The age-herald., 1900-01-16
ANNUAL CROP OF
 RAILROAD PASSES

I From New York Telegraph. December 25.
 Within the next week something like aoo.-
 900 annual passes will be sent out from the
 offices of the big railroads in this city. It
 will be annual distribution of these fav-
 ors to officers, agents and other employees
 of connecting and foreign roads, as well as
 their own men. The labor of getting out
 this free transportation is gigantic, and will
 occupy the time of hundreds of clerks up
 to January l. In addition to the time of
 employees, the postage on the letters en-
 closing the passes will amount to $2000 to f! $3Ooo and the printing of the credentials will involve as much more.
 The issue of free yearly passes will aver
 age 5000 to each of the roads terminal here
 The modus operandi for obtaining these
 passes is through applications. About the
 last of November of each year the differ ! ent railroads of the country get together
 and agree on the number of passes and the
 persons to whom they will be given. Lists
 are printed and sent to the roads over
 which the favors are requested It is op-
 tional with the receiving company whether
 it will issue any or all of the passes asked for in the list. The requests of large and
 important systems are usually granted in | full while applications from small, obscure | railroads and boat lines are refused. This l refusal never dismays the officers of the | little lines, for they make up and send the
 same lists year after year in the hope of
 getting a percentage of the railroads to
 approve the applications.
 High officers of railroads are not the only | persons who receive annuals from other
 lines In fact, the smallest percentage of | the total issue goes to the executive off,
 cials. The travelling passenger and freight | agents and the numerous land and immi- | grafton agents consume more of the passes | than any other class.
 | Usually annual passes are extended to | cover the month of January so as not to | embarrass travelling agents and others who l may not receive the annuals before l New Years day. This year, however. the | Pennsylvania road gives notice that none | of it's 1899 annual passes will be honored | after January l.
 Though an annual pass, probably, is the l easiest sort of transportation to manipu- | late, railroad officers say that few annuas
 are misused. Occasionally one is lost or
 stolen, and somebody gets ride or two
 before the transportation is bulletined. Re-
 cen,tly an annual good over Chicago Buff | falo line was lost. The loss was not dis
 covered for nearly three months, the hold | CT having occasion to use It. When 1t l was bulletined by the railroad company it | was found that it had been used for twenty | round trips between Chicago and Buffalo.
 The majority of annuals require sigma
 ture which makes it difficult for a conduc- | tor to ascertain whether it is in the hands 1 of the right person.
 The recent agitation to do away with all l annual passes evidently has had no effect l on the crop for 1900, since officers of many
 of the local lines say that more applications
 for the present year have been received
 than for many years past.
 A rough estimate of the total number of | annuals that will be in the hands of Ameri-
 can railroad men ready for use on New | Years day is 100000 And this will not
 represent all of the annuals that will be l issued during the coming year.
 | The before New Years distribution is
 about 75 per cent of all the twelve-month
 passes The other 25 per cent is sent out 1 during the year. The changes in officers,
 agents and travelling men cause many pass | es to be cancelled or "called in" Those who are appointed to fill the vacancies must be | furnished with fresh annuas.
 | Much time and attention is given by rail- 1 road officers who have charge of the pass l department to studying up new designs to 1 be used for printing each new crop of an- | nuals The same plate is never used two years Many of these designs things of art and beauty. All the annual passes are l printed on the finest of heavy colored card board in Autograph. few roads insist | upon the recipient signing his name on the | back of the yearly pass.
 l During the last two or three years there l has been a sort of revolution in the word l ing of annual passes. Formerly many of l the coveted free passes were made out to | include the holder and his or her family. l For example, the wording would read: l Pass John Jones and family between all | stations" This form found to be too l broad Possessed with such a credential, l d holder, if he or she were so disposed, l might carry half the universe as members of lthe family. Few passes are now made out this way. If passes are sent for mem- 1 bers of an officers family one is sent to l each member. The only excevtiCn to this l is in the passes given to roadmasters and l other officials who are required to go over l the road great deal, accompanied by work l men. AS a new gang may be used each l trip, adherence to the name principle would l cause much unnecessary delay. l Comparatively few annuals are now is- I sued to other than railroad men. presi-N | dent has it in his power to send one to | whom he may see ft-friend, relative or l whoever he may be. But this is seldom | done The one class outside of employees l that is still quite generally favored with annuals Is politicians; and railroad officers | say that no other persons abuse the pass privilege so much the men with pulls" :" | TWO WOMEN
 Theodosia Pickering Garrison in the New Lppincott
 She crept into the vacant church