Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-12-18
VICTORY FOR TRAVELLING MEN
Two Thousand Nile ROokI Reduced from
Sixty TO Fifty Dollars
MILE csEOENTlAL BASIS LOWERED
western Railroads Separately Gran,
These Concessions in Response
Persistent Demands Of
Commercial Club.

Travelling men may put up SO less for
their mileage books east OF the Missouri
river after January than they have here
tOtore. Inc accommodation to reduce the
price Of western 2,OOO-mile tickets from $50
10 $50, with a refund Of $3.50, and to reduce
the 4O0O-mile credential to a 2,OOO.mile Gre
dental has been individually adopted by all
the lines interested east of the river and
will be made effective January 1.
These two decisions on the part Of the
western lines mean a great deal TO the
travelling men, the first compels them
to put up $40 less for their mileage book
and the second requires them to ride 1000
miles less before taking advantage Of the
benefits of the credential system.
Travelling men all over the country have
been making an active crusade against the
railroads for demanding additional money
for mileage books and some business firms
with large number Of travelling men on
the road have large sums on deposit
through means Of the mileage book at all
times. demand was made that the roads
sell the book at straight cents per mile.
The claim is made by passenger men that
II mileage book was sold at a fiat rate Of
cents a mile, which would require no re-
fund or extra expenditure on the part of the
purchaser, II would result in wholesale
scalping OF these books, and few persons
would purchase regular tickets, even for
short journeys because Of the comparative
ease with which they could get mileage
books from scalpers.
There is, however, a growing movement
of revolt on the part of the travelling men
to this form Of mileage book, and in all
states the railroads are beginning to hear
complaints. One of the results Of this
agitation is a demand for legislation for a
straight 2-cent mileage without reservation
and on all tickets which has taken definite
form in several Of the states. and is spread
ing throughout the middle west and the
east The railroad and warehouse COM
mission of Illinois has promised to take UT
the matter within a few months, when a
full hearing upon the subject will be had
New Union Pacific Branch.
Rght-of-way is being bought by agents
OF the Union Pacific for the construction
of a cutoff in Wyoming from point near
Carr station, on the Denver-CheyennC
branch, to Borie, on the main line, ter
miles west of Cheyenne. The new line
will be twenty miles in length.
The Athol hill section of the Union Pa
cihc, lying directly south Of Cheyenne, hai
long been a stumbling block in the speedy
handling of traffic between Denver anC
Cheyenne and the trip OF 100 miles between
the two cities now requires about fou
hours to make when a two and half-houl
schedule should be maintained. AS a result
the passenger service is and has always
been abominable. This Objectionable piec,
OF track will be eliminated by the construc
ton of the new cutoff, while not an!
shorter than the present route, will avo7
: the sharp curves and heavy gradient
which now have TO be negotiated.
A small rouSfer attn tion vytl he tn
llshed at Borie to avoid shipping Kansa-
City freight back to Cheyenne to be trans
ferred. Contracts for grading will be lie
In couple Of weeks,
Every EmpIoye Gets Raise.
Every employee OF the Union Pacific vii
receive a raise in pay January l. Will
this raise is not very large, the Rggregat
amounts to considerable. The raise is no
permanent, but only for one month. and
is brought about because there is nov
more money in the hospital fund than
needed, the regular 80 cents which
taken from the pay check Of each en-
ploye for the month Of December will nc
be deducted this month An impresslo
prevails that the Union Pacific will graz
raise Of some sort to its employees ger
orally that will be permanent.
Car Tracing Change.
The change made at the Burlington heaC
quarters in transferring the tracing of ca
load freight from the office Of the generi
freight agent to the assistant superintel
dent Of transportation is larger in scoI
than was first anticipated, as 1t also tran
fers considerable CT the work now belT
done at the general offices I'm Chicago
Omaha. Three new men will be put on tn
work exclusively I'm Mr.. Dckeson's Off
and by this change the shipper will g
much better and more expeditions service.
Suspect Under Arrest.
Detectives Ferris and Dunn arrested b
T. Mitchell early Monday morning at b
,onr, Of fqq3 Co,,fb T'hirfeeufh street on III