The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1873-11-01

Conductor and Vice.president,


years ago, the officers Of one of our princi
pal railroads had good reasons for believ
ing that some of the conductors upon
particular section of their roads were in
the habit of rendering inaccuratr returns
of}their receipts from "way passengers;
aud as they were unable to'fix the dcfnl
cation upon the particular individuals
Pinkerton was employed to investigate
the matter, and test the accuracy Of their
suspicious. For the execution of this
delicate service he selected sufficient
number of his best men to furnish four
for every car in 4 train one to be seated
'at each door and two in the centre of
the car, the latter facing to the front
and rear, SO as to see every person who
went in or out These mcti were direc
ted not to recognize each other, but TO
pay their fares, and otherwise deport
themselves like ordinary travellers
Each one was provided with pencil and
paper, and instructed to keep an accu
rate record Of every person that entered
or left the cars, noting the stations to
aud from which they Travelled, etc so
that fiat the end OF the trip III ,ir mites
were in accord, it would b, good cyi
dcnce of accuracy. In this manner the
major was enable |, in the course of
few days, to make a det lied report which
show, d conclusively that nearly every
con It ctor UPON the section of road un
der surveillance had b.en guilty Of
swindling. lie also ;:scertaiued that
one OF these deliuqlcnt- dw1,cd property
to Il large amaunt n Phjladci iph. Where
5upoa,as vas Informed, Colouei s.,
thcrics 'presileut sGnt for tho man; and
tie following dialogue ensucd:
'Mr,--, how long have you been en-
pole as conductor on our road?
About seven years, Sir.
'What.ray lsavoyou rccelvcd during
that tinie2
afFFstr'itt'I Sfhil'ES II year.
DO you ownthe house Nippon -
Street = 81 YaT fF"FN ~ = p --'g'' III
II do, .s;r.' t.as 81 y. 3 se8as'ete a.
Have you other prop rty in this
,ity"
~ Il have
What is its va'ue:'
"Well, Sir, cunt tell precisely, but
it is considerable
what estimate do yon place upon
your entirc assests? 2
"Some'hng like forty thousand dol
3ars.' Gr
" Were you the owner Of any portion
of this Iraper'y when you eaterel our
service 81 50 Eea
'Nota dollars vorth, sirp
YOtslave q family to support, 1 un
derstand 2
4 have wife and three children =
3 sR5ill yuu do me theaIavor to inform
me how you have been able, in seven
years to support your family and accl,
mplate fortune of forty thousand da.
lars upon a salary Of eight hundrcd.?
4 have not the .Slia htest objection to
answer your question, 7Colonol S.,
provided YOU will sufrcr me first to
a few pertinent interrosatories to
you.
Very well, Sir, I've no objections.
What are they"
will you, then be so kind as to
inform me how long you have been c,n
nected with the Railroadr
Something like ten years
What, allow me to ask has been your
salary during that time? I?
i suppose itsnay hayeayenscd about
$4,000 year. BS4
sYeu have q family toIsarPort, If l am
not nis,akep2' stREfsst
Yes, Sir ] have family"
If tits not an improper qnestio o,
Colonel S., will you suffer me to
ask what is the amount OF your for
tune" Is 'tt t7E
well. Sir, l don't know precisely bat
il is something handsome
Would you estimate 1t at half a mil
lion dollars, coloncl?'
Yes, | dare say j. is.'
That being the fact. Sir, if you will
do ne the favor to disclose to me the
secret Of the process by which you. in
ten years, nave been able to trans mute