The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-26

 1 minded statistician has figured that the aggregate of donations and be- quests to charities and public enter prises in general has fallen off some what each year since the beginning or | the new century. It seems likely that | his inference is q mistaken one, based | on only the gifts reported in public | print, while private and anonymous | giving Is greatly on the increase. Ger tainly there are indications that, as general proposition. American iiberal- 1 ity grows in proportion as the years | go by. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are given every. twelvemonth by great in | dustrial concerns of this country to | their employees ip the form of rewards | for good service and pensions. Andrew 1 Carnegie's generosity to the employees l of his steel works, the pension system | of. several of the big railroads. and the varied extensions of the Dayton idea l among manufacturers of merchandise | arc we'll known examples But possi- | bly, the best instances of this devel- | opment of the twentieth century Amer | ican spirit is to- be found here in> Bos- 1 ton. where one of the big public ser | vice corporations has been cited by | magazine writer recently as an ex- ample of the superiority of public con- troI over public ownership. which l many problems under republican form | of government. This same corporatiou, | the Boston Elevated Railway Com pany, has gradually evolved during the seven years since 1t came into control | of practically the entire transporta- tion system of the metropolitan dis 1 trict. in which upwards of two millions l and a half people live. scheme for l relationship with It's employees, of re- | wards for work well done, and of pen- lslCns for faithful service, that is be- ing adopted by degrees In various in | dustrics in different parts of the coun- l try.
 | Tn the first place. the Boston Ele- I l vated company Is said to use greater care in selecting its men than any other corporation company in the | world. This 1t regards as a matter of 1 fairness to the men themselves, as well | as to the public who must come in con- | tact with them and to it's own inter- | ests. Applicants for employment as | conductors or motormen on either sur face or elevated lincs-for the com l pany operates both-are sifted by ex- | aminations as to physical as well as | other fitness that are comparable to | those required for getting into the | United States service. No insurance company is more rigid about the bodily health and the habits of its risks. Of
 
 calls it. is not taken into account in | the street car service. but in some par ticulars the requirements are more | stringent than those of any plan of | insurance are ever likely to be. Beyond that, the eye sight and hearing tests are much more closely applied to the motormen of the overhead system here than to the engineers of any American steam railroad. certainly.
 Having thus made sure of the quail lcatfons of Its recruits, to start with, the management instructs them with great pains. A training school for men in the overhead service is main tain ed at one of the big terminals and there are weekly classes not only In the me- chanical details of a third-rail elec- tric train and Its operation. but in the proper way to treat passengers and | handle sh-hour crowds effectively yet civilly. This gives them the foun- dation on which to build their own success, and 1t Is significant that the superintendents of every one of the roads ten divisions are men who have worked up from the ranks. that all
 the higher operating officials began in minor positions, that even Major Gen.
 eral William A. Bancroft got his expe- rlence, years ago, managing a depart
 ment of one of the component com panies of the system of which he Is now the president
 The most extraordinary thing about it is that every step the Elevated has taken in dealing with its employees has been voluntary. Though 1t was al- ready paying the highest scale of wages in this part of the country for work of the sort at the time, 1t sent its employees a New Years greeting, | two years ago, notice that thereafter the pay of all conductors, motormen, l lnSDpctOrS station | collectors, and other men who have to do directly with the running of cars. | would be increased five cents day for each five years of service up to fifteen years. Furthermore 1t offered yearly reward of $15 to each employe of this class whose service has been continuous and satisfactory, including all men who have been in the com panys employ for six months before the end of each year. And finally, 1t established q pension system for the | support of aged or iuhrm employees who have been continuously employed by the company for twenty-five years. or who reach the age of sixty after | fifteen continuous years employment. | The pensions are usually $25 a month, and are paid during the pensioners life.
 The order in which these sweeping l increases were made also provided that | men WHO were breaking Tn as con ductors or motormen on the surface cars, or as brakemen on the elevated | trains, should be paid a dollar a day | during their period of learning, to go l on the regular scale of wages as soon as they were put regularly to work. And it was agreed that new or extra" men should receive about two-thirds pay whether they were actually out on the platform of car or not. pro- | Vided they reported for duty at their car houses. and remained there during the prescribed hours; if they do a full days work they, of course. receive full l pay.
 The annual report of the company | shows that last year learners were | given $23.226, the minimum wage fund 1 of the extra men came to $2S,953, the | increased compensation for long ser | vice, in addition to the regular pay l foD. .a ..- aro n-a .L - P1''