The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-01-10

to return TO America, and watch for him.
and capture him.
One city passenger agent for each road
devotes himself entirely 70 theatrical CON-
panies. He knows every travelling theat-
rlcal company in the country, and all about
ft-how many people, what properties,
where it is, where it Is going, when il is
coming to New York. If il is already ia
the city, he knows when it is going to start
on tour, and where It IL going. He is
more or less intimate with every theatrical
| manager. be knows that on a certain date
Smiths Uncle Toms Cabin Company will
start out TO ''don New York state making
| the regular round OF Yonkers, PouRhkeep-
sic, Hudson, Albany. Troy, Syracuse, and
so on. Before that time ne must have a
course Of pumping he learns whether
there Is money in the treasury. IL there is.
he sells Smith q round trip ticket for bis
| company and properties for the v hole jour
ney, if he can. IL there 10 not enough
money-aDd generally there is not-he sells
him tickets for the first stage. Then the
district passenger agent comes into play.
| The tickets sold carry the company per
heps to Poughkeepsie. The city agent sends
! word 20 the passenger agent of that district,
''Smiths Uncle Toms Cabin Company will
play in Poughkeepsie on Jan. 25, leaving for
Hudson same night. Eighteen people. four
| bloodhOunds. two horses, fifteen cases of
scenery-one case requiring extra long bag
| gage car with door open. Look out for
them" On the date Enamed the district
passenger agent is on band TO take them In
his arms, and sell them tickets
Another city passenger agent takes care
entirely of the travelling statesmen. He
| would like to know them all, but that is
! impossible; so he knows as many as he can.
At one season the hat statesmen go on the
road. at another the dry goods men, at an
other the hardware drummers, and so with
| than Fha
always going. He is acquainted in all the
big establishments that employ large num-
beers OF drummers, and at the proper time
he makes them a visit. He makes himself
popular with the men, not only because he
ia sociable fellow, but because he is al
ways doing them favors. He caunot
lower the rates, for they are fixed;
but he can do favors in a hundred
| other ways Here is one Of them.
he sells Brown n round-trip ticket to
| Chicago, aud Brown starts out with his
samples. Somewhere between Buffalo and
Clno aL "a Brown doses his trunk, and is in
| peck of trouble about II. But he knows
what to do. There's Thompson, " he saws
| to himself, "the passenger agent | bought
my ticket OF. I'll telegraph him. He'll find
that trunk for me-" He telegraphs Thomp-
son, and Thompson knowing just what 10
90 and having free run Of the telegraph
| lines all over his road and EVERYWHERE else
sets the searching machine in motion and
restores the trunk TO its owner in few
hours After that Brown will always buy
his tickets of Thompson. By thousand
such gutleless arts as this the passenger
agent makes himself popular with the
drummers.
But to follow a man up just to sell one
tickets This is the way that is done. The
ticket agent in some neig hboriug town, we
will say in Yonkers, hears that his neigh.
Dor, Mr.. X, OF South kensington street, is
talking of going TO California The ticket
| agent sends word at once to the travelling
passenger agent OF that district, and within
a few hours the travelling passenger agent
| appears IN Honkers and inquiries his WaV
to Mr.. KS house. II he is in
business in New York he may be
visited IN his ONCE. He has heard, the
agent tells Mr.. Y, that he is think
ing Of going to California, and has called
to show him what superior advantages are
offered by the Peedee and West Hoboken
route. de talks glibly, aad overwhelms the
man with time tables and fancy railroad
literature. Mr.. X is surprised. and prop
ably little fiattered, to find that he is of
so much Importance. The surprise wears
off after the agents OF a dozen other lines
follow him up In the same way.
All the passenger agents speak Of Gustave
Leve as marvel in the business. Mr.. Leve
has been out Of the business and out of the
country for several years but MANY
|
he accomplished in annihilatinR time and
space. He was the Leve of Leve & Alden.
the old tourist agents, and was inter-
ested in the Monarch Palace Car Company.
the st. Lawrence River Steamboat Com
pany, and many other transportation VENT
ures. He was noted for being in at least
five widely separated parts of the country
at the same time. He used often, after
days work in the New York Office.
to take night train for Clayton and catch
the morning boat down the st.
Lawrence. Looking over the purser's
and stewards accounts while on the
boat and making suggestions, he would
transfer to an up~bound boat
and do the same thing on her, reach Clay
ton again at dark, row across the end II
Lake Ontario to Gananoque and catch the
Montreal express, be In Montreal next
morning and do days work there, take
night train for Niagara Falls, go over the
accounts Of the Buffalo office next
day, and on the fourth morning be
back in his Office in New YORK. Slesping
well In the carss Not at all sitting half the
night on the tops of trunks in the baggage
car, writing fliers and folders and advertise>
ments to catch the cheerful traveller.
With all its millions OF money the great
railroad corporation Us not half as independ-
emit as the peanut vender who stands on his
corner and waits for his customers to come.
W. D.