The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1881-01-26
The Printing OF Railroad Tickets.

There are few industries of such mag
nitude of which 30 little is known as tn
manufacture ofthese insigniti can't look
ing paste-boards which you pay g.
roundly for before taking a ride in a rail
road train or on a steamboat. In poin
of extent t. e business is not much nov
below that of the printing of tie cur
rency of the realm, or the production o
the various stamps of the general gov
eminent, and equal care and vigilenc
are necessary in an establishment wher
$5 and $40 bills are turned out ant
where millions o. dollars worth of raj.
road tickets are printed every day. Boil
demand the employment of men of wild,
experience in their calling, and of th'
very highest standards of intellect ant
integrity, and, above these, the utmos
vigilance is required to guard against s
possible temptation to appropriate Tor al
improper purpose even a single one o.
the many millions of tickets which art
handled by the various employees. Unit
within the last few years the printing o.
these tickets had been done in various
sections of the country, each road pat.
ronizing establishments in their respec'
tive vicinities or conveniently near theil
different headquarters. The Western
roads, for instance, would have their
work done in Chicago, the New Eng.
land roads in Boston, Springfield and
New York. and the roads on the Pacific
slope in San Francisco. As the railroad
business of the country advanced and
became perfect in organization, the sys.
tenn of one road issuing tickets of the
couron form over an indefinite number
of other roads became established, and
thus not only more tickets were required,
but there was at once a demand for their
speedy and uniform printing
About the first to observe this new
source Of business and wealth vas 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
on an extensive scale in Buffalo in about
1860, and a few years since retired with
an ample fortune. By making the bust
ness q specially he soon secured the
patronage of nearly every railroad in
this section of the United Stat 8. He
had machinery and presses built e1-
clusively for this particular line Of
work, and, of course, revolutionized
the whole busiLess, 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 to a single
section, and, through the genius and
perseverance of an indomitable Yankee,
nearly one-half of the railroad-ticket
business Of the company has been Sc
cured toGR0sSa. Over 100 railroads
are supplied with .ai- tickets from
Boston. The number of p~assengssg1
which any given road may carry duripDg
a year does not by any means indt-
cate the number OF tickets which
that road consumes. Forms are
often renewed and old issues Of
and thousands of tickets
destroyed without being used. Every
ticket office, whether large or small, has
TO keep on hand q 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, ifa road like the Boston and
carried 10000, 900 passengers in
q year, a basis of 500, 600, 600 tickets
be required to keep all their
offices supplied. :,
AS before intimated, the presses and
machinery required are very complicated
and expensive. Ordinary printing
paraphernalia will not answer, for, be.
side printing the usual face Of the ticket.
every one has to be numbered and
counted. This Is all dono automatically
By a single impression, and common 10
cal tickets are thus turned out at a rate
Of not less than $4,000 per hour, and
coupon tickets at a speed of about $500
per hour. The local tickets, after they
have come from the press, are again
counted by en- ingeniously-contrived
machine, which never makes a 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
D receipt for the exact number is re-
auired. Many roads from a distance
telegraph their orders in the morning,
and in the afternoon 500,0 00 tickets are
shipped in response. During the excur-
sion season the establishment is often
kept running day auo night boston
herald.