The San Francisco call., 1895-11-05
Old Long Haul Omaha Ticket Re
sumed by the Santa Fe
System.
HOW IT HURTS ITS BIG RIVAL
Means Loss to the Southern Pacific oil
Over $40 for Each Passenger
Pulled Away.

The Santa Fe system has begun rate
way. AS starter it has resumed its old
ticket to Omaha by way of Kansas City,
and that ticket went into effect yesterday.
At first glance this does not appear to be
a very bold move, but when it is con-
sidered that last June the pressure of the
Southern Pacific was strong enough to
cause the Santa Fe to abandon this ticket,
which it had been issuing for years, the
significance of the present move becomes
somewhat apparent.
The passenger rate to either Omaha or
Kansas City is $40; the rate to Omaha by
way of Kansas City is $40. If passenger
buys ticket direct to Omaha from the
Southern Pacific that company's proper
ton is $1s So; but if, instead, the ticket is
bought by way of the Santa Fe system and
Kansas City the Southern Pacific gets
only 81 4S. The scalper can afford to
make promise of rebate on arrival at
Kansas City on such ticket and sell the
unused portion of its travelling value again
at Kansas City for slight discount on
the fare to Omaha, which by the St. 10 and
Council Bluffs line is $5 80. By working
through the scalpers the Santa Fe can
realize big share of travel, and the
Southern Pacific loses the difference
between SIS So and 81 As on each passenger
it fails to send through Ogden.
1t is the quiet old game OF playing the
long "elbow" haul against the short direct
run. With the Santa Fe road it is purely
a matter of getting passenger business. A
man can easily be induced by them to pur-
chase the long-haul ticket in consideration
OF the arrangement they make to take it
up at Kansas City. They make this ar
rangement beforehand, practically buying
back the portion to be unused before he
purchases it, and giving him a ride to
Kansas City for $50 50-that is, he pays
$40 in San Francisco and receives back
So so at Kansas City.
1--WE simply play upon the avaricious-
ness of the railroad companies" said a
scalper on Market street, in explanation
yesterday, land the courts are with US.
The Southern Pacific has everything its
all the traffic will bear In the East
where there is plenty of competition every
road does just what the Santa Fe is doing.
II an Omaha man wants to come to San
rancisco by way of Kansas City it won t
cost him cent more than if he came
direct. Why should we not do the same
at this end?" The broker continued:
The fact is it is done all the time. 1t does
not cost man any more to go from here to st.
Paul or Chicago by way of Puget Sound than
if he goes direct, and the northern lines want
all such business they can get for their pro-
portion that is in it. Say the fare from Seattle
TO St Paul is $37 and the fare from here to
Seattle is $22 so; that would be almost $50
well, we can send a man to st. Paul and clean
through TO Chicago by way of Seattle for just
about what it would cost him if he was in
Seattle for q ticket to st. Paul.
Everybody knows that the railroads will
offer better inducements to people living out
| side their own territories than to those living
| right on their very lines. Tney bleed theiI
| own people all they can and charge almost as
much from some interior point as they would
| for the entire distance between two terminal
| points.
| AS said, they are avaricious, and they Offer
| all kinds of easy rates TO induce people living
! remote from them 10 go over their lines. Fol
] instance you in San Francisco can get much
better rate over the Northern Pacific, Great
Northern or Canadian Pacific TO the East than
persons living in interior places on those lines
1t is because OF their proportion OF the rate
that they reach out after business which
would not come to them if they offered no
special inducements. Ii they did not do this
kind of business they would simply go without
the proportion OF fare, and they might just as
well have il as not they think.
So the quiet war is on, and there is nc
telling where it will eventually end. Gen
eral Passenger Agent Goodman is little
annoyed over it. He remarked that but
for the desire the Southern Pacific had to
work for California's interest it would
abandon the round-trip ticket to the East
entirely.