National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-07-25
SHOWING THE QUEER.
working on bad Money on tho Poor
Stage Comprehension Making a
Living that Way.


Stage Comprehension Making
Living that Way.
NeO FORK Herald.
"No-yer--don't," said q stage driver
on Broadway yesterday as he shook his
head emphatically at some one on tho
sidewalk and whipped up his horses.
Don't what" asked Herald reporter,
who was riding on tho top Of the vehicle
beside him.
"Don't get into this stago-I know
him." answered the driver, and half turn
ing In his scat no scowlod aud shook his
whip ut a tall man with silk hat and
white duck vost, who stood on the curb
stone, making vigorous signs for tho stage
TO stop.
whats tho matter with him-won't
he pay his fare~
"Oh, yes, no pays his own fare quick
enough, and he pays everybody else's fare
-thore's where trouble come in ~ said the
driver, with "a sarcastic grimace and SOW
oral peculiar mods of the head.
"Y'scc," he finally explained, cts all
booos Of thom faro boxes the company put
in the stages about ten years ago. They
thought We drivers wasn't honest enough
TO collect the fares ourselves, 30 they stuck
up them boxes ON tho front end OF tho
stages, expectin' everybody would put in
their five conts themselves"
And they do, don't they p asked tho
reporter.
"oh, yes, they do, but guess about a
| quarter of tho nickels and half dimes that
goes into tho boxes is either punched
| mutilatcd, or counterfeit 49, specially
counterfeit. Y'seo thatP aud no put his
hand on q small, square peno Of glass
which formed the roof Of o low, funnel
| like projection through the roof of the
stage Just behind him. That's tho TOP
/ of the fare box below. Tho bottom of tho
| box 10 about two foot down. Now. 1t
takes q mau with eyes like o double
barrld telescope to squirt down through
that glass to tho bottom Of the box aud
tell whetherS nickel OF u half dime has "a
| hole in IL or'S counterfeit, We can't do
| II and manage our horses, specially ut
night or when the weather Is at all
cloudy. Tho people has tumblod to that
fact at last, and tho way respectable mon
aud women will fire all their bad coin into
our faro boxes is perfectly astonishing
Why, sometimes u quarter of the fares on
a trip ii DO found TO DO bad when they
are taken out at tho office. But it amt
the companies boin' SO fresh and tryin' to
git ahead of us drivers, who never stole
half what's lost nowadays In the way Pin
just after telling you Of"
"Then if 1t is nothip~ to you, why
didn't you let that man with tho white
vest got in minute agoW asked the
reporter.
'Oh! hos regular crook that's been
bOthorin' us lot lately. He'll git in and
sit close up next to the box with pocket
full of counterfeit nickels and half dimes.
Then, when any one passes up thoir fares
he puts into the box ono of his own bogus
coins which he's holding in his hand, and
keeps tho good ono. / noticed about
three weeks ago that on tho trips ho rode
in the stage there was about twice as
much bad coin found in the box when II
was opened at tho Office as thore ought Ia
be, and as they began to kick about it
lust slide past that fellow when l SEQ him
now. Have him arrested No, sir. That
amt my business. | amt spotter fol
tho company--Im driver. that's what
am"
Tho reporter wont to tho Offices Of the
three lines of Broadway stages, and made
inquiries to tho truth of tho drivers
statements. They were not denied, but
no one in authority would say anything
on the subject.
They don't want to confess how much
they're losing" thoy reporter was told
, conhdentially by clerk In the ofIlco o.
. the South Ferry line. but its larg,
: amount. 1t seems US If all tho spuriod
: small coin in tho United States was col
lected by New York people to use wher
! they ride In stages and In the tailot
cars, which, having tho Same system o
: faro boxes, suffer almost as much as the
} stages.
"Thero must be change soon. Either
the drivers will DO again allowed to col
lect tho fares, in which case they could a
once detect counterfeit piece by the
feel, or else some now system Of automatic
collection will have to be adopted, for tn
companies can't stand this delugo o
damaged and spurious coins much longer.