Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1872-12-19


between us, and he finally called the
conductor, who stood near. The con-
luctor was, if possible, more imperious
han the guard. He said the ticketwas
g good for nothing" and peremptorily |
ordered me not to 60 on board the cars.
[ told him thought the ticket was
good, and that was accustomed to use
coupons in that way upon all other
roads over which l travelled. He re-
piled that "it was no such thing he
travelled more than did and knew all
about it !" and concluded by saying that
if l "attempted to get upon the cars
he "would put me off" Severe re.
marks were made by several gentlemen
standing near to the conductor during
this time to the effect that this was an
other manifestation of the general spirit
of insolence and meanness towards pas
sengers for which that road was noted.
l then purchased ticket to Providence
ma New Haven and Hartford, and got
on board the train. | felt irritated at
the treatment | had received, and hay
ing a constitutional objection to being
brow-beaten, 1 determined to ascertain
why the practice with regard to tickets
on this road was so unlike that upon
other roads. Having had time to re-
cover my equanimity somewhat after
the cars had started, and supposing the
conductor might be still angry and un-
reasonable, ] determined to put the
case to him, as one gentleman would to
another, and to exercise selfcontrol,
that my manner should be quiet and
give him no cause for offense. Accord
ingly, as he approached me in taking
up his tickets l said, "Mr. Conductor,
there is no use for you and me to quar-
rel about this ticket. This is plain
business matter, an affair of dollars and
cents only. The case stands like this !:
l am travelling nearly all the time; and
being frequently compelled to diverge
from the route that intended to take
in starting am left with unused cou-
pons. These coupons all cost me
money; and by the end of the year they
would accumulate to such an extent
that they would represent too large a
sum for me to lose" The conductor
replied, "That coupon is good from
New Haven to New York, but it is not
good from New York to New Haven.
My directors ordered ME three years
ago not to take such tickets, and l shall
not do it." then said, "My position
is this: l have paid this road certain
amount of money for certain amount
of service, whether my face is turned
east or west. You say this ticket is
good from New Haven to New York,
which is seventy-four miles; | think il
is good from New York to New Haven
which is also seventy-four miles; and
cannot understand the distinction which
you make" A gentleman who sat be-
| fore me remarked at this moment, " II
there is any meanness which has ever
been discovered upon railroad, it is
sure to be found upon this one, for it is
the meanest railroad ever laio out Of
doors" l replied, "If this is so hope
they will make an exception in my case
as all require are the common courte
sizes of the road and an equivalent fol-
my money" The conductor said, Z"
see you are all linked together to make
me trouble" And he went along. The
gentleman who had spoken to me re
| quested to see my coupon, and remark o
that he had never heard the question
raised before, and certainly had never
heard the case put in that way. He
further remarked that "whether it was
law or not, it was common sense" A
part of the Board of Trade delegation
of Boston was in the car, returning
from the Philadelphia Convention
Several of these gentlemen, who hao
become interested in the discussion, re
quested to see the coupon, and they
took the same view of the matter thai
l did, AS we were approaching Siam
ford the conductor again came to me
and said in very abrupt manner
Well, sir, how shall we settle this mat
ter ?" l said, =" Just as before there j.
the ticket, and 1 wish to go to New
| Haven; the circumstances have no
altered in the least" had determined
to take the matter quietly. The con
ductor saw that it was useless to attemp
to frlghten me by his imperious manner
and he then began to demonstrate, say
ing, "You have no business to max,
me disobey my directors and make M,
lose my place upon the road; l have t,
get my living in this way, and it is mea1
for you to do so.' This was a new as
pect of the case, and l replied, " Tha
is the only embarrassing question which
has arisen in this discussion. | have n,
quarrel with you, and l would not d,
you personal injury upon any consld
GRAFTON; but you and both have tray
eled long enough to know that thi
matter is wholly within your discretion
You can take this coupon and turn
| in at New Y ork, where you turn in you
other tickets, and no one will know
whether it is taken going east or goin
west, and no one will care" My mean
ing was that, as no injury was done, n
injury could be known. He took tn
remark the other way, and said in
sneering tone, evidently for the benef
of the other passengers, "You Nigh
just as well ask me to steal ten dollar
from the Company, because they woul,
not know it," | replied, "Theoret
cally, that may be true, but PRACTICAL
it is nonsense. You very we'll kno,
that l have no intention to defraud thi
road, but in order to relieve you Of a
! embarrassment about your position
will make you proposition. Here
my address, and these gentlemen kno'