Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-01-02
The Printing of Railroad Tickets.

There are few Industries OF such mag
nitude of which SO little is known as the
manufacture of these insigniicant-look-
ing paste-boards which you pay so
roundly for before taking ride in rail
road train or on q steamboat. In point
of extent the business is not much now
below that of the printing of the cur
rency of the realm, or the production OF
the various stamps of the General Gov
eminent, and equal care and vigilance
are necessary in an establishment where
S. and $40 bills are turned out and
where millions of dollars worth of rail
road tickets are printed every day. Both
demand the employment of men of wide
experience in their calling, and of the
very highest standards Of intellect and
integrity, and, above these, the utmost
vigilance is required to guard against a
possible temptation to appropriate for an
improper purpose even single one OF
the many millions Of tickets which are
handled by the various employees. Until
within the last few years the printing of
these tickets had been done in various
sections Of the country, each road pa
tronizing establishments in their respec-
tive vicinities or conveniently near their
different headquarters. The Western
roads, for instance, would have their
work done in Chicago, the New England
roads in Boston, Springfield, and New
York, and the roads on the Pacific slope
in San Francisco. AS the railroad bust
ness of the country advanced and be-
came perfected in organization, the sys-
tenn of one road issuing tickets OF the
coupon form over an indefinite number
of other roads became established, and
thus not only more tickets were required,
but there was at once demand for their
speedy and uniform printing.
About the first to observe this Few
source Of business and wealth was an
Englishman named George Bailey, who
is now recognized by his followers as the
pioneer railroad-ticket printer OF the
country. He commenced the business
Oh an extensive scale in Buffalo, in
about 1860, and a few years since retired
with an ample fortune. By making the
business a speciality he soon secured the
patronage ofnearly every railroad in this
section of the United States. He had
machinery and presses built exclusively
for this particular line of work, and. of
course, revolutionized the whole business,
much to the disgust and financial loss
of hundreds of other printers in distant
sections.
But the business was too growing and
promising to be long confined toa single
section, and, through the genius and
perseverance of an indomitable Yankee,
nearly one-half of the railroad ticket
business of the country has been secured
to Boston. Over 100 railroads are sup
piled with their tickets from Boston.
The number Of passengers which any
given road may carry during a year does
not by any means indicate the number
of tickets which that road consumes.
Forms are often renewed, and old issues
of thousands and thousands of tickets
destroyed without being used. Every
ticket Office, whether large or small, has
to keep on hand far greater number of
tickets than there is likely to be any call
for. Probably fifty tickets are printed
against every one that is sold. Thus, for
instance, if road like the Boston and
Albany carried 5000. 600 of passengers
in year, basis Of 100000, 900 tickets
would be required to keep all their offices
supplied.
AS before intimated, the presses and
machinery required are very complica-
ted and expensive. Ordinary printing
paraphernalia will not answer, for, be-
side printing the usual face Of the tick
ct, every one has to be numbered and
counted. This is all done automatically
by single impression, and common To-
cal tickets are thus turned out at rate
of not less than $4,000 per hour, and
coupon tickets at speed of about g, 600
per hour. The local tickets, after they
have come from the press, are again
counted by an ingeniously-contrived
machine, which never makes mistake,
and the coupon issues are counted by
girls. All this having been done, the
tickets are divided into packages OF 100
each, and when delivered to the roads a
receipt for the exact number is required.
Many roads from a distance telegraph
their orders in the morning, and in the
afternoon 100000 tickets are shipped in
response. During the excursion season
the establishment is often kept running
day and night. Herald.
NJ