The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-02-23
CLOSE TICKET SHOPS.
Railway Ticket Protective Bureau
Wins Victory i'm Atlanta

Severance & Weinfeld and IsemalI
& Moore. two ticket brokerage firms
which lave for many years done bus
iiness in Atlanta, closed their offices
yesterday and retired permanently
from the ticket brokerage business.
land there are now no ticket brokers
i'm Atlanta.
The closing OF these offices is the
result of skillful work. done by the
Railway Ticket Protective Bureau.
(which was organized by the railroads
lat the suggestion of William a. Pink
lerton, head OF the celebrated Pinker-
ton Detective Agency, on the same
general lines as the jewellers Security
ALLIANCE and the American Bankers
Protective Bureau.
The depredations OF the ticket bro
lkerS upon the revenues of the rail-
lroads in the United States and the
Iextent to which the influence Of GER
tain scalpers had permeated the Of
fees of the railroads, so that clerks
land others having access to tickets
lcOuld find a ready market for stolen
tickets, IA grown to such an extent
that it became absolutely necessary
for the railroads, for the protection OF
their own enu and the morals OF
their employees. to take active meas
lures.
1t was while the railroads were
looking about for ways and means
that Mr.. Pinkerton suggested The or
'ganiZation of the Railway Ticket Pro-
i~tective Bureau. The results of the
work of this bureau have been emf
lnently satisfactory, n ERE in At
ilanta the work Of the bureau has re-
suited in closing up both offices which
the railroads claim have bee trou-
bling them. The bureau had accumu-
Hated a very considerable of
other evidence which 1t was about to
submit to the courts, when on the
14th day OF January j. p. Billups,
General Passenger Agent of the At
ilanta & West Point Railroad, report
ed to Joseph Richardson, the Atlanta
representative of the bureau, that he
had just discovered that forty mile
Iage tickets, representing 10000 miles
of transportation, had been stolen
from his ticket department. Mr..
Richardson Immediately telegraphed
the headquarters OF the bureau in
lChicago, and on the 10th one of
IPinkerton's expert operatives arrived
lin Atlanta. This operative and his
assistants traced some Of these tickets
into and other tickets out Of Sever
lance & Weinfeld's office. On January
t26h, by virtue of search warrants, the
iofficeTS made thorough search OF both
of the ticket Offices, with
the result that that night Sam M.
McClurkan, a clerk in the auditors
loffice Of the West Point route, was
larreSted on the charge of larceny, and
lin default of bond was committed to
the city Jail, where he stayed until
Saturday, January 10th, when his
bond was made. He implicated a ne
gro, Will Edwards, who was found
iby the Pinkerton people in St Louis
land brought TO Atlanta At his pre-
lliminary trial before Justice Of the
Peace Ormond he pleaded guilty. as
iMcClurkan had previously done. and
lit is now understood that Weinfeld
and Stephens Will plead guilty when
their cases are called in the superior
court
Thus far the protective bureau has
Iconfined its prosecution 10 the bro
lkers themselves, but IL is understood
that their campaign will in future in
lclude passengers who travel on scalp
Iers' tickets. as Ii is impossible. IL Is
iclaimed. for hem to use tickets OBJ
ttained from h scalpers' offices I'M
less they commit the crime known
Ito the law as false representation
which Is a felony and is a peniten-
.tiary ofenSe.-Atlanta Constitution.
February 16, 1904.