The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-04-29
GATEMAN TELLS OF
 HIS REGULATIONS
Much is Expected of Men at
 Union Station
WALKING ENCYCLOPEDIAS
Thousands of Questions Are Answered Daily. Many Passengers Lose Heads Completely When About
 to Travel.

The term walking dictionary" or walking encyclopedia is often applied to certain persons with whom the public deals intimately, such as postoffice stamp clerks. hotel clerks, theatre ticket sellers and others, but no men have a clearer right to the title than the gatemen at the union depot in Birmingham z
 The approaching completion of the new union depot is a matter of satisfaction to these men, as new quarters will be pro- vided and the gate system so perfected that their labors will be made more pleas ant, but as for Tightening the work that falls to their lot there is no such thing and the ceaseless round of questions and the ceaseless round of answers will be a continued story without conclusion.
 c. E. Meglemry, station master at the union depot, has first class experienced force of seven gatemen, besides the as sistant station master who has charge of the depot at night and he holds these men responsible for every passenger that leaves the Birmingham station for other points in the United States. These gate men must not only be intelligent men, but quick, automatic sort of persons able to handle a big crowd rapidly, capable of absorbing vast fund of informa- tion which they must keep at their tongues ends ready for imparting to the impatient travellers, who when they ppe- sent themselves at the ticket gate seem to forget who they are, what they are, where they come from and where they want to go.
 The gateman is not placed at the gate of the station for the purpose of annoying the passengers, yet this is considered his office by scores of travellers, who look upon the gateman as the natural enemy of mankind. Nevertheless, the gateman Is nearly always a man of tact, patience and a keen student of human nature Most gatemen have seen more or less service as conductors of trains, for this work the better prepares them for the arduous duties at the gate.
 Absurd Questions Tax Temper.
 The absurd questions of people who really should not be travelling without a guardian are the severest tax upon a gateman's temper. During most of the day the gateman has time to answer many of these questions without objec- tion. but there are rush periods when 1t is impossible to pay attention to every inquiry.
 "Of all the fool questions you ever heard you will hear them at the railroad station," said a gateman of long expe- ..fa anime and punch the tickets shown at the gate and direct the passengers to their proper trains, but to have fifty peo- pie waiting in line while some man wants to know if his train will make connec- tions at a certain place Is exasperating. A passenger should find out all the de- tails connected with his trip from the ticket agent, without bothering the gate man, whose time is so limited and who cannot keep crowd standing in line.
 Just the other day a pompous indi- vldual came along and I directed him to his train all right, but what did he do but go to the wrong train and by pre- suming to be wiser than the conductor got aboard and when his ticket was called for he had one over another line and had to pay another fare.
 Another case was that of a woman and her son, who were directed most particularly to a certain train after a series of questions. The son was a wise guy and through his smartness they got on the wrong train and were put off out in the suburbs They got back to the depot very shortly and of course, laid all their troubles at my door. l found out the next day from the con ductor who put them off that they had held responsible, had to write letter explaining the case. l expect a damage suit out of that case yet.
 Busiest Time Early in Morning.
 "rhe busiest time during the whole twenty-four hours is between 5:3O and 2 o'clock in the morning, when more trains arrive and depart than at any other pe- riod. Then is the time for quick work, and no time for the inquisitive passen- ger. It seems to me our work is harder at ,.is time than any other, regardless of the rush for people who are hustled out of bed early are most likely to forget something or make a mistake in buying a ticket.
 '"rhe gateman is held responsible for every ticket that passes the gate, and if he sends the passenger over the wrong road or lets him get aboard a train with a ticket out of date there is the deuce to pay.
 "I kept count one morning this win ter, just to satisfy myself, and turned back twenty-eight persons who had tickets made out wrong, either through the.r own fault entirely or the fault of a ticket seller in a rush. All this means work for the stopping of a hurried pas senger and turning him back after he Is ready to depart causes fire of ques- tions which are promptly shut off and the delayed passenger hustled back to get his mistake corrected.
 we all make mistakes, but the gate h. | must be almost infalEble to hold their jobs.
 ST. PAJL'S CHURCH.