The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-10-17
TO WORRY THE SCALPERS
RAILWAY OFFICIALS WILL BEGIN
VIGOROUS WAR AGAINST THEM.
T.. 4. FORD to Abandon the Akron
Buffalo Route-Report of v. II. Ma
lott, Receiver of the N~andaIia.

Vigorous warfare is to be waged by the
American Association OF General Passen-
ger and Ticket Agents against ticket scalp
ing. The warfare will be extended also to
all forms of forging. counterfeiting and
unlawful manipulation or railway passen-
ger tickets. Violators of the law in these
respects will be pursued relentlessly. 1t
VIII be the effort Of the association. now In
annual convention at AshevilIe. y. c., to
protect not only the railroad companies,
but also the travelling public, from ticket
frauds that are being perpetrated daily
throughout the country. While defnite
action has not been taken yet. it was per-
fectly evident from the tone Of the discus
sion Of the question yesterday that drastic
action against all sorts of railway ticket
frauds will be taken at to-day's session.
Eighty-fve member of the association re-
sponded TO roll call and many subsequently
entered the meeting. On behalf of Thomas
Cook q Sons, Of England, the secretary
Of the association, ~. j. Smith, of Cleve-
land, presented to the president, H. c..
Townsend, of the Missouri Pacific, a
handsome gavel fashioned from wood
taken from Admiral Nelson's famous bat
tleship and beautifully mounted In gold and
"
mltted 10 the association. among the num-
Der being $. II. HardWick, general passen-
ger agent Of the Southern Railway, vino
has done much TO make the present con-
VentiOn a success. and +. G. Smith, ZEN
eral passenger agent of the Oahu Railway
the only railway in Hawaii. 1t is seventy
five miles long and 'all under one manage
ment.' The discussion of the ticket-fraud
question was precipitated by the p%resenta-
ton of two reports-one by George II.
Daniels, of the New York Central. on anti
ticket scalping legislation, and the other by
f. G. Donald. of the Western Traffic As
sociation, on the establishment of a pro-
tective bureau.
Mr.. Daniels's report. which was COM
plete in its details, reviewed the work Of
his m during the past year in pun
ishing frauds on the railroads and upon the
public perpetrated by counterfeiters and
forgers of railroad tickets. The report in
Dictated that legislation against ticket scalp
ing was being pressed on the legislatures OF
many States, and that already favorable
action had been taken by some of the legis-
latures. The establishment and mainte-
nance Of a bureau of protection by the rail-
roads OF the country was recommended, the
entire work of prosecuting viOlators of the
law i'm relation to railroad tickets to be
performed by the bureau without reference
to the particular line of railway against
witch the fraud was committed. The
money for the maintenance of the bureau
and for such expenses as it might have to
incur is to be provided, according to the
proposed plan, by the various railroads in
proportion to their mileage. The PROPOSE
uons involved in the report were 50 i'm
portant and far-reaching that, after cOnstd-
cradle discussion, which clearly indicated
the trend OF sentiment. the entire subject
was made a special order for to-day.
| 5. w. Cummings. of the Vermont Central,
presented the report of a committee recon-
mending the organization of a life insur-
ance benefit, inSurins the members of the
association. The proposition was opposed
vigorously, and finally went over. COnsid-
cradle business of minor Importance was
disposed Of, many of the subjects being
deferred until some subsequent meeting of
In the afternoon, on the special invitation
Of George w. Vanderbilt. the entire party
BiltmOre, Mr.. Vanderbilt great estate.
Tonight the association and sembl
guests Were rendered a banquet by the
Southern Railway at the Battery Park HO-
tel. 1t was an elaborate and beautiful func-
ton. Those who responded to toasts were
his Excellency WI Tingfang, the Chinese
minister; w. \. Turk, assistant passenger
traffic manager of the Southern Railway:
r. L. Boothby, of the Maine Central; p. S.
Eustis, OF the Burlington route, and George
II. Daniels, general passenger agent of the
New York Central.
The guests arose en- masse and cheered
as Minister Wu's name was announced.
After paying fitting tribute to the enthusi-
astic reception accorded him, Minister Wu
said that as director OF railroads he had
the honor of organizing the first railroad in
China He had encountered many difficult
ties, both in the transportation of passen-
gers and of freight. but in a measure these
had been overcome The best methods OF
both American and European railways had
been followed by China I'm the conduct Of
its railroads., but even yet the operation
OF the lines was far short of perfection.
The d of the freight traffic, he said.
had caused the most serious difficulty in
China-more difficulty. indeed. than had the
passenger traffic. Just now there was no
need in China of the general passenger
agent. who performed in the United States
such conspicuous work, but, said he, lin
1850 the general passenger agent will be very
much needed in China and then he will be
given a cordial welcome"