.
Legislatures to make them do 1t. Then &
man never knows when he is going to ge
meal. He jumps up before daylight in the
morning, gulps down a hurried breakfas
and hurries to the depot TO take out hi:
car. He cannot afford to be a minute late
That would be a moral sin not to be for
given. Patti could disappoint an audience
but a car conductor must never fail to b,
on time for the public. When the dinner
hour arrives, a small boy who lives in thu
neighborhood of the conductors home
or some member Of his family, halls the ca
and passes up the dinner pail He canno
eat the dinner until he reaches the depot
and by the time he reaches the depot hi!
food is cold. When he is through for tn,
day he hurries home for supper. He is M
. sooner through than he has to go to bee
so that he will not oversleep himself tn,
next morning. 1t is not a bed of roses.
CONDUCTORS SACRIFICES.
Being a single man. 1 was not affected
by the loss of home life. 1 boarded with
conductors family, and the sacrifices h,
had to make were really disheartening. H,
hardly knew his own children, and certain
ly did not have a chance to enjoy the socie
ty of his WIFE She was a tidy, good-naturet
woman, who knew how to cook and TAX,
care of house. Her husband earned, or
an average, s4s a month, and SIP was pait
out in rent for a comfortable two stor,
house that had neat bathroom and som,
other modern conveniences. He kept S.
month for his tobacco, shaving and othel
personal expenses. To my way of think
| ing, il was quite moderate. With the re
| mainder, amounting to s31, she kept the
table clothed the children and provided
for her own wants. The 81 a week board
paid her should be added to the total IN
come. 1 cannot see for the life OF m,
how she ever made any money on me; tn.
table she set was enough to eat up tn,
whole 81. She was natural manager, anc
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