The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-01-17
TO END TICKET SCALPING
AGREEMENT EXPECTED TO DRIVE
BROKERS OUT OF BUSINESS.
Good Results from Leading Cars
Nearer Capacity-The Cost of Eli
evating Tracks in Chicago.

Passenger officials are elated over pres
ent conditions and those who have been
the most earnest in fighting scalpers pre-
dict that all the offices now occupied by
ticket scalpers throughout the country will
soon be for rent for other purposes. The
agreement Of all important lines not to
pay commissions for sale of tickets by
anybody will. il is thought, drive all the
brokers out of business more quickly and
surely than any law that could be passed
by Congress; in fact, should this agree
ment be lived UP to it will render an anti
scalping law unnecessary. Notwithstanding
the above predictions George II. Daniels,
general passenger agent OF the New York
Central and chairman OF the committee
of the American Association of General
Ticket and Passenger Agents on anti
scalping legislation. has called a meeting
Of the committee in New York to-day to
see what action shall be taken to induce
Congress to pass an anti-scalping law at
an early day. glance at the names Of
the roads that have signed the agreement
to pay no more commissions and to ignore
ticket scalpers, should the agreement be
lived up to, means that the scalping of
tickets Is at an end, as nobody knows so
well as railroad officials themselves that
some Of the roads included in this agree
ment have been the real supporters of
ticket scalpers. In fact. some Of the roads
have really owned the scaiping offices,
starting them for the purpose of beating.
competing lines which they knew were
regularly furnishing other brokers with
tickets and paying them commissions on
sales, and cases have been uncovered
where the brokers were obliged to divide
their commissions with railroad officials.
Another irregularity was that in some cit
les where the ticket agents commission
amounted to several hundred dollars
month the agent, in certain cases, was
compelled to divide the commissions with
those above him. If he refused to do so,
which rarely happened, another ticket
agent was appointed. Under the new agree
ment this kind of business is at end.
Better Methods Of Loading Cars.
Some months ago attention was called,
through an interview with j. Q. Van
Wrinkle, general superintendent of the Big
Four line. to the fact that the railroads
were not enjoying any material benefit
from the large number of heavy capacity
cars that were being added to the freight
equipment, and that the larger cars were
not carrying any greater average tonnage
per mile than the small cars. This inter-
view was extensively copied and led to
general reform in car loading and within
the last six months the average load per
car mile has been increased fully IL per
cent. The best results. 1t is believed, have
not yet been reached. owing to the fact
that the car of ten years ago had only
$4,000 to 10000 pounds capacity, while
large per cent. of the cars now in service
are of 10000 pounds capacity, and in an
emergency Ii is safe to load in the newest
Of them 10000 pounds. From this Ii will
be seen that there is much room for i'm
provement in this direction. Mr.. Van
Wrinkle made his efforts a success through
instructing agents that If they desired to
get cars for their respective stations they
would be expected to load them to their
full capacity. Before the great scarcity in
cars came it was not an unusual thing for
an agent to call for a car to load on
some long haul. and put but 15.c00 to 10000
pounds of freight into it, and hauling the
car so loaded under the most advantageous
circumstances would yield but little profit
to the road. Inquiry of a number of rail-
way officials shows that Mr.. Van Wrinkles
ideas were well thought of that they
have adopted them, and doubtless the
handsome increase in earnings Is In some
measure due to the new method of loading
Pennsylvania's New Wage Schedule
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company yes
terday announced a readjustment Of the
wages of it's employees in the yards along
the entire system The new adjustment
went into effect Jan. l. The new scale
outside the Cape May division is as follows,
and carries with 1t reduction from
twelve to eleven hours a day: Engineers,
increase from . to q cents per hour; fore
| men, from 10 to II cents; conductors. from
| 20 to % cents day, and from II TO % cents