Omaha daily bee., 1885-11-12
Spoilers AND CONDUCTORS.
Hswkahsws Who Capture Dishonest Knights
Of the Punch.
Great Corporations Arc De-
neutrality-suspicious. for Crook
cdncss Conductors Who soon
Get Rich and Then Retire.

neutrality-suspicious. for Crook
edncss Conductors Who soon
Get Rich and Then Retire.
New York Telegraph: There is
naturally a variety of practices rcSortcd
to by conductors ia order to defraud the
railroad companies. Among the most
primitive aud reckless proceedings is the
knocking down system pure and simple.
A passenger pays, for instance, u certain
fare, which Is pocketod by the conductor
without issuing any drawback or receipt
nor entering the fare on the Official
memorandum. 1t Il "spottcr" is i'll the
car the case is clear against our con-
ductor, and he will summarily bc called
TO account. But this rough way of doing
tho crooked work Involves generally too
great II risk and more subtle devices are
employed. A prudent conductor will al
ways inspect his passengers carefully,
and scrutini2e cvory face before he
ventures and hazardous operation
The fact is that he pridGs himself
on his supposed intuitivo faculty OF
being able to drop on any detective
no matter in what guisc he may travel,
and | have frequently seen entirely limo
Ntllt lFtSStl9tlS ulll'tROiuS NlV unl'itIN-
ant ordeal of being sized up by the con-
ductor, and the entire train crew. The
short fare racket IS worked on a big
scale all over the country, especially on
the far western roads, and many an ION
est granger cvinceS no conscientious
scruplcs to stand in with the conductor
in dC%fraud,ng the road of its legitimate
fare. The short" is rarely paid in tho
body of the car, and not likely either to
De accepted under such circumstances.
You must know the conductor, be
vOuChpd for, or convince him that you
arc all right. a shorter, takes generally
a stand on the rear platform after the
train has started, or he goes into the ca
booso for an unobscrved moment, to
hand the conductor all the way from
onc-fourth to two thirds of the regular
fare. The mileage books afford also Il
very good opportunity for crookcdness,
and it is, furthermore, u comparatively
safe scheme.
THE DRUMMER SAVES EXPENSE.
Commercial travellers as II rule are
quick ut taking advantage of this ingen-
iouS way of making an extra profit i'll
conjunction with the conductors. Hav-
ing their travelling expenses paid by the
firm, the manipulation is done in this
style: Tho drummer cultlvatcs the aC-
quIintanCe of the conductors, or vice
versa, and after mutual confidence has
been established a bargain Is made to the
effect that Whenever n drummer pre-
scnts his mileage boob and gives his des-
tination, tho conductor will only detaCh
coupons for u quarter or half the dis.
lance, and divides the ensuing profit
with the passenger, who OF course is
charging allowances for the full amount
of mileage to the firm he represents.
There is, however, some disadvantage TO
this confcdcracy with g%arrulous drum
hnt.l md tla ,.lnN f,N-N-,l Ar tl,n hngt
SharpGrS is tho fraudulent punch.
Concerning this trick it might not be
amiss to say Il word or two about the
railway ticket brokers us bearing direct
ly upon the subject. Tho methods
through which the members of this fra
ternity always are in IL position to supply
the public with tickets at cut-rates APP
pears quite p~erplcXing to the mind OF the
uninitiatrd; but rs II substitute for an eN-
planation the question might be pro-
pounded: Why do conductors OCCASION
ally perform 4 sham punching and thus
secure u private stock OF unCancellei
tickets? Or course it would be prepoS-
ferrous to assert that the scalpers obtain
II bigger part of their tickets from this
source, although Il number Of eases are
on record in which the uncancelled tick
cts have been traced by detectives TO the
broker shops and the guilty conductors
shown up. might still go on quoting
various other schemes reSorted to by dis
honest employees, but you will already
understand the game and see how vigil
ant q spotter, must be TO keep track
of the conductor and his opera
tons. During the early part OF last
year IL golden harvest, about the finest
in the annals OF western railway history,
was made by the conductors on the
Rocky Mountain and Idaho division OF
the Northern Pacific. That whole sec,
ton of the country had become infected
with gold fever on hearing OF the alleged
rich discoveries made in the Cuur
d. Alene mining camp. The affair was Il
gigantic fraud so far as the claimed pros.
poets for placer mining and surface dig
ging is concerned, and it is an open Sc
cret that the directors of the Northern
Pacific made use OF the most unscrupu-
lOus methods in booming" the mines
that they might fleece the poor dupes
who rushed into the camp. In the official
statement it appears that something like
IL million dollars was cleared by the road
on the shameless humbug, and the prof
its would have been much larger ii the
conductors had faithfully turned in all
the big cash fares they received. 1t is
automatically reported that several con
ductors knocked down as much
average; this sum seems incrodulously
large, but h you must bear in mind
that travelling in those regions is very
expensive, y and 10 cents per mile being
the rate, and on distances OF many hun
dred miles zach fare will o run up to
$40, SjO and $50. A gang of detectives
were started on the road to check the
amount of passenger traffic, and it be-
came very soon evident that almost every
employee mad gone in for his share of the
plumber, The most Successful conductors
during the boom have subsequently en-.
gagged in hotel Keeping, liquor business,
or figure prominently rs gambling house
proprietors and managers OF typical
western dives. An e~X-cOnductOr runs Il
big saloon ut present in Helena, Montana,
aud there Is II well. founded rumor uilOat
that he drew II deposit of sli,00J from
the bank ON the day ho received notilica-
tion OF his discharge.
THE SiOrrER AT Ills OCCUPATION.
Let me first Of all assure You that the
life of Il railway detective is not II very
enyiablG one, He is hired o. the eN.
press condition that instructions, how.
ever rcpulsiyu tx his character, must be
strictly complied with. Furthermore, he
has no abiding place whatever; the inter
est of the service requires II continuous
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