The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1903-07-27
THAT PULLMAN PORTER.

The Pullman porter who smiles and
smfrks Mt you in an obscquious manner
when YOU enter your car is one of the
most important beings of the entire rail
rond system-in his own estimation. He
does not outwardIy show this, for it is
his business not to do so. he performs
his mental duties wisely, but not well
He is everlastingly looking out for
Number One. When you see that largo
compromising grin, stretching from ear
to ear. upon the ebony tinted face of the
whitc-coatcd bcss of the buffet kitchen,
you instantly become aware Of a creepy
and ghostly sensation stealing over you.
You feel as if something eventful i
about to happen you. You feel like
the man who pays big price for a la
beIed box Mt an express auction, opens
it and finds that 1T contains something
OF Iro use to him whatever. You feel as
ii you were about to have something
taken away from you. This sensation
is more acute when you have left the
coach at your destination. For you do
have something taken away from You:
hardly before you realize that it is gone
and in aSmanner that makes you strong
~ believe that money is rs easy to spend
as it is to pour waiter from bucket
when you have the bucket in your hand,
up-side-down. And this is how it comes
abont:
You adjourn to the buffet apartment of
the coach with your grip and umbrella
as the train nears your train shed. With
you are some six or seven fellow tray
clers. with that eternal hycnn smile
and a large tonsorial whist broom. the
African gentleman enters the apartment
He approaches the first traveller and
whisks the broom about two times
slightly near his clothes. When he fin
ishes he stops, stands erect, hesitates
noticeably and sets his grin. That is
the official unwritten sign of the P. p
association, and the man begins to dig
into the front pockets of his overalls.
under the influencing and hypnotic ia
cial expression of the negro. He produces
a half dollar. Not because he wants
to give that amount to the coach ser
want. but simply because it is the small
est piece of money he happens to have
about him at the critical moment.
You are next in line. The broom wits.
ties through the air two distinct times
in the near vicinity of your person
Again the hesitation and that denthly
smile. InvoluntariIy your hand reaches
for your right front trousers pocket.
You extract half a dollar. There is a
half pocketful of nickels and dimes in
that pocket, but somehow or other the
half dollar-the only one in the pocket
seems to stick, magnet like. to yonr
fingers. You place the coin in the re-
versed out-strctchcd colored palm and ths
swish of the broom is again heard slight
~ to your right.
And so on it goes, nd infinitum, until
the whole crowd is held up. You gave
the negro that half simply because you
couldn't bear to stand in front of six or
seven fellow creatures and give him any
less when one man had set the precedent.
You don't want to play the cheap skate
racket. Yet when you walk along the
cement walk under the smoky roof OF
the trail nshed you ponder at the unjust
ness of the whole thing when you men,
tally calculate that that Pullman porter
actually got about $3.50 out of TINT buf.
fet crowd by the simple cxcrtion OF wav-
ing whist broom in the air fourteen
times and fitting on that CHASTITY facial
expression!