St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-08-09
Men Who c. Always Sell Tickets
at Reduced Rates. Where Do
They Get Themf
a History of the Business and Sketch
of Some OF Its Lending
Opponents.


its brokers; Just as sharp ones rs are IN
Kansas City or indianapolis, the two tough
est Scaiping cities in America; with the eX-
ceptiOn of Chicago. which does not count
By reference to the records held by scalp
ers, the ticket brokerage business originated
at New York city in 1865, and was COM
menced by George Truman, who was clerk
at the AstOr house. He only bought and
sold tickets for short distances from New
York, and only bought these tickets from
travellers whom he knew. He
carried on his business until 1867.
and then sold out both his tickets and fran
chise to J. l.. Lansing. another hotel clerk.
who was more enterpriSing and carried on
the business more extensively. he, through
his untirimg and successful efforts 10 scalp
the travelling public, became wealthy. and
then allowed his brother, G.. G. Lansing. 10
scalp him. selling out his stock and shop 10
him in 1870. g. G. opened SNOWY office
in Broadway. ana has since done the big
geSt trade done by any broker in the United
States. He has never employed less than
five. and ND to fifty clerks the year round.
The next to follow WAS Max Schamberg Of
PittSburg. consul TO Hungary. He sprang
into the business in 1871, and is now a
banker. having retired wealthy in 1872. J.
b. Park of St. Louis jumped into the scalp
ing business from driving an express
wagon. and in a remarkably short time had
knocked the eye teeth out of travellers. cor
ralings enough dust to enable him TO live
retired lie in California.
THE NoBLEsT ROMAN.
But Of them all there is probably none
who is more extensively known than our
own Dave" Grammar, who is an eX-
scalper and is leading a retired life at Hotel
Ryan with his family. He commenced in
1872 i'm indianapolis, and continued there
until 1879. when the railroad companies
bought up the legislature with free passes
and had a law passed prohibiting
the buying and selling of railroad
tickets except by authorized agents of the
railroads in the state of Indiana. lie could
not buck against the law, and was shortly
heard of at Kansas City. where he did such
a business that he soon broke the Wabash
and that road was put in the hands OF a re-
ceiver. Shortly after he appeared in 81.
Paul and his record here is well known. In
1874 |. w. Klanck of Buffalo embarked
from peaceful, happy life, and with war
paint on and a tomahawk in his hand
commenced the business of buying and
selling tickets. and he made a great success
of it. Chicago was sized up in 1876 by
Chattfeld d Hill, who opened with great
pomp and had posters on every western
Union post in the city. Hill was dandy,
and sooner than have him bankrupt the
Chicago q Eastern Illinois, that company
made him IFS general passenger and ticket
agent. He was succeeded III the brokerage
business by George l.. Rhodes, who alike
proved so successful that the Rock Island
closed him out 10y making him its city pas
senger agent. Cincinnati first had scalper
i'm J. T. Warwick i'm 1875. George Mchen-
Zie opened at st. Louis in 1875; John Lohr
at LAFAYETTE. Ind, i'm 1877; q. l.. Marchand
at Louisville. KY. in 1877, and Charles
Kimball at Minneapolis in 1873. These are
the pioneer brokers of the United States.
In 1872 there were only six in the whole
country and to-day there are from $50 TO
400,
AND THEY ALL MAKE MONEY.
Who ever heard of scalper failing?
They work in such a way that the railroad
companies are almost bound to support
them. Some who commenced the business
? wear or two ago i'm st. Paul make SPLEEN
did display of diamonds. In St Panl there
are six scaping Offices.
The work of the scalpers and their clerks
i To prevent people from buying their
tickets az the authorized ticket offices and
sell nj their own Office tickets which are
quite often secondhand. They always
agree to sell at lower figure than that
charged hy the railway ticket agent and
they invariably do. The railroad compan-
les always allow them a certain commission
ON every ticket they sell over their
respective roads. and the scaiper. as an in
ducement for passengers to go 10y his route
divides his commission with his customer
ScalperS In ST. Paul have been known to be
30 generous as to give their Eastern com
mission to the passenger. As an inducement
for him to buy from them. When there Is
rate war the scalpers generally lay in =
large stock OF tickets at low price, and
when rates are restored they can make a
rate that surprises The general passenger
agents and the ticket agents of the roads.
They have broker friends at st. Louis.
Kansas City and Chicago and when they
haveno through tickets i'm stock tickets
reading to points beyond the places namedl
they g;ye the person letter oi Introduction
t. their agent in those places who furnishes
ticket through to destination.
The railroad companies persist in declar-
inv the scaipers nuisance aud an evil, but
tbav aDpear to be a necessary evil. for tie
first thing a railroad company looks out for
in ST. Paul is to have a good scalper-0ne
who can tell straightforward IN and down
warm without cracking Il smile. and have a
purchaser take il rs though IL was sugar
coated.
TIE PAYING on COMMISSIONS
to scalpers is being seriously considered by
all tne railroad c,,.ii i.s.i.c, 81 the cbantry.
and ii is very probable that commissions
will be abolished. Ii thiS happens the
scalpers will have Ia depend entirely on the
revenue received from tie profit on Scalped
tickets. This would have the effect of
driving a number ont Of business. as thede-
creased revenue would not support them
all. \ dozen years ago all tickets were un-
limited ones. When the railroad com
pames proposed limited tickets their
! effect was felt. as it prevented scaling al
/ local points. The unlimited ticket has a
/ number of coupons. any ore %;
which tire holder could deiach and
present 70 the conductor: hut the limited
prevents this. a the whole OF the ticket
! has to be presented 10 the conductor for
MASSAGE to destination. The old style nj
| tickets made Il a very easy thing e. COM
mence the brokerage business. but now
that the limit is short, fhe tickets are more
difficult to handle. Lately the railroad
companies have been using an irOn-clad
ticket. which requires the purchasers sig
nature when thc ticket is bought and
again the purchaser must sign in
presence of the agent of the connecting
line on his return trip. But this appears
TO be very unpopular method. and within
the past few months the system has been
almost abolished, and will in time be en-
tirely done away with, as now the lines
running from Chicago to st. Paul and the
lines from Kansas City To st. Paul are
selling round-tIip tourist tickets at a very
low rate, stamping them on the face, sig
nature and Identification not required. y
When the lines at Chicago and Kansas
City sell these tickets it is with a perfect