The Washington times., 1901-09-19
THET GOT THE PASSES.
How Two Merry Applicants Over
came Mr.. Vanderbilt.

'You may have heard the story of how
Commodore Vanderbilt issued a pass to n
candid man. said the general passenger
agent of a Western road, as he fingered
gingerly daintiy tinted piece of paper.
No? Well. an early country acIuaint-
ance of the old commodore whom he had
known years before he became million
aire was in New York one day, and
thought he would pay his friend a visit.
He presented himself in the Office of the
president of the New York Central and
was very kindly received. After the con-
verss ton had proceeded for a while in a
friendly way the commodore remarked:
IsI there anything 1 can do for you?
Is thrc any business in your CALI?
FYCs, replied the caller. 1 am going
up 30 Albany. and / wanted to see if you
woSld give me q pass
5h. commodore's manner changed in
stantly. and he was at once a strict man
of business, looking at the request from
purely business standpoint.
= ON wha; do you base your request for
pass? he asked. Have you rendered
the road any service, or is it indebted to
you IN any way?'
= No replied the man. it does not
owe me anything. / have not had any
e Then why DO you ask pass?'
wen. as 1 told you. am going TO Al
trip ~ | can ride free. 1t just occurred
to me that you might furnish me trans
portation if 1 asked YOU and so | asked.
My friend remarked the commodore,
you are the first man who ever asked me
Tor pass and told me the simple truth
about it, You shall have pass. and,
calling clerk. he ordered him to furnish
ms caller with transportation.
Il have had a parallel experience to
that Of the commodore. This note is from
a student at one Of our high-toued young
women serninaries. one of whom / had
no knowledge before the receipt thereof.
1t was written Iust before the summer
vacation began and while preparations
we're going on in the seminary for the
closing events. 1t asks me If ] will not
be kind enough to furnish the writer with
transportation to her home in Kansas.
The letter is nicely worded. There is
noGling bold or unladylike about it. but
its receipt puzzled me considerably. L
could not recall the name that OF any
one of my frienos or acquaintance and
could not conceive of any reason why
such a request should be made.
Just to satisfy myself l dictated note
to the writer, asking her to call and see
me in reference to the matter, and in the
course of a day or two | had a visit from
the young woman in person. She was
fine. handsome young woman. The term
buxom would hardly apply to her. She
was altogether too cultured and refined
for tsat. Her whole appearance indicated
that she was not one 10 whom the fnan-
ciai consideration involved would appeal
very strongly. The moment / saw her l
knew she could not be applying the
had never seen her before
You desire pass to - / said to
her BY way of introducing the SUBJECT.
- Yes she replied, I would consider it
a favor if you will be kind enough to fur
nish me one.
on what grounds might ask. is the
the habit OF treating these matters as
purely business transactions. Have you
any busincss reason to advance as the
basis OF your request?
IgH I 4 n mot f-lr
thought of the matter in that light. In
decd. l do not think ! should have ever
thought of applying for a pass had not
several Of my classmates been provided
with them, and l did not see any reason
why, when they had them, ! should not
have one too Their parents are as rich
they should ride free and pay. ! wanted
to BE- on an equal footing with them
DO yop know on what grounds they
received their passss?
oh. the father Of one is 2 railroad di-
rector. He got his daughter her pass
Another is the daughter of large manu-
facturer who ships train loads of goods
over the road. Another is the daughter
of a general superintendent She always
travels free
And your father
oh. his money is in other kinds of in
yestInents. He is not a railroad man.
Well, you see, your case is different
IRON, any of those You have mentioned
Yes: | know it is. but ! want 10 do
WIN IL ltdSl sumo OF the GllETenc2.
do not want to pay when they can ride
free.
gu would hardly think it reasonable
TO ask for free transportation for the
whole school you attend would your
never thought of the reasora ble-
ness, All | thought of was that unless l
could get pass | would have to pay
while some other girls could ride free.
But IL. should give you a pass you
would be riding free and some other girls
would be paying. There would be a diff
ference between you and them still'
a. oh. yes. but do not care about that
kind Of difference. | want to be al
ways classe6 among the most Fortunate
Wei. you are candid about it. any
way. / like that. Strictly speaking you
are not entitled to any pass and | should
turn down your application with a cold
refusal. but owing TO your candor l sup
pose i shall have to make an exception
In your case
She got her pass.''-Chicago Post