The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-14

| This decided me. went up TO the near
man was, inside the clothes-and said
IF you don't quit your abusive talk you'll
| have to get off this car
Il dare you TO put me on, he retorted
with leer and a fresh flow of profanity.
pulled the bell rope, stopped the car.
| took my man by the back OF the neck and
threw him into the street. The women
passengers shrieked: the men. sitting
| still as Chinese idols, never offered TO help
me- Tough No. came at me. In self
defense had to fight When / got through
| with him he sorry vision. tore his
| clothes, blacked one of mis- eyes and blooded
his nose. He hammered me pretty hard.
| too. They had plenty of money, for they
hailed a cab and drove off.
| When We reached the depot the superin-
| tendent was standing there, evidently walt
| ing for me- By his side was the man L
had thrown from the car He looked at me
with a one-eyed haughtiness and, turning
| to the superintendent, pointed his finger,
saving:
The super Intendent regarded me quizzi-
| cally, saying, in angry tones, but with a
| half smile lifting the corners of his mouth:
You are discharged. Take your badge
| into the Office"
But" Cried "can't tell my side of the
There's only one side to this story" he
"why?' | asked. with open mouthed
wonder. because L licked that dirty
mo-" he said. lowering his voice. DE
cause the man you licked is the SON of one
| Of our directors.
| WHEN A STRIKE COMES.
That night 1 met man who had two
passes East, and we resolved to try our
| chances in Philadelphia. We got positions
at once, only to find out that a strike was
going on. did not like the idea of work.
ing as a "scab," but / could not afford TO
throw up my place. The strike lasted seven
days For two days 1 did not do a thing,
and the other five days / made one trip
a day, surrounded by four big policemen
and lodging now and then rotten potato,
| decayed eggs and an occasional brick
| heaved into the back platform by the
sympathetic friends Of the strikers I re-
| ceived 81 day and the assurance of being
| retained, no matter how the strike ended.
The papers said that those seven days were
| reign of terror; could not see 1t in that
| light. 1t took nerve to work-that was all.
No one was killed; possibly three or four
men received scalp wounds from missiles
| thrown by boys.
The men went back with the assurance
that their condition would be bettered. 1t
| was not bettered Immediately, but IL has
been since. The pay and the hours are
| now better than were asked for when that
| strike was ordered, six years ago. The pay
| is 20 cents an hour for a day OF from ten
to eleven hours. Incidentally the munich
| patty has exacted good terms from the
|
were given the right to use the trolley sys-
| tenn on condition that they would pave and
| keep forever in repair the streets on which
their cars are run. This 1 venture to say,
has made Philadelphia the best paved city
! in the Union.
Every conductor there is subject to petty
| annoyances, both from the passengers and
the subordinate officials of the company.
| A rule prohibits us from entering into dis
putes with passengers, and yet there are
times when the observance of the rule is
a n
five minutes after he has paid his fare
and says the change is 10 or Is cents short.
tain that / was right, gave up the addi-
tional money rather than provoke a quarrel
and be reported for incivility count of
my money on those nights proved that
Perhaps the hardest feature of a conduc-
tors life is the Swing system. BY this
arrangement. although a man may only
actually work ten or eleven hours, he really
has to be on duty for fourteen or fifteen
hours. For instance, / take my car out at
O'clock in the morning; make two trips;
relieved for four hours. / return at 2
o clock in the afternoon and work until 10
o'clock that night. But receive pay only
for the time 1 am actually on my car.
consider this hard usage, and yet do not
suppose 1t is possible to avoid it,
DRINKING MEN NOT WANTED.
At one time drunkenness was not I'M
common among the drivers and conductors
on the street cars, but the introduction of
the trolley has changed their habits for the
better. A street railway is run now like
any other large and progressive corpora
ton. AS a result the character of the men
is grade higher than it used to be. Drunk
enness is a fault that is never forgiven in
man. If you lost your place through
drunkenness to-day and should apply for
it ten years hence you would find that
black mark still against you. The habits
of the average conductor and motorman
are good now and few are dismissed for
drinking.
What is worse than riding in a Phila-
delphia street car, especially during holi-
sardines; they trample on toes, and the
jerking and sudden stopping and starting
often throw them into one another's laps.
. A conductor it all vividly than
the passengers, because he is a spectator,
while the others are the actors. One thing
is certain, and that is Americans have a
sense of humor-a saving sense of humor
1t enables them to bear with all kinds of
discomfort and still feel reasonably happy.
They may make protsst-a good, vfgor-
ous protest-but 1t usually ends there. An
American will laugh at thing that would
cause Italian or a Spaniard to shed
blood. This may be platform philosophy,
but 1t comes from years of observation on
the back of a street car.
After being in Philadelphia for little
over year / was taken with rheumatism
the Nemesis Of railroaders. i was laid up
for two months. When / went back the
superintendent said, in view of the fact
that 1 worked during the strike, he would
take me on again If would wait for two
| weeks
1 concluded not to wait and went to
Brooklyn, the heaven of the dishonest
railroader, where the conductors steal
everything but the tracks. / had never
| been dishonest so / did not begin there.
stayed in Brooklyn long enough to see that
| the companies had network of protection
throughout the country against dishonest
and careless railroad men, and Brooklyn
seemed to be the mouth of the scoop.
| My last move was TO New York the
|. Broadway surface line. 1 like New York
It's pretty good town. think I'll spend
the remainder of my days here.
A conductor sees the worst side Of human
, of street car that makes men and women,
, | ty? Why will men spit on the floor? Why
do they send their feet sprawling all over
. | at the risk of tripping up every newcomer
| Why do they spread their newspapers out
so as to obstruct the view of their neigh
bors on each side? Why do they quarrel
with the conductor? And why do they re-
| main seated while women are standing ?
Aud the women-why are they so cross
and irritabef Why do they accept a seat
| from gentleman without thanking him for
it? And why do they try TO palm off nine
and ten-year-old children being under
four?"
But i'm spite of all these things, and a
|, | good many more, j like my job and i am