Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-11-30
Why Tickets Are Long.

From the Kansas City Star,
Wonder you wouldn't quit building ad'
ditions to these things" the traveller said,
stufhng the long green excursion ticket in
the side pocket of his coat. "An fool bust
ness. Wen nave to pay excess baggage on
'em soon. Why don't you have a card or
a little book"
Transcontinenta tickets are mysteries to
the average traveller. Having bought one
he starts to read il, but someone elbows
hin away from the window and he hastens
to the train trusting 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 divided,
why and when. Few passengers feel per-
fectly at ease until the conductor has been
around. scrutiniZed the tickets and stuck
red or yellow slips in the holders hat
bands.
A road that carries a passenger only
forty miles sells him a ticket for a 1000
mile trip. TITS a matter of arithmetic and
SYSTEM the chief clerk in the ticket office
said. Suppose we sell a ticket from Jop-
lin to Honolulu. The passenger travels
only a few miles over our line, but we sell
the whole ticket. The money is divided
pro rata among the several lines over
which the passenger is taken. Each COM
pany 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 cou-
pons that are detached by the conductors.
AT the end Of each month the auditors of
all railroads report 10 a central passenger
association and later divide and remit the
money collected from joint ticke sales"
Tickets are not made long merely to
annoy passengers or to prevent them hav-
ing a clear idea of what they're all about.
They couldn't well be any shorter, the
railroad officials say. Each road the tick
ct goes over must have a coupon to be
detached; twelve railroads means twelve
coupons. If side trips are allowed a cou-
pom 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 pas
senger associations. These associations
have charge of making all rates in their
territory. The Western Passenger asso-
citation has charge of rate making in the
territory between Chicago sand Denver;
the Central Passenger association between
Chicago and Pittsburg; the Trunk Line
association, between Pittsburg and New
York; the New England association, all
lines in the North Atlantic states; the
Trans-ContiDental association, all lines
from Denver to the Pacific coast. Besides
these there are the Southeastern associa-
ton in the southern section of the United
States, the Canadian association In Cam
ada, and the Southwestern Excursion bur-
eau that has charge of the land excursions
to Texas and Oklahoma.
When an important meeting or conven-
ton is TO take place in some city the pas
senger association in that district has a
meeting and determines the rates hat are
to apply. Sometimes a roads officers think
the passenger association did not go low
enough to attract the public and they
make a rate of their own. Then a rate
war is on and the people who never
thought Of taking a summer trip pack up
their things and travel And they put
three-fourths of their time worrying about
a long green or yellow ticket with many
coupons n references to their height,
weight, age, complexion and general ap-
pearance. 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 a
ticket agent would know 1T was auburn,
These are called photograph tickets and
are intended to discourage "scalping' or
the selling of the return part.