The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-24
PURSUING A BAD POLICY
MISTAKE FOR MERCHANTS TO
FAVOR TICKET sCALPING.

A MISTAKE FOR MERCHANTS TO
FAVOR TICKET sCALPING.
The Big Four Still Making Big Earn
ings-An Eastern Paper Comments
FavOrabIy on the MOnOn.
John Lazarus, traffic manager of the In
diana, Decatur & Western, and who has a
very sound judgment on railroad matters,
said yesterday that the business men were
pursuing a bad policy in defending ticket
scalping. 1t was an evil which prevented
merchants more frequently enjoying re-
duced rates than they now do. He Illus
| trated his position by saying that some
persons would wait until low rate was Of
| fered, then come to Indianapolis and sell
the return part of the ticket to scalpers,
| man coming, for instance, from Evansville,
| selling his ticket to scapers and they in
| turn selling it to a man who has come on
the reduced rates from Fort Wayne and is
going to Evansville and vice versa. Ticket
scalping," said Mr.. Lazarus, sis founded
entirely on unsound principles, and L am
surprised that business men who, in other
matters, show considerable wisdom, in this
| class Of transactions take sides with the
| scalpers. So long as the scalpers exist, so
long will the roads be obliged, for self-pro-
lection, to be cautions in authorizing re-
| duced rates in the interest of Indianapolis
| merchants, as the scalper is a menace, SELL
| ing scalped tickets to persons who would,
| but for this method of securing tickets, pay
| full passenger rates
A Good Word for the MOnOn.
| Boston Advertiser.
Among the reorganized roads whose earn
ings have shown such remarkable recov-
cry during the present year as to warrant
the supposition that it will not be long be-
fore its stocks are dividend basis is
the new Monon. This road succeeded the
New Albany & Chicago on July l, under
foreclosure and reorganization. From that
date up to the latest reports its earnings
have been showing a ste ady increase, the
net as reported for the four months of the
fiscal year ended Oct 81 being $469, 036
against 1929, 4O2 for the corresponding period
Of last year. Under the reorganization the
| fixed charges of the road were reduced
from over s1,0O0,0O0 to $955.450, including
| rentals, but not including the preferred
| stock dividend 1t thus appears that during
| the remaining eight months of The fiscal
year the road must earn $4S6, Ala in order to
pay its fixed charges. Up to the Rresent
| year the average monthly net earnings were
| about $4,000, but since the reorganization
| they have averaged easily $4,000, some
| times more, sometimes less.
| There is no reason to doubt but that the
| road will continue to earn this amount dur
| ing the balance of the year, but even should
| the average monthly net returns fall TO as
| low figure as $S5 900, there will be earned
a net for the fiscal year sufficient to pay
| the fixed charges, the dividend on the pre-
| fprred stock which calls for &lbl 350 and TO
| leave small balance for the common
stock. In the event of the earnings keeping
| up to the present average there will be
earned for the common stock a balance
| equivalent to 219 per cent Mr.. McDoel,
| just before ending his receivership of the
| road, wrote that the physical condition OF
| the property was tirSt-class in almost every
| respect, and he anticipated at that time the
excellent showing that is now being made
| by the property. President Thomas has
more lately stated that there is little doubt
| but that the company will be able to pay
the full dividend on the preferred and very
| possibly something on the common.
Western Roads Full of Wrath.
| The wrath of the Western roads over the
| small decrease in the export corn rates
| from Chicago announced by the Joint
Traffic Association is on the increase, ac-
| cording to a dispatch from Chicago, and
| threats are being made of action by the
| Western roads that will compel the East
ern lines to treat them in different man.
ner Nothing has happened in a long time
that has angered the freight officers of
| the Western roads as the making of the
| same rates from Mississippi river points
| to the Atlantic Seaboard as from Chicago
| to the seaboard on export corn; The fact
| that none of the Western roads believe
| that the rates made by the Joint Traffic
| Association will be maintained for any
| length of time, says the dispatch, is the
| one restraining influence that prevents the
| Western roads from taking matters in their
own hands and making things very, warm
| for the Joint Traffic lines. The dispatch
| closes by saying: IF the Eastern roads
maintain the rates after the first of the
year as they say they will, there will be
some interesting times ahead of them"
Personal, Local and General Notes.
r.. B. F. PIERCE, receiver of the Toledo,
St Louis & Kansas City, has gone to Mil
| waukee to be absent until Monday.
ID. o. Wood will, on Jan. l. succeed ]. H.
Hannah as foreign freight agent of the
| Grand Trunk road at Toronto.
John F. Miller, general superintendent of
| the Pennsylvania Southwestern system, is
! IN Plttsburg for couple of days.
Mr.. w. w. Pennington, agent for the
| White line, will return from Memphis this
! evening to spend Christmas with friends.
Alfred A. White has been appointed super
intendent of the eastern division of the
| Maine Central. vice H. f. Dowst, resigned.
| o. Hudson was buried on Wednesday at
| Cleveland O. He. entered the service of the
W Is
| brakeman.
Julius Kruttschitt, general manager of the
| Southern Pacific lines, has under his
| supervision over 1000 miles of railway and
| water lines.
The travelling auditors of the Monon and
! the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton were in
| the city yesterday inspecting the outside
| ticket offices.
| The first fifteen days of this month the
! sales of the interchangeable mileage book
| in the Central Traffic Association lines aver
| aged 500 books day.
| Col. William Cook late chief engineer of
the Minneapolis & St. Louis. has accepted
1 a similar position with the Oregon Railway
| q Navigation Company.
The pay car made its first trip over the
| Columbus & Northwestern on Thursday,
paying out on that portion of the new line
| in operation over $4,000.
| The earnings of the Fitchburg road the
| last ninety days have been unusually large,
/ and this will be the best calendar year the
| line has enjoyed in several years.
l.. w. Henl1e, agent of the Cincinnati,
| Hamilton & Dayton at Elmwood Place, has
been appointed agent of the Erie at that
| point, vice l.. ID. Alleman, resigned.
The Canadian Pacific, in connection with
| its New England roads, is running the long
| est sleeping car line in the world, from
| Seattle to Boston, distance of 1856 miles.
William Oliver. who has been in The gem
eral offices of the Norwich & Worcester for
succeeded by J. Gichrist, an old-time Wa
bash man.
The railroad men who last week formed
| an association in Chicago to raise money
| to sue railroads for being blacklisted has
! taken for its name The Blacklisted Asso-