The evening world., 1888-01-23
INFORMATION BY THE YARD.
A STEADY FLOW OF FACTS FROM TICKET
BROKER LANSING.

The Business Began at Pittsbura In Q
and NOWADAYS scalpers Are Universal
Philnutbropists-Tho Public aud the Rail-
road Alike Benented-Taio OF n Ticket
for n Corpse and an Impoverished Actor.
Of the ticket broker.
Don't change cars OF Denver junction.
Did you say lower n That's right; you'll
find o nice S2-a-day house right near the
Union Depot. Can't miss it; there's Q big
red lamp in front Of the door. You've got
your ferry ticket right there. Dinner at
Hornellsville. Michigan Central from But.
falo. Two hours in Omaha. Expect to 90
west of St. Paul2 Call on Johnny, 10 East
Third street he can fix you out all right,
Eli oh, you want to know something about
the ticket brokerage business for III EVEN
INC WoRLp2 Well, sit right down there"
Mr.. Gustav g. Lansing, one of the old
originals in this line of business in the city.
had delivered this little speech without turn
ing q hair or stopping to take breath,
1.-THE ticket brokerage business, ~ he started
off again, contains 30 many different phases
that l hardly now whore to begin. The way
it originated il quite interesting.
Inc plOue6F VI tue tlCh0tiDTOkerB was
Bob Stevenson Of Pittsburg. In 1853 he
kept q stationery and news stand in the depot
of the Fort Wayne road. Seeing a chance to
turn q little money over, he bought and sold
railroad tickets, doing q thriving business
right alongside Of the official ticket office Of
the road.
THE American Ticker Brokers' Assooia-
ton was started nine years ago. If you
should buy o ticket Of an association broker
and the railroad company should decide that
was not sufficient to a you through and
should make you pay more. the broker ia
obliged to refund you the difference. If he
did not do 1t the money would be paid out of
the associations fun and the broker would
I've also aid the railway companies in va
in Avondale, Mich, was robbed and a stack
Of tickets carried of. The particulars of the
loss being sent to our secretary, he tele-
graphed a description of the tickets to every
broker in the country, and the result was
that the thieves were captured. Our tele-
graph bill amounted to $27 on that case.
" Giving information Is another important
feature upon which We pride ourselves.
Railroad officials are not prone to and are not
obliged to furnish any facts except those
which pertain to the road they are connected
with. / have O great many steady customers
who come here for pointers as to the best and
cheapest routes. Many new and weak lines
would not be in existence IL it were not for
the advertising they receive from brokers' ~
DO you ever lose on any tickets ?' in.
quirod the reporter.
:" Well, l should say we did. Do you see
these ~ he continued, showing the reporter
half q dozen cigar boxes filed with railroad
tickets which the companies would not &C.
cept. These tickets represent about 81, 900,
and 1t is safe to say that 81, DOC, 900 worth of
tickets are bought every year for which the
railroad, do not perform any service.
in this business" Mr.. Lansing went on.
T." At the time the fare from San Francisco to
New York and Boston was the same. lots OF
people would buy tickets from San Fran.
cisco to Boston, come to New York and sell
the balance of the ticket to o broker. II
happened that a gentleman was bringing the
body of his wife from Frisco to New York,
and as the fare for q corpse was the same as
two tickets to Boston, one of the tickets be.
ing stamped in big letters Corpse / bought
the balance of these tickets afterwards, but
the CORPSE az we labelled il, was q Jonah.
No one would buy 1t, and it was put away out
of sight.
natured. but dead broke, came in and said he
corpse. He went to the passenger agent OF
the road and told him that he was supposed
to have died in San Francisco that his
friends had put him in q coffin full of holes
and that he had been resuscitated upon arriv.
ing in New York, and wanted q live ; ticket
in place of the one he had. The ticket agent
believed every word he said and gave him
another ticket, and he took the next tram fol
the city of beans"