The record-union., 1893-10-27
PAsTEBoARD INSTEAD OF BRASS
A New Kind of Baggage Check Crowd
ing Ont the Kind 80 Long Used.


ing Ont the Kind 30 Long Used.
The days of the brass baggage check are
numbered, says the Gt06e Democrat. For
the past two years the pasteboard check
! has been gradually crowding 1t out of use,
until brass checks are now employed only
for local checking, and for that purpose
solely because each company has large
stock of them on hand. Thus an Ameri
can institution which has long been a
source of admiration to European visitors
is relegated 10 an obsolete custom. The
old system was Objectionable for several
reasons. An immigrant who could not
speak the English language might come
on to this city while his baggage would be
checked only TO Cincinnati. This in
yolved tedious delay while the baggage
was being traced by mail and telegraph
from New York. Again, a busy or alb
sent-minded travelling man might ask for
CHECK, Vandalia." ii check should
happen to be given to Vandalia Station,
the man might go on to Pittsburg or
Chicago before discovering that his bag
gage was astray. There was nothing
whatever on the brass check to denote
whence or by which line the baggage had
been forwarded. But now as soon as he
looks ri his checks he can see the point to
which it has been forwarded.
The new paper checks" as they are
called, are designed to and do obviate
these difficulties, which have long been
nightmare to baggage agents. Each
road has its own system OF pasteboard
checks, printed in different styles and on
different colored cardboard When
travel between certain cities is heavy,
name of the destination, as we'll as tile
originating point, is printed In some
cases the routing is also printed. But on
general checks, which may thus at once
be issued for any place on any railroad in
the United States. blanks are left for the
destination and the names OF the connect
ing roads over which the baggage is TO
pass. These checks are mum bered con-
secutiVely, and are kept tor a limited
time after the baggage has been claimed,
when they are destroyed. The check
issued to the passenger is, therefore, an
exact duplicate OF the strap check, which
contains full and explicit information and
missing baggage can therefore be quickly
located by means of the details printed or
written in. The difficulty Of tracing bag
gage is lessened i'll another way. A brass
check might be received here in the
morning, used to Kansas City at night
and sent out from there the next day.
But paper check' can be used only
once.
Baggage agents in large terminal cities
have to be eternally on guard against
frauds. A baggage-room is regarded Joy
many as desirable object for plunder,
and new schemes to "beat" it are being
constantly evolved. Some years ago a
man applied to have big sample case
checked to Memphis. When one of the
employees demurred and said that the ap-
plicant did not look like a commercial
traveller, the man replied that he was
machiniSt and that much travelling had
broken his chest, compelling him to use
strong sample case. The baggage was
accordingly checked to Memphis, but the
rightful owner appeared in time to pre-
vent the theft of the sample case, which
contained about 5000 worth of jewelry
To prevent similar frauds a system of
''claim checks" was devised. If trans
fer company calls for a trunk at hotel
or private residence and the owner isrnot
present, but will return, "claim check"
is left for him, which is a duplicate of that
attached TO the trunk. If he has gone to
the depot the baggageman will not re-
ceive the trunk unless the transfer COM
pany accepts a 'claim check'' for them.
Then when passenger directs his bag
gage to be checked, he is told to call at
the Office of the transfer company and
get a ''claim check" This simple means
ofidentifcation has been found to work
effectively.
A tavorite method of doing crooked
work at baggage-roOms was to steal
somewhere a number of pairs of checks.
Then, while the baggageman was look
ing for the trunk bearing the number cor
responding to that on the bogus check
rendered the crook would cleverly re-
move the stray check from any trunk
of which he desired possession, and SUBJ
stitute therefor a strap check from his
pocket Hence it is that all outsiders are
regarded with suspicion in baggage
room. although this plan of robbery is no
longer practicable with the new paper
checks
The origin of the paper check" dates
back few years to the commencement of
the era of railway consolidation, when
changes in routings were so frequent that
the brass checks were found inadequate
for the work.