The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-10-26
THE ELEVATOR BOY.
He Has a Talk with Members Of the
Profession.

life almost every hour in the day, he
should always be prepared TO ole. AS
ne may not have time to utter any
last words a wise boy viii write out
WnaI he would have said and carry
1l around In his pocket for the DeneIt
OF the press. It makes reporters teeI
good when they can get hold OF copy
ali written out.
When a man advertises for an eleva-
tor boy he should ask all applicants
If they are ready to perish on the spot
ana take no other. When an elevator
boy perishes doing his duty, the puDAc
takes up a subscription for his WldoW-
cd mother and erects q monument Win
q lamb on top to his memory II ne
can't enjoy II himself, other folks can.
Next to feeling that he is ready to
die in the line of duty, an elevator
boy should study courtesy Hundreds
OF times a day in any of our skyscrap-
ers people Will ask if the elevator goes
up It Is just as easy TO smile ana as
sure them that 1t does as to sheer ana
ask them whether elevate means 70 go
up or go to that hot place Uncle Heu-
ben will come in and ask If there is
man named Jones in the building Al
old woman viii come along ana want
to know IL the elevator viii take her 10
Coney Island without change. A ten
der thing Of a girl will come ASKING IL
he has seen her aunt go up All lhese
people should be answered courteouslg
and sent away rejoicing. EVERY one
an elevator boy will remember MIN TOT
years after. Only the other day on
a street car, I met a man VINO. Hdo
once asked me to take MN up 70 tHS
geological gardens, and had explained
to him that the kangaroos were all out
at lunch and sent him away snllllhg.
. On the car had lost my nlchei anu
the conductor was about TO pun me on
by the neck when the man came 20 tne
rescue. He BACKED the CONDUCTOR
eyes so that he could not see Where
was and bother me any more ABOUT the
fare
Many girls not over sixteen years
old especially if they work in the
building. will exhibit familiarity with
the elevator boy. They will smooth
his curly locks, feel in the side pockets
OF his coat and call him "BuDby. Ihey
will ask him for the loan OF dime,
borrow his handkerchief and seek IN
Vitations out to lunch. 1t IS an emDar-
RAISING situation for the boy, but ne
must be equal to it. He must not get
into a temper and lose his dignity. HIS
attitude should be a disdainful one. but
not too much so. It should be about
the same as a senator's when asked Dy
q drayman to step up and have some
thing.
Every elevator boy will come in con-
tact more or less with telegraph and
messenger boys. Most Of them will
treat him paternally, as II his mother
didn't know he was out, but he must
not be provoked to anger. his soclal
standing is miles above them, and he
has every right to look the disdain he
feels I have had boys Of the class L
name slap me on the back and try TO
get familiar with me. but one proud
lock has always sent them back where
they belonged. The eagle cannot mate
with the crow.
The elevator boy should be warned
about being too familiar with his pa
irons, unless they make the first ad-
Vances. I have had men pat me on the
back and give me money to play the
races. but there were other men i'll the
same car who would have demanded
my discharge had asked them if they
children had got over the measles yet.
1T is all In knowing who to cotton to
and who to let alone. lost good po-
sition once because a fat female stem
Ographer Winked at me and called
her Lulu. The public can wink at you,
but you must not wink at the public
The elevator boy will overhear many
condolences in his car. They should be
held Just as sacred as anything told to
q doctor or an old maid I have over
heard conversations where there were
millions Of dollars at stake and forget
them five minutes later. have over
heard others where I could have gone
into court and separated married
couples and broken up happy homes,
but I simply turned my shoulder. Only
a few days ago I overheard a married
man coaxng the red-headed typist in
room No. 62s to elOpe with him, and
I could have set his wife on his
trail and caused the typist to lose
her lob. The man came to me two
days later and showed a dollar bill into
my hand and gave me a wink. 7 hand
ed him back his bill with seOrn. The
girl came to me with tears in her eyes
and said that If she lost her Job her
mother would starve. patted her
cheek and sent her away happy.
An elevator boy must be honest as
well as courageous Hundreds Of things
are lost in an elevator daily. I have
found diamond tiaras, pearl necklaces,
valuable rings and fat pOcketbooks, but
the temptation never came to me to
keep them. In many cases the losers
wanted to express their deep sense of
gratitude by making me present of a
half-dOllar. might have made good
thing on - at pOOlrOOm, but in each
and every instance have smKingIy de-
clined the prOffered gift and added that
I was born of poor but respectable
parents All these people will remer1-
Der me for years and years to come.
and who can tell but that some of them
viii some day offer me a ride in an
auto?
An elevator boy who is worthy Of the
profession may notice that old Bas-
comb IS taking new girl out to lunch
every day in the week but when Mrs
Bascomb drops down to see whether
the old man Is playing a square game
or not does that boy wink and blink
and look knowing? Does he invite her
, to step into the cage and be elevated
to old Bascomb's room. there to wait
until he returns and then get uD a
hair-pulling match Nothing of the
sort my son. He can't remember anv
Bascomb that has an office in that slSv-
scraper. and if the wife finds his name
on the directory board then the how
remembers that Mr.. Bascomb had ia
go up town on important business. Bas-
comb may not reward him when he
comes in and hears what a narrow es-
cape he has had. but he may run a
side-show to a circus some day and let
that elevator boy In to see the wild
girl OF Borneo without costing him a
red cent.
There will come a day in the history