The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-09-07
A Sable, "Jim my
\ alentine," rs Car
ried on the Col
lecting Car to
Keep Safe Open

bulk of this is in nickels ana dimes
Since the introduction of the two
cent transfer the number Of pennies
received has dwindled. contrary to the
expectation. This 10 partly due to
the fact that for every ten persons
that pay two cents for a transfer
there are three or four who hand In
nickel and require change. 1t IL
also due to the acumen of the con-
ductor in relieving his pockets OF
pennies on women passengers. who,
he has found, do not mind being
loaded with FIVE pennies in change
for ten cents.
Men ana Pennies.
Men are different proposition as a
rule in the matter of pennies. One
conductor relates that he handed a
man, who was more or less of a regu-
lar customer on his early morning trip
down Columbus avenue, a batch OF
five pennies, with which coin at the
minute he happened to be well stocked
shortly after the two cent transfer went
| into effect. The man accepted the
coins without protest, but thereafter
whenever he rode on that car he
invariably paid his fare In pennies.
The two cent transfer has produced
revenue according to the figures cal
culated by the railroad officials at the
time Of making the request. 1t was
said then that no accurate conjecture
could be made for lack of means Of
determining how much the transfer
traffic would fall off when a charge
was made for 1t. The officials pre-
| diotoa that mould Sam 000
year to the New York Railways Com
pany and for the first month It was
in effect the additional revenue came
in at exactly that rate.
The Brooklyn Rapid Transit system
has a central counting room in Its
Clinton street building for all money
taken in on It's subway, elevated and
surface lines. The room occupies the
entire floor OF a large sized offiee
| building. A long line Of cages similar
to teller's cage in bank runs the
length of the room so that the re-
ceivers, as they are called, face the
outer windows of the building and not
each other as in the Interborougn
counting room.
The cages also serve to give each
receiver a separate compartment Tor
his stacks of money, coin and papers.
If he is short of a certain coin to COM
plete bag he may call upon his next
door neighbor to help him out, but he
is not permitted to leave his cage.
which is open to the room on the In
side, so long as there is money stacked
UP inside. In ALL the Brooklyn Rapid
Transit employs thirty-two counters.
among them eight women who secured
their positions during the war. They
have been found to be accurate and
careful but are unable to stand up
under the work or count as rapidly as
men.
On the B. r. T. system the money Is
collected once a day by wagon which
! visits all the stations and barns in the
course of several trips on a regular
schedule. The money starts coming in
early in the morning and continues
until late in the day. The INTERIOR
ough counting room works but six
days a week, but on the 3. r, T. there
is no halt for Sunday or holiday.
The wagon which collects the B. r.
It's receipts Is heavily guarded, but
the containers holding the coin are so
large and heavy that In case OF hold
up 1t would take a goodly sized gang
TO lift these and transfer them to an
other vehicle. As 1t is they greatly
tax the strength of the husky porters
employed by the company. And one
watching them handle the containers
hardly would suspect they held any
thing of value. They are treated in
about the same manner that a laborer
would trundle a wheelbarrow of dirt.
The Brooklyn Rapid Transit COM
pany is probably the greatest single
collector of nickels in the country. It's
average receipts a day Of this coin are
$4,000, or approximately one ton.
While 1t would take thlrty-three years
for the marlborough to build a four
track railroad from New York city to
San Francisco, from the quarters 1t
receives the b. r. T. could accomplish
the same project in thirty years with
nickels, and this despite the fact that
one-eighth more nickels than quarters
would be required. The b. r. Il. would
use trilllion, TIT billion and 6S mil
lion nickels in its railroad.
The great preponderance of nickels
received is not derived from the sur
face car routes, because the same psy-
chology OF relieving his pockets OF
small change operates with the B. r.
r. conductor as with the Interborough
ticket agent 1t is due almost entirely
to the system in use on the subway
and elevated lines where no tickets arc
used. In the West End and Fourth
avenue subways the passenger simply
secures change in case he has not
nickel or five pennies for his fare.
The money is dropped into coin slots
and falls through to large tank be-
low resembling a milk can. These
cans are collected once a day. When
they reach the B. r. T, headquarters
J the cans are emptied into bin This
contains a mixture Of pennies, nickels
and dimes. Nothing else should be
J there as they are the only coins that
J can pass through the money slots at
the gate.
1t would wrench the average New
: Workers. heart If he were to watch the
: Indifferent manner in which his money
is handled. In this office, where a
never ending stream OF small coins Is
} received each day, money is looked
} upon more as a nuisance than a bless
ing. II is considered in terms OF SHOW
els and bucketfuls, as a laborer would
sand ana cement rather than for ltS
1 frt ri 10 In, AnlIapa nd