The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1891-05-20
IGNORING THE BOYCOTT.
THE EFFORT IS NOW a DEAD LETTER
Complication OF Affairs Arising from she
Acceptance OF Union Pacific Tickets
Via the AIton-No Alton Tick
cts Have Besn Refused.

NEW YORK, May 17.-That the boycott
OF the eastern railroads against the Chicago
& Alton would prove an ignominious fail
ure has long been taken for granted. but
the board Of rulings has continued to pro-
test that nearly all OF the original sixty
companies which signed the death war
rant against commissions were maintain
ing a solid front. The sun has said that
several Of the companies, after issuing the
order to their trainmen to boycott the
tickets and baggage of the Alton passen-
gers, issued second order quietly an.
nuling the first, and directing their train
men not to disturb such people. There is
now evidence that every one of the trunk
lines, except possibly the Pennsylvania
and New York Central, is ignoring the
board of rulings. IN other words the boy
colt is a dead letter, but Messrs. Blanchard,
Goddard, Farmer and Donald viii prob
alb not declare it off until cold weather
comes.
The example that iollows looks as il a
bad blundsr had been committed and
probably two Of the companies are liable
/ for damages. Mr.. Louis Seckel, the gem
/ eral agent of the Equitable life assurance
society at Denver, and his daughter left
/ that city on May for New York on the
| Union Pacific. They had secured state
rooms on the steamship Columbia Of the
! Hamburg-American line, which sailed
/ last Thursday for Berlin. Mr.. Seckel was
( going to Germany for his health. The
/ Union Pacific agent at Denver gave them
coupon tickets leading over the Chicago
! * Alton TO Chicago and thence over tho
/ Grand Trunk and West Shore roads to
| New York. The Grand Trunk and West
| Shore roads publicly claim to be boycott
ting the Alton by order OF the board oil
rulings. They were also ordered to boy.
colt the Union Pacific and any other COM
pany that continued to deal with the Al
ton. The coupon ticket Issued by the
! Union Pacific bore on the stub part of il
the phrase, ION account of the Chicago q
Alton, Chicago * tirand Trunk, Grand
Trunk and West Shore raj ways" and
even after the Union Pacific and Chicago
| * Alton coupons had been torn off il was
rs much an Alton ticket as ever. IL the
boycott had been in force, the first Grand
Trunk conductor out of Chicago should
have refused to accept the tickets. The
several Grand Trunk conductors punched
and repunched the tickets and made no
complaint as Mr.. Seckel rode on toward
Buffalo.
At Buffalo their sleeper was attached to
a West Shore train. None OF the con-
ductors on this road objected 20 the
tickets, but they treated them like any
other tickets. Mr. Seckel and bis daughter
reached New York on Sunday last, with
out a suspicion that there was boycott
in force, and they had a mighty narrow
escape from being thrown off the train.
AS matter of fact, the force of detectives
employed by the Alton road had not sue
ceeded in finding a single case where one
OF Its tickets had been refused
Mr.. Seckel called at the baggage Office al
the foot of Forty second-st. Tor his bag
gage as soon rs he arrived, but it had not
come on that train. He called the next
dav and the West Shore officials still
knew nothing of it. Then he went to the
local office OF the Union Pacific and the
general eastern agent telegraphed
for information to all the juno
ton points along the line between
Denver and Weekawken. Finally, be sus-
pected that the boycott had gone off at
half cock, and that some baggage master
had been little more conscientious than
the trainmen, or that a baggage master
had forgotten the subsidiary order not 10
boycott any one. Such was the case. The
Grand Trunk baggagemen did not care,
but West Shore baggageman at Buffalo
did. When he came across the brass
check with the initials c. q; A. on it he
nailed it on the spot. The Grand Trunk
bad to take the trunk back and it stood in
the storage room at Buffalo while its
owner was in New York worrying about
ii and much Inconvenience. Mr.. Seckel
and his daughter had a few things in their
grips but they had to buy many articles
of clothing. The Union Pacific agent had
the trunk sent on from Buffalo by express
and it reached here on Friday night. Ii
came over the West Shore, il is said,
which is boycotting Alton baggage. The
Alton paid the express charges, but prob
ably they will come out of the West Shore
sooner or later.
Meanwhile Mr.. Seckel had missed the
steamship which sailed on Thursday, and
he was worked up about it on account of
the disappointment. He applied at the
office of the steamship agents 10 get the
tickets changed but the agents did not
seem inclined TO grant the favor. Mr..
Seckel knew Carl Schurz, who is director
of the company, and the latter used his
influence to get the tickets changed to
next Thursdays boat.
Mr. Seckel does not care much now
whether he gets left or not next Thurs
day. He is interested in the railroad
affair and he is going to see it out il he
has to stay all summer. He consulted a
lawyer and swore out an affidavit He is
modest in his demands. All that he cares
for, he told a Sun reporter yesterday, was
that the company, which is liable, should
pay the hotel and miscellaneous expenses
that they have contracted during the time
they have been delayed. He estimates
them at So a day or $50. This includes
several articles of apparel which they had
10 buy because they did not have the
trunk. They were at a modest hotel YES
terday but will go to the Fifth-ave. hotel
tomorrow.
Ii the board of rulings takes no action
in the matter it will be tacit admission,
the Alton people say, that the boycott 10
dead.