Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-11-29
TRANSPORTATION NOTES
Trouble With the sca1pers.


There was more trouble with the scalp
ers and the railroads yesterday, and what
Is more 1t was of more serious character
than the railroads were willing to admit.
1t must be borne in mind that nearly
year ago the managers of the Chicago,
Milwaukee st. Paul, the Albert Lea
route, and the Chicago, st. Paul d Omaha
reads entered into an agreement fixing the
passenger rates between ST. Paul and Chi
cago, and agreed to abide by them. Sub
sequently the local ticket agents en-
tered into an agreement between
themselves here in st. Paul,
to maintain the rates agreed upon, and
liking local penalties .or violations of the
terms of the agreement. From the time
of the making of the local agreement to
the present time charges have been made
that tickets were being sold through the
connlvance of the roads, at less rate
than the one prescribed by the agreement.
or course this was denied by all the roads
and still the selling of cut rate tickets
went right on. Several convictions fol-
lowed, but that made no difference. The
sculduggery went on until it got to point
yesterday when it had to be stopped or
controlled, or an open rupture would fol-
low.
The scalpers were openly selling, with
out even the pretense Or appearance of
conceaiment, cut rate tickets to Chicago
and st. Louis. Not only were they doing
this but they were making boast of it.
In the meantime Milford. ticket broker
that has been in the agreement, gave no
tlce to the ticket agents that be desired to
Withdraw from the agreement. When he
went into the agreement he put up $50 in
accordance with tbs terms of it, as a for
felt or sum to be drawn against if he
committed any violation, The notice is q
five day notice and will expire on the LIST
of December; Yesterday complaint was
made against Milford for selling at cut
rate, and on trial yesterday afternoon he
was found guilty and sentenced to pay
twice the price of the ticket. MIR. Null
ford declares that he did not sell for less
than the schedule price, and that when
the five days no tice expires he will call
upon the ASSOCIATION for the $50 that he
deposited and if it is not forthcoming
and paid over to him he
will take the matter into the
courts and test it. He estimates that when
the case gets into the courts there will be
some Developments that will not smell
very sayory and which will show the rail-
roads up in curious light. He declares
that all the railroads running east from St.
Paul have been cutting rates right straight
along, and that rate cutting has come to
be very common thing indeed, and that
the reason he quit the association is that
the railroads are loading up the scalpers
that are outside the. association with tickets
at reduced rates, so that there is more
money outside than there is in. This
being the case he concluded to take his
chances with the boys on the curb. lie
therefore will go out.
Mr.. Whitaker, the local ticket agent of
the Albert Lea route, hearing of the low
rate at which the scalpers were selling
tickets, sent out and bought considerable
number of tickets at reduced rates to Chi
cago and st. Louis. Some of the tickets
to Chicago were bought as low as $3.50.
Mr.. Whitaker declared yesterday thai he
was maintaining regular rates, but that all
the tickets he bought, about twenty, were
over the other two routes. He could not
say however, whether those roads sold the
tickets at less than schedule rates, OF
whether the scalpers bought them of the
railroads for full rates, and sold them for
less than they paid for them, thus making
to the public kind of present What
puzzles people is to know how the scalpers
who have no money to throw away, can
live by paying SO. 90 for a ticket to Chi
cago and selling it for $3.50, and Mr.. Null
ford does not hesitate to say that the
scalpers do not lose this at all, but that the
railroads furnish them the tickets at such
g rate that they can afford to sell and make
money at that price.