Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1908-08-28
A Ticket Scalper's Story.
[Original.l

scalper has a human heart, just like
clined to bestow that heart upon a wo-
man. | had that inclination once, but
I'm never going to have 1t again. Wo-
men are the most ungrateful creatures
In the world. A woman who would
treat a man as one of 'em treated me
isn't fit to live on the face of the earth.
One day a pretty, melancholy looking
girl of perhaps twenty-five came into
my Office and said she wanted to get
to her mother, who was lying sick In
Cincinnati. She said she was broke
and wanted a ticket for about nothing.
l had half a mind to give her a ticket,
charging up the amount to myself, but
that would be giving a stranger some
thing like $40. and. while, as l said, a
ticket scalper has a heart, he isn't the
kind of man to give things away
that he can't afford to give. | was
looking among my old stock for m
thing pretty cheap when l came across
an unused half of an old excursion
ticket, the limit of time of which had
long ago expired. 1t occurred to me
that If the girl worked on the sym
pathies of the conductor as she had on
mine she might induce him to pass her
through on it. l told her what l was
thinking about and that If she vas in
clined to try 1t on l would give her the
ticket free of charge. She asked If
there would be anything dishonest in
such an act, and l told her l didn't
think there would be; there would be
no Misrepresentation. If the conductor
wouldn't accept the ticket the worst he
could do was to put her off at the first
stop and she would be just so far on
her journey. If she got stranded In a
strange place she could get on the next
train and go farther on the same ticket,
and so on.
She said she wouldn't do that, but II
the conductor would let her go through
on the ticket she would do so. The
ticket had been paid for by some one,
and she didn't think the road had a
moral right to refuse 1t. l agreed with
ticket with heartfelt thanks and tears
In her eyes. She looked hungry, and !
asked her If she vas going through
without anything to eat. She said
she'd have to, and l felt so sorry for
her hat l asked her to go out to a
restaurant and filed her up with oys-
ters, beefsteak and a lot of other
things. l remember the bill was $3.50.
Her train went at 1905 o'clock, so l
took her to the theater. II you want
to love any one, just do something for
-em-F@em ere-I dad fer-this pso- girl
the more | thought what a lovely home
she could make for me By the time ]
left her at the station 1 would have
bought her a good ticket, but I'd spent
all my money. / told her to keep up
her courage and she'd go through all
right. She said that l was one Of ma
lures noblemen and l would be re-
warded for my kindness to her. AS
the train moved away she waved her
hand to me out of the coach window,
looking at me with fearful eyes.
1t wasn't a week before l received
a note from the attorney of the road
over which I'd given the girl a ticket
stating that they had a cas- against
me for swindling and must either shut
up my shop or they would send me to
state prison. l went at nee to the
attorneys Office and asked to know
what 1t meant. He showed me the
ticket l had given the girl with a sick
mother and asked me II I'd sold 1t to
a deaf and dumb girl. l denied the
charge and admitted I'd given 1t to a
girl who could talk as well as I could.
Then he told me how the ticket had
been used.
The girl had poked it at the conductor
when he came around, and he told her
1t was no good. She began to talk to
him with her fingers, and, seeing her
condition, he had given her a pencil
and paper on which she wrote that a
ticket scalper had sold the ticket to her
for the regular fare. The road was
trying to get a Ease to scare us scalp
ers, and the conductor, backed by the
passengers, who were indignant at
such treatment Of a poor deaf and
dumb girl, passed her through. but he
stipulated that she should give the
name OF the scalper, which she did
willingly, expressing the hope that they
would punish him soundly.
Well, I told my side Of the story,
and when they sent to the address the
girl had given them for corroboration
Of her side they found there was no
such street and number In existence.
The officers of the road believed that
the poor girl shrank from appearing
against me and had, therefore, thus
concealed her abode. But, not having
any evidence against me. they didn't
prosecute me, though I remained I'M