The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 13, 1902, Page 13

THE ey = - 8o o T I3, Superintendent of the California-Street ¢ Railroad, Explains the System es big muscle to guard the grip. is why we employ biz men to do the work. After we have tested them and found them stiong enough, we go to work to make them stronger. We have a “gym” for their especial benefit, and nobody the power-house d a much longer time. hey are off duty. nd to have it so. r sitting down and little t-gos” every double the Hyde and so s knows what s life e no; tr The m s little difference it e and his big right arm he heavier the weath har of this the big right der is she to hold t g0 to school. s & in the power-house, at the a and Hyde streets. It wh e mer dumb-be d punc brass-but ve a swing the bag for g the right arm in per ay not seem re- rver, but, as a jest in town but th e lines cross ider line 1 Now, the Hyde ng, and ence. It ake prece: rope every time. This must let go in ng the top no work for museles are ike pri J arris, the tendent of r star yr 1m a good W ag k such an intere; 2 grew about Now P adjoins tha tables and men to find hose that are ummings and Jackson—"Big Jack” he o know him—are the giants nd they intend to keep up 1thood. When 1 o’clock in the for the gymnasium, pounds. Cum- n—the one who weighs 201, which is a good deal of man the bar it is like the He is not agile, bu ndid strong, and it must be a erip w ps his husky hold. His f iron. He is so tall that s place at the grip s to be getting bumped. other giant, weighs only s, which he cannot, to save his quite to the standard of s as much muscle, nd he is quick at handling the When Jack punches the bag it ; like a boy being soundly pmen on the California and = must weigh as much as s than five feet : are the require- ost of the men go a good d >m. So when they get to e gym it looks like a lot of for a frolic. Hyde-street men are the more pow- ve to be. They have the bard we ) spite of steep California- street Lills that line is looked upon as play by comparison. M is one of the old ey I big yank of many accidents may have been avpided by its use. I established it for them I thought of it chiefly as a place of Our men are not allowed to visit saloons while on duty, and d to me that the best way to enforce that rule was to give them g else to visit. So the room was fitted up and they took a great Soon they formed a club of their own with the gymnasium , and now they have a billiard table, card tables and the 1 their little clubrooms. A fee of 10 provides for the expenses of the club, so nobody feels mnasium apparatus is simple, as it must be in so small a rves its purpose nevertheless., Our men keep their mus ing even with a few minutes’ exercise every day. Most They are to be seen hard at it every ht arm of the gripman must be as good as a prizefighter's, it has the top rope a the let-gos are few and eripma life is 1 struggle. However, it ta muscie on any line There are quick stops to be made, huge levers to hang Is for a mighty wrist as well There are few this very the gympasium practice helps. By the time a man is pro- ficient in the art of hanging by his feet, those feet are pretty well under his con- trol and so much the better for his pas- sengers. At the billiard table all the men gain quickness of motion and eye, accuracy of touch, steadiness of nerve. They need plenty of these. On the forty-four miles of the round trip a good many things may happen. There are wagons, horses, bicycles and automobiles for the gripman to look out for. There are people who rush dowsr side streets, waving for the car to stop. There are bell signals to give and bell signals to respond to, and they must be given and responded to quickly. Ome bell means *‘stop. two bells mean “start,” three mean “back.” These are the words that the conductor speaks to the gripman by ve their hours (V ucfl x'l"l“‘ I the jerk of a rope, and there may be lives in the balance if the gripman errs or delays in his reply. This is where his quickness and his presence of mind come in. "“We never employ absent-minded men,” says Harris. ‘‘Sometimes there have been fellows seeking work who were all right in every other way. They were faithful and strong, but their absent-mindedness made them useless to us, “We can tell how they are in this re- spect after the trial that we give them. This trial lasts two or three weeks, ac- cording to whether the business is abso- lutely new to a man or whether he has had some experience on another road. During the first three days of the trial the prospective gripman is not allowed to touch the levers once. He merely looks on. Standing behind the experi- enced man he watches every let-go, every NDAY CALL, QWY Zffiéu T raine stop, every start, until he has some idea of rthe duties of the position. may take the levers, very gingerly at experienced gripman stands close behind and seizes the brakes when the new man shows the least sign of bewilderment.” During this period of probation it is ysed. Ten cents a month from each club easy emough to find out whether the novice is a man with his wits about him or not. Of course experience will improve him, anyway, but he must be possible “material. Just here, on this point of presence of mind, the gymnasium work comes in. It 1s a benefit claimed for physical training everywhere that it develops this facuity. ‘When you are skinning a cat on the bar, turning whirligigs in the rings or punch- ing the quickly jumping bag, you have to keep your eyes open and your hands ready for emergency. It may come at any instant. You may miss the exact in- stant to catch the bar or the rings or to return the thrusts of the bag unless you are watchful and quick. So here is a big benefit that the grip- men get from the gym work. The con- ductors do, too, and it is of use in their business, for they are called upon to give hurried signals and to manage the brake at the rear end of the car in many a time of emergency. The room set aside for the gymnasium is far too small for the purpose. It was a sort of left-over room on the California street side of the building. When it was fitted up nobody realized how popular a place it was to become. Of course, the company- cannot require their men to practice there; they have to depend upon keeping alive an interest in the exercise. This interest grew and waxed so great that it overflowed the apartment. Now at the “off-hours” there are men waiting for their turns at the apparaftus. The room next is thronged, too. It is often cloudy with smoke, for the club members are aliowed their tobacco. A% one end is the billiard table, and this is surrounded by men looking on while oth- ers play. Two card tables are kept in use a good deal of the time, and the news- papers are in demand. It is for the buy- ing of these papers that the 10-cent fee Is easy that nobody ws ing, and ws of the Kne it is sufficient t eep al red at the room day del A gallery runs across one room, a convenient pla t coats t hang wh y are off duty. The men seem to enjoy mightily getting rid of the uniform and being their own non-professional selves for & 2 of the for .brass-but- loafing hour. But after a pull at the pipe and a glance at the paper and a game of cards back they go to the “gym.” They all seem to want a swing and a punch before they go back to dut enough of a swing and a punch to send them forth again with & good, s at big right arm. For there are te ing in ‘‘Two-and-twenty ‘let-gos’ every double trip— It takes a bit of doing on the Hyde street grip!” VHEN THE SULTAN OF 'OROCCO TAKES A JOURNEY ULAI-ABDEL AZIZ, Sultan of Mor: as just completed & little journey through his do- ers le- tails of the royal “progr When the Sultan approached tk of Rabat the Governor ¢ ued a proclama- tion in which he directed that any one who offended the descendant of the prophet and prince of true believers” or refused to obey of his orders should have his hands et plerced and the holes filled wi Then over the mem- bers so treated should be drawn a cover- ing of leather which should be fastened on permanently. Any one caught rob- g natives or foreigners, it »uld be tied on a camel’s back and flogged, the number of lashes laid on to be graduated according to the nature of the offense. The proclamation also stated that the journey of the Sultan through his do- ma was for the general good of his subjects i the g of his friendly relations with foreign countries. As the Sultan journeyed he received gifts of great value from communities and wealthy chiefs. The Governor of Casa Blanca, however, outdid all the other offi- cials in the munificence of his offering to his royal master. He started a populap subscription to raise a fund for purchas- ing a suitable gift for the Sultan, and ‘when a native Governor in Morocco starts such a subseription it is not healthy to refuse to subscribe. With the money con- tributed the Governor bought five beauti- ful Circassian girls and presented them to his royal magter, who was highly grati- fled at this mark of his subjects’ love and esteem. ‘These Circassian girls were not in the least like the ones which appear with frowsy heads or hair stiffened with gum arabic in the Bowery museums, but real beauties of the first class, bought in Cir- cassia and imported at great expense for the Sultan’s pleasure. The handsomest girl of the lot cost no less than $50,000; which Is an immense price, even for & beautiful Circassian girl, warranted to be the genuine article. But, then, she is de~ scribed as one of the loveliest creatures upon which eye ever rested, and the Sul- tan of Turkey would have bought her if be had felt as if he could afford the price. With the advent of this ravishing beauty into the barem of the Sultan Abdel Aziz lively times may be looked for in that heretofore quiet and orderly establigh- ment, for she is a haughty beauty with a will of her own, and as a $50,000 odalisque may be expected to try and lord it over her less fortunate companions. Tke Suitan’s body guard on the journey consiss of 5000 troops and a train of artil- lery. With this he will now proceed against the Kabilas, a native tribe of ma-~ rauders who recently kidnaped some Spanish boys and fled to the desert with them. The Sultan intends to “eat up™ these Kabilas and to see that the work is properly done Colonel Alvarez Ardamy of the general staff of the Spanish army goes along with the expedition. bing or assau was ordered