Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-12-25
THE RAILROADS.
The Excursion Tickets and Their Effect
on Legitimate Business.
a Travelling Passenger Agent Talks About TIA
Holiday Rates Over all the Iines-A New
EngIne-Heavy Travel.

How to deal with the railroa ticket
broker is q question that has often been
discussed by railway official, and so far
As superficial appearances go, 1t is about
a. near solution rs II was years ago.
There is no question that the railroads
suffer severely every time cheap or eX-
Cursiou ticket is placed on sale, and 1t 10
for this reason that the roads are slow in
making concessions for n reduction in
regular passenger rates. But very few
people outside of those engaged in the
passenger service of railroads understand
the loss which the roads suffer in this
way. During the sale of holiday excur-
sion tickets well-knowu travelling pas
seuGer agent told GAZETTE reporter
that he knew of twenty tickets which had
been sold over one line leading from
Fort Worth, which would be used by the
purchaser TO q given point and then re-
sold. The margin between the regular
fare and ths rate charged for
the holiday excursions tickets was
sufficient for the soalper 10
make a handsome profit. The passenger
agent said he was satisfied these tickets
would not be used on the return trip by
the original purchaser, because he was
acquainted with the parties who had
bought the tickets aud knew they did
not intend to come back to Texas.
Continuing the agent said: 'The pub
!ic has an idea that the roads are anxious
10 encourage these excursions. There is
not passenger agent in the country who
does not know that these low rates ruin
the legitimate business OF the roads.
There is feast to-day but famine to-
morrow. Every time one OF these cheap
tickets Is sold by the original purchaser,
the road is out of pocket the sum of
money IA straight ticket would cost be-
tween given points. Take, for example,
rate recently offered from Fort Worth
10 Pueblo, via Kansas City. Tickets
were put on sale ut $40, while the local
rate was Si0.7J, a reductions OF Sl4. 10.
BY purchasing one of these tickets u per-
sou could go 10 Kansas City, and resell
Il for about SIT. The second purchaser
would pay $40 for the remainder of the
ticket and travel upon it from Kansas
City to Denver, where he could sell out
FOR 81 or S.. The third purchaser could
use the same ticket TO Pueblo. This
would be saving OF So. IS TO the first
purchaser, IS 10 to the second, and
couple of dollars TO the third. Out of
large number of these tickets
cold, believe there was only
oGe OF them used entirely by the
first purchaser. III had it in my power,
there would not be another cheap ticket
offered for sale until law should be
passed making il felony to resell
ticket. If II were not for the scalpers,
the roads would be more liberal in Offer
ing winter excursion rates to Fort Worth
and oil Texas cities.
Something ought to be done to pro-
tect the railroads from the scslpers, and
here appears to be but one way to do 1t,
aud that is TO pass stringent laws against
the practice. Ii the government were to
make it felony TO resell ticket, there
would be very little Of II done, and the