The Saint Paul globe., 1904-12-30
RAILROAD NEWS
A RAILROAD SECRET
High Official Tells One of the
Tricks of Trade


Just what the duties are of travelling
passenger agent of a railroad is ques-
tion that has puzzled the general public
for long time. Why great railroad
companies should employ men to hustle
for business for their lines and station
them far away from the right of way of
the company for which they work is an
other question that has caused more or
less comment ever since the present sys-
tenn of operating was inaugurated.
One of the general officers of the Penn
sylvania railroad was a visitor in ST.
Paul yesterday and during the afternoon
opened up the subject for Clio b e man
at the West hotel.
The railroad officer had known the
G 10 b man ever since they were boys
and talked freely to him of the question
suggested by the newspaper man.
He said:
Until five years agoI was stationed in
st. Paul as travelling passenger agent of
one of the Southwestern lines which has
connections here with the lines running
east and west, and all told my territory
was very large and quite important as
territories of travelling passenger agents
go.
Now I'll let you into secret of the
railroad business. 1t is a fact that the
duties of my position were chiefly to see
that the agents of the connecting com,
pan1eS were. kept lined up so that our road
would not get any the worst of it when it
came to selling tickets to points that
might be reached over our line.
ION the Great Northern and Northern
Pacific alone there were probably zoo
agents to keep thus lined up, and my
method was to go to their respective
towns and do whatever the circumstances
of the case demanded. I would buy a
drink, or forty of them if necessary I
would take the agent to the best show in
town. would go to his house to dinner
or In cases OF extreme stress would go
to church with him and his wife. While
my personal tastes do not run to any Of
these forms of diversion l stood for them
all and as a result I acquired a hold on
the operatives of the connecting lines
which only my well known modesty for
bids me declaring to be the very best ever
held by any travelling agent in this part
of the country.
ION our line it was different 1 man
that could demand comparative state
ments of business from each of the
agents as often as required them, and it
was up to him to explain why business
did not Increase and I was the person
to whom he had to explain.
/ had mighty little time for man who
showed a decrease in his report and I
usually let him know. Sometimes Fzwould
let him come to St: Paul to explain, and
at other times would hike down the
line and surprise him. In any event. even
If he had a good report he would get
little in the way of entertainment from
plate any such procedure, but when an
agent of one of the connecting lines hap
pened in town l stretched a point to show
him thatS1, as a representative of the
road, was about the best little entertainer
that ever happened. Sometimes 1 would
spend as much as SIS to see that nothing
was missing.
We'll, one night man called at my
Office. He walked in and shook hands as
if he was Northern Pacific agent who
had heard of me and the good times
pulled off and as if he had showed. me
about Dickinson, N. D., or some other
place the best way he could. That was the
impression l got. knew his face as well
as know yours and realized that / had
job of entertaining on hand.
i tried my best to recall his name but
was utterly unable to do so. / did not
like to admit my ignorance and first off
/ asked him to come and have a drink
This he did, and afterward we went to
the theater, and at the conclusion of the
snow escorted him to dinner did my
self proud with that fellow and went we'll
over the limit to show him good time.
The bill was about $50 and his money
was counterfeit as far as as spending it
was concerned. / footed the bills and
started to take him to the hotel Then
his Identity flashed over me. 1t was not
the agent at Dickinson. or in fact any
other Northern Pacific point; it was our
own little agent from a local Iowa point
Who had been summoned to this city to
get a richly deserved calling down for a
bad mGlthly report
81 never was so humbled in my life"