The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-02-15
GIGANTIC TICKET FRAUDS.
Thousands of Dollars Probably Lost
by Clever SwindIe.

by Clever SW1n0le.
Cincinnati. Feb. 15.-A ticket swim
die of gigantic proportions was un-
earthed yesterday at the c. H. & D.
general passenger department when
four coupon tickets, ostensibly read
ing from Cincinnati to Portland. Ore,
were sent in by a western line with a
request that the proportion of earn
ings due thereon be paid.
Assistant General Passenger Agent
". B. Galloway promptly discovered
that all four tickets were very clever
commercials and had been printed by
ticket brokers with the intent OF vic
tfrniEiug the public and the railways.
From the nature of the tickets and
the care taken to produce a sklAlLur
counterfeit, it is evident that the the
have been discovered in several years.
There is no telling how many thou
sands of dollars have been stolen
from the railways by means of these
The counterfeits are so cleverly
made that no one but an expert pas
senger official thoroughly familiar
the company would have detected
the fraud.
The tickets in question were of the
coupon type, and read Cincinnati to
/ Portland via the G. H. & D.-Monon
/ to Chicago, thence Rock Island &
Burlington Lines to Billings, and
thence Northern Pacific to Portland.
To outward appearances the tickets
were genuine. There were no
| erasures of signatures or other evil
dence of the tickets having been
tempered with. which in fact was the
case.
The tickets were stamped. ostensi-
/ bly, by the c. H. & D. ticket agent.
November IS, at the city ticket office;
valuation of the ticket is what first
| betrayed the counterfeit, as the G. H.
& D. moved its city offices to Fifth
and Walnut more than year ago.
Those portions of the tickets read
/ ing over the three lines from Cinctn-
natl to Billings were missing. whether
| they were presented to and honored
| by the lines is not known. At Billings
| the four parties carrying the tickets
used them on the 1000 mile maui 10
Portland.
The Northern Pacific conductor. in
| the usual routine, sent the tickets to
the auditing department. and, after
waiting three months to receive the
usual advices from the C. H. & D.. the
Northern Pacific inclosed them in q
letter to the c. H. & D.. asking that
the issue be verified and remittances
made.
Pacific was SIS on each ticket, or 800
The counterfeiters made several
I mistakes. At the top of the large
coupon which bears the printed con-
Of d. G. Edwards, passenger traffic
| manager. was the trade mark of the
c. H. & D. Instead of using the term
railway the counterfeiters used
railroad" company.
The form number is also incorrect.
and numerous other mistakes OF
technical nature were made.
Ticket Scalpers frequently per-
petuate ticket frauds by using what
are known as Skeleton FORMS" but
there are comparatively few in
stances known wherein scalpers have
printed complete contract coupon
tickets, and counterfeited all the many
devices used to identify ticket holders
and secure the safe use of the ticket
In the frauds unearthed yesterday
known as perfect safety paper. Thls
is a paper which was devised by ex-
pert paper makers to prevent erasures
and forgeries-
Since this paper was adopted by
railways. however, another and better
ticket paper" has come into use. Its
process of manufacture is secret and
it can not be obtained excepting bS
railways.
The paper used by the counterfeit
ers might easily be obtained, as it /.
no longer the material officially usec
by railways.
There is no way of estimating tn,
size of these frauds. 1t is probable
that the ticket forms of many othel
lines have been counterfcited.
The criminals who are responsible
are too sharp to present these ticket
for passage over the initial lines, but
on the contrary. sell them to paSsen
gers destined over a connection
In this way the trickery is covered
up at least while the tickets are find
AnG their way through the routine >