The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1906-09-15
LONG TICKETS ARE NOT MADE
FOR FUN.
How Railways Get Their Share of
the Money.

Wonder you wouldn't quit building
additions to these things" the traveller
said, stuffing the long green excursion
ticket in the side pocket of his coat.
"All fool business. Well have to pay
excess baggage rates on 'em soon. Why
don't YOU have a card or a little book I?
Transcontinental tickets are mystic
ries to the average traveller. Having
bought one. he starts to read it, but
someone elbows him away from the win
dow, and he hastens to the train, trust
ing to Providence and the conductor.
Few persons know what long tickets
will allow them to do, if they do read
them, and fewer still have any idea of
the intricate and yet simple system con-
trolling them-how the money is di-
yided, why and when. Few passengers
feel perfectly at ease until the conduc-
tor has been around, scrutinized the
tickets and stuck red or yellow slips in
the holders hatbandS.
A road that carries passenger only
forty miles sells him ticket for 1000
mile trip. ats matter of arithmetic
and SYSTEM" said the chief clerk in
the ticket office. "Suppose we sell a
ticket: Joplin to Honolulu. The pas
senger travels only few miles over our
line, but we sell the whole ticket. The
money is divided pro rata among
the several lines over which the passen-
ger is taken. Each company gets a
share depending on the length of its
haul and the rate it charges a mile.
The other roads keep check on us by
coupons that are detached by the con-
ductors. At the end of each month the
auditors of all railroads report to a cen
tral passenger association and later di
vide and remit the money collected from
joint ticket sales"
Tickets are not made long merely to
annoy passengers or to prevent them
having a clear idea of what they're all
about. They couldn't well be any
shorter, the railroad officials say. Each
road the ticket goes over must have a
coupon to be detached; twelve railroads
mean twelve coupons. II side trips are
allowed, coupon must be attached for
each, Also where railroad lines do not
enter the same depot, transfer coupons
are appended.
There are in North America eight
passenger associations. These associ-
ations have charge of making all rates
in their territory. the Western Pas
senger Association has charge of the
rate making in the territory between
Chicago and Denver; the Central Pas
senger Association, between Chicago
and Pittsburg; the Trunk Line Asso =
citation, between Pittsburg and New
York; the New England Association,
all lines in the North Atlantic States;
ihe Trans Continental Association, all
lines from Denver to the Pacific Coast.
Besides these are the Southeastern As
sociation in the southern section Of the
United States, the Canadian Associa-
ton in Canada and the Southwestern
Excursion Bureau that has charge of
the land excursions to Texas and Okla
hOma.
When an important meeting or con-
yention is to take place iii some city,
the passenger association in that dis
trict has a meeting and determines the
rates that are to apply. Sometimes a
roads officers think the passenger asso-
citation did not go low enough to attract
the public, and they make rate OF their
own. Then a rate war IS on, and people
who never thought Of taking a summer
trip pack up their things and travel.
And they put three-fourths OF their
! time in worrying about a long green or
yellow ticket with many coupons and
references to their height, weight. age,
complexion and general appearance
Often women are surprised to learn for
the first time, perhaps, upon consulting
their ticket that they are stout and have
red hair, when anyone except tick ct
agent would know it was auburn. These
are called photograph tickets and in
tended to discourage "scalping", or the
selling of the return part.-Kansas City