The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-03-08
SCHOOLS OF COURTESY
Practical Politeness Regular Part of a Railroad Mans Education These Days.

The announcement that the Union Pacific Railroad is to have 'school of courtesy has called attention to the systematic efforts that the railroads are now making to promote good man ners among employees. They have al
 ways had their rules, of course, requ1r- ing the polite treatment of passengers but the formal measures in this direc
 ton are relatively new.
 Inspectors are constantly trave11ng over the lines of the larger railroads, Keeping their eyes and ears alert to learn how the employees are behaving
 Even Q general passenger agent him self does not think he is wasting time
 to make a trip over his road simply to observe the conduct of the men, Often one of the travelling inspectors
 will gently instruct conductor or porter in some point of etiquette.
 One of the large Eastern railroads, the Erie, has in its timetable a blank page with the inforTna ton that: This page is reserved for comments either favorable or unfavorable to the road. The passenger is thus encouraged to write down any grievance ana send IF in to the management. If some em- ploye has forgotten his manners, swift discipline follows. This policy soon brings about such condition that there are few complaints to write down on the blank page.
 A traveller on the New York Cen
 tra1's West Shore line. recently, receiv- ed a suriy answer from a trainman- He wrote to the general passenger agent. Two or three weeks later he received a letter saying that the case had been investigated and that the of fender against courtesy had been re- moved to a branch of the service where he would not come into contact with the travelling pub1ic.''
 Probably few people know it, but
 the institution of the bell cord, by which the engineer is signa1ed to stop
 his train, was due to the courtesy of a conductor. A general passenger agent ! told the story the other day.
 1 Back III the ffties, when wood was l stiil used for fuel in locomotives. the l conductor on a local train rigged up a bell cord so that he could let passen- gers off at will. The stop signal was given too often for the enginenan, cut the rope. At the next stop the conductor went forward to the engine cab.
 eJirn,' he said, I'm going to treat
 my passengers right. You tie up that 1 bell-cord and if you cut it again I'll
 purch your head.''
 The engineman cut the cord again,
 and the conductor. who valued his re- putation for courtesy to passengers,
 went forward and delivered the prom
 ised thrashing. Conductors nowadays,
 though, are not quite so primitive in | their methods, and are not obliged to
 administer personal discipline to fel- low employees.
 department enforced by the railroads is seen in the extent to which women and children travel alone, without fear. An 1iluStfation or Inls IS ti1e
 experience of a Western woman who l was coming to New York for the first 1 time With her husband, she left Buff | falo for New York on the Lehigh Val ley. When they reached Mauch Chunk, Pa, the husband got out to walk up and down the platform, and somehow l the train pulled out without him.
 The woman, left alone, never having been east of Chicago before, was on l the verge of panic. Her husband had I all the money; the train was to reach | New York in the night; she didn't lhad known, couldn't have found her I way there. So the conductor took her l in charge, had her carried to a good 1 hotel. and arranged to have the bill | euara nteed The husband, when he l arrived, was so grateful that he hunt I ed up the conductor and presented tC
 him a handsome ring.