The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-08-02
RAILWAY TICKETS AT CUT RATES.
The Growth OF the brokerage System
Since It's Organization.
trom the Nelo York Graphic.

0AltS LIS NJ S 114lEt1bAOI'
From the Ne,o York Graphic.
1.-The business of railway ticket broker
age" said Broadway dealer yesterday, sis
one of the greatest conveniences offered the
travelling public, and one they esteem the
least. 1t began about sixteen years ago
and sprang at once into deserved proml-
nence.
"Up to that time there was really no
means by which a man could get any fair
price for an unused ticket. True, leading
hotels were frequently importuned to pur-
chase unexpired tickets at a discount,
They did so until the business grew into
such proportions that they were unable to
handle it. The establishment of railroad
ticket offices in hotels, however, did not
solve the difficulty, for while they were
always willing to sell, they never bought a
ticket back from a dissatisfied pur-
chaser. The result was that the
railroad ticket agency disappeared from
the hotel, and the travelling public were
left to their own devices and the tender
mercies OF the clerks. About this time G..
G. Lansing bearer of the hotel diamond in
Earles hotel on Canal street, abandoned
his lucrative employment and established a
regular agency for the purchase and sale of
railroad tickets. His example was followed
by Weller & Schaumberg of Pittsburg,
Dorsey of Bal imore, Meader of Cincinnati,
milford of Chicago, and Carney Of St.
Louis. The business grew into the good
graces of the people 81 WHY at first, but
after the impetus of travel to and from the
centennial exposition we were recognized
as a public necessity. The railroads fought
us for a time, but of late years they have
given it up for bad job, as we are now
firmly established in all the leading cities
of the union, and have a thorough organ
ization, banded to resist all encroachments.
To the early opposition on the part CT the
rail- Dads may be attributed much OF the
prejudice existing against our business with
the misinformed public. Many suppose that
we have special line of the tickets with
out stopping to consider that such tickets
would not be worth the bits of pasteboard
on which they are printed. Now, IA matter
of fact, there are no 'scalpers' tickets.
We handle the regular tickets of the road
Anything else would be counterfeit"
"How do you obtain these ticketsm
1--WE buy most of them direct from the
roads. 1t is a cash business strictly, SO that
many roads prefer to unload tickets in large
quantities for the ready rhino, and thus
forestall the competition of weather. lines
This has been the steady policy of the
weaker roads until all have fallen into line,
with the exception of the Pennsylvania
Central, and treat us like wholesale custo-
mers. That is, place the tickets in our
hands at such rates that we can make a liv-
ing profit. Our original source of supply
was from dissatisfied tourists, who wished
to change their route; from eXcurSionists
who had used but part of their trip, and a
few so called newspaper men who had Sc
cured passes and whose conscienceS did not
deter them from using their 'sesameS' where
they would do the most good. / would say
right here that the Interstate commerce act
has effectually disposed of the pass system
and special rates. In the early days of our
business many roads, while openly declar-
ing against the alleged iniquities of our
traffic, were secretly standing in with us
for the sale of tickets. The business is a
legitimate outgrowth of the needs of mod
ern travel, and is conducted as squarely
and as honestly as any other mercantile
pursuit. We have some black sheep among
US, of course, but thanks to the activity of
certain unfriendly railroads, and our own
innate honesty, we are wedding them out.
A certain amount of legislation has been at
tempted against us, and with partial sue
cess, as we are not allowed to operate in
Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania. In the
two former states the law is virtually O
dead letter, while Philadelphia alone en-
forces it in the Pennsylvania Central's do
main. A few months ago bills were before
congress and the Virginia legislature max
ing ticket brokerage felony. Our associa-
ton at once delegated Solomon of Chicago,
Lansing of New York, and Meader of Gin
cinnati, to lay our side of the question be-
fore the two august bodies and they sue
ceeded in shelving the action for an indefinite
period.
Personally, the best of feeling exists be-
tween the roads and responsible brokers.
We have become anecessity to one another,
having passed through the gradations of
open warfare. armed neutrality and quasi
friendship. The ticket broker is useful to
the railroad company as a sub-agent in the
disposal of tickets and as a cyclopeda Of
general information regarding maps,
routes, time tables, probable cost of sleep
ers, porters' fees and all the perplexing
questions which arise TO torment the mex
perienced traveller Now you see we have
to smile and be pleasant with these people,
for it is a matter OF dollars and cents with
us, and we can't afford to snub them after
the manner of too many railroad officials.
Then we do not confine our valuable infor-
nation to any one route, as we are not in
terested in the welfare of any particular
road. Whenever tickets are stolen from a
road our secretary notifies all the association
at once to be on their watch for the thieves.
Thousands Of dollars worth of stolen prop
erty have been restored to the roads by the
brokers of this city alone.
NINE years ago our DuSlIleSS ndu III
creased to such an extent that the leading
brokers throughout the United States
formed tho American ticket brokers' asso-
citation with membership of fifty. To-day
we have 225 members, with offices in every
city and important town in the union. Our
only salaried official is the secretary, who
has headquarters at Louisville. We have
adopted such stringent rules and re2ula
lions that no one can enter our organization
until his financial standing and general rep
utation pass muster under scrutiny to
which the questions propounded by insur-
ance companies will bear no comparison.
We found it necessary to organize as a
matter of protection, not only against
hostile roads, but also against the black
sheep who had crept into our own ranks.
Now we do not consider all brokers who are
not members of our ASSOCIATION as black
sheep but you may rest assured that there
are none within it,