Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1882-05-20
A Conductors Confession.

prised to hear that he had been dis
charged. 81 i Ii .4faea als 81 i
/ "Yes,v he said, G the old man side
tracked me-" 1''''s 't.'..''.t & {
"What f0rir
i "WelL suppose he thought Ihad
too much money"
"Yours or his % And he laughed.
sTou remember | began working
for the X. @. road in 1866, at the
close of the war; From $50 a month
| was gradually raised to 500. The
other day the old man. 1.-THE super
lintendent) found out that | owned
and was paying taxes on $4,000 or
$4,000 worth of property. So he
kicked. He offered to keep me if /
would 'restitute,' but | said | guess
ed I had railroaded about long
enough
elbow did you save all that money
in fifteen years from salary of 5000
increased gradually to 81, 200 a
year," And he laughed again.
GAS I'm out of the business now
and kind o. like railroad companies,
/ don't mind explaining the conun-
drum. I'll hold up my hand, though,
and swear / always accounted for
every passenger ever carried. But
1 watered 'm--watered the company
like its directors water the stock.
And I did it in this way You see,
every year the president and general
issue an unlimited number Of annual
passes. Some of these are in ex-
change with other railroads, but
most oftkem are to the high-cock-a-
forums, congressman and members
Of the Legislature. I always made
it my business when one of these
4 fellows took my train to pipe him
off'-that is, get in conversation
with him, find out where he
lived and what his business was.
You know passengers always like
civil treatment from a conductor; it
seems odd like. With this acquaint-
4anco used hiin.'' e
4 Used him ~
eyes, used him. Knowing about
how often his business required him
to travel, / travelled for him. Do yon
catch ons When he didn't travel l
just deducted that much from my
cash receipts and credited the an
nual hummer with one trip. My
division cash fare was little less
than 81, and it was poor run for
me if didn't turn intwo or three old
DIFFERS
"Ah, 1 see. You robbed Peter to
pay Paul"
"No, l robbed the annual pass
holder to pay myself. But my best
hold was in catching the passholder
who wanted to rob the company.
There's where [ made the most of my
money. You see, the average men,
Der of the Legislature not only thinks
the company should carry him free,
but all his friends. So he loans his
pass to Tom, Dick and Harry, his
neighbors. | made it my business
to identify every legislative pass
holder. Every two or three weeks
man would get Gu my train and
show up that pass. | would give
him his check, go on through the
train, do my work, and then come
back and sit down by him. l would
say, LET me look at your pass
again p He would hand it out. /
would then turn to my memorandum
book and read: 'Archimedes Shrub
endike, tall dark hair, thirty years
old; annual, O197.' Then l would
turn to the rooster and say: why,
you're not Archimedes Skrubendike;
you've no right to ride on this pass.
Read the conditions OH the back
Not transferable And then the fell
low would go all to pieces. He would
beg, and plead, and offer topay fare,
but | was too fly. When / had him
bad enough scared, l would say:
sTm sorry, and hope this thing will
never occur again. Now, I'll tell you
what I'll do, rllnot take up this pass,
as | am instructed to do, for Shrub
endike is a good friend of the rail-
roads, and l wouldn't have him get
into trouble for anything in the
world. You give me $40 and / will
let you keep the pass to give back to
him, only you must promise neverto
tell him you got caught And the
fellow would snatch out $40 quicker
N wink. It's an honest fact, in
one year worked old Skrubendike
for more'n $500.
There is wealthy brewer in
Montreal who built church, and
inscribed on it, This church was
erected by Thomas Nelson, at his
H,oIu ... TIol,, g.