The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-11-28
AGE LIMIT ON RAILROADS.
Difficulties in Enforcing the Rule
Respecting Fares.
From the Chicago Post.

From the Chicago Post.
The age limit" is one of the most fer
tile sources of trouble to the general pas
senger agents of railroads. According to
strict Interpretation of existing rules.
all children more than and less than y
years of age must pay half fare, and those
more than IL years old are ranked as
adults and are required TO pay full rates.
In lew lines of business is competition
stronger than in the railroad ticket traf
tlc, and this fact frequently has developee
curious situation so far as the attitude
of ticket sellers and conductors in the de-
termination of the age of alleged juvenile
passengers is concerned.
Il have had many disagreeabIe EXPERT
enoes," said a veteran general passenger
agent, growing out of my efforts to en-
force strict observance of the age limit
and at the same time to keep ticket sellers
ana the conductors in good humor If
would naturally be supposed by the out
sider that the interests are identical of
the railroad agent who sells a ticket and
Vi me CONDUCTOR Of the same road who
taxes up the pasteboard AS a matter of
lact' however, they seem often to be an
tagonlstic Every general passenger agent
Understands how this comes aboug.
Inc conductors of the lines are in con-
slant receipt of orders and instructions
from their superior officers stating. in ef-
tect, that there is excellent reason for tba
belief that the rules regarding aea Iiroits
ana half-fare rates are not strictly enforc
ca, ana that conductors must exercise sne
claI care to the end that these regulation
are carried out to the letter. OF course
tileSe INSTRUCTIONS are generally in the form
OF perfunctory or routine orders. aItbougb
hn
CONDUCTOR receives an order from his su-
| perlor 1t is not to be supposed that he
VIII go behind the returns or exercise the
prerogat1ves of a mind reader and o,,as0
ton the force and sincerity, of ~ -" =. tues
| ton. ''i0 ii's'l uc-
''On the other hand. the man who so,,-
the tickets, Is confronted by quite anotba,.
| problem. Suppose, for instance a 49,,
Walks INTO the city ticket office of a rajl-
ROAD and applies to the agent IN cbarna
OF the Office for figures on the transnorts~
eion Vi ms entire family to some distant
poiiI'' rms mans family, we win sup
| pose, consists of his wife two or tbraa
children, who belong clearly in the crown
| up class-girls of thirteen years and six
months and little boy of z The aoert
knows to moral certainty thai If mis-
man takes his family to the agent of the
competing line the representative of the
! Iatter company will not require the youno
| est child to be furnished with any ticlref
! and the girl between 10 and II wears viii
! De slipped through on a half-fare ticket
| AS a consequence of this reflection ON tba
certain course of his competitor and he
| cause OF a just appreciation of the fact
| that the tickets for the adult norton Of
| the family viii amount to a considera HE
| sum, he observes that the 7-year-old child
VIII take up no more room than the or
! binary youngster of s. and that the girl
OF l312 doesn't look day over 12
! This discounting of ages wins the dav.
! and he sells the tickets leaving the father
of the family to make his peace with The
! conductor. If the latter Is wise he will nor
| make any disagreeabe inquiries into the
! ages of the youngsters. but occasionally a
| family in these circumstances fails into the
| hands of conductor who is he soul of
! honor and exactness. Then there is trou-
| bic. He reads his instructions and demands
| extra fare. The father generally throws
the responsibility of the purchase back
| upon the shoulders of the man who sold
! him the tickets, with ihe observation that
if the latter doesn't like it he is at liberty
to take the child in question as security.
II know of one instance of this kind in
! which the conductor was fully equal to the
| occasion, and replied by taking the child
| in his arms and walking out of the car
with 1t at a time when the train was
/ stopping at a way station. That brought
! the parent to time in a minute, and the
additional fare was paid with startling
1 promptness.
Half Fare for One Aged 40.
"Of course Know some venerable chill
! dren have been passed through on half
fare rates on the ground of being under 70
! years of age. At@a time when competf-
ton was intense between the various
roads and every ticket agent made the
most of any method by which he could
circumvent obstacles In the way of selling
tickets 10 ali who made inquiries at the
counter / was the means OF passing a
man fully 40 years of age and a woma n
/ not much younger over our lines on half
| fare childrens tickets. The circumstances,
! however, were lttde unusual
Il was sitting at my desk in the office
| one day when In walked one of the
strangest human beings I had ever seen.
! He was a dwarf. much smaller than many
a boy of years His appearance how
! ever was made ludicrous by the fact that
! he was smoking a big perfecto and occa-
sionally curled the ends of quite a heavy
mustache as he removed the cigar from