The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-07-11
WOMAN AT THE TICKET WINDOW.
This One Took Her Time While Fiji
teen Men Counted the Seconds.


This is simply another version of the
old, old story of the woman and the
ticket agent and fifteen waiting, i'm
patient men with no means Of redress.
1t was at the Cortlandt-st station of
the Pennsylvania railroad one morning
last week. Time, 9 O'Clock, and the Long
Branch train was 20 leave in ten min
utes.
Four women rushed into the station,
breathless, but cnattering away at a
lively rate.
One of the quartet, a tall, angular
woman. with umbrella, last summer
hat and gown made over and retrimmed
a parcel evidently containing lunch aad
other incidental articles essential to the
makeup of a mature spinster Of the con-
ventionai type, was conspicuously the
leader Of the party. She surveyed the
interior Of the waiting room critically
and then spotted her victim in the win
it. Flouncing UP TO the window, she be-
gan the attack.
What time is It?' she snapped in a
tone that caused the ticket seller to
drop some papers and assume a defen-
sive attitude.
"Nine-one exactly, madam" was his
reply, delivered in a firm tone.
Are we in time for the $40 train?"
"Oh, yes, madam"
Thanks. The reason / asked was be-
cause I did not know whether the time
table meant the train left from here or
the other side of the ferry. You know
time tables are so unreliable unless you
get new ones right along. and the one
we looked at was one we we had last
year, so we were not sure, you know"
The agent simply bowed and smiled
sardonicaliy. The other women were
conversing quietly i'm a corner, and sew
eral men entered and formed in line be-
hind the woman at the window.
"Oh, now that 1 think of it, 1 wish
you would give me new time table.
may not use it, but then it's a handy
thing to have around if L should happen
TO want it,
The agent handed over one Of the PAM
phletS and looked down the line of wait
ing men, who were becoming impatient.
There were eight men i'm the line now,
and they all looked anxiously at the
woman. Every moment watches were
pulled out and replaced with increasing
anger on the part of the owners. The
woman glanced over the new time table
and was satisfied.
you'll have to hurry, madam, if you
want to get that 91O train. It's 9:O5
now
ooh, my, yes Now I want ticket"
she said and began search through her
pocketboOk She finally found a, dollar
bill and laid it down.
where did you say you were going?"
said the ticket man.
ITO Long Branch"
do you want a single or excursion p"
queried the agent in that peculiar me-
chanical manner that school children en-
ploy when coming lessons.
Excursion, Of course"
DOLLAR fifty for excursion, madam"
THAT includes a parlor car, doesn't
it?''
ooh, no." was the terse reply.
Now there were fifteen men in the
line and very impatient ones at that
Some groaned aloud, ard others made
sharp remarks. but the woman had not
finished her business with the ticket
seller
why, they didn't cost that last year.
There has been no change in the rate
You've only got three minutes for the
train, madam
Goodness, yes. and-oh, how stupid
1 want three more tickets"
Then began another search through the
pocketbook, and a five-dollar bill came
forth. She got the tickets and examined
each as carefully as she might a piece of
muslin on a bargain counter. She finally
moved slowly away. and the next mo-
ment there was a series of hoarse shouts
and the line of fifteen men dashed past
the window like a charge of a regiment
of cavalry. They threw their money in
and caught their tickets on the fly.
The woman, having assured herself
that she was all right, summoned her
three companions, and they hurried along
to the ticket-taker. There was another
blockade here. The leader at first de-
cided that she would take charge of
the tickets. Then n discussion followed,
and she changed her mind and handed
each of the others her respective ticket
The line Of men meanwhile reached the
ticket-taker, and they brushed by the
women like a streak of lightning.
Then the women found that they would
have 10 hustle If they were going to get
the boat, and they ran too. One Of
them attempted to get by without having
her ticket punched, and She had TO re-
turn. The others stood in the gateway
so the man could not close it and waited
for her The quartet reunited and ran
down the gangway and reached the boat
just as the deckhands lOosened the
cable chains.
The fifteen martyrs who had marshaled
upon the afterdeck with expressions of
blissful expectancy, groaned aloud again
as the women stepped on the boat. But
when the Jersey shore was reached the
quartet did not precede them in the race
for the train. The $40 train was six
minutes late in starting that morning
y. Y. Sun.