Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-12-28
TRICKS OF TEE SCALPEIsS.
Altering Limited Tickets of the Rail-
reads 10 Make TheEs Saiabie.

Altering Limited Tickets of the Rail.
reads 10 Make I'nens SaiabEe.
From the n. Y. Times.
The Pennsylvania Railroad authorities have
issued general order to their conductors re-
quiring them to carefully examine all tickets
presented by travellers and if any altered or
counterfeit tickets are presented instructing
them to take UP such tickets and collect from
the holders the full local tariff This order is
issued because the ticket scalpers have 10y very
ingenious methods managed to alter and con-
sderably extend the time for which limited
tickets have been issued. That any other of the
trunk lines have been imposed upon by the
ticket scapers does not as yet appear. but when
the trick has been successfully played upon one
road it will in ali probability Toe tried upon others
The limited tickets. upon which the frauds
which it is being attempted both to de
tect and correct are being practced. are
tickets which must be used within Ger
tain specified days. Upon their margin are
printed figures from to 81 inclusive, represent
ing the days of the month. There are ALSO
printed the months OF the year and figures
| presenting the year, 1881. 1892. 1888. &c. When
| a purchaser obtains one OF these tickets the
month"; day of the month, and year in which it
is good is punched out and the date of sale
! stamped on the back. Such tickets. by these
marks, are made good for only the time in which
1t may be necessary to make the trip. and they
are sold at a reduced rate the purchaser having
no right to stop OH at any station but the to
which his ticket will carry him. The way in
which the scalpers of whom the PENNSYLVANIA
road are now complaining change the ticket is
ths:-A passenger in collision with them buys
a limited ticket, say from New York to ST
Louis. He rides on this ticket as far as Pitts
burg, and then sells his ticket to the scaper
who, II he can, disposes OF it at once to some
customer who can use Ii and get to st. Louis be-
fore the time indicated on the ticket has expired
If. however, the scalper cannot SO dispose of it,
and finds the ticket his hands and liable to
be a loss, he has punch made exactly like the
one used at the office in this city when the ticket
was sold. suppose the ticket to be good until
December 20, 1881, he cuts from the margin the
words January" and ..1SS2,'' and the pieces
thus clipped out deity inserts in the holes orig
lnaily clipped. and does it SO cleverly that it re-
CURES the closest scrutiny To detect the fraud
The ticket, after such manipulation. is good un-
I'll January - 1882, unless the fraud is detected
and the altered ticket taken up. This is the
principal method employed by the diSreputabe
among the ticket scalpers or brokers. for there
are but few men engaged in this business. most
of the brokers tranSacting their business in an
honest way. 1t is to break up this practice and
other methods Of alteration employed that the
order referred to has been issued. As all the
other trunk lines use the same kind OF tickets.
there is a probability that the same system of
deception will be attempted, or has been prac-
tlced, upon them. and similar steps will iii all
probability be taken to break up the fraud.
The New York Central road people have a
safeguard from the work of the scalperS on
tiltii IoN-lare rebate tickets Dy compelling the
purchaser to sign the rebate draft at the time OF
purchase and again when he gets his money for
the draft These tickets of no value for
speculative purposes with the scalpers for the
average traveller is not clever enough to be able
to successfully forge the signature of the orig
lnai purchaser and obtain the rebate. Occ;-
slonally, however these tickets fall into the
hands OF the Scalpers. and then the unfortunate
purchaser who attempts to initiate the sigma
ture OF the original holder gets beaten. and the
company is the winner by the operation to the
amount of the rebate, usually from 81 to Sl1.
Several attempts to secure rebates on tickets of
this class purchased from scalpers have been
made in this city, and they have proved
natures. but no prosecutions for forgery have
resulted, presumably because the company is
the gamer by all such operations. In some in
stances people who purchase these low rate
limited tickets claim that they are unable to
write and refuse to do anything but make their
marx. Many OF these are persons whom the
uchet-sellers are morally sure are person able to
write If they choose. and in all such cases writ
ten descriptions ofthe parties buying are made
on the back of the rebate draft, and thus this
valuable blt of paper is made yalueless to any one
Dut man VINO answers the recorded descriD-
tion The wOuid-be assistant to the scalper is
mus IOiled In his attempt to obtain transporta-
tion TO point where there is no competition at
less than the local tariff. Unlimited tickets
over the various roads are Of no value to the
scalpers for the reason that they are sold at a
inquire which will not permit of their being sold
Dy the purchaser and then resold so that the /,
scaiper can make any money.