The San Francisco call., 1907-06-23

to each of the others, we have total
of nearly 500 men at work on the diff
ferent roads"
Five hundred menw I exclaimed.
Surely that postulates an enormous
amount of thievery?"
They are not all engaged in 'shad-
owing conductors" he answered.
Some men go out as tramps and count
the ties as they s1ouch down the right
of way For the leprosy of graft spares
neither roadmaster nor superintendent,
and the company likes to make sure
that it does not pay for more new ties
than it uses. Other hobo spoilers keep
tab on construction work to guard
against stuffed payrolls. More than one
contractor has drawn pay for 900 men
when he was only working zoo One
man 1 know built three houses on the
company's time and with its material
and men.
Still other spoilers do excess bag
gage, for the baggage man is not al
ways above taking a bribe from the
drummer with a score of trunks and
others again keep an eye on 'tisket
scalpers.'
Il, myself, was once engaged in that
class of work, and I found it mighty
interesting. The scalpers, you know,
have their own spoilers, so it is a case
OF Greek meet Greek, the scalper's
spotter is always on the lookout for
the railroad spotter.
Did you ever buy scalped ticket?
Wen, then, perhaps, you noticed that
1t was not delivered until just before
train time. Yes the scalper tells
you. we can fit you with ticket.
when does your train leave? Seven
p. m? All right; come here at and
Wen have it ready for you In the
meantime, you are shadowed till the
scalper is good and certain that you
are not in the employ of the railroad.
Yet we get them I used to fix my
self up like countryman; just enough
dead certain that / was country riz.'
Then ! would call on him with let
ter that fitted me like a glove.
1t would run something like this:
Dear Cousin: l take up my pen to
tell you that wages is good In st.
Louis-s2. So a day and board is cheap
After that would be a vivid descrip-
tion of the delicacies that one could
get at the 10 cent restaurants and
the letter would finish: If you are
dead broke I can spare you $40. Here
In st. Louis there's places called ticket
scalpers, where you can buy tickets
cheap. If there's any in Chicago hunt
them UP, for ! think they'd sell you
ticket for that
. Can you sell me a ticket for that?
I'd ask, and the scalper would grin as
he pocketed my $40. Yet he would
send out his spotter, who would dis
cover me craning my neck at the Ma
sonic building.
How high do you call that there?
I'd take occasion to ask him and then
I would inquire If he knew where there
was a beer garden. And when 1 re-
turned for the ticket / always asked
for a map of the road to show the
stations
st. Louis, some time back, our com
pany lined UP so spoilers against
eight ticket scalpers. and convicted
them on 200 separate charges. 1t was
great killing, each man being fined
the full $780,"
Supervision of Conduct
And does the steam road spotter
also report on conduct?"
Il should say SO. 1t is more neces-
sary on the steam than tho street
roads. A woman is only on streetcar
for few minutes, and she may get off
any moment. but once on board of a
train with an expensive ticket in her
pocket, she cannot easily escape from
under the eye of the 'mashing' con-
ductor, and but for the spotter she
would find it much harder. Travelling
would be unpleasant for an unescorted
woman. Now, don't deny that a cer-
tain kind of woman tries to travel on
her looks, and so helps to manufacture
the 'mashing conductor; but that is
none of my business and does not
figure in the case when catch him en-
gineering a Irritation with some green
country girl.
ION one occas sion biltfed fn ,na