The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-06-11
Transcontinental Lines Waging an
Aggressive Wa: on the
Ticket Brokers.
A Case in Spokane in Which the
Railroad Won q Decided
Victory.
Story That the Great Northern Has Found
Another Route Through tho Cas-
ca~dcs-Gencrnl News.

Soalpers along the transcontinentsl line,
are having a hard time Of it just now. Re
cent court decisions have all been agsins'
the brokers, and, AS a result. tho railroads
all over the country are taking viRosou'
measures to prevent the use OF scslpet
transportation. The latest case OF the
kind comes from Spokane. d. A. Winslov
bought a ticket from q scalper there and il
was taken up by Agent Frazier and contis'
Gated. The ticket was the tail end of ar
excursion ticket from Chicago to Portland,
A Chicagoits had purchased q ticket to
Portland with stopover privileges at Spo-
kane. He decided to sell the balance of his
ticket to q scalper there and did 50. Mt.
Winslow wished to ~ to Rosiyn N he
purchased the scalped ticket to Portland
for less than the local rate so Roslvn. But
he did not couns On shs fact thss koslyn is
on a branch twelve miles from Gle Ellnm.
He presented his ticket and asked
to have his baggage checked TO
Roslya. As his ticket did ROT sntitle him
to have baggage checked TO shas point the
agent Immediately became suspicious.
questioned the wo1ti-be passenger. took up
the ticket and refused TO give it back.
whereupou MIR. Ninslow secured a warrants
for the agents arrest. The case when called
in court was soon disposed of. The point
made by the plaintiff Was that inasmuch as
the ticket was a frst-class ticket it was a
valid collateral for passage, no matter by
whom presented. Judge Curry, however,
basing his ruling on a recent decision of
the supreme court of the territory of Utah,
in a similar case, dismissed the defendant.
Winslow now has no recourse except by
civil suit.
The decision of the Utah court on which
Judge Curry based his decision is to the eff
feet that a railroad company does
up a scalper's ticket and compelling
the holder to pay fare or get off.
In the Utah case two unlimited tiret-class
tickets of the issue of the Union Pacific
Railway company fer San Diego. CAL, were
presented by H. E. Drummond and wife
for their passage over that company's road
from Ogden, Utah, to Los Angeles. Cal.
The tickets were sold at Blue Rapids, Kan
sas, on April Is, 1889, to one r. X. Camp
bell. The selling agent had allowed the
ticket to leave his hands without the pas
senger's signature to the contract or that
of himself as a witness thereto. III pur-
chaser (CampbelD used the ticket for pas
sage to Ogden and then disposed of them
to a ticket broker by whom they were sold
TO Mr.. Drummond. Under the %company's
rules and because the tickets had been
transferred. the conductor refused to accept
them for the passage of Mr.. and Mrs.
Drummond, and they we're required to
leave the train at Promontory, ,Utah,
and purchase local tickets. As a
result Mr.. Drummond sued that
company in the First District court
of Utah for $4,000 damages. On the trill,
the judges charge to the jury on Feb. %,
1890, was such as to result in q veRdict for
the plaintiff in the sum of S115.E An APP
peal was taken by this COMPANY from this
verdict to the supreme court of the territory
of Utah and the decision of the lower court
was reversed.