RAILWAY CLERKSHIPS.—There is a tale told amongst railwaymen of a certain general manager who commenced his career as a van-bov. It is said of him that after a few months' service in this humble position he secured a junior clerkship, and continued gradually to evolve till he eventually became the "controller of destinies "—as a general manager is termed—and this story, although it ma have, and probably has, gained a little in circulation, as stories will, nevertheless tells what are the possibilities of the service. For certain it is that the railway calling oilers many rewards—though, of course, every employee cannot be a general manager--and, as in law and literature, success attends the most efficient.
A Word of Warning.—The youth who intends to adopt a railway career should be very careful in his selection of a company, else, in spite of his persistent eflbrts, he may never realise his hopes. The prime object of this Encyclopedia is to be thoroughly reliable and trustworthy and complete as a guide in the choice of a profession, hence the outspokenness of these remarks. Many a promising and intelligent lad has had his life blasted by entering a fifth-rate company. It is easy enough to get into the service of some railway companies, because practically the only qualifications necessary are that the applicant shall be able to read and write, and know how to make a simple calculation, but those companies should be shunned as offering no inducement to the ambitious. To get into the service of the leading companies, however, is not so easy a matter, as may be gathered from the fact that the list of applicants for posts as junior clerks is, as a rule, a pretty long one. From this the reader will see that it is prudent to make early application, and should there be no vacancy at the time of writing, to ask that his name and qualifications may be recorded for future considera tion. By the wav, such applications should always be addressed to the general manager of the company.
The age limit with the best the London and North Western Railway Co. as an example—is fourteen to fifteen, and applicants
for junior clerkships, who must be of respectable parentage, are required to pass an examination consisting of composition, writing from dictation, and arithmetic comprising interest, proportion, addition, practice and decimals. Those are the subjects which must he taken and passed in order to secure an appointment with the London and North-Western llailway Co., one of the leading lines, but he is a wise lad who also acquires a knowledge of both shorthand and typewriting. It is not essential that he should know or be proficient in these latter subjects, but it will go a long way with him if he is able to say that he has a knowledge of them, for railway managers, in common with all other business men, find them extremely useful in the successful and speedy conduct of their affairs.
Junior clerks commence with a salary of T20 per annum, and receive an annual increase of 1210 until £55 is reached. Thenceforward increases are given every eighteen months or two years, and in accordance with merit. The maximum depends, of course, upon the position held—as to which later. In addition to this, special travelling facilities are given, namely, two free passes per year, and privilege tickets as often as required, at the rate of quarter fare. These privilege tickets are interchangeable with the majority of the other companies in the United Kingdom, and the free passes also can be secured over any other company's line.
The hours vary. In London, in the general manager's office, they are, as a rule, from 9 o'clock till 5 P.M, with an hour for lunch at midday, and 9 till 1 on Saturdays; in the London goods offices they average about the same, but here there is also a night staff who go on duty at 6 o'clock r.m., and work till late in the morning at invoicing and seeing to the dispatch of goods; but in the country the hours are longer, ranging from 9 till 7 and even 8 o'clock P.m., with an hour and a half at midday and a half hour for tea.