Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1873-10-23

Alta certain period. some six or eich
years ago. the officers of one Of our prin
eipal railroads had coed reasons for be
liesing that some of the conductors upo,
particular section Of their road were i,
the habit Of rendering inaccurate return
OF their receipts from 'way-passengers;
and as they were unable to tx the defal
cation upon the particular individuals
: Pinkerton was employed to investigate th,
matter. and test the accuracy Of thei
suspicious. For the execution Of thi
delicate service he selected suficien
number Of his best men 70 furnish fou
for every car in train, one 70 be seated
at each door and two in the centre Of III,
car. the latter facing to the front sud real
50 as to see every person who went in ol
out. These men were directed not 4
recognize each other, but to paw thei
fares. aud otherwise dcport themselve.
like ordinary travellers. Each one wa.
provided with pencil aud paper. and in.
structed to keep an accurate record O
every person tha. entered or left the cars
noting the stations to and from which
they travelled. etc., so that il at the end
Of the trip their notes were in accord, i,
would be good evidence of accuracy. In
this manner the major was enabled, in the
course of few days, to make detailed
report which showed copclusively tha,
nearly every conductor upon the section
of road under surveillance had been guilty
of swindling. lie also ascertained tha,
one of these deliuqueuts owned property
to large amount in philadelphia
Whereupon. as was informed, Col. s.,
the vice president. sent for the man, and
the following dialogue ensucd:
'Mr. -, how long have you been
employed as conductor on our road 2
About seven years, Sir
What pay have you received during
that time 7
Eight hundred dollars a year.
DO you own the house No. - upon
Street
i do, Sir
Have you other property in this city ?
i have
what is its value 2
We'll. Sir, ! can't tell precisely, but i,
| Is considerable
What estimate do you place upon your
entire assets?'
Something like forty thousand dol
lars
Were you the owner of any portion
of this property when you entered our SER
vice ?
Not dollars worth, Sir
You have family to support, I under
stand 2
Il have wife and three children
will you do me the favor to inform me
how you have been able in seven years to
support your family and accumulate fo1-
tune of forty thousand dollars upon sala-
ry Of eight hundred ?
Il have not the slightest objection to
answer your question, Colonel s.,
provided you viii. suffer me first to pro-
pound few pertinent interroga.ories to
you
Very we'll. Sir. I've no objections.
What are theyT
viii you. then, be so kind as to in
form me how long you have been connec-
ted with the - Railroad 2
Something like ten years
What. allow me to ask, has been your
salary during that timer
i suppose it may have averaged about
$4,000 year.
You have family to support, if I am
not mistaken 2
Yes. Sir. have family
If it is not an improper question, Col
oncl S, will you suffer me to ask what
is the amount of your fortune 2
We'll, Sir, l don't know precisely, but
it is something handsome
Would you estimate it at half q mil
lion dollars, Colonel Z
Yes. dare say it is
That being the fact, Sir, If you will
do me the favor to disclose to me the Sc
cret of the process by which you in ten
years have been able to transmute $50,
900 into ten times that amount, withou,
any visible means outside your salary. |
will most cheerfully tell you how | have
managed. by turning an honest penny
now and then, to amass the comparatively
insignificant. amount | have named
That is all very we'll, replied the i'm
pcrsurbable vice-prcsident. but you seem
to have forgotten that there is a sligh,
difference between your status and mine
upon the - Railroad, in that you are
responsible to me for stealing the compa.
ny's money. whereas am no. accountable
to you for my transactions. In view o.
this fact. ii now becomes my duty to in
form you that your services are NO lonse,
required upon our road
The facesious conductor probable an.
ticipa.ed this result, and with his char.
acteristic coolness remarked: In that
event, Sir, it may at some future time be-
come necessary for me to seek employ.
men. EPon another read. Would j, b,
asking too much for you to give me let
ter setting forth your estimate of my
ability to perform the duties Of conduc'
tor 2
If you desire it. certainly have M
objections to giving you . testimonial t.
the effec. that look upon you as the mos
unscrnpulous aud unb,ushing knave tha
ever disgracsd the catalogue of our en-
ployees. aud that any company havins
anything to do with you will be morally
certain to be robbed. ed.'-From .Detee,iv,
Piukertou.' BY Gen. Il. B. Marcy, il
Harress Magazine for October.