The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-11-10
THE LirEsr DErIoE or SHIPPERS.
Has tho Country been Flooded with Counter
felt Railroad 1Icketsf

A small. thin man with a red face and a
red moustachc called on Mr.. George ". Sea
man. Jr.. ticket broker. at his oficc in the
Metropolitan Hotel on Friday morning. He
said he came from Boston. whore he had
bought through ticket to ~. Louis over the
New York. Lake Erie and Western Railroad.
issued by the Boston and Albany Railroad Com
pany lut. having used 1t as far as New York.
be wanted to sell the rest Of It. The price he
demanded was low. and Mr. Seaman paid him
tho money and tossed the ticket into a drawer.
After the thin man had gone out Mr.. Seaman
began 60 think il very strange that tho Boston
and Albany Company shout issue Tickets over
the Now York Like Eric and Western Rnil-
rlad formerly known ~ the Eric Railway.
when IT WIS. acroriing 70 general rrputc at
lsa-'. m ally Of tho New York Central rnnd
Then he looHed nj the ticket AGAIN and IL nc-
Cured tn him that there wis something suspi-
cious about the FORM which was Il. o. H..
usually consists Of n number and one
letter. The signature 81 j. VI. Grigcs,
hany Railroad COMPANY with which he wa nc-
qusintel. seemed 10 b" genuine. hut he know
that It W.. Grig-s'- custom Ia have his siann-
ture On III. contract part only Of the tickets
issued by him while on the ticket lust pur-
chased the signature appeared on en'h Of tho
nuns mind WIS that he knew Mr.. Griggs gen
orally used blue paper while this ticket WINS Of
white paper, He put the ticket back in its place
ana went 10 y i~ uptown NUlrN. IN the llifn AVE.
nuc Hotel. Thcrc he learned that smnll thin
man. with red face and - red mous'a'he. had
Just gone out after having tried to sell two
tickets from Now York 90 ~. Ipnis. lie had
represented that hcund his brother Intended 10
20 10 ~. nuis hy wny. ~ the New York. Lake
Erie and Western rpRd but Tint having come
from Boston 10 New YORK his brother fell sick.
and they were obi god To return. Tho young
man - whom the stranger had offered the tick .
ITS fused TO buy them III his employers nb-
This news startled Mr.. seaman. and he at
oncn telographcd To- Mr.. Grigrs what had oc-
Cured. together with britt description Of the
tickets. He soon received the following reply:
TIL tickets rccrr,d 90 90, countc fcit W have no
placed IN the rombs NJ Gnea,
At an early business hour yesterday morning
Mr. seaman communicated his discovery Ia
York. Lake Fri" and Western Railroad Com
pauy. Mr. Abbott teleEraphed instructions 10
all conductors on tho line to look out for the
new countcricits, and then telngrnphcd 10 Mr..
Griggs. suggesting that he ought 10 inform
other railroad com panieS OF the Nistcncc OF the
countrriehs. The reason for this is that 1t
Erie ARE the only ones that have been counter
ieited. several other ticket brokers were vic
timizrd on Friday with tickets Of the same kind
ms those offered 20 MIR. seaman. The supposi
ton il that. ~ no countrrfclters could AFFORD
to produce close imitation Of n ticket for the
profits they would make in selling il In one city
alone large number Of tickets have been
made; TO be simultaneously put upon the mar
ket al over th"country. 1t Is this aspect OF the
case that troubles the railroad men.
On the contract part of the counterfeit ticket
are tue words. Boston to st. Louis On each
OF tho coupons nre the words. " To he used
before Jan. l. 1879" and the name Of J. NJ.
Griggs. The ticket numbers OF all the coun-
terfrlts put or boy the rogucs in this city are in
the neiehborhood of l2l The coupons Of the
counterfeit are marked respectively New
York t" Jsrsey Ciyy; Jersey q,iy to .!SGallla -
cinnnti to 81. Louis" The bottom OF the last
coupon shows a ragged edge. rs though tho
coupon had hcrn torn Of The price Of a
ticket from New York to ST Louis is s24 %.
The countcrieiis were offered and sold at prices
NnrYImg from 81 ID SIS.