The Washington herald., 1908-06-28
WHEN THE CARS STOP
Do Not Lose Your Temper, for You Are Not tn
Only One Who Is Aggrieved.

titles. The hoop falls through the slot
and rests on the third rail. causing a
short circuit.
Hurry Call Sent In.
Immediately there IS a hurry call sent
in to the trouble man. who appears on the
scene armed with the necessary tools TO
remove the hoop, and after il is gotten
out all is again we'll Now. this sounds
very simple. but when you come 10 think
Of all the time Il takes and what it may
mean 10 the persons thus compelled 10
wait, say at S-i5 in the morning, when the
cars are full OF departmental people. and
also what ii means 70 the conductors and
mo,ormen OF the cars. who have 90 stand
around and answer all manner Of ques-
lions and always in a polite tone. or else
stand the chance Of being reported. il is
"a serious matter.
One crusty old gentleman. in his ex-
element asks In a Querulous voice. whi'o
he taps the ground impauently with his
cane. if he has got 20 get of and walk
after he has paid his fare. IL is out
rageous, the company ought 20 be made
to and ne thaTeupOn Unb0sorns him
self 20 the unfortunate mortal who un-
luckily happens 10 be next TO him. 20 the
delight of the conductor, who by this time
has gotten out Of the danger zone.
Another thing that can tie UP the line
| badly is To have the slot close There
are great many things that will cause
this. either extreme heat or cold being
the most frequent causes. OF course.
when the slot gets closed. unless the mo-
tOrman notices it in time. the plow. which
conducts the power from the conduit To
/ the cars, gets caught and very often
yanked off completely. The motors .pre-
vent the cars from going one way or the
other, as. being low. they hit the plow
/ AT either end. So the trouble man is COM
PEELED 10 assume an undignifed position
and crawl under the car and break the
plow.
Made to BE Broken.
These plows were al one time made OF
| almost unbrPakablc iron. bus after a
few instances like the aforementioned
/ they decided that il was better 10 have
them made of iron more easily DESTROYED.
as that is the only possible way of rem
edyng that special brand Of trouble.
The very worst that can happen. worst
not only in the amount of work that il
demands in repairing il. but also In the
amount of time It consumes. is 10 have
an axle broken. Here. again. the boy
enters. for this can be brought about bv
/ boys, or men, jumping first on the front
plauorm and then on the back. making q
see-saw out Of the car. How many times
have our Washington boys, coming home
from American League Park I'm the ex-
uberance Of their spirits filled the whole
of one end of a car and jumped up and
Il az rrra-~ -N-
/ feel. while the bunch at the other end.
probably those that We're beaten. Just To
show that they are still there and bear
no hard feelings. take it up and in a
couple Of minutes those on the inside
wonder what on earth can be the matter
/ with The motCrmaU, he must be new
When an axle is broken there Is nothing
10 do but 10 leave the car. provided ii
/ is by any good luck on n track only
slightly used, but II Il happens to be on
/ a track that is In constant use they
/ have simply 20 take Il of the track and
| leave it in the street until IL is repaired
Costs a Fortune.
! While all this trouble Is going on there
is stiIl another expense that is to be
thought about It is estimated by the
street car company that after the first
( five minutes of trouble ii costs the COM
/ pany just $50 a minute. So. when any
| thing serious occurs which ties up the
line for any length Of time. they have
not only the cost OF repairs. but the ad-
ditional loss Of money on account Of the
/ stoppage Of the cars.
! on all holidays, when there is any
amount OF extra traffic on, one Of the
/ trouble-wagons is stationed at Ninth and
+ streets ready TO go out at a moment
notice. so that IL the accident IS anywhere
near il can get there more quickly than
! If Il had 20 come all the way from the
barns At Fifteenth and y streets north
I east.
All these troubles that I have spoken
of are the ones that tie up the line for
some time. There are things without num-
I Der that can delay n car for from one
| to five minutes. things that do not al
ways require the trouble-man Just ask
a railway man how many things can hap
pen and ne will tell you that he can't
talk all night
So you see that after all the company
| has its troubles as well as anybody else
and when we are won't to rail at the
company for unnecessary delays, II might
who is compelled 10 be on the lookout for
| It all the time. So let US ALL instead of
| frowning say good luck 20 the trouble
man.
Fatigue and Alcohol.
/ Fsorn the London Spectator.