St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-11-21
FORCED RAIL Way TICKETS.
GROSS T!0N or THE NUM-
BER IN CIRCULATION
EIGHTY-THREE WE'RE FOUND
Interviews With Different Repre-
sentatives of the Different Chi
cago Roads-The Story Was
Started to Drive Business
From the scalpers-Change
in Time Schedules.

CHICAGO. Nov. 2o.-The stories which
have been sent all over the country re-
garding the amount of forged tickets
said to have been put in circulation are
gross eXaggeratiOns. The total amount
of forged tickets which have been dis
covered by the lines east of Chicago
during the last month is eighty-three.
They were all worlds fair coach eXcur-
sion tickets, and the highest value any
of these tickets ever had was SIS. The
Baltimore u Ohio road denies absolute
ly that it has suffered from forged
tickets beyond the few that float in pc
rlodically. Passenger Agent Allen. of
that line, declared today that his read
had not suffered at all within the last
two months, and only slightly
before that. The story given out
that his road has lost thousands
Of dollars he pronounced to be utterly
untrue. Vice Chairman Donald. who
rules the Eastern passenger committee
of the Central Traffic association, said
today: 'If there had been any great
amount of forged tickets on the market
nobody would have known about it
more than |, and all the forged tickets
l have heard OF within a month have
numbered less than one hundred. We
have often struck patches OF forged
tickets numbering fifty or sixty. | can-
not say just the number that has turned
up this time, but it is less than one
hundred.'
At the office of the Erie road it was
admitted that forged tickets had been
turned i'll, but no figures would be given.
1t was said, however, that the total
NUMBER OF tickets was nowhere near
the amount stated. The Nickel Plate
also denied the story. The forged tick
cts. which are said 10 amount to $500, 600.
We're all of one variety, and covered
period of two weeks only. Not all the
Eastern roads combined sold over $780,
900 worth of these tickets during the
last two weeks of October, and the vast
majority of tickets sold were OF course
genuine. The general passenger agents
OF all Eastern lines except the Erie and
Baltimore u Ohio laugh at the story.
The story actually originated with a
certain railroad man, who has, it is
alleged, been dividing commissions with
ticket agents. When the sales fell off
after the close of the fair, his share Of
the commissions dWindled away rapidly,
for the roads were doing but little buSl-
ness. ana the ScalperS were selling most
of the tickets. The few forged tickets
were magntied in number, and the
story circulated to drive business from
the scalpers to the ticket agents, and
resume the flow of commission money.
That this is the inspiration of the story
is the belief Of nearly every general
passenger agent located in Chicago.
The Western roads are rinkering at
their schedules, preparing for the pro-
posed reduction of running time to st.
Paul and the Missouri river gateways.
Tie Chicago. Milwaukee & st. Paul
train for Omaha, leaving here at $50
p. m, will hereafter leave at 6:25, but
will arrive at its destination at the same
hour as now. This will shorten the
running time by tfty-fiye minutes. The
train over the same road for St. Paul
will leave here at 6 30 instead of p M,
as heretofore. The changes Will be
made next Sunday.
The Immigrant committee of the
Western Passenger association today
decided that it would recommend to the
association meeting tomorrow that the
association lines take steps 10 make per-
manent arrangements for the handling
of immigrant business, without refer
ence to the Union Pacific. 1t is now
understood that this line is in no posi-
ton to make definite arrangements on
the immigrant business. but that it will
not attempt to disrupt any arr angemeDt
of the other lines which leaves it a fair
share of the business.