Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-05-12
GETTING FREE PASSES.
tricks which Are PLAYED on Railroad
officials by All Sorts of People.

road official yesterday. "The varieties OF
railroad deadheads are almost as numer-
Gus as the varieties Of roses. Passes are
asked for upon any and every possible
pretext, by people of all classes and &C.
equations. First of all there is the cleri-
cal deadhead. Tickets to ministers are
always sold at halt rates. but not salts
fed with this sweeping reduction many OF
these good men ask, and even demand, a
free pass. If refused they give the rail-
road man look which says more plainly
than words that they regard him as a
prosecutor OF the saints. School teachers
expect passes because they are disinter-
estedlv devoting themselves to the i'm
provement OF the human race by educat-
ing its young, and actors and theatrical
performers of all kinds think that their
furnishing the world with amusement
gives them direct claim for tree railroad
transportation. Sporting men who have
achieved distinction, such as shoulder
hitters, oarsmen, pedestrians, ETC., al
ways expect to be passed, as do also
strong-minded females who are laboring
to emancipa;e their sex from its thraldom
TO the tryant man. Hotel and saloon
keepers demand passes because they feed
the hungry and give drink to the thirsty,
while owners and drivers OF fast horses
claim them on the ground that as their
business deals with lOcomOtion it is sort
of twin-sster to raiTOading. Add to
these legislators, councilmen, ballct-boX
suffers, election strikers, heelers, round
ers and repeaters, government and muni-
cipal officers and small-fry politicians, of
every shade of color and degree OF serVi-
tude, and you have partial list of class
deadheads.
SOME OTHER DEADHEADS,
'EThe individual varieties Of deadheads
are legion. There is the widow, whose
husband was killed in the employ of some
railroad in Kamschatka, who wants a
pass to some point in the far West, and
is their anything she can do to show her
gratitude in Salt Lake City? The man
who has been robbed of his through ticket
and all his money and wants a pass to
New York is very frequent and
annoying, while the lady who
only bought ticket to Philadelphia, be-
cause she expected to meet her husband
here but didn't and would like to have
you pass her to Chicago just this once
is more prevalent than skating Kinks.
Then there are the dude, who is nephew
Of Colonel somebody or other, former
officer of the company, who wants pass
on account of his family name, and the
young man who has been offered
splendid situation in San Francisco and
who will send the money for his fare the
moment he earns 1t after arriving there if
you'll only give a pass. If the demands OF
all these people were complied with every
railroad tram from Maine to California
would be fl led with deadheads and every
railroad in. the country would be bank
rupt in six months"
sPECULATING IN PASSES.
care not passes often sold by those to
whom they are givenW
VERY often. A great number of them
fall INFO the hands of ticket-scalpers or
spectators. and are sold again by them at
much less than the regular rate of fare"
''How is the scheme OperatedE'
''Well. say a man wants to go from
here to Pittsburg. He gets a pass to
Chicago, with the privilege of stopping of
IN the former city, and when he gets there
he sells the PASS, good for the rest of the
trip, TO Some ticket speculatOr at rate
which enables him to sell it again at a
handsome margin of profit; or, intending
to remain permanently in Pittsburg, be
gets a pass to that city and return, and on
arriving there sells 1t to some one bound
for Philadelphia"
'sThese passes are not transferable?'
'EOf course not; but what difference
does that make? The conductors to whom
they are rendered dOnot know the persons
play them All that is necessary to travel
without difficulty on purchased or bor-
rowed pass is plenty of self-possessiOn
and assurance, or what is vulgarly call d
gall aud the amount of 1t that is some
times displayed in this connection is as
tOnishing even at the present day.
"A few years ago, when | was a con-
ducfor, ] was handed pass one day by a
tall, raw-boncd, down East Yankee, ac-
compaDicd by short, fat German, who
could rot have been more than eight or
ten years hi- Junior at most, and who was
gifted with a singularly rich TeutOnic ac-
cent. which formed a most amusing con-
trast to the nasal twang Of the down.
Easter. The pass was made out to Patrick
McGuinness and son.
"'Are you Patrick McGuinnessP asked
the Yankee.
"'Wall, neighbor, reckon L be- was
the response.
"'But you do not seem like an Irish
man.
"'Wall, you see the head Of our family
came over in the 'MayfOwer an [ cal
kilate the Irish is pretty well out of us by
this time.'
"Is this person your sonY I asked,
pointing to the German.
81 guess he is
"'How is it that he has such strong
German accentY
"'Wall. you see, neighbOr, he's been
away to school in Germany ever since he
was little chap, an Pm blest il he haint
cen a most forgot how TO talk English
sit was useless to ask any more ques-
tiOns, for the Yankee was so perfectly
cool and nOnchalant that | saw it would
be impossible TO make him wayer in his
story. and passed Patrick McGuinness
and Som without further comment.
'At another time an e'egantly-dressed
gentleman and lady, evidently husband
and wife, rendered me a pass made out TO
Mr.. and Mrs. J. G. Dewhurst, but the
gentleman had a large gold w on each Of
bis sleeve buttons and the lady's caba bore
the same initial. From the look OF calm
assurance on their faces | knew it would
be useless TO raise any objection to this
incongruity, for had no doubt that they
would both have made affidavit, Il neces-
sary, that w stood for Dewhurst."
TICKET sCALPERs.
'Is IL upon the purchase and sale Of
passes that ticket scalpers principally
rely for profit"
''No, indeed. The fact is that the law
against ticket broking is practically n