Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-29
LOSSES OF CONDUCTORS.
Plugged and Worn Coins Not Accept
ed by the Car COMPANIES.

There she goes-another quarter lost"
said a conductor on the 14th street line a
few nights ago, as the coin slipped from his
fingers. and. falling to the smooth asphalt
with a silvery ring, rolled far off and out Of
sight in the darkness.
do you lose much in that manner"
asked a Star man, who happened to be
seated near the man in uniform, who chung
to the running board and gazed ruefully
back into the darkness of the night.
individually quite a little, collectively
the conductors on all of the surface lines
in this city lose a considerable sum in the
course Of year. responded the conduc-
tor.
1T is a dead loss to us, you know he
continued, and as our wages are not
princely every cent. of course, of such a
loss We feel. That is the second coin have
dropped in week, that last being a fifty
cent piece, and that, unluckily. was also at
night, so 1 lost that, too. In the daytime
We can stop our cars long enough to give
these dropped coins swift chase without
interfering with the running schedule of the
car, but at night We rarely find them. I'M
less they fall at lighted corner or trans
fer intersection.
You see, in this case the passenger had
placed the coin in my hand, and the loss
was mine, whereas had 1t fallen in passing
from one to the other, from his hand before
1t reached mine, 1t would have been his
loss. Conductors suffer from a number Of
similar losses which with the average man
would be overlooked, but they are lot
to US.
Sometimes we get stuck with counter
felt coins or those which are plugged. In
the hurry of our work on the cars. and es-
pecially on the open cars. where we have
to work on the running boards, and hang
on for our lives in the bargain. we are
prone to overlook these defective coins.
But the money counters in the office at the
end of the line spot them every time and
their value in good money is taken out OF
our wages.
what we call 'slipperies.' 'Slipperies' are
silver and nickel coins which have. become
so worn by usage in circulation that the
distinguishing mark Of the coins denomina-
ton are worn down smooth. We sometimes
take these worn coins because in our
judgment, we consider them good, but when
the money counters have different view it
Is the conductor who loses. In the course
Of a year these minor losses count in con-
ductor's income.
This is one reason why We may at times
seem abrupt and even rude to passengers
in refusing to take for fares coins of this
character, and many are the heated argu-
ments we have with some passengers who
insist that they know our business best.
You will often hear men brag about pass
ing off plugged or counterfeit coins on the
mean fellows that 1t is the poor conductor
who is really stuck
Then We have our own troubles with the
great American copper cent The money
counters won't take pennies from the con-
ductors. many of the riding public take
them under protest, or with an audible
grumble, but the conductor has to take
them because he knows, and so does the
passenger. that they are legal tender for
the amount of street car fare. What
do we do with the pennies? Oh, we have
to work them off on the passengers, and
those we can't work off we keep and spend
ourselves. But If pennies are a legal ten
der to us they ought to be to the company,
and the attitude of the latter Is inconsistent
to say the least. This doesn't worry the
company, however.
There are some passengers who under
stand what troubles a car conductor Is
up against, and l will say to the credit
Of this thoughtful class of car-riders that
they prefer to suffer a possible loss them
selves rather than impose it upon US. But
there are many of the opposite type who
strangely feel that it is their duty to beat
both company and the conductor alike, and
some Of these chaps are naturally so mean
that they can't seem to discriminate in
these instances, and to understand that
it is the conductor who gets the sharp
end of the stick"