The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-03-30
TIE USHD-UP TICKETS.
What the Pennsylvania Does
With Tons Of Used-Up
Pastboards.
THIRTY RECEIVING STATIONS.
Every Trains Earnings Is Figured
0ut-A Complicated Sys-
tenn.
THIRTY RECEIVING STATIONS.

At thirty separate points on the Penn
sylvania there are offices which have no
counterpart on ordinary railroads. They
are known as receiving Offices" and
the officers In charge of them are called
'ticket receivers" They receive all
money and tickets collected by conduc-
tors who finish their trips at these sta
tons. aud they supply conductors with
all their tickets. blanks and stationery.
Really these men are clerks for the
auditor of the road. and having them
scattered along the liue is a great con-
venience, because it facilitates the col
lection and computation OF returns. and
simplities the work Of the main office,
making it possible to reduce the force of
clerks indoors to u degree which Is inn
possible on roads not making use of this
system.
THE CONDUCTORS CASH.
The money which is delivered by the
conductors to the ticket receivers is
banked by them daily. and advice Of the
total amount is sent to the auditor direct.
The cash deposited IN bank to the credit
OF the company Is accompanied by q
memorandum which is verified by the
bank officials and for warded by them TO
luo bItdSuIrI " COuiPdtioOh ~ ohS aN
vice received by the auditor. The ticket
receivers are bonded to the company i'll
amounts proportionate to the extent or
business handled.
The ticket receivers forward to the
auditor daily u statement of the amounts
of cash deposited by eacn
which Is compared with the totals shown
on conductors reports. one OF which
must be made for each train on which
passengers are carried.
Tue coutteuslng OF the deposits of the
money collected by a large number Of
conductors of varied abilities (there are
about 600 passenger conductors on the
Pennsylvania lines east Of Pittsburg) is
an important item, the depositing ana ac-
counting, daily and monthly, for all Of
such being now lone by thirteen ticket
receivers, instead Of by achtndividual
conductor, as under the old system.
SYsTEM OF REPORTS.
The conductors reports, after being
carefully examined, and the tickets OF the
several classes and kinds as .orted and ar
ranged 10 facilitate their distribution in
the AUDITORS office, are forwarded to the
latter daily. Statements of ticket mile
age on trains are made by conductors and
condensed into one daily statement by
each ticket receiver and forwarded to the
auditors office, these forming a basis on
which are calculated the earnings of the
respective trains. These figures are
quickly available to SuperintendentS in
arranging for running trains so as to Sc
cure the best results, and they are also
used in arriving at an estimate of the
weekly passenger earning.
The experIence tf the Pennsylvania
Railroad, where an estimate of the week
ly earnings l,as ALWAYS been furnished by
the ud tor, b ,ws hat it would require
Il lar. err cl rical force to make this estf-
mate IL the auditors office than is en-
ll)yed in the ticket receivers offices to
accomplish the anne results. To prompt
]y furnish the transportation de apartment
with the earnings of each train by COM
pilrtions in the auditors flee was found
to be pr. cticsl v out Of tn question. The
work assumed such extensive proportions
that with the best efforts of a large adj
ditional office force specially engaged for
the work, it was found impossible to
complete this information within three
months, making the statistics so old that
their value, as Il guide as to whether the
running of certain trains was warranted
by their earnings, was considerably i'm
paired.
Raj EARNINGS.
Under the present plan the statement
of earnings Of each OF the 1000 daily pas
senger rains GU the liues east OF Pitts
burgh can be furnished to the tr~ausporta-
tion officers within W. weeks after the
close of the month; and in case of new
trains, which are placed In service to fill
an apparent want, the earnings can be
furnished from day to day, II necessary,
and an early conclusion reached as to the
wisdom of continuing them.