The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1906-03-30
TEAMING TROUBLES.
HOLIDAY SEASON A HARD ONE
ON WAGON MEN.
Immense Business of New York De-
partnlent Stores at This Time
of Year Crowds Them
to the Limit.

around the managers of the stables of
all the large department stores in both
Manhattan and Brooklyn have their
busiest time. They hire every wagon,
cart and moving van which can be
pressed into service to tide them over
the holiday rush, says the New York
Sun.
So great is the demand for these
wagons that their owners demand and
get high rates for them by the day
from the department stores II one
store will not pay the price the owner
asks he knows that some other store
will.
The owners of single horse wagons
generally get from three to five dollars
a day for their services. The owners
OF double teams get about twice that
amount and for the use of a moving
van by the day the stores are forced
to pay very large price,
The stable managers dread this sea-
son, for their duties are increased
about tenfold. Besides hiring extra
men, horses and wagons, they must
shoulder all the blame for non-deliver-
les. Complaints on this score are sent
to the stable manager every day by
the general manager of the store,
from people both in and out of town.
Patrons are never SO exacting as they
are around Christmas time, when
everybody wants his goods delivered
as soon as possible
It it SHOWS before Christmas this
adds to the stable managers burden,
for it makes the going heavy and tires
the horses out much more quickly
| Consequently, the manager is forced
| not only to tighten the load, but to
add an extra horse to each wagon OF
course this means delay in delivering
goods.
linen the manager never knows
when load will reach it's destination,
Tor at any moment horse is liable
to fall on the slippery pavement and
break leg. In this case the wagon
is forced to stop where it is, until the
driver telephones to the stable and an
extra horse is sent up to him. An &C.
cident like this delays a delivery
wagon from one to four hours, accord
ing to the distance from the stable.
| There is another matter that causes
the stable manager good deal of
worry. It is the fact that the extra
drivers hired are not bonded.
Every regular driver hired by a de-
partment store is bonded, generally
for five dollars or more, according to
the value of the goods he is employed
to deliver. Therefore if a store hires
a man who proves to be dishonest it
can always collect the amount of his
bond to cover the loss. But when the
stores hire extra men for the holidays
they are forced to take them on their
word only.
Therefore if driver should start out
in the morning with load of goods
and fail to return at night the store
has to bear the loss wholly. Very
seldom this happens, but nevertheless
the manager is always anxious.
One night last winter, just before
Christmas, the manager of the de-
livery stable of one of the large Sixth
|
furious ringing of the doorbell. Open
ing the door, he was confronted by
one of the help from the stable who
came to report that a big furniture
| truck with two big black draught
! horses attached had been stolen from
| in front of an apartment house on
upper Seventh avenue while the driver
and his helpers were delivering side.
board upstairs.
Hastily DOMINIC his Clothes the
manager made for the nearest police
station in the neighborhood from
which the truck had been stolen.
When he reached the station there stood
the team outside, closely blanket:,d,
waiting for their owner. A POLICE
man found them wandering down
Seventh avenue and took them to the
station. The horses had become cold
and walked off,
These are just few samples of the
difficulties which confront a deuart,
ment store stable manager at Christ
mas time