>.-m w:^':^^jL^M XXII. How baggage is billed, 205 XXIII. Storage, insurance, station depositories, etc., . 219 XXIV. Excess baggage and parcel traffic, - . . 227 XXV . Excess baggage and parcel traffic— Continued, . 237 XXVI. Excess baggage and parcel 'traffic — Continued, . 247 XXVII. Excess baggage and parcel traffic — Continued, . 257 XXVIII. Excess baggage, parcel, storage, etc., . . 277 XXIX. Excess baggage, parcels, storage, etc. — Continued, . 289 XXX. Baggage regulations, 299 XXXI. Express traffic, ....... 321 XXXII. Express traffic— Continued, .... 343 XXXm. Express traffic— Continued, . . . .367 XXXIV. Mail service, .361 Appendix: I forms, ....... 377 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FAOB Mail Carriage in Zululand — Frontispiece. Bull < 'ar — Ancient Mythological Conception of the Progress of the Moon, 14 Carritige in Egypt, 1800 B. C, 16 ("arriage in Ancient Egypt, 18 Carriage in Ancient Rome, 20 (^'arriage in Ancient Greece — Ideal, 22 Carriage in Ancient Assyria, 24 Carriage in Ashur, 1920 B. C, 26 Carriage in Ancient Assyria, 28 .Carriage in C^hina, 3P (Carriage in Ancient Persia, 32 Mars, 34 Diomedes, . 36 Egyptian. . . . 38 Mail Carriage in Japan, 40 Carriage in Africa, . 42 Carriage in the Xaga Hills, 44 Carriage of flails in Bengal, 46 Carriers of Assam, 48 Carriage Among the Indians of North America, . . .50 Primitive Method of Carriage, 52 Primitive Method of Carriage, 54 Primitive Method of Carriage, 56 Primitive Method of Carriage, . . " . . . .58 Primitive Method of Carriage, 60 Carriage in Abyssinia, 62 Carriage in Bulgaria, 64 Newspaper Carriage in Paris, 66 Carriage in Kaffraria, 68 Carriage in West Africa, 70 Carriage in Constantinople, 72 Carriage in Constantinople. 74 (5) G L IS T OF ILL US TEA TIONS. FAOE Carriage in the Tyrol, 76 Carriage in Singapore, 78 Carriage in Switzerland, 80 Mail Carriage in Norway, 82 Carriage in Tamatave, 84 Carriage in America, . . - 88 Carriage in Madras, 90 Carriage in Jamaica, 92 Carriage in Delhi, 94 Carriage in China, 9G Carriage in Shanghai, 98 Carrier of Arabia, 100 Carriage in India, 102 Carriage in Asia Minor, 104 Carriage in Alexandria, . lOG Carriage in Afghanistan, 108 Carriage in Khyber Pass, 110 Carriage in India, 112 Carriage in Khiva, 114 Mail Carriage in Kussia, 116 Carriage in India, . • 118 Carriage in Puttiala, 120 Carriage in India, 122 Carriage in India, 124 Carriage in Jumrood, 126 Carriage in Cashmere, 128 Carriage in Burmah, 130 Carriage in Burmah, , 132 Carriage in Spain, 134 Carriage in Burmah, 136 Carriage in Rural England, 140 Carriage in Asiatic Turkey, ...... 142 Carriage in Natal, 144 Carriage in India, 146 Carriage in Kaff raria, 148 Carriage on the Pampas of South America, . . . 150 Carriage in Bombay, . 162 Carriage in Bengal, 154 Carriage in Peru, 156 Carriage in Algiers, 168 LIS T OF ILL US TBA tlONS. 7 PAGE Carriage in Ladak, 160 Carriage Among the Lipan Indians, 162 Carriage in Japan, 164 Carriage in Little Russia, 166 Carriage in America— (Device of the P. O. Department) . 108 Carriage in Servia, 170 Carriage in France, 174 Mail Carriage in Afghanistan, 176 Amazon, 180 Carriage in England, 18th Century, 182 < 'arriage in Servia, 184 Mail Carriage in South Africa, 186 Carriage in Russia, 188 Gypsy ( 'arriage, England, 190 Carriage in China, 192 Carriage in Peru, 194 Carriage in Roumania, 196 Mail Carriage in India, 198 Mail Carriage in England, A. D. 1755, .... 200 Carriage in Eastern Russia, 202 Carriage in Spain, 204 Carriage in Delhi, 206 Carriage in Chile 208 Carriage in Herzegovina, 210 Carriage in the Bavarian Alps, 212 Carriage in Mexico, 214 Carriage in China, ........ 216 ^lail Carriage in Germany, 218 (-"arriage in Vienna, 220 Carriage in Belgium, 222 Carriage in Germany, 224 Carriage in South America, 226 Carriage in France. A. D. 1760, 228 Carriage in Turkey, 230 Carriage in England, A. D. 1790, 232 Mail Carrier of India, 23 4 Carriage in Xorth America, 23(J Carriage on the Indian Sea, 238 Carriage in (.'hile 240 Carriage on the Gounitee, India, 242 8 LIST OF ILLU8TBATI0NS. Carriage on the Severn, .... Carriage in Ceylon, .... Carriage in Venice, . . . Carriage in Holland, .... Medieval Carriage, Carriage in Mexico, . ... Carriage in Canton, .... Carriage in Canton, .... Carriage on the Amazon River, Carriage in Burmah, . . Carriage in Jamaica, .... Carriage in New Guinea, Carriage on Canton River, Carriage in Jeddo, .... Carriage on the Coast of Syria, Carriage in Japan, .... Carriage off Corfu, Carriage in the Dutch East Indies, 16th Century, Carriage in China, . . Carriage on the Yang-tse-Kiang, . Carriage in Holland, .... Carriage in Canton, .... Carriage in the Grecian Archipelago, Carriage in the Fiji Islands, Fulton's First Steamboat, . Sleeping Car, A. D. 1830, German Passenger Coach, Baggage Truck, ..... Baggage Car and Crates, A. D. 1848, Locomotive "Trevithick," A. D. 1800, Locomotive "Oruktor Amphibolis."' A. D. 1804, Locomotive " Mechanical Traveler,'" A. D. 1812, Locomotive '•Howard," A. D. 1829, Locomotive ''York," A. D. 1831, . Locomotive '• United States," A. D. 1836, . Royal Train, A. D. 1842, .... German Locomotive. A. D, 1846, Carriage in the Alps, .... Screw Locomotive for Steep Grades, A. D. 1857, Locomotive, A. D. 1894, .... PAGE 244 . 248 250 .252 254 . 256 258 . 260 262 . 264 267 . 270 273 . 276 279 . 282 285 . 288 291 . 294 297 . 300 303 . 307 310 314 318 322 326 330 334 338 342 346 350 354 358 362 366 370 EYOLUTIOK OF PRIMITIVE CARRIAGE. The continuance in our day, in many ancient places, of primitive methods of transportation will be inexplicable to the reader if he does not remember that in the great cities of the orient the narrow streets, planned when modern vehicles were unknown, do not permit of the use of such methods of carriage. Transportation is, conse- quently, confined to men and animals. In the suburbs of these old cities, on the other hand, modern vehicles are frequently to be met with. Their environment, however, surrounds them with an extremely grotesque air. Thus, to see an Eng- lish carriage drawn by bullocks or camels is both amusing and startling to people not familiar with the use made of these animals in the orient. In Africa and other countries peopled by sav- ages there are no roads, or they are of such a nature as not to permit of the general use of wheeled vehicles. Consequently, land carriage in such places is still confined to pack animals and human beings. In the illustrations of primitive transportation to be found in this and the accompanying vol- umes, the methods of carriage in vogue today in many parts of the world are quite as crude as (9) 10 EVOL UTION OF those used by the ancients. Unfortunately we have but few representations of the means of carriage in vogue at the dawn of and immedi- ately preceding the historical period. Such representations as we have show only the high- est form of transportation known; that used by the better classes. These illustrations, while in many cases exceedingly archaic, are interesting and picturesque and, in the main, undoubtedly accurately represent ancient forms of carriage. They are such as the absence of general and well preserved highways necessitated. Stoutly built and adaptable to every kind of road, they served the limited uses to which they were put by the rugged people of that remote age. On the water, our knowledge of carriage among the ancients is still more meager. It is probable, however, that at the time of the Trojan war the only vessel known to the Greeks was the open ship or long boat, without cabin or other con- veniences, save common benches. Methods of primitive transportation now in use in savage countries fully illustrate carriage among prehistoric peoples. Origin and evolution are, without doubt, substantially the same everywhere and in all times. The rude raft of our day, manned by Polynesian savages, whose only clothing is a loin cloth made from the frayed leaf of the banana, represents the origin of water carriage in every age and quarter of the world. In the same way, the men and women of our time who bear burdens upon their heads or backs represent the PBIMITIVE CARRIAGE. 11 beginnings of land carriage in every country. The savage Kaffir, carrying a letter or package through the wild jungles of Africa, illustrates the begin- nings of the postal and express service; the naked blacks of the Congo district, who carry the mer- chandise of the country back and forth on their heads, illustrate the beginnings of our freight and baggage business. It is this that makes reference to the means and progress of carriage in different countries both interesting and instructive. Notwithstanding the fact that evolution is very much the same everywhere, it is not litei'ally so. Thus, the chariot of Nausicaa, in which she went, involuntarily, to the rescue of Ulysses, was pecu- liar. Alcinous speaks of it as a lofty, well wheeled chariot, fitted with a covering and drawn by solid hoofed mules; these mules were led under the chariot and yoked thereto under the chariot. The vehicle itself was stored with a goatskin of wine and other dainties. It is probable tlie steeds were only partly under the vehicle; how other- wise could it have been balanced and guided? Nowhere have I found a similar vehicle; nowhere a chariot or wagon under which the steeds were yoked, and if Homer had not in other places made similar reference I should believe it to be a figure of speech. In the accompanying illusti-ations will be found vehicles drawn by dogs hitched under the wagon, but the vehicle is steadied by the hand of an attendant. The exceeding variety of primitive methods of carriage would not be believed if it could not be 12 EVOLUTION OF demonstrated, as it is in these volumes. While mankind are generally alike, their ways are never exactly the same, any more than their features or temperament; the manner in which the natives of different countries' carry a burden; the way in which they strap it upon an animal or place it upon a wagon; their method of constructing their vehicles or arranging the gearing and harness; their manner of building a ship, or arranging its cabin or supporting its sails, is never exactly alike. This makes the 'study of the evolution of carriage one of instruction as well as of con- tinual surprises. In studying methods of carriage in vogue in different parts of the world, their adaptability to the nature of the traffic and the peculiarities of the country is noticeable. It is also apparent that changes are accepted with reluctance. New forms are made to adhere outwardly as far as possible to those of the past. This is notice- able in the rigging and sails of vessels, in the accoutrements of animals used as carriers, and in other ways. In many sections of the world no progress whatever has been made in the last four thousand years. Thus, the carriage of women in panniers on the backs of asses, in vogue in certain parts of Asia long before the time of Abraham, is still a common means of conveyance in Bagdad, in Asiatic Turkey. This is also true of methods of carriage by water. The means of conveyance on the Mesopotamian rivers and their tributaries in the time of Nebuchadrezzar are still popular; PRIMITIVE CARRIAGE. 18 rafts buoyed upon inflated skins, used when As- syria and Babylonia were dominant powers, are in active use today. In the construction of these curious crafts of a bygone age, as many as four hundred inflated skins are said to be sometimes used. The circular boats that we know were em- ployed on the Euphrates three thousand years ago are also still in use today; only, instead of being made watertight with hides sewed together, asphalt is now used. On the vast steppes of Central Asia and in many other districts of that country no change whatever has been made in methods of carriage during the historical period — certainly no im- provement; the horse, the camel, and the ass are used today just as they were forty centuries ago. These . patient animals continue to bear the bur- dens that in more progressive countries have been, in the main, transferred to wagons and rail- way cars. The ancients (for whom I have an especial love, as the reader will have discovered) constituted a link in the chain of evolution. They were the children of mankind. Their imagination Supplied the lack of experience and reasoning power. They could not conceive of motion without visible agency, and in looking for this selected that with which they were most familiar. Giving a free reign to their imagination, they pictured their gods and mythological heroes as mounted upon magnifi- cent chargers, or drawn in chariots of surpassing splendor by animals of suitable character and 14 EVOLUTION OF dignity. Vehicles were to them necessary to the movements of the planets, and among their other delusions they believed the moon to be canied round the world upon a car drawn by bulls. Their superstitions and delusions were infinite and in- explicable. The numerous illustrations of a myth- ological character contained in these volumes de- pict at once their varied conceptions of known and unknown things; what, for instance, they knew about the arts of carriers, and what they did not know about disembodied spirits and ter- restrial bodies. The chapters concerning the ancients that are embraced in the accompanying volumes refer only to primitive historical people; those that ex- isted and in many cases had passed away before Rome commenced her conquest of the world. These ancient peoples were among the Inventors of Transportation. The immense distance that separates them from us, both in time and knowl- PRIMITIVE CARRIAGE. 16 edge, surrounds their every act with a halo of romantic interest impossible in the case of the people who immediately succeeded them. Of the latter I have said nothing; but a thread that for- ever binds them to their progenitors and to the people of the present age, the age of railways, is the evolution of carriage; the transition from the chariot of early days to the railroad coach of our time. This transition, the pictures of primitive methods of transportation contained in these vol- umes is intended partially to portray. CHAPTEK I PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION OF THE BAGGAGE BUSI- NESS OF RAILWAYS. Our laws are created by the people who travel. They embody the intelligence of the community and embrace the bulk of its members who give direction to its impulses and own in fee simple all it possesses. The regulations that govern the passenger traffic of railroads particularly con- cern them. They are especially interested in the efficiency of the baggage department, and demand with one voice that its methods shall be such as to afford the public the least inconve- nience consistent with the prompt and accurate handling of the traffic. The owners and man- agers of railroads endeavor to meet these expec- tations, but only they understand the measure of accommodation it is possible to afford. The operations of the baggage department, and the conveniences it affords, are governed by the income from passenger traffic. Whatever the cost of doing business may be, it must be reim- bursed to the carrier in the price paid by the passenger for his ticket. The aggregate amount paid determines the amount avjiilalde for use. The exactions of the public, therefore, are to be governed by the resources of the passenger J (17) 18 SCIENCE OF BAIL WA TS; department. If the amount received is small the facilities extended will be correspondingly small; if ample, the facilities will l»e ample. The meas- ure of income determines the measure of accom- modation. The business of railroads is divided under two great heads, namely: passenger and freight. They have no direct connection with each other. Each should be self sustaining. Under any other method one class will be taxed to furnish accommodations for another class. The people who furnish freight Carriage in Ancient Egypt. traffic should not, for illustration, be restricted in facilities or compelled to pay high rates to en- able a carrier to furnish accommodations for pas- sengers not warranted by the amount earned from that source; nor, on the other hand, should the traveling public be denied proper accommo- dations or asked to pay excessive rates to enable a railway company to furnish to merchants and others facilities for the carriage of their goods not warranted by the extent and productiveness of the business they contribute. An equitable division of the cost of transportation, to be borne BAGGAGE, EXPBESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 19 by the different classes of traflBc, requires that the burdens peculiar to each branch of the service must conform as nearly as possible to earnings. Public opinion is precise and trustworthy in determining its rights in particular instances in the proportion it has been accustomed to the ex- ercise of such rights. Enforced acquiescence in the demands of public opinion intensifies the re- spect felt for it by those it concerns, and hastens the anticipation of its wishes. The truthfulness of this nowhere finds more happy illustration, perhaps, than in the customs that have grown up in different countries in connection with the working of railroads. The responsibilities of these servants of the public are peculiar and ex- ceptional, and in the relative facilities they afford the community, may be traced the different de- grees of civic intelligence of the people they serve. In one country, happily governed, we see the resources and arts of the earner taxed to the utmost to meet and forestall reasonable public demand, while under another form of govern- ment, arbitrary and harassing customs character- ize his acts. In the first instance we discover that the carriers act under the inspiration of a watchful and generally educated public intelli- gence; in the other, under the guidance of a bureaucratic form of government. Under the former the carrier labors under the knowledge that his utmost endeavors will not fully satisfy public expectation; under the latter he acts un- der the assurance that whatever he does will be 20 SCIENCE OF BAILW AYS; accepted by the community as the act of its im- mediate servants, and necessarily, therefore, final and conclusive. Liberty of opinion and freedom in its ex- pression beget enlightenment, and increase in the end the conservatism of a community. This is apparent in the United States and in England, whose governments may be ranked with the most conservative in existence. In each the highest results of public observation and intel- ligence are apparent in the effect upon railroad Carriage In Ancient Rome. companies. This is proven by the intelligent and zealous efforts of the latter to satisfy public opinion — not as expressed by bureaucratic officers, but through the aggregate exactions of the com- munity. In England and the United States rail- way conveniences approach more nearly perfec- tion than anywhere else. The common earner is the hewer of wood and drawer of water and is bound to fill every reason- a])le condition of his office. He fully realizes this and assures the continuance of his trust, as well as exemption from oppression, by the exer- BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 21 cise of intelligent foresight and the honest dis- charge of his duty. In the philosophy of railway management it is generally recognized that a company is bound to do whatever it can to pro- mote the personal comfort of its patrons, so far as the compensation received will permit, or as may be compatible with the convenience of busi- ness generally, the safety of the public, and the security of property. The carrier is also bound to adopt every reasonable appliance, and intro- duce from time to time such conveniences as may be suggested by experience 'and the discovery of new devices, so far as they come within his in- come or the scope of ordinary business condi- tions. In no country are these requirements more fully and heartily accepted by the carrier than in America. This is generally recognized by economists and others familiar with the facts. The efficiency of American railways is manifest in good service and low rates; in the introduction of commodious and luxuriant day coaches; in the use of palatial sleeping, dining and drawing room cars and comfortable smoking compart- ments; in providing capacious, cleanly and acces- sible closets in connection with each vehicle; in the care with which passenger coaches are lighted, heated and ventilated; in the free and abundant supply of pure drinking water; in arranging the coaches so that passengers are not isolated from each other and from the servants of the company while en route, thus insuring their personal safety; and, finally, in providing such convenient 22 SCIENCE OF BAIL WA Y8; and expeditious appliances for handling the bag- gage of passengers as will afford every necessary security, while avoiding inconvenience to the traveler. The marked excellence of the American system of handling baggage, and the superior accommo- dations afforded the public in the main by its operations, was not due primarily to superior Carriage in Ancient Greece— Ideal. [The Phoenicians, whom Homer describes as the most expert oarsmen of their time— 1200 B. C— used leather loops for holding the oars. At night, or when not in use, the ancients were in the habit of removing the mast from their vessels and drawing the latter up on the shore.] ability upon the part of those in charge of rail- roads, but to the vigilance and uncomfortable and jealous exactions of the public. This spirit in the community, that has so often seemed to threaten the integrity of capital invested in American railroad enterprises, and has had the effect in many cases to greatly retard develop- ment, has stimulated the energy and sagacity of railroad ofiBcials to an extent that is incredible to B AGO AGE, EXPRESS AXD MAIL Bi'SiyESS. 23 those not accustomed to so open, vehement and critical an analysis of the acts of railway man- agers upon the part of the public. To the resi- dents of countries where such matters are left to the discretion of public servants, the timidity of our railroad companies and their alacrity in answering the demands of the public are incom- prehensible. While the disposition of Americans to find fault is not pleasant to contemplate, and while oftentimes it is unjust, nevertheless it has had the effect to greatly stimulate railway managers to anticipate the wants of the community; it has caused them to make the comfort of the public their constant thought; to make the railroad system conform to the convenience of the public, instead of attempting to make public convenience conform to that of the railroads. This peculiar feature of its railway system is illustrated in one way by the simple and convenient methods that have been adopted for handling baggage. In no other department of the service, perhaps, is it possible for a carrier to afford the community so high and conclusive an evidence of his intelli- gence and amiability as in the handling of the luggage of his patrons; certainly none that the public more highly esteem, or that can add more to the personal convenience of travelers. The American system of handling baggage has for its underlying principle the convenience of the passenger. Fiscal methods are made to ac- commodate themselves in every instance to the 24 SCIENCE OF RAIL WA YS; comfort of the passenger, and only such simple formulas are employed in the conduct of the bus- iness as are imperatively necessary. In this par- ticular branch of the service every detail having the effect to harass or discommode the public is sought to be eliminated. And wherever a contrary system has been attempted to be introduced by a company, either the counsels of its officers or more Carriage in Ancient Assyria. judicious action on the part of a neighboring line has quickly rendered the attempt abortive. Under no circumstances is the community to be inconvenienced. This has been the basis of action upon the part of American railw^ay com- panies, and if there have been exceptions to the rule, they in no way invalidate the general prin- ciple. While the American method of handling bag- gage is not more simple than European methods might be made, its operation is characterized by B AGO AGE, EXPIiESS AND MAIL liVSIXESS. 25 greater expedition. Dull and sluggish indiffer- ence to the convenience of travelers is not toler- ated. Any latent disposition upon the part of of- ficials to aggrandize their office at the expense of the public in this direction is quickly suppressed by the companies employing them. The mon- strous absurdity of requiring passengers to pre- sent themselves at the depot far in advance of the departure of trains, under penalty of having their baggage excluded, would never be attempted in America, or, if attempted, would be quickly corrected by public sentiment. In examining the American system we find that the operation of ticketing passengers and checking baggage has been so pruned of features objectionable to the public that the handling of baggage is no longer an inconvenience to the latter. And what is most gratifying, the inge- nuity and skill that have been displayed in this respect receive from the public the appreciative recognition they merit. In many countries the system of handling bag- gage is organized with a view to protect the car- rier against both the public and the operative; the convenience of travelers is made entirely sub- servient to these two requirements: Every piece of baggage, for instance, no matter how small or trifling it may be, is carefully weighed and the weight inserted in the manifest and receipt given to the passenger. A careful record is also made in the forwarding office and again at the receiv- ing station. This labor, no matter how deftly 26 SCIENCE OF BAIL WA YS; performed, requires time and subjects the public to corresponding inconvenience. The American companies, on the other hand, while also limiting the amount of baggage that passengers may carry without extra charge, are, nevertheless, satisfied to accept the judgment of station mas- ters as to whether the weight of the property of- fered by the passenger exceeds this limit or not, without actually requiring him to weigh and re- Carriage in Ashur, 1920 B. C. cord it in those cases where it is apparent that it does not exceed the limit. The time thus saved inures to the benefit of the passenger, as he is thereby permitted to reach the station just so much later than he otherwise would be. The time thus saved varies at different stations, but it will average from ten to fifteen minutes, ac- cording to the number of passengers to go for- ward, and the facilities the carrier possesses for weighing the baggage. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 2n To those familiar with the timidity and obse- quious deference paid the community by Ameri- can and English railway companies, the assurance displayed in other countries is most striking. The explanation, however, is exceedingly simple. It is found in the self asseition of the masses of English speaking people, and in the habit each man has of judging for himself of the necessity of the regulations sought to be imposed upon him. When, in his opinion, they bear unjustly, he flies to the newspapers, or the courts, or to the legislative bodies for relief, and rests not until his grievance is redressed, or he is proven to be in the wrong. In many countries the hired servant of the public is expected to secure for the community all the rights that belong to it, so far as railroads are concerned. Officials of the government pass judgment upon the acts of carriers, and whatever they approve the people acquiesce in. And in this manner the latter accept with cheerful res- ignation regulations that would be generally branded as unnecessary and absurd in England or the United States. The reason is simple. A people who delegate their rights must acquiesce in the acts of their agent; whatever conclusion he comes to is of necessity accepted as final ; his limited capacity or downright inefficiency re- mains unknown, or, if suspected, can not be demonstrated. The fault lies in the system, and it is impos- sible to conceive of a different result under any 28 SCIENCE OF BAIL WA YS; form of government, where the restricted and oftentimes perverted intelligence of a few hired agents is substituted for the intelligence and watchfulness of a whole nation. While the offi- cials may be perfectly consistent in their efforts to serve the public, they in effect serve only as shields for the railroad companies, for the reason that the imperfect supervision they exercise dis- arms criticism and silences inquiry. The repre- sentative of the government passes upon the questions that arise and his conclusions are ac- Carriage in Ancient Assyria. cepted as final. The result, while apparently all that could be desired, really substitutes the judg- ment of one man for the intelligence of the many. In such cases railway companies have only to satisfy the government official appointed to supervise their affairs; they have nothing to do directly with the community, and the facilities and improvements that the people under other circumstances would blindly insist upon, and ultimately secure, the servant appointed to act for them blandly waives aside as impracticable. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 29 The result is that carriers thus supervised are in many things practically irresponsible. Their identity is lost in that of the government agent. Shielded from criticism and protected from at- tack, the incentive that animates the English and American companies is wanting; secure in the possession of their prerogatives, corporations thus supervised are indifferent to the improve- ments suggested under the stimulus of a less complaisant public. Wherever government supervision is depended upon a few public servants take the place of the ti-ained intelligence of the only class of men, namely, those directly in charge of railways, who are competent to judge of relative forms of management or the desirability of improvements. Under such supervision the railroad companies, instead of bending their energies to the accom- plishment of results that an enlightened and vig- ilant public sentiment would otherwise demand, are content to satisfy the judgment of the officials appointed to look after the interests of the public; and in the event the latter complain the companies have but to fall back upon the general statement that what is satisfactory to the selected and trained servants of the people, appointed especially for the purpose, and pos- sessing all necessary facilities for knowing what is practicable and whnt is impractica])le, ought to be acceptable to the people themselves.* *In this connection, and comparing tlie American system witli that of some of the countries of Europe, it seems to me 80 SCIENCE OF BAIL WA YS; The community and the railroad companies both lose where the former exercises arbitrary governmental control over the operations of the latter. It is impossible that the highest form of constructive ability attainable in the organiza- tion and conduct of railroads should be found where such a stat« of affairs exists. A community may be at times hasty and in- considerate, but is in the main just, and may be depended upon in the end to protect and foster Carriage in China. those interests that conserve its purpose. In the operations of business it is a well accepted fact that the principal is more likely to act upon an enlightened basis than an agent, and that his conclusions when formed are also more likely to that the limited supervision exercised in the former by those ap- pointeil by the state is greatly preferable to the absolute control exercise*! by the governments in Europe, for the reason that while the latter silences the expression of public opinion, the acts of the representatives of the people in the first named country serve only to excite its interest and enlighten its under- standing. BAGGAGE, EXPIiESS AND Jit AIL BUSLVESS. 81 be stable. The application of the principle in the United States and England in the case of railroads bears out the conclusion. The railroads possess in these countries greater latitude in their organization and management than they do elsewhere, and it results that they serve the community with greater economy and efficiency than any others. Comparisons demonstrate this. Nowhere else is the public so abundantly and cheaply served as in the United States, where the powers of the government agent are re- stricted within the narrowest limits. Public service, like all enterprises of a business nature carried on without constant, minute and exacting responsibility, commences by being ex- travagant and ends by becoming inefficient. The servants of the people are not alone arbi- trary in their action; they are also contracted in their views and policy. The objects which move men in other departments of life, such as the prospect of gain, the necessity of satisfying a critical master, or the securing of a coveted position or rapid advancement, that only superior intelligence and skill can compass, are wanting in the public service where averages form the basis of service. The result is that enterprises operated by private parties are more effectively and economically managed than those conducted under even the highest and most efficient forms of public service. The operation of railroads affords no exception to this rule, and it will be found by comparing results under different forms 82 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; of government that their greatest utility has been attained where their control and manage- ment has been entrusted wholly to private individuals. Many of the difficulties attending the opera- tions of the baggage department are fully under- stood only by those having immediate direction of its affaii*s; they alone are able to perfect the many excellencies of service of which the business is capable. And this truth suggests a Carriage In Ancient Persia. companion fact not out of place here, namely, that it sometimes occurs in the history of railroad enterprises that reforms which are in themselves exceedingly simple and easy of accomplishment are long delayed because of the neglect of those who ought to act. Men become wedded to par- ticular forms, and, unless pressure is brought to bear, will in many instances never change; every reform is the result of a struggle, of the pro- gressive against the unprogressive element. The English system of handling baggage is in some BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAU. BUSINESS. 88 particulars as good an illustration as any that can be found of the truth of this assertion. The English method is not unsafe, bat it is exceedingly inconvenient to the traveler in some respects. Thus, the passenger is not given any token by which his baggage can be identified, and so it be- comes necessary for him at the destination to go pei*sonally and hunt it up. It is remarkable that the English people should so long have submitted to this, becausethey are, of all people in the world, not excepting the Americans, the most ten- acious of what they esteem their rights. The offense, if it is an offense upon the part of car- riei*s, is not a serious one; the carrier saves some expense, but not commensurate in amount probably with the inconvenience occasioned the public. I notice this particular defect on the part of the English roads in handling baggage, because in many respects the English railway managers are in advance of all others; certainly they vie with those of America in efficiency and desire to please the public. Their thrift and intelligence are proverbial, and deficiencies in their methods of doing business are not dull, persistent and willful, but arise rather from ignorance and over confident belief in the infallibility of whatever they have accomplished. The fundamental principles governing the handling of baggage, to summarize the subject at this point, are few in number and easily stated. These principles, happily, do not antagonize 84 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; either the interests of the people or of the rail- road companies. They are: first, that passen- gers shall be inconvenienced or delayed as little as possible in checking their baggage at the starting point and in delivering it at the destination; sec- ond, that so far as the nature of the route and the extent of the traffic warrant, all baggage shall be checked through from the point where a pas- senger purchases his ticket to the place to which he is destined, and that at all junctions and trans- Mars. fer points it shall be attended to by the carrier without the intervention of the passenger; third, that it shall go forward upon the same train with the passenger, and reach its destination at the same time that he does; fourth, that the passen- ger shall, when he delivers his baggage to the transportation company, be given a receipt or token, the presentation of which at the place of destination shall be the authority of the carrier for the delivery of the property without further BA06AGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 85 identification; fifth, that baggage shall be care- fully and intelligently guarded and its good con- dition maintained, and that in the ev( nt it goes astray the appliances of the carrier shall be such as to secure its prompt recovery and transmission to the owner; sixth, that the carrier shall be re- sponsible for any loss or damage that baggage may sustain while in his possession, and that claims for such loss or damage shall be adjusted with all due diligence; and, finally and gener- ally, that from the moment baggage passes into the hands of the earner up to the time of its de- livery at the point to which it is billed, the pas- senger shall be relieved from all anxiety or ex- pense concerning its safety or carriage. The carrying out of these principles, wnile not difficult in any respect, involves, it is apparent, the co-operation of connecting railroad compa- nies and the employment by them of an efficient force and the use of the best attainable methods in the conduct of their business. [XoTK — In this connection attention is called to a chapter on bapjjajje affairs containee carriage of both the passenger and her baggage safely to the latter city."— Candee v. Perm. B. B., 21 Wis., 5&7. 62 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; of what might have been made an important source of revenue, we can not now determine. Doubtless customs in vogue prior to the introduc- tion of railroads had much to do with it. The express business (known in Europe as the parcel traffic) is trifling compared with the bag- gage handled. The revenue derived from express Carriage in Abyssinia. matter, although the business has been carried on under comparatively unfavorable circumstances and at great expense relatively, has enriched its proprietors. Every cent has been garnered. Equal care in the handling of the baggage traffic would have made to many railroad companies the difference between a surplus and a deficit, because there can be no doubt that in many BAGGAOE, EXPBESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 68 instances the cost of carrying baggage is scarcely considered at all in making the rate for the pas- senger. Many practices in vogue upon railroads re- main today as they were originally fixed by comparatively inexperienced men. Some of these customs cling to us still and paralyze every effort to advance. The early managers of rail- roads were men of great energy and courage, but they very imperfectly comprehended the interests involved in railways and the future needs of these properties. Their decisions were not made in the light of experience, but in many cases hastily and without due consideration. Men of rude stamp, they were more familiar with the tow path of the canal or the box of the stage coach than the new science. In England and on the continent the express business was at once made part of the common traffic of railway companies. In the United States private companies have had charge of the business. These companies perform the work satisfactorily to the community and the railroad companies, and it is probable that the latter have derived as much income from the business as they would had it been conducted by them directly— perhaps more. The diversities of the express business are to be found in every department of railway service. In many cases they are the result of necessity; in others of the want of experience or wisdom. Each year, however, adds something to the sum 64 SCIENCE OF HAIL WAYS; total of our knowledge of what railroads need. But whether the conclusions acquiesced in by early managers of railroads in regard to the dis- position of baggage will ever be subsequently modified, it is impossible now to tell. No right now recognized as belonging to travelers can, it is apparent, be taken away without creating Carriage in Bulgaria. great discontent, and for this reason it is probable thab it will not be attempted. As already stated, we can do no more than sur- mise why railroad companies in the first instance allowed baggage to go free.* But had they *I use the term free for the reason that in effect the quantity of baggage that a passenger is allowed to carry is not considered at all in many cases in fixing the price he shall pay for his BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 66 decided to charge for baggage and allow the traveler to go free instead of the revei*se of this, the custom would be equally fixed in the prac- tices of the country and the majority of people would, without doubt, esteem the arrangement eminently wise and one not to be called in ques- tion. In fixing the rate for passengers it was no doubt the intention originally to make it high enough to cover cost of handling baggage. How- ever this may be, it is certain that equal thought- fulness has not in all cases characterized the ser- vice since. A large part of the baggage carried yields no revenue whatever to the carrier. This loss he is compelled as far as possible to recoup in other directions, from people in no way inter- ested in the transportation of baggage or bene- fited by the concessions of carriers in con- nection therewith. ticket. This is abundantly proven by the fact that the rate charged by the express companies for property alone equals in many instances the price charged by the railway for both the passenger and his baggage. Newspaper Carriage in Paris, (66; CHAPTER IV. COMPARISONS OF AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN SYSTEMS. The method of billing* baggage in Europe, if properly systematized, may be made superior to that of the United States. It is more compre- hensive, less difficult to handle, and affords fewer incongruities, and, with the exercise of ingenu- ity, is simple, effective and economical. The metal devices we call checks are not used in Europe. The plan there is to paste on each piece of baggage a paper way bill, upon which is written or printed the name of the station to which the property is destined ; each bill bears a different number; the number is printed on the form. Attached to the bill is a coupon which is torn off and given to the passenger; this is called a receipt, and the property is delivered to the holder upon its presentation at the place of destination. There is yet another form at- tached; this is kept as a record by the agent forwarding the property. On the presentation of a piece of baggage, the way bill is quickly pasted in a conspicuous place upon its surface by the attendant; the receipt is detached and handed to the owner of the property, while the recordf * In the United States it is called checking h&gg&ge. t See Form No. 1, Appendix. («7) 68 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; remains in the company's possession. The plan is very simple. Its execution in Europe is appar- ently more difficult of enforcement than our method of checking, because of the practice in vogue there of weighing each piece of baggage, no matter how insignificant it may be. When ascertained, the weight is inserted in the space Carriage in Kaffraria. provided on the face of the way bill. It is the observance of this practice of weighing each package, and not the awkwardness of their method of billing, that renders the European system of handling baggage so tedious to Ameri- can ti'avelers. Under the European method of handling baggage, if five hundred people propose traveling by a particular train, it is necessary BAOGAOE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 69 that those who have baggage shall reach the station in time to have it weighed. The time that they must wait is a severe tax upon the pa- tience of even the most amiable. In all cases a liberal margin of time must be allowed by passen- gers, as the delay they will experience in getting their baggage billed will depend upon the num- ber to be accommodated. The object sought by the European companies in weighing the luggage of each passenger is obvious; but it is overdone. In the United States, when the amount of baggage a passenger pos- sesses is manifestly within the limit allowed, the formality of weighing is waived, and thus the delay and expense incident thereto is avoided. This particular feature of the American system is the best. The plodding, pertinacious way in which the European companies insist upon weighing every scrap of luggage that goes into the baggage car illustrates generally their careful methods. A rule once formulated is sacredly observed. In America, on the other hand, a rule is insisted upon where the public is concerned only when some urgent purpose is to be accomplished; rules inconveniencing travelers are never enforced in the United States if their avoidance is possible. In consequence of the discretionary authority that our companies give to baggage agents to omit the formality of weighing baggage when the amount manifestly falls within the pre- scribed limit, the public is saved much incon- 70 SCmXCE OF BAIL WATS; yenience and the railroad companies considera- ble expense. The European system, however, while subjecting the passengers to inconveni- ence, and the railroad company to outlay, never- theless protects the latter absolutely. Baggage in excess of the maximum weight is never car- Carriage in West Africa. ried without the exti-a charge prescribed. And herein their method is superior to the American system or want of system. Under the latter plan it is impossible to believe that baggage in excess of the authorized amount is not iu many cases allowed to pass without charge. The American BAGGAGE, EXPRESfl AND MAIL BUSINESS. 71 system, for this reason, strikes the European traveler as rude and incomplete — as lacking in business method and thrift; it is, he says, as if a grocer who has an order for one hundred and fifty pounds of sugar should guess at the amount instead of weighing it. This criticism is in the main just, still it is doubtful whether the income carriers would derive from the excess baggage that is overlooked would reimburse them for the extra expense of weighing each piece, to say nothing of the inconvenience to the community that would result therefrom. Leaving out of consideration, however, the European plan of weighing each package, their method of billing is superior to that in the United States. Their forms can be kept securely with less trouble and expense than the metal checks we use; they are less likely to be lost or stolen; their care involves less storage room; they can be made difficult to counterfeit; their cost is trifling; they involve less accounting; they can not so easily be attached to or detached from baggage by unauthorized persons, and final- ly they are generally simpler in their operation than the metal check system. One of the objections to our system of handling baggage is the danger that the check we fasten with a leather thong to each package may be de- tached by unauthorized persons, and another check be substituted in place thereof. This dan- ger is lessened, if not entirely obviated, by the use of a way bill pasted to the property. These 72 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; way bills can be bound in volumes for use as re- quired, so that the danger of their being stolen is very small compared with the constant danger that attends the use of metal checks, hanging, as they do, in exposed places in open rooms. Carriage in Constantinople. The paper way bill may be made as diflBcult to counterfeit as a bank note, and in the event danger is apprehended at any time the plates may be changed with little trouble or expense. The metal check we use is, besides, so crude that any machinist of the first order may successfully counterfeit it. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 78 In the use of a way bill such as that referred to, it is, morever, practicable to so simplify the system that all the labor the forwarding agent has to perform is to insert the number of the station to which the baggage is destined. This labor, it is evident, would require but a moment. When the business between any two points was great, as, say, between Chicago and St. Louis, special way bills would be provided in which the point of departure and destination would be printed, so that the forwarding agent would only be required to paste the bill upon the baggage. Under our method of handling baggage special checks are provided for use between points where the business is large, giving place of departure and point of destination, but commonly only the name of the road and the number of the check are stamped upon its face. For the information of the attendant on the train a card is attached by the forwarding agent to the check, giving the number of the station to which the baggage is destined. In using a way bill a blank space should be left by the printer for inserting excess weight, if any. The charge for this excess can be collected by either the forwarding or the receiving agent, as the companies interested think proper. An objection to the European method of bill- ing is that coupons attached to the baggage dis- figure it. The disfiguration is not nearly so great, however, as were the chalk marks (figures) we at one time used in checking baggage. But such an 74 SCIENCE OF BAIL WATS; objection would not weigh against any substan- tial benefit that the system affords the traveling public or the carrier. By the use of the way bill our people would be assured of one gain; they would escape the Carriage in Constantinople. burden of carrying the metal checks that now load down their pei*sons; for this they would be grateful. Instead of the battered tokens which the baggageman now hands to the passenger the latter would receive, in acknowledgment of the receipt of his property, a diminutive, cleanly BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 75 cut piece of engraved paper, like a government coupon; this receipt he could drop into his pocket book or pofie-monnaie, where it would be secure and cause him no inconvenience.* In the use of the way bill an economic change would also occur; the country would avoid the immense consumption of copper and tin now used in the manufacture of brass checks. How- ever, this subsidiary benefit is not suggested as a reason for the change; I mention it merely for the information of those interested in economic questions. The great merit possessed by the metal check is that it is susceptible of indefinite use; it is practically indestructible. This merit is, how- ever, offset by its cost, by the danger of its being counterfeited, and the expense of protecting it. The metal checks have also to be redistributed from day to day among the various stations of a company in accordance with the necessities of business, and thus is added to the danger of theft * These paper receipts for bag^ge would not, we may believe, be given to children to play with, as our metal checks are. This practice, however trifling it may appear to those not familiar with the facts, is a prolific cause of annoyance under our system. Thus, checks given to children to play with upon trains and at the waiting rooms and hotels are frequently lost or ex- changed without the knowledge of their parents. In the latter case when the owners arrive at their destination the checks in their possession do not tally with those attached to their prop- erty. The inconvenience and expense occasioned by accidents of this character aff'ect both the carrier and the owner of the prop- erty; and what is quite as unfortunate, they are ascribed wholly to the carelessness of the railway company by the traveler. 76 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; the expense of labor and accounting this constant redistribution involves. In the use of the paper way bill, the cost of redistribution is avoided. The way bill, while it can be used but once, costs so little that the outlay cuts no figure. .Carriage In the TTrol. Way bills may be bound together in book form like bank checks; each bill, with the receipt and record attached, would be consecutively num- bered. No two forms could therefore ever be confounded. In this way the danger of mis- BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 77 matching checks, ever present under our plan, and one of its chief annoyances, would cease. In way billing, whenever a supply of blanks was required at a station a requisition would be made on the custodian of these forms. This ofBcial would keep a record of the numbers sent to each station. With this record all that he would require at any time to enable him to tell from what station a piece of estray baggage was for- warded would be to know the number of the way bill. Nothing could be more simple or effective. Finally, it may be said that the European system of way billing baggage as compared with our method is simpler, less expensive and is more effective. It is also more acceptable to the pas- senger, and under its operation business can be conducted with greater facility. Americans have been taught to believe the metal check the most simple and effective in the world; wider knowl- edge of the practices of other countries will correct this delusion. (W) CHAPTER Y; SUGGESTED CHANGE IN METHODS OF HANDLING BAGGAGE. The necessity that passengers shall visit the baggage room for the purpose of having their property checked, suggests the inquiry whether it is not possible to adopt some method of billing that will render this labor unnecessary. The duty is always a disagreeable one, and when the baggage room is remote from the waiting room is rendered additionally unpleasant. Under present methods the counter of the bag- gage room is the Mecca of those who travel, and in many cases the turmoil round about it little less dangerous than the ancient car of Jugger- nath. Must we continue for all time to dance attendance, ticket in hand, at the luggage counter? Can nothing be done to save us the wearisome vexation, the jingling of the checks, the preoccupied air of the baggageman? Surely, after all the reforms that have been accom- plished by the baggage department, its ingenuity ought to be equal to this further draft. How easy it would seem to be, from the view of one on the outside, for the urbane and attentive ticket seller, who greets us at the window, to take a record of our baggage when he sells us our ticket! (79) 80 SCIENCE OF BAILWATS; But in considering the desirability of a change, the advantage of present methods must not be forgotten. One of the most important of these advantages is the service the passenger performs in supervising the work of the baggageraaster. While mistakes in billing under the present sys- tem are of rare occurrence, nevertheless it is patent to all observers that much of the accu- racy that is attained is due to the active super- carriage in Switzerland. vision of the owner of the property. Except for the vigilance he displays many mistakes would occur in checking and rechecking baggage, caus- ing inconvenience to the public, and embarrass- ment to the carrier. While the supervision of the passenger is very offensive oftentimes to bag- gagemen, and retards their work, still carriers could ill afford to dispense with it. No one is so directly concerned in having property rightly for- warded as the owner, and if the attendant in BAGQAQE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 81 charge gives out a check that is not a duplicate, the furtive glance the owner is able to bestow upon his baggage very likely discovers the mis- take. In the same way his watchfulness discloses any error in the point to which the property is checked, also any mistake by which the wrong property is checked. Without this outside aid many mistakes would occur that are now discov- ered and remedied without inconvenience to any- one. Besides the errors of commission that the alert passenger discovers always to the mortification of the experts in the business, he is equally alive to errors of omission. Thus it happens that many pieces of baggage that would otherwise escape the notice of the attendant, and shipment be delayed in consequence, are discovered by the owner and forwarded under his direction. No one who has studied human nature can have failed to notice the unrest, the personal dis- comfort, which many travelers evince until their baggage is checked and they liave seen it depos- ited in the car. This class trusts nothing to the methods of carriei-s or the intelligence of agents, and at starting places, junctions and transfer points en route they may be noticed scanning the luggage with eager interest to see that their property is being properly attended to. In noth- ing relating to worldly affairs is the interest of the traveler so concerned as in the preservation of his baggage. It is the root and fiber of his existence. Every comfort and convenience he 6 82 SCIENCE OF BAILWAYS; enjoys, or expects to enjoy, is dependent upon its safety, and serves to emphasize his loss if aught occurs to deprive him of it. What, for in- stance, is it to him that the society in which he is thrown is interesting and attractive if his linen Mail Carriage in Norway. lies in a trunk at some far off depot, or is follow- ing him on another train? What behooves it to the tired traveler if his bed is soft, if the night- cap in which he is wont to woo the drowsy god is missing? What are juicy steaks and succulent vegetables to the wayfarer if his tooth brush, BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 88 without which life is but a tasteless, stale and unprofitable dream, fail him at the supreme mo- ment? It is reflections such as these that disturb the serenit)' of travelers, making them alert and anxious where they would otherwise be dull. It is noticeable that the concern travelers display in regard to their baggage is not dulled by famil- iarity with the ways of transportation companies nor long intercourse with the world. On the con- trary, this acquaintance serves only to intensify their interest. They realize, as those who ti-avel little do not, that the possession of one's baggage is the condition of his comfort. The baggage room of carriers is common ground hallowed by the anxieties of myriads of distressed people. Here all men meet in misery — prince and peasant, philosopher and fool, the educated man and the ignoramus, the vigorous and the decrepid — all stand alike in ex- pectancy. The veteran traveler of a thousand voyages, who boasts that nothing interests or dis- turbs him, is alert here. Here the railway direc- tor and the garrulous old woman who ventures her life and property upon a train for the first time, meet upon common ground. [N"<>TK. — The more glaring inconveniences that travelers are subjected to in checking their baggage will, it is probable, in time be obviated or greatly modified. Until now little has been done to lessen the delay caused by taking baggage to the scales to be weighed. I^atterly, however, a truck has been introduced which, it is claimed, automatically records the weight of articles placed upon it. This, if it should prove to be practicable, will greatly simplify the work and reduce the time required to handle baggage that it is oecessary to weigh.] i^ a CM) CHAPTER YI. THROUGH BAGGAGE. An important condition in handling baggage is that it shall be billed through from point of departure to place of destination, whenever the route and extent of traffic warrant. There should be no exception to this requirement. To accomplish it the inertia of those in change of tickets as well as baggage must be overcome. This is necessary, for the reason that through checking involves through ticketing. In connection with the through billing of bag- gage, various reasons are advanced from time to time why it is impracticable. It has been stated as an objection that in the event a forwarding line should become embroiled with other companies it might make extravagant concessions in regard to the amount of baggage it would carry free, and if the baggage were billed through, interme- diate lines would have no redress. But if per- mitted to recheck, each company could then en- force its rights. This is doubtless true. But the remedy lies not in recheckingen route, but in pre- venting the concession in the first place; not in harassing the passenger by rebilling his baggage at every junction, but in the adoption of equitable working arrangement governing the business. Another objection is the difficulty of tracing (86) 86 SCIENCE OF BAIL WATS; through baggage. This objection, however, is not tenable. Nothing would be gained by rebilling. When the quantity of baggage passengers are allowed to carry without extra charge is not the same upon different lines, baggage can not be billed through except in those cases where the amount falls within the minimum quantity. The difficulty, however, can be readily sur- mounted by agreement between the lines making the through route. While the quantity of baggage a company car- ries for local passengers is governed by local sur- roundings, such considerations lose their force in the case of -through business. There may be differences in rate, but there should never be any difference in the quantity of baggage that through passengers may carry without extra charge. An objection offered to the plan of billing baggage through is the expense it entails. But this is not burdensome. It is less expensive to bill baggage once than to do so several times. When baggage is rechecked en route labor and appliances must be duplicated. Besides all this, through billing avoids the annoyance and incon- venience the system of rechecking entails upon passengers. This consideration is in itself suffi- cient. When checks are too cumbersome or too expensive to permit rebilling, they should be abandoned, and something cheaper and simpler adopted, that can be made to conform to the re- quirements of the service, such, for instance, as tlie European coupon way bill. ^ CHAPTER VII. OABE OF BAGGAGE — HANDLING EN ROUTE, ETC. It is the unexpected that always happens in life. The experience of travelers confirms the saying: the unlooked-for pieces of good fortune and the unexpected mishaps that overtake them prove the adage to be universal in its application. It is true of our baggage. If upon the termina- tion of a journey the traveler is told that his luggage is not at hand, he is filled with dismay and anger at the culpable negligence that permits such an occurrence. Nor is he ever after\Yard able to make a journey without expecting at its termination to learn that his baggage has failed to arrive. But as such a disaster is never likely to occur again, it transpires that the end of every journey finds him surprised to discover that his baggage has not been left behind. All of us feel a glow of satisfaction coupled with a certain sense of surprise when our bag- gage is delivered to us unharmed. Although not complimentary to the carrier, it is natural. It is a reflex action of the feelings we have when we deliver our cherished idols into the hands of strangers. But if we are surprised when our bag- gage is unharmed, we are still more surprised upon discovering that it has been damaged. While (87) 88 SCIENCE OF BAIT. WATS; we are all conscious that our trunks must go to pieces sooner or later, when the event actually occurs it finds us unprepared. Of all the vexations of travel those touching our baggage affect us in the tenderest spot. Here, as elsewhere, it is the small things that disturb us most. The veteran traveler learns to look Carriage in America. upon the wrecks that strew his route with cold equanimity; accidents to fellow travelers scarcely stir him. Such things find compensation in the equities of insurance. Nor do the mishaps of the carrier disturb him. He views with equanimity the locomotives that lie upturned, the cars wrecked along his route. The expense and annoy- ance to the carrier are nothing to him. He sees BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 89 high embankments undermined and ruined, the whirling waters hurrying them away; great bridges falling into the rising flood; such things excite in him only a passing emotion. But should anything happen to his baggage, should it be lost, damaged or delayed, his equanimity is gone; the weakest are stronger than he. Another surprise frequently experienced by the traveler is the difficulty he finds in getting posses- sion of his baggage or rechecking it en route. Superficially there would seem to be no good reason for this except the indifference of the car- rier or the indolence of his servants. There is, however. The rate charged to a distant place is very often less than to an intermediate point, and where this is the case, the delivery or rechecking of property en route would occasion the carrier loss; to deliver or recheck property under such circumstances necessitates recasting the charge for perhaps both the ticket and the baggage. However, the facilities of the carrier should be such as to enable him to accommodate his patron in this respect, when desired, without loss. The obstacles of accounts that rechecking or delivery en route offer are also bona fide objec- tions to the practice. However, it is a question of facilities merely, and, if the methods of the carrier are such as they should be, they will per- mit of his accommodating his customer. Another objection is the difficulty of getting at the baggage en route, and the confusion, delay and extra labor it occasions. These objections, 90 SCIENCE OF BAIL WA YS; however serious, are as naught compared with the convenience of the traveler and may be over- come, although, undoubtedly, the passenger should here, as in other similar cases, pay for any expense that is incurred on his account. Another obstacle to the delivery of baggage en route is that it facilitates frauds Possession Carriage in Madras. of a check, no matter how acquired, would give possession of the property without fear of imme- diate detection. This objection may, however, also be surmounted. Such are some of the reasons why railway companies are loth to deliver baggage except at the place to which originally checked; others might be given if necessary. CHAPTER VIII. PARTICULARS OF BAGGAGE. The quantity of baggage that a train carries depends upon the number, character and wealth of its passengers and the distance they are trav- eling. A suburban train has little or no luggage. It is like an omnibus. The people who patronize it are absent from their homes but a few hours and have, consequently, little use for baggage. They carry, however, innumerable parcels; but these parcels are not baggage. They consist of fruit, provisions, wearing apparel, household utensils and other articles used about a house. Their owners seek, and generally with success, to have them passed without extra charge. The habits of the suburban traveler are pecu- liar and his necessities many. The railway is to him a furniture wagon and a butcher's and grocer's cart. It is, moreover, the receptacle of his linen and other odds and ends of domestic life. Upon a particular day the passengers upon a Chicago line were observed to carry nine hun- dred baskets of peaches into the cars witliin the space of three hours. The fruit was placed under the seats and in other convenient places. There was nothing concealed; nothing surreptitious about the transaction. Afterward, when the (M) 92 SCIENCE OF It A IL WA YS; company attempted to break np the practice of carrying packages into the coaches, in conse- quence of the injury to its express business and damage to the upholstery of the cars, the effort was met with bitter resistance. The practice had become a habit, at once convenient and prof- itable to the traveler. The suburban passenger believes he is entitled to a given quantity of bag- gage, but that as he has no baggage he should be Carriage in Jamaica. permitted to carry packages instead. The argu- ment is without force, for the reason that the fare he pays is very low and based on the car- riage of persons only. Nevertheless, railways seldom seek to interfere with the carriage of packages by their patrons so long as they restrict themselves to such as may be carried in -their hands without damage to the property of the company. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSIXESS. 93 The baggage of ti*ains varies. One or two packages usually make up the full complement of luggage on a suburban train; the labor of the baggageman is consequently light, and if no other duties were attached to the office the place would be one of ease; usually, however, it in- cludes the care of the express and mails, and in many cases still other duties. The bulk of the baggage carried is on through trains. The amount varies at different seasons and upon dif- ferent trains. Leaving out suburban traffic, the luggage that a train carries denotes the character of its pas- sengers. Nothing indicates more unmistakably the circumstances of wealth and refinement, or the reverse, than the nature of a traveler's bag- gage. A man's trunk indicates his character; its contents, his individuality; it is apparent in every article. The vicissitudes of fortune sometimes disturb this harmony. The unkempt.and slovenly man is reflected in his luggage; it is loose, in- coherent and untidy; the baggage of the mean and penurious man is mean and penurious; that of the prudent and thrifty man is not like the baggage of others; neat and enduring, it stands among its fellows at once a reflection and protest against extravagance and waste. The trunk of the fop exhales his favorite perfume, and as we watch it, it seems to cry out against rough hand- ling and vulgar associations. The baggage of the poor, superficial and showy person is" in harmony with his attenuated ideas. The Saratoga trunk 94 SCIENCE OF BAILWAY8; is the embodiment of a phase of social life that makes greater demands upon the ej es than the understanding. And so we might go on point- ing out the distinctions which mark the peculiar- ities of mankind as exemplified in their baggage. The quality of the baggage carried on local trains indicates the character of the country; passengers taken up here and there, on accom- modation trains at obscure side tracks and dilapi- dated stations, have but little luggage. Such as Carriage in Delhi. they have is made up of bundles wrapped in worn and tattered coverings bound with thongs; old and battered trunks, held together with pieces of rope; ungainly boxes, rudely fastened; hand bags, lying lean and dejected on the floor of the car like half starved curs. The articles are pregnant with the story of their owners. These owners are people with w^orn and faded garments; women with coarse frocks; men with bony hands, stiffened with hard work; all with careworn BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 96 faces. When they reach their destinations they gather up their effects and hurry away, assisting each other with voice and han-d, as those used to the hardships of life must. These people, with scant wardrobe and the moldering odor that attaches to garments housed in illy ventilated closets, or worn con- tinuously without change, have little in common with the sleek, well preserved class we find oc- cupying the cars and filling the platforms and baggage rooms in more fortunate districts. And yet both classes spring from the same root; but the last is the outgrowth of a prosperous society; a people who earn more than they consume. This class, well fed and clothed, with a tinge of the pharisee about it, fills the through trains that pass like meteors between our cities, man- ufacturing centers and pleasure resorts. It is this class that patronizes our palace sleeping cars and drawing room coaches. Its members have fathomed the secret of getting on, and to them the luxuries of the poor are commonplace neces- saries. They have about them the self assertion and contented look of successful people and the luggage they carry emphasizes it. To the poor the quantity of baggage which rail- roads carry without extra charge seems more than abundant; but the personal effects of the wealthy often exceed the prescribed limit, and seldom, if ever, fall far below it; it is for the latter that additional luggage vans and ample station facili- ties are necessary. The scant raiment of the poor 96 SCIENCE OF li AH. WAYS; they know nothing about, or, at best, it is merely a recollection; everything they possess is well preserved. Their trunks have the appearance of sleek, well fed servants; the oily, apoplectic look of gourmands; they gleam with costly varnishes, or are carefully wrapped in canvas, like thorough- carriage in China. bred horses. Their handbags do not have the gaunt, appealing look of those belonging to the poor. They are fat and chubby, like half grown school- boys with well filled stomachs. Too full to sit up- right, they lie helplessly on their sides, winking and chuckling among themselves at the jolly times they have had and the many good things BAGGAGE, EXPUESS AXD MAIL BUSINESS. 97 they know about each other. The very umbrellas and walkingstick^ of the rich stand in dignified exclusiveness in the baggage car and carry about with them a look of cultivation and cold disdain. But these reflections are mere dreams. They find no echo in the practical brain of the baggage- man. Luxurious baggage affords him no pleas- ure; there is to him nothing romantic or specu- lative about it. The owners of such prop- erty are, in his opinion, abnormal outgrowths, a fungus on the body politic; people born to harass the overworked and underpaid baggageman. To him a trunk is simply so much weight and bulk. To us a Saratoga trunk, overflowing with dainty goods, represents a phase of fashionable life; to the baggageman it merely suggests his discom- forts, torn garments, overstrained muscles, rheu- matism, the seeds of lumbago, weakened kidneys, torn and bruised fingers, a thousand bodily ail- ments. W) CHAPTEK IX. LOST, UNCLAIMED AND DAMAGED BAGGAGE. The unclaimed baggage that remains in the hands of earners, and that is finally disposed of as prescribed by law, comprehends little of value. It is made up of cheap or worn out arti- cles and other odds and ends. It is not often that valuable property remains unclaimed. When such property goes astray the interest of the owner and the efforts of the carrier rarely fail to discover it. It is the same with freight or gen- eral merchandise. Efforts to discover missing property are balked oftentimes by the inefficiency of petty employes. Owing to the presence of this class, however small, it continually happens that property about which inquiry is made remains undiscovered in some out of the way place, until inquiry ceases. The machinery for discovering goods lost or missing is thorough and comprehensive. The immensity of the traffic requires this. When property is lost, an accurate description is sent to every station with instructions to make a care- ful search. If this is done it results, in nearly every instance, in the discovery of the goods. It sometimes happens, however, as intimated, that the official in charge does not make an (W) 100 SCIENCE OF BAIL WAYS; examination. He takes it for granted that the property is not at his station and so reports; in some cases the description, written from memory, does not harmonize in every particular with the property; a shrewd and discerning man, however, would trace the resemblance, but the dullard passes on, and his search ends by his reporting the property as not at his station. In this way it is overlooked until the unclaimed property is col- Carrier of Arabia. lected at some central point for inspection and sale. When this occurs the property has quite likely ceased to excite inquiry. Unclaimed property is gathered up more or less often according to the rules of the company. Regulations are not in all cases uniform for dif- ferent classes of property, but are governed by circumstances. Upon one line the rules will re- quire that agents shall report unclaimed baggage weekly, and send forward the property at the BAOGAOE, EXPRESS AND MAH. BUSINESS. 101 expiration of thirty days from its receipt; upon another line half yearly; upon another yearly. Rules vary according to the wisdom and experi- ence of the oflBcial and the nature of the traffic. It is becoming more and more the custom, how- ever, to have all unclaimed baggage sent to head- quarters at frequent intervals. The plan is a good one. The rules affecting the custody and disposition of unclaimed property in the express business are not especially different from those of the baggage department, except that the property is handled with greater circumspection. Regulations governing unclaimed goods carried in freight trains are generally more elaborate than those relating to baggage, for the reason that lapses are more frequent and aggravated. The relatively small value of common merchandise, its rough character, the careless manner in which it is packed and marked, and the rude imple- ments of the carrier for handling it, prevent the thorough and systematic organization that is o-b- servable in handling baggage and express matter. Much of the merchandise lost by a railroad company is stolen. There are, however, numer- ous ways in which it may go asti*ay. Some of these have been noticed. Lapses occur in the first place (to name them in their order) in con- nection with the receiving of freight from the shipper; in placing it, through mistake, with goods destined to some other point; in loading it into the wrong car; in unloading it at the wrong 102 SCIENCE OF BAIL WA YS; station; in the delivery of it to the wrong person; or neglecting to deliver it when called for. Errors also occur in way billing, whereby no mention is made of property that is sent forward; or it is billed to the wrong place; or the name of the consignee is given incorrectly; or the property itself is not rightly described. Opportunities to make mistakes are numerous.* Carriage in India. When property is lost or damaged through fault of employes, it is customary to make the parties to blame pay for the same or share the loss. The department that looks after losses and damages must be organized with the utmost care; that it is so is demonstrated by its workings, and particularly by the various forms of returns used * When freight is received that is not way billed it is entered in the returns as "Over;-' if freight is missing it is reported "Short," and so on. The methods of handling baggage are in general terms the same. Indeed, there is little room for discretion or change. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSLXL'SS. 103 for reporting property that is short, over, in bad order, and so on. These returns contain a history of each case, and when received at headquarters are examined and studied by a force organized for the purpose. Considering the amount of baggage carried,very little is lost. Out of nine hundred and seventy- two thousand and eight pieces carried on an American road in one year it was claimed that only one package was lost. The same company claims to have delivered in another year, under abnormal conditions, at one of its stations seven hundred and thirty thousand four hundred and eighty-six pieces, of which twenty-six pieces were lost or mislaid. Other exhibits are made by par- ticular carriers, but we possess no general data on the subject. In some cases when property is lost the owner does not know how to proceed, and so does not make an effort to recover his goods; but instances of this kind are not frequent. It often happens that the owner of property is paid therefor, when it has not been lost at all. In reference to the express traffic, which is analogous to that of baggage, while the array of packages advertised for sale from time to time is great, their value is small. The articles consist of cheap jewelry, household goods and personal effects, not worth the amount of the charge for carriage. In the freight department the value of the goods unclaimed is relatively greater, but whenever the missing property possesses any con- 104 SCIENCE OF BAIL WA TS; siderable value it is usually discovered and deliv- ered to its owner. The bulk of the property that remains unclaimed is not, as a rule, worth the charges of the carrier. In reference to damaged property remaining in the hands of carriers and for which they have settled with the owners, such disposition of it is Carriage in Asia Minor. made as is most advantageous. The process can not be described here. The laws governing the length of time that un- claimed property must be held by carriers before being disposed of, and the advertisement required of such disposition, are not uniform. Everywhere, however, unclaimed perishable property may be sold without delay or advertisement when neces- sary to protect the carrier from loss. CHAPTER X. OAEB OF BAGGAGE. As the compensation which a company receives for handling baggage is embraced in the fares collected from passengers, it results that the pro- vision made depends, or should depend, upon the profitableness of the business. While the amount collected appears in returns under the head of passenger earnings, a part of it arises from the transportation of baggage, and under a more comprehensive system this part, whatever it may be, would be apportioned in the accounts under that head. Can-iers generally provide facilities for carry- ing baggage proportionate to their earnings from this source; if the passenger traffic is large and remunerative, baggage facilities are upon a cor- responding scale; if light, the accommodations are light. When the latter is the case there are few attendants connected with the baggage depart- ment who do not have other duties to perform; baggage rooms, platforais and other parapher- nalia of the service are also restricted. Such a state of affairs is not consistent with high effi- ciency. To insure this it is necessary that the department should enjoy every needed facility in the way of machinery and skilled men; depot (106) 106 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; accommodations must be such as to secure celerity and care in the manipulation of baggage. Requirements are manifold. In the first place the fioor of the station platform should be on a level with the vehicle receiving or delivering the property. This is secured by raising the floor of the baggage room above the driveway, or by sinking the approach, as may be best. When Carriage In Alexandria. accommodations are thus convenient, property may be received and discharged without lowering or lifting, and thus a fruitful cause of damage is avoided. For the same reasons, and also to save labor, station platforms should be on a level with the floor of the baggage car. Handling bag- gage where the appliances are convenient is easy and mechanical; the porter has neither to raise BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 107 nor lower the property and is not constrained to husband his strength at the expense of the goods. Every reasonable care is exercised by railroad companies. But in many cases the force is inad- equate. The number of men in attendance is dependent upon the profitableness of the busi- ness. The injuries that occur where arrange- ments for handling are meager are not, as a rule, culpable, but are due to the fact that the traffic does not admit of facilities of a higher order. The same economic conditions which govern other industries operate here. Supply and de- mand go hand in hand. Many of the packages that carriers are called upon to handle are unreasonably bulky; others again are insecurely fastened, or are too frail to withstand the usages of travel. So long as these conditions attend accidents will occur. The remedy is very simple. Packages must be such as may be conveniently handled by a single per- son. If this rule is observed there will be little occasion for complaint against carriers. Trav- elers must also increase the strength and reduce the dimensions and weight of boxes. Where the amount of luggage is great they must multiply the number of packages rather than increase the bulk of single pieces. It is desirable, also, that every package should be carefully fastened with a strap or rope, and where the bulk is great or the package insecure, additional safeguards must be instituted. By the adoption of precautions 108 SdENCE OF RAILWAYS; such as these property will escape any but nom- inal injury. In the practical handling of baggage a single employe must often load and unload property. When this is so he is only able, from the weight of many packages, to exercise force enough to Carriage in Afghanistan precipitate them to the ground. In this event the packages, unless well secured, are injured. The fault does not rest with the carrier but with the owner of the property. If the former exer- cises precautions consistent with the profitable- ness of the business and the time available, every condition has been satisfied. Where the amount BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 109 of traffic readers it possible to employ a force sufficiently large to handle packages of every size damages are merely nominal. It is only at isolated places, where facilities are restricted, that mishaps occur. The constant and rigorous surveillance which railway companies exercise over their employes insures faithfulness and care. Beside this, the men are governed by the same ambition that animates their brothers in other branches of business; they also make use of the same methods for securing continuance in office and the betterment of their positions. One of these methods — and the most effective one — is the de- sire they evince to secure the esteem of those above them by the display of intelligence and care in the performance of their duty. Like people in other occupations, those in the baggage department quickly learn to respect the respon- sibilities of their office. They exercise fidelity and care because any other course will bring dis- grace and loss of employment to them. Those not tluis animated are held in restraint (until eliminated from the service) by the exacting rules instituted for their benefit. Every vocation possesses an esprit de corps commensurate with the intelligence and interest of those involved. It is discernable in the forces of railroads. Moreover, the great length of time each individual serves insures a standard of ex- perience and interest in the work not excelled and rarely equaled elsewhere. 110 SCIENCE OF BA1LWAT8; BAGGAGE, EXPBES8 AND MAH. BUSINESS. Ill One of the most fruitful causes of -damage in connection with the handling of baggage is the haste with which it must be loaded and unloaded. Travelers accurately time their movements so that they will only reach the station a moment in advance of the departure of the train; the ar- rival of many is coincident with its leaving. One and all demand that their luggage shall go forward without delay. The expedition that must be used under such circumstances admits of little care in handling. The result is that property is damaged more or less, according to its character and the force handling it. The same headlong haste is also expected at the ter- minus of the journey; travelers are impatient of delay in leaving the station. Immediately upon arrival they may be seen at the doors of the depot, check in hand, excitedly and rudely en- forcing upon the baggageman the necessity of haste. The precipitancy they demand is incom- patible with needed care. The headlong haste with which the exchange of baggage between waiting trains is conducted at junctions and other points of transfer en route is also incompatible with necessary care. The remedy, however, is not equally apparent. The impatient traveler, here as elsewhere, is the impelling cause, and while he has no direct influence he may be observed moving with gloomy discontent among the busy officials, or scowling unhappily upon them from some open window. The accidents that occur under such circum- 112 SCIEN'CE OF BAIL WATS; stances are hardly blamable; they are the result of the impatient, hurrying, fretful public; a too great desire upon the part of the carrier to please his patrons. Carriage in India. While many petty accidents occur to baggage, much of the complaint we hear is grossly exag- gerated, having its origin in idle remarks, or a too keen sense of the ludicrous. Sometimes it is the result of erroneous impressions upon the part of travelers in regard to the methods of carriers; BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 118 sometimes, frequently, indeed, in malicious state- ments; more often, however, it arises from the excessive anxiety of travelers. Nothing can ex- ceed the nervous apprehension of many passen- gers. They are justly the aversion of officials. It is impossible to mollify them. They are superior to reason. To them every movement of the baggageman is pregnant v^ritli disaster to their property, every jar it receives is fraught with harm. It is this class, at once peevish and unreasonable, who have fastened upon the bag- gageman the soubriquet of " baggage smasher." aw) CHAPTER XI. LOST AND MISSENT BAGGAGE. The protection of baggage while in the hands of carriers requires that no one not connected with the service should have access to it except under the eye of an official. This fact is well understood by the attaches of the department, but is not appreciated by passengers, who, in con- sequence, crowd into the places set apart for this kind of property with the same freedom they visit the common waiting rooms. The officials in charge of baggage understand the importance of careful forethought in every- thing. When care is not exercised, their com- panies are not only the victims of isolated depre- dations, but a still greater danger menaces them, namely, organized conspiracy, unlawful com- bination having robbery as its object. The methods employed for defrauding carriers are numerous. One of them is to have baggage checked and afterward secure possession of it without giving up the receipt. The latter is then presented and when the property can not be found, as it of course can not, a claim for damages is made. Instances of this kind have been repeatedly discovered and frustrated; but that they have in many cases succeeded, there can be no doubt. (118) 116 SCIENCE OF BAIL WAYS; Mall Carriage in Russia. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 117 Another device, when access can be gained to baggage, is to detach a check, substituting in place thereof one for which the party making the exchange has a duplicate. This duplicate is then presented and the property claimed. It will be seen from these illustrations, taken at random, that the protection of baggage re- quires that the supply of checks shall be care- fully guarded. Unlawful possession facilitates abuses of every kind. The efforts of the baggage department are con- stantly and necessarily directed to the prevention of fraud and, when it occurs, to its punishment. Every claim is scrutinized with painful minute- ness. This is extremely irritating to travelers, but can not be avoided. While the attempts to defraud carriers are many, few are successful. Their appliances are such as to enable them usually to frustrate efforts of this kind. This is fortunate, otherwise their losses would be serious. The safety of baggage requires that the hand- ling, billing and checking should be carefully performed. Property may be lost by being sent to the wrong place, or by the check becoming detached while en route.* * " It sometimes occurs that the check is torn off and lost. When the duplicate is presented by the owner in such cases, he is informed that there is no baggage for him, and is requested to tell where his baggage was shipped from, the date, etc. If the person presenting the check is not the owner, he is unable to give this information. In that case the duplicate is returned by the carrier to the party presenting it, with a request to call again. 118 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; BA0QA6E, EXPRESS AND Id AIL BUSINESS. 110 The most serious cause that occasions loss of baggage is the mismatching of checks, the attach- ing of checks to the property and the giving of a token bearing another number to the passenger. The mishaps, losses and expenses growing out of errors of this kind overshadow all others. This is the sore spot in the check system; its one irre- mediable defect; the awkward form of the check and the rude manner in which it is attached to the property are defects, but not serious; this de- fect is. In the way bill used abroad the bill that is pasted to the property and the receipt given are exactly alike. It can not be otherwise, because they are printed and numbered at the same time by machinery. Mismatching is impossible. Mistakes in matching checks usually occur in assorting them for distribution. In the majority of cases the mistake is discovered when the pre- sumed duplicate is detached from the leather thong to be handed to the passenger. But it sometimes happens that the error is overlooked. In the latter event the baggage of two or more passengers may become interchanged, resulting in great inconvenience in any event and involv- Meanwhile the baggage remains with the carrier, unclaimed and overloolced. Afterward, it is sent to the unclaimed baggage department. When the owner presents himself, he is requested to give a description of it. This he does. The unclaimed bag- gage room is again searched, liut there are so many trunks, satchels, valises, etc.. answering to the description he gives that in all probability several will have to be opened before the right one is discovered.'" — Railway Paper. 120 SCIENCE OF BAIL WATS; Carriage in Puttiala. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 121 ing the carrier oftentimes in serious loss. Fre- quently, however, it turns out that no harm is done. The owners find their baggage, and have merely to prove ownership and deliver up their checks. But in the event a passenger delivers up his token to a transfer agent or carrier en route, for the purpose of having it rechecked, the person to whom the check is delivered does not, of course, find any baggage coi'responding to it, and not being able to identify the property, as the owner himself would have been able to do, concludes that it has not yet come forward, and accordingly waits until the number corresponding to the one given arrives. When this occurs he takes posses- sion and sends the property forward to its sup- posed owner.* This mismatching of checks is an inherent de- fect in the system. It can be modified but never entirely remedied. That errors do not occur more frequently is highly creditable to those in charge. Of the losses that occur in handling baggage the fault lies with the passenger quite as often as with the carrier. Instances arise where property is sent astr ay through the giving of the wrong * In the United States the convenience of the public is facili- tated by agents going aboard the trains before their arrival at the principal cities for the purpose of arranging with passengers for the delivery of their baggage either at the hotels, private resi- dences, or depots of connecting lines, as they may desire. When this is done, the agent making the transfer takes up the baggage check or receipt of the passenger, giving him usually another in exchange. This the passenger gives up upon the final delivery of his property as agreed. 122 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; destination by the owner; or in consequence of his not designating the right package to be checked; or on account of the exchange of checks, by pas- sengers, without their knowledge, as noticed else- where.* The agents of carriers sometimes err in designating the place of destination at the time of checking; in delivering at the wrong station; in not checking the right package; in delivering Carriage in India. the wrong property. But the most prolific cause of mistakes, as already explained, arises from the mismatching of checks. * When checks in the possession of passengers are inadvert- ently exchanged only inconvenience will result in the majority of cases; but it sometimes happens that one or both of the passen- gers are going to some point off the line upon which they are traveling. In that event, quite likely they hand their checks to an omnibus agent or driver to be rechecked. When this is the case the packages are sent forward according to the duplicate checks which the passengers deliver up, and thus the property may pass beyond the reach of reclamation. CHAPTER XII. INSPECTION OF BAGGAGE. The duties of baggagemen are multifarious and require judgment, accuracy and deftness. Not only must property be forwarded correctly and by the right train, but its condition at time of delivery must be carefully noted. The object of inspection is to protect the carrier against unjust claims. In consequence of the hurried manner of receiv- ing and forwarding baggage, an effective exam- ination is impossible. That would require time. A glance must suffice to determine whether it is in good order or not. And here another vexation presents itself. Only a part of the baggage that is transported is in first rate condition. In the great bulk of the pieces the seeds of active disso- lution are at work. It is the extent and degree of injuries received, the probable duration of life under the ordinary vicissitudes of travel, that the attendant is interested in. While the normal condition of baggage falls far below the standard of perfection, every piece presents specific signs not easily mistaken. The province of the baggageman is to seek out the insecure and weakly pieces. In the performance of this duty ordinary abrasions, even ruptures, are passed; only those in a hopeless state of col- (123) 124 SCIENCI: OF RAILWAYS; BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSIXESS. 125 lapse are marked with the cabalistic sign, "B. 0." This mark is fatal to the reputation of the thing bearing it. It is an intimation to everyone that the property was received by the carrier in bad order. Such is the process. The judgment, how- ever, which attendants pass upon baggage is al- ways liberal. They seek no unfair adv^antage. The inspection is designed to protect both the carrier and the owner; the latter against unintentional neglect and the former against unjust claims. No proper risk appertaining to the carrier is sought to be avoided. To mark property as in bad con- dition when it is not may, as the baggageman knows, precipitate loss without advantage to the carrier, for the reason that such property is ever marked by pilferers for their depredations. Fur- ther than this, property marked in bad order without being so debars the owner from demon- strating just injuries received at the hands of the carrier. This the owner knows and is on hand to prevent. Designation of property as in bad order not only covers damages up to the time of deliv- ery, but subsequently ; this on the basis that the unfavorable condition of the property at time of delivery will precipitate other injuries. For this reason carriers are relieved from responsibility for all property marked in bad order. In the event of reasonable doubt as to the condition of goods tendered for shipment the at- tendant is naturally inclined to err on the side of his employer. This is desirable, for against its arbitrary exercise there lies the presence of 126 SCIENCE OF It Aa WAYS; the owner of the property; it is a wholesome corrective if the zeal of the attendant carries him beyond reasonable bounds. Methods of action pursued by carriers when goods are in bad order are not uniform. As a rule no release is taken, the condition of the property being noted simply. When a receipt is Carriage in Jumrood. given, however, its condition is designated therein if in bad order. In some cases shippers are re- quired in the case of property in bad order to sign a formal agreement releasing the carrier from responsibility. In the case of baggage nice distinctions are avoided as much as practicable. If in bad order when presented, the whole re- sponsibility is made to rest with the owner. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 127 The carrier is either wholly responsible or there is no responsibility at all. Baggage should be kept in good order; any defect is likely to precipitate its destruction. Thus the absence of a lock, or its serious impair- ment, not only threatens the baggage itself but rendei*s the abstraction of contents easy if not probable. It is nothing to the carrier that the loss may not occur. He is bound to protect him- self against the possibility of such a contingency. The acceptance of a limited responsibility, upon the part of carriers involves clerical labor for which there is neither time nor facility in handling baggage. Thus an inventory of goods would be required. This is manifestly impossi- ble. For this and other reasons the carrier must assume all risks or refuse to assume any. Carriage in Cashmeie. (I») CHAPTER XIII. HANDLING BAGGAGE — "tIPS" — PECULIARITIES OF BAGGAGEMEN. The English system of handling luggage is dear to the heart of attendant employes. The absence of certain checks and safeguards found elsewhere adds to their leisure and facilitates the easy and comfortable discharge of their duties. Moreover, its indefiniteness begets "tips." No reasonable objection can be offered to this prac- tice. It facilitates business, accelerates the move- ments of attendants, enliglitens their under- standing, intensifies their observation, creates personal concern, warms the heart of the sturdy islander. A tip, judiciously placed, upon an English railway secures every convenience of the line. It provides a separate compartment and at its invocation the gates that bar the entrance to the train creak joyously on their hinges. The tip is an old English custom and its preservation a matter of immense importance to those who participate in its benefits. The method of handling baggage in America and upon the continent of Europe is so free from ambiguity, and places the responsibility for the care of property so fully upon the railway com- pany, that there is little or no necessity for tip- ping under its workings. (129) 9 180 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; Americans pride themselves upon their business methods, their practical sense in everything that belongs to trade. To them tipping is foolish upon the part of the tipper and a piece of downright robbery upon the part of the tippee. To them privileges should be arranged for at the office. Thus, they lose the ameliorating influence the tip Carriage in Burinah. is knovrn to have upon the temper and perspicu- ity of those it benefits. Only those who have traveled much recognize its equity. To provin- cials the practice is fraught with harm; they hold it as something incompatible with free institu- tions; to be subversive of their independence and if encouraged will finally tear down the rugged temple of liberty in which they dwell. These BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 181 patriotic and moral sentiments find no response in the breast of those who look after baggage and are utterly disregarded by the crafty traveler, who recognizes in the pi-actice an opportunity to grasp a coveted privilege or evade a greater ex- action. And one of the latter is the rule of car- riers enforcing payment for excess baggage. The tip suggests itself to the initiated as a simple and efficacious way of escaping this burden. It should not, however, be understood that attempts of this kind are confined wholly to old travelers. On the contrary, in this particular field all classes meet upon common ground; even those w^ho stand guard about the sacred temple of liberty, those who cry out against the iniquity of tips. The mollifying effect of tips is w^orthy of study. Tt makes the path smooth and fills the plate with the good things of life. A donceui' warms the cockles of the baggageman's heart and, if cir- cumstances permit, removes every restriction. The traveler observes that the polite acts of attention that blossom along his pathway are wholly attributable to this remembrance. Wise man. he knows the mercenary spirit of his brother; that the love of tips is universal; that deep down in the heart of the attendants of car- riers, and especially in that of baggagemen, there lurks an indescribable love of tips that wells up with a longing that can not be appeased. In the gratification of this appetite he finds his oppor- tunity. 182 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 188 The American at home is remarked for his acuteness and the closeness of his bargains. In his travels to and fro in the land he expects to meet the full measure of his responsibility in one payment at the office. He makes no provision for contingencies; he allows nothing for tips. Herein he errs, for in the small amounts thus ex- pended lie the difference between life without animation and life at its best. The railroad baggageman is a philosopher at thirty dollars a month; a stoic amid the splendors of traveling princes and millionaires. He lives for himself. He is not less kindly than his fellows. But he has ceased to be moved, like them, by trifles. He has, in fact, lost h' spon- taneity. The anxieties of the multitu . that jostle day by day around his crowded quarters and overwhelm him with their ignorance and perversity do not stir him. His patient interest, tried again and again, has been destroyed root and branch. The belated traveler and the be- wildered passenger excite the commiseration of others, but fail utterly to interest the baggage- man. The anxieties of mankind no longer cause his heart to beat or his eye to brighten. He is automatic, amiable without being interested, deferential without being conscious, a man who listens without feeling and smiles without mean- ing. This spirit of tolerance simply, of palpable unconcern, exasperates the unschooled traveler. He can not understand it. He not only craves information of the baggageman, but sympathy. 184 SCIENCE OF BAILWATS; This the latter can not give; the well is dry; the organs wherein concern for men is generated are worn out. The astute traveler understands this; he has observed the semi-unconscious state of the baggageman and has, moreover, discovered how far it is real, how far assumed. He knows how to reawaken his interest, how to cause his eye again to glisten. He does not waste time in ap- peals, but quickly and surely his hand seeks his pocket, not surreptitiously, nor yet ostentatiously, but frankly and naturally, as if the transaction Carriage in Spain. were one that did not call for remark nor were yet entirely unworthy of notice. The gleam of a coin follows for a moment and is lost in the complaisant palm of the semi-unconscious attend- ant; this is to the latter nature's physic, life's gentle panacea. With its application the isola- tion, the indifference, the far off misanthropical manner fades away, and in its place there beams in his eye and heart an active interest in the affairs of his fellow. Such is the efficacy, the physical and moral effect, of tips. I CHAPTER Xiy. THE STATION BAGGAGEMAN. To those base and mechanical souls who are compelled to put grapling irons on their recol- lections, the prodigious memory of the baggage- man borders on the marvelous. To him the minutice of business are instinctive; numbers have to him the significance of names, and the pack- ages he handles are recognizable objects as much as are faces to others. Each article has its own individuality and he makes it the subject of men- tal tabulation as real as that which we pass upon a new acquaintance, so that days afterward he is able to describe it, as we would a man by the color of his wig, the expression of his eyes or the shape of his nose. While other men arrange and classify the details of business from hour to hour, the bag- gageman, confident of the accuracy of his memory, delights in momentary confusion. This peculiarity is to be regretted, because of its bad effect upon travelers. To the apprehensive among these, the unconcern of the baggageman presages errors; to others, inefficiency. Even the best informed do not observe his chilling unconcern without apprehension. What traveler ever turned away from the luggage room of a crowded (135) 186 SCIENCE OF BAIL WAYS; railway station save with misgivings? Who has not felt a tremor of apprehension as he saw his baggage melt away into the indiscriminate mass of trunks, band boxes, gripsacks, gunbags, um- brellas, burial cases, canaries and bundles that fill the station? Who has not felt at such a time that the reappearance of his property was at best problematical? This feeling is not experienced at small stations where business is light. Only Carriage in Burmab. in great cities. There the work that must be compassed in the few seconds that precede the departure of a train excites and bewilders the traveler. But it is at such a time that we dis- cover the baggageman to be superior to disorder; to be the genius of confusion. That each atom of baggage will be discovered, caught up and forwarded seems improbable, and it is only fear of rebuff that deters the traveler from voicing his fears. But when at the end of his journey BAGGAGE, EXPBESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 187 he sees his property safe, he is reassured and as forgetful of former troubles as he is devoid of gratitude to the carrier. The baggageman does not lack individuality. Observation of him is always attended with in- terest. In the lull that intervenes between the depaiture and arrival of ti*ains his movements are slow and precise, and afford no indication of hid- den talents. He possesses in a marked degree the phlegmatic temperament of those who meet many people upon equal or superior terms. No individual presence, however exalted, excites in him more than a passing interest; long and familiar intercourse with the world has dulled the edge of enthusiasm. The tempei-ament of the station baggageman ebbs and flows with the fluctuations of busi- ness; now falling away into sleepy unconcern or desultory chat wdth the idlers that infest the depot, it rises with occasion to the greatest en- ergy of action. The departure of a train affects him as the rising storm does the barometer; slowly at first, like a column of smoke rising from a fire just lighted, then faster and faster with each added fagot. As the time draws near his activity multiplies itself like the velocity of a falling body. He becomes the incarnation of ac- tivity, ubiquity itself; nothing escapes his obser- vation. Too much occupied to speak, he is yet able to listen. Every faculty permeates his work; comprehending every situation, his eye notes every detail. While receiving and checking 138 SCIENCE OF BAIL WAYS; property, he is also winnowing the packages that go from those that remain behind. The stray pieces lying here and there, having seemingly no connection with current matters, he skillfully gathers up and hurries into the waiting van. Nothing escapes him. To the attaches of the baggage department every incident of their daily life is full of inter- est. While the evolutions of business traverse anew, like the hands of a clock, the same general round, some new event ever gives emphasis and color to the situation. The railway baggageman is an encyclopedia of facts; his mind is a panorama of baggage; his pocket a reservoir of checks. To him the oblong, hexagonal and oval strips of brass, that hang in clusters about his room like ripened fruit, pulsate with life and purpose; to him the half completed chalk marks which others pass unnoticed are pregnant with deepest meaning, an open book, a picture of some far off place. They are the lan- guage of his business, the idiosyncracies of his trade, an intimation or a command. CHAPTEK Xy. THE BAGGAGE CAB AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. The baggage car is not only a receptacle for baggage but the refuge of many overworked and sorely tried railway officials who travel back and forth on the line. In it they find seclusion from annoying questions. Here they can rest. I never find myself in a baggage car without becoming interested in its affairs. I am, equally with the baggageman, concerned in the adaptability of the car to its uses, and in its conveniences and com- forts. Its capacity, ventilation, light, height, facil- ity and condition are not matters to be passed over, without comment. If it is capacious and well lighted I am elated; if contracted and somber I shrink correspondingly. I am never able, how- ever, to enter with heart and soul into the schemes of my friend, the baggageman, for keeping his car freshly painted and varnished; I hate fresh paint and varnish. In all else we agree; even in our superstitions I sympathize in the respect he pays the horseshoes that hang singly and in clusters on the walls of his car; their efficacy in case of fire, collision or derailment is not a matter that admits of skepticism or difference of opinion. I am also, with him, concerned in the adequacy of the furniture of the car. The green and battered water cans that stand huddled and perspiring in (139) 1 40 SCIENCE OF RAIL WA YS; the corner interest and concern me as much as they do him. I have counted many times, as I have no doubt he has, the pigeon holes nailed conveniently by the door for use in distributing letters and papers. I know exactly how many checks there are in the bunch hanging in the cor- ner covered with dust and black with time and want of use; twenty-four, always the same, never more nor less. I know, moreover, that the stove, so cheerful in winter, so morose and sullen in Carriage in Rural England. summer, has never been blackened since it was put up. The baggageman can not endure stove polish any more than I can varnish. And, not to be forgotten, there, swinging over the door, is the fire bucket, while here and there, conveniently placed, are the wrecking tools, time worn and grim, presaging disaster.* * One too] box, one switch rope, two frogs, one jack, one jack lever, one sledge, one axe, one steel bar, two brasses, one pail of dope, two air hose, one chain, one extra bell cord, one saw, one cold chisel, four hand grenades; in winter: two scoop shovels, one or two barrels of coal, and one track shovel. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAD. BUSINESS. 141 The baggage car is the rendezvous of the news- boy. In a secluded corner his chest stands dark and mysterious. Filled with stores, its hidden treasures are suggestive of robbers, of waiting outlaws, of trains derailed, of murders foul. Capa- cious and strong, it is like the weatherbeaten chest of some old salt, who has made many voy- ages, and has learned the value of stout oaken plank, and paint and iron and heavy locks. Occupancy of the baggage car begets garrulity and inclines one to benevolent reflections. I have grown interested in its most trifling details; even the "Rules and Regulations" that hang crisp and cheery on the wall. They are very deflnite about everything and everybody; full of suggestions and wise saws, and pregnant with technical phrases and mysterious allusions and inuendos and cabal- istic signs known only to the fraternity. They are also very harsh and arbitrary, and I shudder as I read lest any baggageman shall be so unfor- tunate as to transgress one of their requirements. They teach me that between the baggageman and his superior there is an unappeasable con- flict, a mighty gulf. In this struggle my sympa- thies incline to the baggageman, and I watch him as he passes to and fro before the threaten- ing rules to see if some upheaval does not rack his frame; but no, like a patient long habituated to the use of a deadly poison, their presence does not disturb him. A cozy chair in the baggage car! In it there is freedom, abandon; here one observes many things, 142 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; while free to cogitate, to smoke, to dream ; here the casual acquaintance and the bore can not come; we see them in the distance; we hear them rattle at the door; they call, but we heed them not; the rules are inexorable. We idly watch the baggageman busy with his affairs. Through the wide open door we see the waving fields, the lowing herds, the quiet towns, the be- M w m Carriage in Asiatic Tiirlcey. lated passengers hurrying to the depot. Noth- ing escapes us. Admittance to the baggage car is sought by many widely different people — by officials who desire to seclude themselves; by patrons who wish to be on good terms with officials; by rol- licking young blades who look upon admittance to it as a snob does upon a box at the opera; by meditative men, who find in it a congenial at- mosphere and a quiet corner; by men of affairs, BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 148 and finally by indolent and modest people — all these knock at its friendly doors. Trainmen also seek it. To them it is comfortable and home- like; free from restraint. Let us tilt our chairs back against a friendly post and watch the trunks as they come tumbling into the- car end over end. Many of them we have seen before, and we take them into our confidence as old friends. Most of them have a grim and battered look like veterans of many a bitter encounter. Some of them, on the other hand, are just starting out in life, prim and glossy with varnish and bright with new buckles and polished plates. These, the voyagers of a day, present themselves to the baggageman with the confidence of inexperience. To them life is a holiday, an eternal excursion, and the baggageman a guide, philosopher and friend. We contemplate the future of these confident voyagers. But it is among the old and battered trunks, creaky with time and wheezy with hard usage, that we recognize our friends. Life's storms have swept over them, leaving them worn and shattered. The sharp corners and stiffness that were the occasion of so much discomfort to them when they first presented themselves before the baggageman, years ago, have vanished. Instead of the pert, inquisitive air that then character- ized them, they come into the car with a wheezy creak, as if deprecating unnecessary rudeness. But the baggageman has other things to think of as he deftly catches them up and drags them swiftly lU SCIENCE OF BAIL WATS; Carriage in NataL BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL nUSLVESS. 145 away. To him they are only aggregations of worn out leather and half broken straps; mer- chandise, not to be handled too roughly lest the purse of the company suffer, but not entitled to any regard aside from this. He does not see, as we do, that these old voyagers are instinct with a thousand ties, and that as they settle them- selves down in the place assigned them they fall at once to inquiring about each other's aches and pains with the most tender solicitude; and as time passes, and they fix themselves more con- tentedly, anyone with half an ear can hear them recounting their histories to each other, dilating upon the secrets of their lives, reawakening the past, calling up memories of joy and sadness, of gladsome wedding feasts, of mourners borne down with sorrow, bridal veils and funeral wreaths. I catch myself speculating about the owners of these trunks. Who are they? What do they do? Where do they live? What are their habits? Are they happily well off, or poor and envious? Are they interested in the pros- perity of their friends, or morose and silent? Many of the owners I know, and between them and their property trace facial resemblances. The trunk is the reflection of the man; the key to his character. That trunk, for instance, in the corner, so carefully covered and strapped and addressed, belongs to a precise person, who does everything at the proper time and place! Its owner never has any notes go to pro- test, never asks any indulgences. I would not 10 146 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; hesitate to lend him a hundred dollars if he asked it — but he would not ask it. The owner is probably a woman, maybe a man. Whoever he may be, his daily life is without a blemish. He has no little w^eakness that he can not overcome; no moments when it is hard to be good; no lingering reluctance to leave a good dinner, a pleasant party; no thought of counting a hun- Garriage in India. dred, and then two hun rea, perhaps a thousand, before turning out in the morning. No! With him life is real, and all who can not, or will not, keep up with the colors he would have taken out and shot. It is people such as he that keep the world in motion, feed its poor, build and support its hospitals, endow its universities. The im- provident, the good natured, and the clever would be glad to do all that he doe^ and more, but BAGGAGE. EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 147 their sins and appetites leave them nothing to divide with others. Each trunk possesses its own individuality. See that little old trunk over there! What a sly look of discretion and responsibility it has. It belongs to a lad who is going to a far off place to commence the struggle of life. He got on at a station a few miles back. There was no mother to bid him good bye, to watch the car that bore him away, no father — only a few boys loitering idly about the depot. He is going to live with an uncle; a kind but irascible old man; the boy will not stay with him long, but will drift out alone. He will not go to the bad; no proud man ever did. He will succeed, because there is dis- grace in failure. If he had a kind hearted old mother to coddle him it would be a long time before he succeeded, but as it is he will succeed at once. That trunk with a shrunken top like a grave fallen in ! That is an old freind. Its owner started out years ago, vigorous and full of lofty aspira- tions. He is on the train today coming home to die. He has broken down in the race. The asso- ciates he has left in the great world will talk about him for awhile, will tell each other of his good qualities, his many acts of kindness, the bright prospect that lay before him —and then there will fall upon him and his memory the silence of the great eternity. That brand new, wide awake, roomy trunk be- longs to a thrifty merchant in a bustling little 148 SCIENCE OF BAILWAYS; town fui-ther up the line. It is full of chintzes and calicoes and delaines. By and by these goods will make their appearance on his counter and when he is asked to put a price upon them he will deplore the excessive rates of carriers which make goods so dear. The trunk itself he will sell. Merchandise, he has it checked free, as per- sonal baggage; but that was only intended as a bit of pleasantry, for he is reputed to be a very Carriage In Kaffraria. upright man who inveighs much against the dis- honesty of railroad corporations and their dis- criminations in favor of trade centers and heavy shippers. He esteems them but lightly, and loves to talk about them as grinding monopolies. That long trunk, tied with rope! That belongs to a farmer. There are many attractive things about farm life — in fair weather. I never tire of reading about its independence, the farmer's vigor, his thrift, his sturdy honesty, his manifold BAGGAGE, EXPBESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 149 values. The business has its vicissitudes, how- ever — its lights and shades. I used to work on a farm when a boy, and my teeth chatter and my feet grow cold now at the recollection. It was my lot to get up at four o'clock and build the fire. The stove was old and worn, and, oh, the patience and labor of the undertaking! After- ward, if it happened to be w^inter, I broke the ice in the bucket and filled the teakettle and put the potatoes on to boil. Then I went out into the icy air to milk the cows and look after the cattle, my way lighted by a lantern that might have been old when Abraham fed his flocks on the grassy slopes of Lebanon. My life was passed in the open fields. I remember that my hands were cracked and cold and numb, and that I used to blow them much to keep them warm. Vain effort! At night I ate my supper and went to bed and was happy, for I dreamed that I was a cripple and sat in the corner of the house all day by a huge stove that was always red hot. (IM) CHAPTEE XYI. THE TRAIN BAGGAGEMAN. The train baggageman looks down on the world obliquely from his car. The altitude is not great, but in addressing him mankind must speak with upturned faces. Their position is that of suppliants. What they have to say par- takes of supplication rather than demand. The feeling that this is so is shared by all parties. The isolation of the baggageman tends to make him arbitrary. It also begets in him a medita- tive spirit. The associations of his business give his reflections direction. To him the prosperity of the world is evinced in its trunks; its want of prosperity in the absence of them. Between the extremes there are intermediate stages; these he arranges and classifies according to circum- stances. To him man is an abstraction; a re- flection, whose qualities are centered in his personal effects; a stoutly built, well protected trunk represents the acme of moral stability, just as a low nature is epitomized by baggage of a poor character. To understand the train baggageman we must know him in his car. Away from this he pre- sents no salient features. Here he possesses inde- pendence and individuality; the consciousness that comes with power and the possession of (161) 1 62 SCIENCE OF BAIL WA TS; definite knowledge. Here he reigns. The occu- pants of the car are his subjects; its implements the furniture of his court. Treated with defer- ence by all, the multitude secretly fear him. Kindly, he is much maligned; numbering his ad- mirers by hundreds, he counts his enemies by millions. Carriage in Bombay, The duties of the train baggageman are multi- farious and important, sometimes arduous. He must be reliable; he must also possess the cleri- cal facilities necessary to enable him to compile correct returns and records of his business. Every parcel must be recorded. He must also be systematic. Packages must be arranged so as to economize space, and in the order of delivery. BAGGAGE, EXP BESS AND MAIL BUSLVESS. 153 The preservation of property entrusted to his care occupies his thoughts. His experience teaches him to place the light and unstable articles at the top, the heavy pieces at the bot- tom. This plan, moreover, saves labor and hus- bands his strength. There is a great deal of baggage transported. The care of property and the delivery of each article at its destination require accuracy and attentiveness. These quantities the attendant possesses. Baggagemen are also semi-mail agents. They handle the local correspondence of the company. All reports, statements and accounts that reach headquarters also pass through their hands. Im- pressed with the responsibilities of their office, they handle each letter as if it contained money. The train bagaggeman is promoted to his place. Upon many lines the acceptance of the position excludes the occupant from hope of promotion to the office of conductor. This is wrong. There are many men who are especially qualified for the higher place. The great bulk of those who fill the office possess particular aptitude for the work. To such it is the occupation of a life. There are baggagemen who have been in the service for half a century. On the other hand, men have found in the office opportunity for study, and from it have graduated into the highest occupations of life. The path of the baggageman is strewn with danger : collisions, derailments, conflagrations, robbers, encounters with obstreperous passen- 151 SCIENCE OF BAIL WATS; gers, concealed explosives, fiery acids, infernal machines, property infected with loathsome dis- eases, each and all in turn menace him. Many witty things are told of the baggageman. His enemies complain that he lacks politeness; also that he is reckless. His destructive habits, while purely imaginary, have become proverbial. He has few defenders, while his ti*aducers consti- tute a host. Everywhere they cry out against Carriage in Bengal. him; point to his pathway strewn with property needlessly destroyed — wantonly wrecked. They believe that a heavy or decrepid piece of baggage excites him to madness; that at such times his strength is multiplied indefinitely while his eyes blaze with maniacal fire. Such statements are gross exaggerations — purely mythical — and ought not to be regarded. The railway world recognizes the baggageman as amenable to the same influences which govern BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 155 other men. His natural impulses are good; his disposition amiable. In his intercourse with his associates he is friendly, even kindly. He is, more- over, well disposed toward the world at large. He, however, resents (except in the presence of his superiors) every effort to fill his car with ex- cessively bulky articles, or articles that do not come under the head of baggage. The disposition of the public to circumvent him in this last re- spect is universal. Especially is this so with sub- urban residents. Against it the baggageman ar- rays himself. The issue is thus made up. The public desire the good will of the baggage- man, but while endeavoring to placate they seek surreptitiously to overcome him. Vain effort! Still, he is not unreasonable. He stands ready to compromise with the robbers. He does not, for instance, object to small and compactly arranged parcels of a miscellaneous character being franked as baggage! He acquits the owners of such articles of any sinister intent. So true is this that he is oftentimes on friendly terms with them. But he resents as an outrage all attempts to fill his car with articles which should go by express or freight — cooking stoves, baby carriages, clothes horses, gigantic trunks, barrels of flour, chicken coops, onions, window sashes, step ladders, dried mackerel, flower stands, are not, nor ever were, repulsive to him; he recognizes them as useful articles; many of them are used in his own home; but when, amidst the press of business, the roar of engines, the ringing of bells, the crying of 166 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; numbers, and the hurry of loading, such articles meet his gaze, he freely confesses that the impro- priety of their presence in a baggage car excites in him a species of madness. For his acts at such times he can not, and ought not, to be held re- sponsible. The feeling of the baggageman in reference to the class of property just described, it is appar- ent, is due to a belief that his company does not receive its just dues for carriage. Let him be Carriage in Peru. assured that order and fair dealing characterize the business, and he will be moderate, faithful and painstaking. Who that has watched the tender care, the artlessness, the unceasing solici- tude be displays for a dog that he has been pri- vately feed for looking after, can doubt this? At such times we discover him at his best, and are made to feel that a proper understanding is all that is required to make him equally particular with all kinds of property. CHAPTEK XYII. THE TRAINBOY. The trainboy represents the spirit of trade, its activity, thrift, assurance, adaptability, skill. He lives amidst the baggage of his patrons. Here his instincts are nurtured, his appetite for gain sharpened. A book on baggage would be incomplete without him. He is the fidus Achates of the train baggageman, his assistant, confidant and friend. He is sometimes called " The Butcher." This title, given him in derision, indicates his san- guinary character. Without being quarrelsome, he loves strife. Excitement and danger appeal to his imagination. There is a directness and simplicity about a fight that inexpressibly charms him. He is the embodiment of courage. This trait ennobles him. The trainboy's experiences teach him to be wary. He is habitually distrustful. He leaves nothing to chance. His confidence and his store- house are alike carefully locked. He receives for his work, which is arduous, a percentage of his sales. His commission varies according to the class of goods. The privilege of peddling upon the trains and about the sta- tions of railroads is eagerly sought. It is usually farmed out to contractors. Depots are estab- (167) 158 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; lished by them, from which the trainboys draw their supplies. The wants of trains are different. Those used for suburban traflBc are exceedingly simple, the daily papers, a meager assortment of cigars, in some instances fruit. With the express train it is different, and the newsboy that looks after its Carriage in Algiers. wants occupies the same relation to the subur- banite that the wholesale merchant does to the retail trader. He carries a large stock, carefully replenished each day. It is made up of candies, fruit, cigars, newspapers, novels and sundries. The gains of the trainboy are considerable. He sometimes suffers losses. Losses sadden him. BAGGAGE, EXPBESS AND MAH. BUSINESS. 169 He experiences from day to day in an acute sense all the anxieties and perplexities of a great mer- chant. He aspires to become a brakeman, per- haps a conductor, maybe — who knows?* He greatly respects power and position. When he has occasion to speak of an official it is not flip- pantly. He articulates his name in full, not for- getting initials and titles. He does this slowly and mechanically, as if talking in his sleep, or reading from a poster. In other cases he calls people indifferently by their last name, and speaks habitually of the property as "our" road. Sometimes, but rarely, the trainboy contracts directly with the railway company. However desirable such a system, it is not always practica- ble. In many cases he can not furnish the need- ed bond. Moreover, he needs the advice of more experienced traffickers. The golden habits of business that come only with age and experience he possesses only in embryo. Hence as a rule railway companies farm out the business, supply- ing the stores or turning the traffic over wholly to contractors. The trainboy is a valuable auxiliary, a very battering ram, in expelling from the cars drunk- en and lawless passengers. He delights in inci- dents of this kind. They are the very salt of his life. Proud, he loves to be called a " News Agent." * Sometimes the news agent is no longer a boy. He is a man seeking liis living with the so?)riety and industry that character- ize men in other callings in life. With these this sketch has noth- ing to do ; we are speaking of the train boy. 160 SCIENCE OF RAIL WA YS; He is not peculiar in this. A title animates every railway man, and absorbs many. If it is indefinite, good; if sonorous, better still. If he be so fortunate as to have a cluster of titles, they adorn him like gorgeous raiment, jewels rare. Youthful aspirants without title or posi- tion speak sententiously of themselves as Mr. Carriage in Ladak. Soandso of the Great Northeastern. Thus they are elevated and rescued from obscurity. When not actively occupied, the trainboy in- dulges himself in aimless chat wath the baggage- man. With an eye for the beautiful, he carries on many sly flirtations with the rustic maidens that frequent the stations and trains along the route. To all he is inconstant. Too poor to marry, he is also too young. Hi3 system of book- BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 161 keeping is very simple; his ledger, journal and blotter alike lie in his brain. With a meager in- come, his wants are many. Incipient in the de- sire of gain, he yet studies his trade, reviews its prospects, figures up his probable profits, takes frequent inventories of his wares. It is his duty to supply passengers with water. In many cases this is the only consideration the railway company exacts for the privileges he has. While performing it he studies the faces of his customers and seeks to fathom their weak- nesses. The amiable character of the trainboy is but little appreciated. Inexperienced travelers, how- ever, find in him a friend. To them he unbends socially, according to the measure of his profits. In return for generous purchases, he answers all questions, points out the wayfarer's route, the prices he should pay, the people he must avoid. To such the trainboy is something more than a pedler. He is an encyclopedia of current knowl- edge, a storehouse of facts, the guide, philosopher and friend of travelers. But generally men are not friendly to the newsboy. To them he is passe and they strive to avoid his eye, to evade his importunities, as he passes back and forth crying his wares. The mouths of men harden, their lips become rigid, their eyes grow glassy, their forms become dilated, when this Bedouin of trade approaches. Impossible to be ignored, they seek to silence him with rudeness. This palpable aversion does not 11 162 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS- Carriage Among the Lipan Indians. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 168 disturb him. He pursues his way and waits his time. In the course of a day he reappears many hundreds of times. Whence comes he? What mighty reservoir holds his supplies? The train- boy's base is the baggage car. Here, amid the trunks and boxes of travelers, he has his store- house; it is his den. In it he arranges his wares, takes account of his needs, plans his campaigns, sets his traps, digs the pitfall into which the unwary finally falls. The resources of the trainboy are great. His confidence unbounded, it is that of youth. He has no confederates, does not seek advice. He may talk over his plans, but in their execution he acts alone. He looks upon travelers, not as bent upon some particular errand, but as fulcrums merely of his fortunes, sent to aggrandize him. While proffering a cup of insipid water he secretly takes an inventory of their needs, fathoms their weaknesses, lays open their one vulnerable point. This is his art, the art of the merchant. Frequently the trainboy has the air of a cadet, a deceptive, dapper look. Pretty girls are his weakness, oftentimes his destruction. To find favor in their eyes he buys expensive raiment, perfumes, unctuous pomades, the choicest con- fections. His is the period of life when trade seems but a makeshift, base and mechanical, fit only for misers and slaves. Then there is another kind of newsboy, not an exotic. He is restless, gaunt, holloweyed and 164 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; sallow; with a profusion of hair; his feet are large and his legs w^eakly. He is not altogether wholesome looking, and carries about the odor of tobacco. He loves the weed, and when enveloped in its smoke forgets his isolation and misery; at such times exalted ideals animate him and he dreams of better associations, higher aims. Carriage in Jai>an. The trainboy is dependent upon himself, alone, youthful, abused, ofttimes illiterate. The world is his oyster. He is embodied shrewdness, in- carnate activity; his weapons are his wits and his assurance. Society does not take kindly to him, refuses to recognize any necessity for his existence. This aversion excites his animosity without lessening his desire for gain. The world BAOGAOE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 166 that refuses him recognition he pursues with re- doubled vigor. If economical and thrifty he may, in time, ac- cumulate a little fortune, the basis of something greater. Many avenues are open to him outside of his business by which to add to his gains. The position is a preparatory school, a road lead- ing to wealth and influence. It inculcates habits of independence and self reliance; teaches re- sponsibility. Its incumbent must account fully for the wares entrusted to him, for all that he does. A youthful merchant, his credit is his cap- ital. This he strengthens or destroys precisely as the credit of merchants is strengthened or de- stroyed. Impecunious and needy, he quickly learns to discern the wants of the public. This is the first lesson in business; the next, how to utilize those wants. Great fortunes have been laid in ways quite as humble as those of the rail- way trainboy. Carriage in Little Russia. a«6) CHAPTER Xyill. BAGGAGE. The weak and irascible Capulet uses the word in upbraiding Juliet because of her disinclination to wed the hated Paris. He roars at her, not gently like a sucking dove, but loudly and coarsely, "Out, you baggage ! you tallow face !" and afterward, as if not content, adds: " Hang the young baggage !'' The word implies something reprehensible, as affording fit characterization of a rebellious child. So Shakespeare used it. Goldsmith, on the other hand, applies it in an affectionate, playful way, associated with happier conditions. Thus, refer- ring to Olivia and Sophia, he says: " Tell them they are two arrant little baggages." The word is derived from the French bagage, a traveler's personal effects. This is the sense in which it is used in the United States. Its mean- ing has a place in the language of every people in every age. The Germans denominate bag- gage as plunder. Their word halg indicates a re- ceptacle for baggage. The English speak of bag- gage as luggage — to lug. The paraphernalia of armies, things necessary to their health, comfort, convenience and prog- (167) 168 SCIENCE OF ItAILWATS; ress, IS called baggage.* They say an army trav- els on its belly. It is estimated that a corps of fifty thousand men equipped for a campaign of thirty days requires a baggage train fifteen miles in length. In the Old English the word baggage is used only in a military sense. Local chroniclers tell us that Grant's personal baggage at Vicksburg consisted of two toilet ar- ticles, aside from what he wore. The baggage of Darius before the battle of Issus consisted of fifteen chariots filled with his family, servants, eunuchs and personal belongings. There were Carriage in America. [Device of Postoffice Department.] beside three hundred and sixty concubines, six hundred mules and three hundred camels loaded with treasures. These were personal effects of the king. Aside from them, there was the bag- gage of the army proper. Herodotus recounts that twenty thousand men attended the beasts of burden occupied in transporting the baggage of Xerxes in his invasion of Greece. The Per- sians, in the ir warlike incursions, more frequently * Thus : ". . . baggage horses . . ." — Macaulay: Hist. Eng.^ ch.xiii. "A thousand 6a(jffifasf« wagons . . ." — Ibid.,ch.xv. "And the men were let pass, bag and baggage, and the castle cast down to the ground." — Pitscottie: James IL p. 34. " Dolabella designee!, when his affairs grew desperate in Egypt, to pack up bag and bag- gage., and sail for Italy." — Arbuthnot. SAOOA&E, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 169 than otherwise, were attended by their wives and concubines. These occupied chariots drawn by horses, and greatly exceeded those necessary to transport the higher officers. The Persians were much given to pomp and indulgences of this kind. Their final overthrow was due to such causes. In the operations of armies the efforts of gen- erals are directed to minimizing the baggage train. Frederick the Great was perhaps, of all generals, the most arbitrary, the most exacting in this respect. The highest officer and the most exalted noble were, during a campaign, compelled to eat out of pewter vessels and to restrict themselves to the most simple and nec- essary articles of wearing apparel. The Latin word impedimenta — baggage — indicates the ob- stacle it offers to the movements of an army. In the feudal age public highways were few in number and much neglected. Wagons and stage coaches were, therefore, hardly known. The baggage of travelers was carried on pack animals This is the case in all half settled societies or very rough countries. In the early history of the United States travel was confined almost wholly to equestrians, their baggage being car- ried in leather packs fastened over the crupper of the horse or laid across the saddle, recepta- cles hanging pendant on either side for the goods, out of the way of the rider. The difference in the amount of baggage of travelers in ancient and modern times is very great. The laborer of today travels with a grip 170 SCIENCE OF BAIL WA TS; sack or box; his prototype of three hundred years ago carried only a staff and bundle; the gentleman of our time has one or more large trunks; a slender wallet carried by a henchman was enough to hold the effects of a gentleman of feudal times. Richard Coeur de Leon had no other baggage. The pious Moslem journeying to Carriage in Servia. Mecca carries only a staff. Joseph's flight into Egypt was equally barren of personal effects. What, in the parlance of railroads, is meant by the word baggage? No statutory enactments in the United States answer this question, and when we turn to the courts their decisions are not uniform. Nor could they well be, so long as it is left for juries to decide. These decisions, while they may not be ac- cepted as final, are none the less interesting. Their general effect is favorable to the passenger, BA0GA6E, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 171 but not more so, perhaps, than in other countries. According to their interpretation baggage con- sists of the wearing apparel of passengers, in- cluding also the articles of a personal character to which they are habituated.* It includes the articles necessary to the daily comfort of their bodies and minds, the books they wish to read, the money necessary to pay their current ex- penses,! and the jewelry generally worn by them, including the watches they carry. It also con- sists of the wearing apparel of children of pas- sengers, although no fare is charged by the rail- way company for such children; this latter in- terpretation is singular, if not unjust. A court in a western state has decided that a pistol is baggage, being necessary to the pro- tection of the traveler.}: Another court has decided that two pistols could not be considered * "The quantity and character of baggage must depend much upon the condition in life of the traveler, his calling, habits, tastes, the length or shortness of the journey and whether he travels alone or with a family." — Dibble v. Brown, 12 6a., 226. See also Hutchings v. Western, etc., 26 Ga., 64. " Such apparel and other articles necessary for a person's comfort and con- venience whilst away from home, with the necessary sum of money for his expenses. This usually constitutes baggage, and both parties so understand it when it is received by the com- pany." — Cin., etc., v. Marcus, 38 111., 223. t " It must be fully understood that money can not be con- sidered as baggage, except such as is boria Jide taken for travel- ing expenses and personal use; and to such a reasonable amount only as a prudent person would deem necessary and proper for such a purpose." — Judson v. Fall B. B. B., 5 Cush., Mass., 74. J " A revolver is included as baggage." — Davis v. N. S. A N. Z, 22 BL, 278. 172 SCIENCE OF BA1LWAT8; as baggage.* Decisions in these matters are governed by the environment of juries and the peculiarities of judges. Thus, one judge has decided that an assortment of earpenter's tools might be considered as baggage, probably on the ground that as the passenger had no luggage he was entitled to carry something. A convention of railroad officials decided at St. Louis in 1880 that strictly theatrical effects should be passed as baggage, when accompanied by theatrical parties. The trunk or case in which the baggage of a passenger is enclosed is esteemed a part of such baggage. One judge has declared that a poor man is entitled to have his mattress, with accompanying bedquilts and pillows, franked.f Why not his cooking stove? Another says the gun and fishing tackle of a hunter ought to be franked.J The principle would also seem to embrace the hunter's dog. Upon many lines, indeed, dogs are good naturedly passed without * Chicago, etc., R. R Co. v. Collins, 56 Dl., 212. t " A bed, pillows, bolster and bedquilts belonging to a poor man who is moving with his wife and family may properly be called baggage." — Ouimit v. Henshaw, 35 Vt., 622. J " I do not intend to say that the articles must be such as every man deems essential to his comfort ; for some men may carry nothing or very little with them, others consult their con- venience by carrying many things. Nor do I mean to say that the rule is confined to wearing apparel, brushes, razor, writing apparatus and the like, which most persons deem indispensable. If one has books for his instruction or amusement, carries a gun or fishing tackle, they would undoubtedly fall within the term baggage, because they are usually carried as such. Samples of merchandise are not baggage within the common acceptation of the term."— ITawArins v. Hoffman, 6 Hill, K F., 590. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 178 charge, but the right of passengers to have prop- erty of this description franked is nowhere admitted by carriers. In other countries a uniform charge is made for transporting dogs.* There seems to be no more reason why a rail- road company should carry them free than that it should carry saddle horses or donkeys free. Questions as to what constitutes baggage are governed by many subtleties, and in determining a case particulars must be known, such as place of residence, character, habit and social status of owner of the goods. Property that would come under the head of baggage when owned by one person would not be so considered when owned by another. Thus the pipe used by a smoker forms a part of his baggage, but in the possession of a person who did not smoke, could not be so construed. * ** Dogs are not allowed to be taken into the company's carriages, but will be tied up in the van, No dog is allowed to go except when secured by a chain or collar, or safely packed in a basket or crate. The charge for carriage of dogs, the property of passengers traveling by the same train, must in all cases be prepaid."— i??gfMtoe surrendered before a package or articles can be released, and if again deposited in the company's custody an additional fee will be charged and another ticket issued." * "Notice is hereby given that when parcels addressed "to be left till called for' are not applied for and removed from the sta- tion to which they are booketl, either on the day of receipt or on the day following, an extra charge of four cents per parcel will be made to the coni-ignee; in the case of parcels not applied for within the week, an additional charge of four cents per week will l)e made. For example: If a parcel is received at a station on a Monday, and is not called for until the next Wednesday, it is liable to a charge of four cents; if not called for until Thurs- tlay, to a charge of four cents extra, or eight cents, the second four cents l)eing the warehouse rent up to the following Wetlnes- day. Fractions of a week will be counted as a whole week. The maximum charge in these cases will be twenty-five cents per parcel." * ''Bicycles and perambulators, when left in the cars of the company, are charged sixteen cents each, with a charge of four cents per day in addition when left for a longer period than three days, the day of deposit and the day of removal each counting aa one day." t • Regulations London & Northwestern Railway, EnglancL t Regulations Midland Railway, England. 16 Carriage in South America. (226) CHAPTEK XXIY. EXCESS BAGGAGE AND PARCEL TRAFFIC. The maximum quantity of baggage a passen- ger may transport without extra charge being fixed by law or custom, provision must be made for collecting charges in those cases where there is an excess over the stipulated amount. In the United Kingdom the machinery for con- ducting the parcel traffic is used to handle extra baggage and similar business. On the continent the precision that characterizes commercial life is observable in the management of i*ail roads, and passengers are compelled in all their calcula- tions to take cognizance of the fact that railroad companies exact respect for their rights. Trav- elers are particular to reach the depot in time to have their baggage weighed and billed, and do not forget to allow time for making necessary payments in the event they have extra baggage. In the United States a different picture meets the eye: efforts to systematize excess baggage traffic, so as to render the collection of charges thereon effective, are actively objected to. In- stead of acquiescing in the inconvenience that an equitable conduct of the business entails, passengers are impatient and exacting. This dis- position is heightened by the timid policy of rail- ed?) 228 SCIEXCE OF RAIL WA YS; way officers, who in many cases fear to enforce the rights of their companies. For these and other reasons great difficulty has been experienced in securing effective organization of the business. The fact that the express business is not con- ducted directly by the railroads in the United States has also greatly lessened the incentive to provide adequate machinery for collecting charges on excess baggage and similar business. Traffic of this discription is relatively small and its wants apart have not in consequence been fully regarded. Carriage in France, A. D. 1760. The other sources of traffic are of so much greater importance that directing officials have given the excess baggage business compai-atively little at- tention. The duty of watching over this par- ticular business and providing for its wants has been left largely to subordinate officers. To the negative position of the baggage department is also to be ascribed its neglect by the higher officers of railroads. Its traffic dofes not produce any revenue directly, and the fact that it does indirectly is oftentimes BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL JiUSmESS. 229 forgotten. Officials and employes too often look upon the amount the passenger pays as the price of his carriage merely; the transportation of baggage being a gift, and it is not unusual to hear them speak of it as being " passed." Such being the case, it is slight wonder if baggage traffic should not always receive the attention it merits. Excess baggage traffic is more difficult to handle than any other branch of railway business. Some of the difficulties are inherent, others again the outgrowth of prejudice or lax administration. In the absence of any baggage it is frequently claimed, and sometimes tacitly admitted, that the passenger is entitled to transport other goods. This claim does not require serious answer. Pas- sengers are entitled to a certain quantity of per- sonal baggage, not to a certain quantity of sugar or butter. The claim is especially absurd when put forward, as it frequently is, by the suburban population of our cities. The rate at which this class of the community is carried is based on the fact that they have no baggage, yet upon many roads the bulk of the provisions consumed by the suburban population, and much of the furniture and bric-a-brac that adorn its homes, is carried free in the baggage cars. This is done as a matter of policy, or good nature. But the carriers are clearly entitled to revenue from this source when- ever they choose to enforce it. As already noticed, great diversity exists in reference to the quantity of luggage travelers possess. In one place the baggage of holders of 280 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS: first class tickets is meager in the extreme and is carried into the coaches and deposited under the seats, or finds a resting place in the racks over- head. In another place there is greater circum- stance. In considering the subject of excess baggage it is evident that any indulgences that may be granted particular passengers, by the free trans- portation of baggage in excess of the stipulated amount, is done at the expense of the community, or the carrier. Carriage in Turkey. Every dollar of revenue frittered away by a rail- road in a particular field must be made good by some other department or is irretrievably lost. The law of supply and demand applies as dis- tinctly to a railway as it does to the manufacture of cloth. Impoverishment means loss of credit and lessened facilities. We frequently find rail- roads doing a losing business, but the loss reacts on the community, and the suffering of the public is in the end as great as that of the stockholder. B AGO AGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 231 Many American companies attach so little im- portance to revenue from excess baggage that no effort is made to ascertain whether the amount of luggage offered by passengers exceeds the limit specified or not. At a few points attempt will perhaps be made to collect the revenue from this class of tratlic, but at the great majority of stations little if any attention is given it. This neglect is so contrary to the spirit animating railroads abroad that it deserves more than pass- ing attention.* It is not creditable to any railway company that legitimate and proper sources of revenue should be overlooked. Good business usage does not warrant such laxity. Heretofore many rail- way companies have never been able to earn a dividend upon their capital. No road pays more than a fair rate of interest. A large number of companies only pay interest on a pait of the cost of their properties. In all cases it is important that every species of income incident to their working should be faithfully garnered. Generally speaking, minute provision is made by foreign railway companies for collecting charges on excess baggage. Nothing is thought too small or too unimportant to merit attention. In the United States the charge for extra bag- gage of interline passengers is fixed at about twelve per cent, (per one hundred pounds) of the rate for first class passengers. The rule is • Much greater attention is paid to this subject in America now than formerly. 282 SCIENCE OF BAIL WA TS; not uniform, however. Thus some of the east- ern companies base the rate on twelve per cent, of the cost of the first class limited ticket, while others make it twelve per cent, of the unlimited ticket, which is considerably higher than the first named. This disagreement, while confus- ing, is based on substantial reasons. On the majority of roads throughout the coun- try the rate is twelve per cent, of the cost of the unlimited first class ticket. In some cases the rate is fifteen per cent. A minimum charge of Carriage in England, A. D. 1790. twenty-five cents for the carriage of excess bag- gage is common to all companies. Many com- panies make special rates for the goodg of com- mercial agents, theatrical companies, caravans, showmen, etc. As already stated, the collection of charges on excess baggage is peculiarly difficult in America. All classes adjust their freight accounts and pay for their passage tickets without question, but too often discover objections when their right to carry, without extra charge, all the baggage their convenience suggests is called in question. These BAOGAOE. EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 288 objections are of course not warranted. They arise from the long neglect of railroad companies to enforce their rights in this particular field. There is, it is apparent, no reason in the world why a railroad company should carry, without extra charge, more than the stipulated amount of baggage. Travelers might, with equal propri- ety, ask that a certain portion of their grain, or live stock, or fuel should be carried free in con- sideration of buying a ticket. Admit the plea, and there ceases to be a check on the business. A portion of the community will respect the rights of carriers; the other portion will look upon the evasion of these rights as indicative of special shrewdness. Other things conspire to render a full collec- tion of the revenue that ought to accrue from extra baggage diflBcult. As a rule this traffic does not reach the depot until the train is upon the point of starting. The train can not be held. The agent is busy look- ing after general wants, so that he is very likely able to examine but a portion of the baggage that is presented to be checked, or his examina- tion is hurried and incomplete. Many packages are thus overlooked that ought in justice to yield some revenue to the carrier. The difficulties encountered in organizing the excess baggage business upon an effective basis have tended to destroy or weaken the esprit de corps of those in charge. The result is that the income that should be derived from this traffic is 284 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 285 lightly esteemed or held subordinate to other sources of revenue. It has been the practice generally in America to require all excess baggage charges to be pre- paid. Much of the demoralization that exists is traceable to this fact. Its arbitrary enforce- ment is obviously impracticable, while even gen- eral adherence is attended with serious embarraas- ments. The trouble is that sufficient time is not allowed the forwarding agent in many cases to weigh the baggage, bill it, and collect the charges before the departure of trains. In consequence the effort to do so is pursued irregularly. Omis- sions are a matter of hourly occurrence, and can not be otherwise until, indeed, passengers are re- quired to present their baggage far in advance of the departure of trains, as they do in Europe. Attendants do not have time, and to attempt to hurry an official in the performance of a duty that is discretionary is to cause him in many cases to neglect it altogether. Any system of accounting that does not make provision for this peculiarity of human nature is defective. The devices of passengers to escape payment for extra baggage are too numerous to be described. Attempted bribery of the attendant is the most common. Misrepresentations are also frequent. When passengers are destined to a distant place, a clever means of evading the rules is to have the different pieces of baggage in excess of the limit checked to stations near at 286 SCIENCE OF BAU.WAYS; hand, upon arrival at which stations the trav- eler notifies the agent that he has concluded not to stop at that point and would like his baggage rechecked to the place to which he has concluded to go. In this way he will take up the different pieces of extra baggage at the stations to which they have been billed, until finally he has them all checked without charge. A simple way of pre- venting deceptions of this kind is not to check Carriage in North America, baggage on tickets that read from another place. A simpler way is when baggage is checked upon a particular ticket, to so maiik the ticket that it can not be subsequently used for the same purpose. This is the course now generally followed. While the devices adopted for misleading officials will be many and ingenious, they will not stand the test of. good business usage or acumen upon the part of employes. It is only where the rules and reg- ulations are inadequate or lightly enforced that deception will be effective. CHAPTER XXV. excess baggage and parcel traffic. — (continued.) • The baggage traffic of railroads is divided un- der two heads, namely, Baggage and Excess Baggage. The transportation of the former is embraced in the price paid for the passage ticket. For the latter an extra charge is designed. Any attempt to collect this charge in advance, to com- pel prepayment, will prove an obstacle. There is no sufficient reason for the practice. There is no reason why charges should be prepaid on extra baggage any more than on common mer- chandise. If a passenger desires to prepay the charges on his goods, and there is time for him to do so, there is no objection, but it should not be com- pulsory. If the property is worth the amount there is no reason why the charge should not be collected at the destination. In such case it is certain that abundance of time will be afforded in which to adjust the amount, while if the at- tempt is made to collect in advance it is equally certain that in many cases the railway company will be unable to do so in consequence of want of time. It is claimed that it would be embar- rassing to introduce the practice of collecting (287) 238 SCIENCE OF RAIL WA YS; charges at place of destination, because passen- gers upon arrival at the end of their journey de- sire to go directly to their hotel or residence; or they entrust their checks to others and can not, consequently, be expected to attend to the pay- ment of any charges due on their property. It is also offered as a reason for not adopting such a system that hackmen would not afford pas- sengers the time necessary for them to settle, but would hasten away, leaving travelers to com- plete their journey as best they might. Excuses Carriage on the Indian Sea. of this kind are not worthy of notice. The la- borer is worthy of his hire, and if carriers can not collect the amount due them at the starting point there can be no valid reason why they should not collect at the place of destination. Property owners must accommodate themselves to the necessities of the case. The circumstances attending the transporta- tion of excess baggage are peculiar. To enforce equitable arrangements all railroad companies should combine to collect at the place of desti- nation when it is not convenient to collect atth^ BAQQAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 289 point of departure. If they will thus agree among themselves no particular company can be intim- idated by the threat of passengers that unless concessions are made they will go elsewhere. Without such agreement enforcement will only be partially practicable. Collections for excess baggage can be made most conveniently by the receiving agent at the station to which the traffic is destined. The forwarding agent is frequently unable to ascertain whether the baggage comes under the head of extra baggage or not; it should be the duty of the agent at the terminal point to dis- cover omissions and correct them. The forwarding agent should convey to the re- ceiving agent such knowledge as he may be able to gain in reference to packages that come under the head of excess baggage. In the majority of cases he will be able to attach a way bill to such packages, specifying the weight and amount to be collected. Frequently, however, his figures will be only approximately coiTect, the weight being estimated. To remedy this it should be the duty of the receiving agent to carefully re- weigh the property. The excess baggage traffic possesses many pe- culiar characteristics. The baggage of emigrants, for instance, is exceptional in quantity. It con- sists, in fact, of everything they possess. Instead of shipping their property by freight trains as merchandise they carry it with them. Consider- ing the volume of the business it is apparent that 240 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; if rigidly systematized it would afford railroad companies a considerable revenue. A desire to encourage emigration generally prevents this, however, in all new countries. A careful examination of the excess baggage traffic renders it apparent that there are no un- surmountable difficulties to accountants or others in the way. It requires, however, the at- tention of men experienced in traffic affairs and familiar with the best forms of accounting, and Carriage in Chile. to the fact that it has not always received this is to be attributed many of its crudities. In the case of interline traffic, the forwarding company should be required to attach a way bill to each parcel, duly numbered, containing all the information necessary to enable the lines over which the baggage passes to keep a record thereof. Afterward, by requiring a detailed re- port of the extra baggage thus billed, they will be able to compel the collecting company to ac- BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 241 count for the charges. Upon the arrival of inter- line baggage at its destination the way bill should be detached after its correctness has been verified by reweighing the property. If from any cause extra baggage should reach its desti- nation without having been billed, the receiv- ing agent should, when the facts are ascertain- able by him, correct the omission by collecting the amount and reporting it to his company. The latter would in due course report to the various lines interested the amounts severally their due. A system something like this is imperatively required in connection with interline baggage traffic. Its effect will be to protect each line interested, and be a necessary check upon the collecting agent. It will, moreover, guard the passenger against injustice. Local excess baggage traffic possesses no es- pecial features. The methods pursued, however, should be uniform upon different roads so far as practicable. Otherwise when there is competi- tion, passengers will avail themselves of the fact to favor that company which grants them the greatest privileges. In connection with excess local baggage it may be stated, in parentheses, that to enable the receiving agent to ascertain the place from which baggage is shipped the train l)aggageman's way bill should give the forwarding station, or if that is impracticable, someOthor device for furnish- ing the information should be adopted. 19 242 SCIENCE OF RAIL WA TS; In the majority of instances, charges for local extra baggage will be paid in cash. It will fre- quently occur, however, that passengers will pre- sent franks or permits in payment. These will be of two classes. One class will be good only for a definite amount of baggage between certain points; the other will be good for a fixed amount of baggage, but good between all points. Some- times these permits will run for only a few days; Carriage on the Goanitee, India. sometimes for the year in which they are issued. But whether for a short or long period they will make the work of the accountant more diflBcult. Upon the arrival of excess baggage at its desti- nation the way bill appended thereto should be detached and transmitted to the accounting officer. If charges are paid with cash, the amount will be entered under the head of cash, in the BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 243 place provided.* If charges are paid with mile- age coupons, coupons covering the specific miles the baggage has been transported will be detached and inclosed with the way bill, the amount having first been entered on the bill in the place provided. If charges are paid in stamps, the proper amount should be detached* and treated in the same general manner. If a season frank or permit be presented, a description of such frank or permit should be entered in the proper place. Where payment is made with a trip frank, it should be taken up and inclosed with the way bill to headquarters. For the purpose of securing a proper check, all franks, permits, coupons or other devices calling for the transportation of excess baggage and good for more than one trip should have an auditor's coupon attached. It should recite the particulars of the ticket, its date, time good for, amount, name of person to whom issued, amount of extra baggage it covers, by whom issued, etc. This coupon should be detached ])y the agent upon the first presentation of the ticket or frank, and forwarded to the accounting officer. In his hands it is a check upon the person issuing. In forwarding baggage, if an agent suspects that the amount is in excess of the weight the passenger is entitled to pass free, yet no time is allowed in which to investigate the fact, or even estimate the excess and make a w ay bill therefor, * The different forms of way bills for handling excess baggage are described in the appendix. 244 SCIENCE OF RALLWATS; he should attach a card to the baggage, as a notice to the receiving agent to investigate the case, and if he finds that the baggage is subject to a charge make a bill covering the same. If it is not practicable to attach a card, the receiving agent should be notified by telegraph, or the train baggageman should be directed to way bill the property. Carriage on the Severn. In making provision for excess luggage traflBc the peculiar features of the parcel tmflBc that at- tach to the suburban business of metropolitan roads must not be overlooked. Much of this business is transported by the railroad companies, and when this is so, is quite likely not to receive the attention it merits, especially in those cases where the express ti-affic of the company is con- ducted by a separate organization. The express traflBc requires peculiar appliances, and when the BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 246 officials of a milway company are not familiar with such appliances it is quite likely that adequate provision will not be made to accom- modate the excess baggage traffic, which is in many respects similar to the express business. Upon many suburban trains the parcel traffic is not sufficient to warrant the express companies in employing a messenger, and when this is the case it quite likely results that property that should contribute revenue escapes payment alto- gether. The remedy lies either in the exclusion of this kind of property from non-express trains or in making adequate provision for handling it. The business may not be great, but will abundantly repay systematic effort to handle it properly. Upon many well managed roads the methods of handling excess baggage and suburban parcel ti-affic require overhauling. This is especially true of the former. Instead of treating it as an unknown quantity, to be traded off in unneces- sary effort to secure business for other depart- ments, or abandoned as unworthy of notice, the ingenuity of agents, trainmen and officials gener- ally should be excited to the utmost to see that all legitimate revenue from this source is col- lected and accounted for to the utmost farthing. An objection is offered that the cost of organizing the excess baggage ti-affic is not warranted by the revenue that may be derived from it. This ob- jection is not tenable. It might originally have been offered, with the same show of reason, in 246 SCIEN^CE OF RAILWAYS. connection with any of the many sources of traflBc possessed by a railroad. Cost should not prevent its consummation. The blanks required are few and simple. Every agent should, however, be supplied with them, and his labors carefully su- pervised until he understands the needs of this branch of his business. If practices upon different lines in reference to excess baggage were alike, as they should be, dis- crimination could not be exercised by passengers in favor of particular routes, and complaint would quickly die out. The initiative in the reform rests with the gen- eral passenger and ticket agents on American roads. The admirable organization possessed by these gentlemen renders a consummation of the changes required easy and simple. For the information of those interested, I have attempted in succeeding chapters to outline a plan of accounting adapted to the service, and the efficient collection of the revenue that the excess baggage traffic should yield. However, the adoption of a particular system is not mate- rial if the object sought can be accomplished in any other way. CHAPTER XXVI. EXCESS BAGGAGE AND PARCEL TRAFFIC. — (CON- TINUED.) An ingenious form of ticket, known as the Cou- pon Mileage Ticket for excess baggage, was for many years in universal use on railroads in the United States. It was designed to accommodate commercial travelers, theatrical parties and kin- dred organizations. It is still used more or less. Under its operation travelers, instead of paying in cash at local rates, purchase a ticket good for so many miles for a specified quantity of baggage. Diminutive coupons are attached to the ticket, each coupon being good for a certain number of miles. If the property is to l)e transported ninety miles, coupons corresponding thereto are torn out of the book by the carrier, and so on. Under the operation of this ticket we will sup- pose the limit of baggage to be fixed at two hun- dred pounds, and the ticket is issued for baggage weighing five hundred pounds. If the amount presented does not exceed two hundred pounds 110 charge is made; if, however, the quantity ex- ceeds two hundred pounds, coupons are detached for the excess. In the use of these tickets it is mutually agreed that in the event the distance baggage is trans- (5847) 248 SCIENCE OF BAILWAYS; ported is three miles or less the charge is to be for three miles. In the event the excess baggage of a person holding a mileage ticket is greater than the amount called for by the ticket, the excess is collected in cash, and the official issuing the ticket notified of the fact, if the holder does not voluntarily advise the agent of the excess. Charges for excess thus collected are reported the same as other extra baggage. Carriage in Ceylon. Mileage tickets are not valid when presented by other than the person in whose favor they are made. If presented by any other person cash is collected, and the official in charge notified of the improper use sought to be made of the ticket. Coupons can not be detached from a ticket ex- cept by the agent of the carrier, and are not valid when presented detached from the ticket. When the coupons have all been detached, or the time for which the ticket is issued has ex- pired, the form is taken up by the agent and for- warded to headquarters BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAH. BUSINESS. 249 To prevent the use of counterfeits agents are required to see that the ticket is signed by the right official and properly stamped. Mileage tickets are usually bound in book form. They are generally good for one thousand miles. There is, however, no reason why the tickets should not be for one hundred miles or ten thou- sand miles. The first page of the mileage ticket exhibits the number of the ticket (each coupon attached bears a corresponding number), the name of the person to whom issued, the weight of baggage to be transported, etc. The carrier requires the holder to sign a con- tract specifying the limitations of the ticket and the responsibility of the company; also the con- sideration or price paid. This contract is trans- mitted for record to the accounting officer by the official selling the ticket. Its possession is neces- sary to enable him to secure a proper check. Reference has been made to the desirability of inserting an auditor's coupon in the mileage ticket book. It should recite the particulars of the ticket. It is simply an extra leaf giving the name of the holder of the ticket, how much baggage he is entitled to have carried, the num- ber of miles the ticket is issued for, the name of the official issuing, and the date of issue. When the ticket is first presented for use the coupon is detached by the agent and forwarded to the accounting officer. The possession of the in- formation will enable the accountant to detect 250 SCIENCE OF HAIL WATS; counterfeits or raised tickets. It is also neces- sary as a record. And for the same reason all tickets, permits, orders or franks issued that are good for more than one trip should have an auditor's coupon Carriage in Venice. attached. It is essential to a complete audit of accounts. In the operations of traffic connected with commercial agents peculiar conditions arise. They require special provision to be made from BAGGAGE, EXPltESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 251 time to time. Among other things the samples travelers carry vary from day to day. The sup- ply, for instance, of a particular line of goods which the agent starts out to sell will become exhausted. When this is the case he will dispose of the samples of that character or he may add from day to day new articles to his stock as he progresses on his journey. In making a contract it becomes necessary, therefore, to agree upon an average amount of excess which the mileage ticket shall cover. This excess may be fixed at one hundred pounds or five hundred pounds in addition to the quantity which he is entitled to without extra charge. Whatever the maximum may be, it will be necessary to provide 5- penalty in the event he should attempt to secure the car- riage of a greater quantity. Ordinarily it will be suflBcient that he shall be compelled to pay tariff rates in such event. It would be well, how- ever, in addition to provide for the cancellation of the ticket whenever its privileges are abused. Generally, the agent of the carrier will discover any attempt to defraud, but in ciise he is negli- gent the penalty attaching to a misuse of the ticket will have the effect to deter the owner from attempting to take unfair advantage. The coupon mileage ticket is exactly what is required in handling the parcel traffic of subur- banites and others. There is in many cases neither time nor proper provision for adjusting charges on property of this description and the result is that it is carried free. 252 SCTENCE OF JiATT.WAYf?; In adjusting the coupon mileage ticket to the parcel traffic each coupon should be good for the transportation of a package not exceeding cer- tain weight and bulk, between particular places. The value of the coupons would accommodate themselves to the character of the business. Instead of each coupon being good for one mile (as it usually is in connection with excess bag- gage) it would be good between particular Carriage iu Holland. places, as, say, between New York and Washing- ton. The coupons would be purchased by mer- chants, residents and others patronizing particu- lar lines, in quantities as required. In issuing coupons such as those described it would be well to make particular quantities the unit, any multiple or fraction thereof requiring an additional coupon. Let us suppose the unit to be ten pounds. In that case, if the weight of a package exceeded ten pounds and fell short of BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 253 twenty pounds, two coupons would be torn from the book and attached to the package, and so on, for each additional ten pounds. Coupons might also be issued for specific sums in dollars and cents for use in payment of charges, thus ob- viating the delay and annoyance of making change. The usefulness of coupon tickets in connection with the parcel traffic is capable of indefinite expansion. Where considerable time is now required in which to collect charges and make the necessary way bill for parcels it would only be necessary, if coupons were used, to de- tach one or more, as the case required, and paste the same upon the property. No excuse could then be offered for neglect to collect charges. To expedite business the reverse side of each coupon should be gummed, as postage stamps are, so that they may be readily and quickly at- tached.* The form of coupon just described may with little labor or cost be made a great convenience to the public and a source of new revenue to car- riers. However, so far as its use in connection with commercial agents, theatrical companies and kindred purposes goes, it is being superseded * The English companies have adopted the plan of using stamps such as I have described in connection with their parcel trafflc. more especially, perhaps, the trafllc forwarded by suburban trains; this class of business is carried by them at very low rates, and requires, as does the same class of business in the I'nited States, that it should be handled with the utmost expedi- tion. This expedition they And to be possible by using the adhesive coupon stamp. 254 SCIENCE OF BAIL WA YS; by a new form. This new form is called an Ex- cess Baggage Money Coupon Ticket. Like the baggage mileage ticket, it is designed to accom- modate those who make long or frequent jour- neys and carry with them more or less excess baggage. Each coupon has a fixed value, which Medieval Carriage. makes the ticket better adapted for use than the old form. The ticket is made up of a quantity of scrip or money coupons which the carrier sells at a uniform price to cover particular kinds of traffic. The coupons are receivable by agents of the car- BAGGAGE, EXPRESS A YD MAIL BUSINESS. 256 rier in payment for excess baggage charges when presented by the person whose signature appears on the ticket. A certain discount is allowed from the face value of the ticket as a convenient means of reducing the tariff on excess baggage of the kind that this ticket is designed to ac- commodate. However, it may be used without any discount. The ticket is in the form of a book, with either pages or a strip of money coupons folded con- veniently between the covers. Coupons may be of different denominations, from one cent up- ward, but generally are for five cents each. The ticket is designed primarily for local traffic, but is often used under agreement between two or more connecting lines; each company interested collecting of the other the value of the coupons it takes up. This ticket, like all others of a similar nature, should have an audi- tor's coupon attached. It is also usually accom- panied by a form of release of liability for loss, detention or damage of property while in the possession of the carrier in those cases where the ticket is sold at a reduced rate. This release the purchaser signs at the time he buys the ticket. His signature is witnessed by that of the selling agent. At time of selling the agent detaches the release and forwards it to the proper officer. ^U) CHAPTER XXVII. excess baggage and parcel traffic. — (continued.) Lack of clerical facilities and the dispatch with which business must be conducted require that appliances for way billing extra baggage and parcels should be as simple as possible. Hence, in elaborating the following system, effort has been made to reduce the clerical work of the agent to the minimum, and at the same time make the blanks as few and convenient to han- dle as possible. There has been no straining after something new and original. Utility has been the sole object aimed at. It is practically the same in principle as that in use in connection with the freight and express business. It was necessary, however, to simplify and curtail the form and style of blanks very much, beside adding several new features to meet the peculiarities of the business. But, generally speaking, it is the same as the freight system, whereby charges on property may be paid in ad- vance or left for collection at place of destina- tion at the discretion of the owner. The trouble with many methods of accounting connected with excess baggage and parcels is that they make the prepayment of charges compul- 17 258 SCIENCE OF H AIL WAYS; sory. No adequate provision is made for collect- ing at the place of destination. In consequence of this want of adaptability much of the busi- ness escapes payment altogether, for the reason that in many instances there is not time before the departure of trains for weighing and billing the goods and collecting the charges. Railroad companies rarely refuse to receive and forward baggage when presented upon the very eve of the departure of trains, and so long as this con- Carriage in Canton. tinues arrangements for handling the business must be in harmony therewith. The printed rules and regulations of carriers require that excess baggage shall be delivered at the depot in time to be weighed and accounted for before the departure of the train, otherwise it will not be received or will be forwarded by a succeeding train. This is the theory. The prac- tice is directly the opposite: theoretically an offi- cial may refuse to receive baggage unless pre- sented at a certain time; practically, however, BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 269 he dare not refuse it at all; first, because it would incense the public; and second, because rival lines would take advantage of the circum- stance to injure the business of his company. European lines may provide that baggage must be delivered at the depot fifteen minutes in ad- vance of the departure of trains, and they may be able to enforce this rule, but railroad compa- nies in the United States would not dare to in- troduce such a regulation, or would not dare to enforce it if introduced. It remains, therefore, to make the system of accounting harmonize therewith. The methods of the freight department afford a good basis for regulating the extra baggage and parcel traffic. Their simplicity and comprehen- siveness would undoubtedly have suggested them for adoption in the first place, if those in charge of extra baggage traffic had been familiar with them. This furnishes another illustration, if one were required (which it is not), of the desirability of officials possessing general knowledge of traffic affairs in order to handle particular branches thereof. One serious difference, however, exists between the freight and excess baggage traffic that must not be overlooked in comparing them or in at- tempting to regulate the system of the former so as to conform to the requirements of the latter. It is this: The business of the freight department is conducted methodically and leisurely; nothing is shipped until it is weighed 260 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; and billed. If not delivered in time it remains in the warehouse until a more convenient season. Neither the property nor the convenience of the public suffers materially by such a course. A day more or less is of little consequence if the goods are not of a perishable character. Excess baggage, on the other hand, requires to be for- vs^arded by a particular train. If it does not reach the station until the bell signals departure, effort must nevertheless be made to send it for- Carriage in Canton. ward. To permit it to lie over would be to greatly discommode a patron; more than likely lose a good customer. A system of accounting that might operate well in the case of freight business must, therefore, it is manifest, be re- arranged to meet this peculiarity of the business of passenger trains. This readaptation I have attempted. However, others will discover how it may be improved. Excess baggage and parcel traffic require that provision should be made for the following con- B AGO AGE, EXPhJsiSS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 261 tingencies: first, for prepayment of charges when desired; second, for collection of charges at point of destination; third, for collection of charges on excess baggage left at intermediate stations or carried beyond the stipulated place of des- tination; fourth, for baggage destined to stations where there are no agents; fifth, for the col- lection of charges on property received for ship- ment too late to be weighed or billed by the agent forwarding the same. If practicable, charges should be collected by the forwarding agent; but, when pressed for time or passengers request it, property should be forwarded unpaid — i. e., collectible at destination. When trafiic is destined to stations at which there are no agents, it must manifestly be pre- paid or the train baggageman must be entrusted with the collection of charges. It is desirable in the event an unsatisfactory method of account- ing for interline excess baggage trafiic exists, that charges should be prepaid. In the event, however, arrangements are satisfactory, prepay- ment should not be insisted upon any more than in the case of freight destined to points on con- necting lines. Luggage, like freight, is good for the amount of the charges, or, if not, then charges should be collected in advance or prepayment guaranteed. Excess baggage may not only be billed unpaid under such circumstances, but, if occasion renders it necessary, money may be advanced upon the same as on common merchandise. 262 SCIENCE OF It AIL WATS; When traffic destined to points on other roads is prepaid, the forwarding company should re- port to the lines interested the charges due them; when charges are unpaid, the receiving company should make the returns, in the absence of con- trary arrangements. The proportion belonging to the lines interested for excess baggage billed through over two or more roads is arranged the same as interline passenger business, namely, on such basis as may Carriage on the Amazon River. be mutually agreed upon. Returns of this busi- ness can be made supplementary to the interline ticket business, or separate returns may be ren- dered. Generally speaking, excess baggage reve- nue should be kept separate from that derived from passengers. Returns of interline excess baggage should fur- nish all information necessary to enable the com- panies interested to locate each item. For all such business trainmen of interline roads should be re- quired to send to their respective accounting offi- BAGGAGE, EXPREiiS AXD MAIL BUSIXESS. 26S cers full returns.* The information is necessary to enable the companies interested to review the traftic and see that they receive the amount due them. In the absence of instructions to the con- trary, the agent at destination should collect any undercharge that may occur on interline traffic and return the same to his company so that it may be reported to the other companies inter- ested. In providing a method of accounting for excess baggage provision must always be made for the prepayment of charges. This is necessary, as it frequently occurs in the case of traffic consigned to large cities or transfer points that passengers, if subjected to delay in delivery of their baggage, will lose a conveyance or connecting train. For these and other reasons provision is made for pre- payment. But it ought to be understood that prepayment is contingent upon the delivery of the property at the station so far in advance of the departure of the train as to afford the rail- road company time for weighing, billing and col- lecting. Except for the inconvenience likely to be occasioned passengers at the end of their route there is no reason why charges on property should not uniformly be forwarded unpaid, /. e., C. 0. D. Agents take credit in their monthly returns, under the head of " uncollected," for the amount of any way bills charged to them on which they have not been able to make collections. The agent should also be required to forward -a detailed and *S«e Forms No. 6 and 7, Appendix. 264 SCIENCE OF HAIL WATS; n> ^m- m BA0GA6E, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 265 separate statement of such uncollected charges. It should give the date of the way bill, date of its receipt, number, point from, point to, correct weight, local charges and advanced charges. This statement may properly be called a list of uncol- lected charges on excess baggage. As already explained, it will occur in the opera- tion of business that the forwarding agent will not have time to investigate in reference to sup- posed extra baggage; or he will be unable to reg- ularly way bill such trafhc. In these cases the form of way bill provided should be used.* It will reduce losses to the minimum. Its purpose is to prevent the shipment from being overlooked, and thus escape just charge. In the operations of business instances will arise where excess baggage will be forwarded without the agents suspecting that it is such. The agent at the place of destination will not be likely to discover the neglect. If, however, he is observing he may detect the omission. In such event he should make the collection and be gov- erned by the instructions provided for such cases. As indicated elsewhere, the baggage check, or the information contained in the train baggageman's manifest, should enable him to locate the point of shipment. In the rules and regulations given elsewhere provision is made for those cases where the agent is unable to transmit to the accounting officer cash or its equivalent for excess baggage. He •€. O. D.Way Bill ; Form No. 5, Appendix. 266 SCIENCE OF HAILWAYS; will be unable to do this when passengers hold season baggage franks or permits, or franks or permits good for a stipulated period, or when the frank or permit is written on the back of a passage ticket, or when the agent is authorized, in his discretion, to frank traffic. The informa- tion furnished by the agent in such cases the ac- counting officer will be able to verify by records of his office, which should be complete in every particular. In order to facilitate this examination returns should be made daily to the accounting officer of all franks or permits issued; also all excess bag- gage, mileage or money coupons, season or com- mutation tickets disposed of. This information he will need constantly. It is a general rule that baggage shall not be checked except upon the presentation of a pas- sage ticket. It should also be the rule that when baggage is checked the passage ticket shall be punched with a special device provided for the purpose. If this is done, tickets can not be used twice to secure shipment of baggage. The size and shape of the punch, used for this purpose {i. e., baggage cancellation) is a matter of some importance; if it is a representation of the letter B or combination of BC or OB, the large section of the ticket punched out is a seri- ous objection, since experience proves that this punch can be used to obliterate the conduct- or's cancellation (on a ticket upon which baggage has not been checked) and thus the ticket is made BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 267 good for passage again. A better style of punch would be one which would merely punch out thin outlines of its form and not a large section of the ticket; a better method still for indicating that baggage has been checked would be to stamp the fact on the face of the ticket. For this purpose a small, self inking rubber stamp may be used which may be carried in the vest pocket of the Carriage in Jamaica. baggageman. It should read " baggage checked," and in addition may show the initials of the rail- road and the station number. The way bills adapted for excess baggage traf- fic and accounts are few in number. They will be found by reference to them applicable to all the phases of local and interline business. It is desirable to reduce the number of forms as much 268 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; as possible, but the number is not material, if they are concise and explicit and arranged for convenient use. Many different forms of way bills have been devised from time to time for excess baggage. The evolution still continues. The variety in use is so numerous that a detailed description of them can not be attempted. So far as this di- versity is characteristic only of local traffic, it does not matter. But the methods adopted for interline business (all carriers having a com- mon interest) should be uniform. This wdll be brought about in time. To those who watch the development of forms and methods for regulating the traffic and ac- counts of common carriers, there is great encour- agement in the activity of the associations of railw^ay officers and others. The action taken by them may not prove infallible always when put to the test, but their activity can not fail to ad- vance the several lines of work in which they are engaged. No department of the service, it may be said, requires critical attention of this kind more urgently than that connected with the excess baggage business. Methods must be such as to secure accuracy and concurrent knowledge on the part of two or more people. No return is complete that can not be verified with concur- rent evidence of this nature. The interline excess baggage traffic in the United States was for many years purposely con- BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 269 fused. The forwarding line collected the charge and retained the whole amount. This would have been well enough if the collections of the various companies had been alike, but in some cases they were very great and in others very small. The evil, however, is being remedied, but it will take many years to perfect methods of accounting that will compel each company to report to other companies interested all it col- lects, and at the same time enable the compa- nies interested to enforce the checks that are necessary to determine from returns whether amounts are fully accounted for or not. This is true of every country. Generally speaking, it may be said that extra baggage way bills should state the excess, and in the event it should not prove to be accurate, the receiving agent should correct the mistake and collect the amount. * This is the method of hand- ling freight, and appears equally appropriate in the case of baggage. In the case of interline baggage, however, railroad companies in many cases in America do not enter the amount of the excess on the way bill. But, returns of this busi- ness, as in other cases, should be explicit, open and full, so that all parties interested may under- stand the transaction and, in the event of error, be able to detect it. In those cases where the weight is left off the way lull it is the rule to require the receiving agent to weigh the baggage and make a report thereof, and, in the event the forwarding agent has not collected enough, to 270 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; compel him to make good the deficiency. The practice works hardship, because in the event of undercharge it is impossible for the forwarding agent to collect it, whereas if it were collectible at the point of deliv ery the agent at such place would have no diflBculty in rectifying the error and making the necessary collection. Carriage in New Guinea. The reasons given for the adoption of this pe- culiar practice are *t forth by the Association of General Baggage Agents under date of Janu- . ary, 1890: . "Whekeas, Our experience since the adoption of the foreign 'excess baggao^e cheek and receipt demonstrates the fact that, when the niimber of passengers and the exess weight are given on the duplicate [passenger s receipt] and strap checks, the cer- tified weight of baggage by the receiving agent is unreliable, for the reason that agents and baggagemasters, in preference to BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 271 weighing baggage at destination, will compute the weight by □mltiplying the number of passengers by one hundred and fifty pounds (the free allowance for each passenger), and adding to that amount the excess weight given on the strap and duplicate checks, thus obtaining the total weight of the baggage, which virtually destroys one of the most important features of the check, i. €., the checking of forwarding by receiving agents as to the actual weight of baggage ; therefore, "'Resolved, That the excess weight of baggage shall not be given on the foreign excess baggage strap and duplicate checks; that forwarding agents are strictly forbidden to inform receiving agents in any manner whatever as to the weight of the baggage; and that members of this association are respectfully requested to omit the excess weight of baggage on all foreign excess bag- gage strap and duplicate checks hereafter prepared.'' Another objection to the foregoing plan is that intermediate lines have no means of determining from any data that passes through their hands as to the quantity of excess baggage they carry. They are at the mercy of others. Moreover, neglect to attach the weight to the property seems to facilitate collusion between baggage- men and travelers wherever the former can be influenced in this way. It is the virtue of free and open accounting that it minimizes practices of this kind, bec^-use supervision, even if carried on irregularly, will sooner or later detect irregu- larities. The form of way bill used in billing excess baggage is a card attached to the property in manner the same as the metal check. It is printed on heavy cardboard paper, and for this reason is more frequently called a card than a way bill.* * In the event loss is to be apprehended from way bills becom- ing torn or detached while en route, they may be printed on linen paper. 272 SCIENCE OF E AH. WATS; To fully equip a station for billing local and in- terline traffic, four different forms of bills are re- quired. These forms may be designated, local prepaid; local unpaid; interline prepaid; interline unpaid.* Each form should be made with three detachable portions, i. e., should be in triplicate. One part should contain necessary information for handling and accounting, and should be at- tached to the strap of the check proper and so fastened to the baggage; another part (the audi- tor's coupon) should furnish similar information, and should be detached by the forwarding agent and sent to the accounting officer. The other part (the passenger's receipt) should also give the particulars, and should be detached and handed to the passenger.-}- In way billing excess baggage unpaid to local stations in those cases where the ordinary dupli- cate metal check is used, the passenger's receipt may be dispensed with. But when the style of check used is what is known as the "shell," the passenger's receipt may be made to serve the double purpose of a claim check and receipt.:]: * See Forms Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 7, Appendix. t There is no good reason why these three portions of excess baggage way bills may not be made in triplicate, and issued at one writing by the use of carbon sheets. The portion to be attached to the trunk is the only one which requires to be made of heavy cardboard, and that could be placed at the bottom with the other two, made of ordinary thin paper, on top. They might be prepared and furnished to agents in books of one hundred or more thus arranged throughout. A form of this kind has been copyrighted. X A "shell" strap check is composed of a leather strap having a loop at one end and a rectangular piece of metal at the other, the BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSII^SS. 278 Local prepaid and unpaid forms are designed of course for local points; when charges are col- lected by the forwarding agent the prepaid form is issued; when collected on delivery by the agent at destination, the unpaid form is used. The same rules hold good with interline bills.* rarrlatre on Canton River. As a prudential measure, it will be found ad- vantageous to have prepaid and unpaid forms printed on different colored paper. It will lessen edges of the two longer sides of the latter being bent over so as to make the metal a shallow groove in which a card can be securely placed. * To insure collection of charges and proper accounting by agent at destination, the ticket auditor of the forwarding line should advise the ticket auditor of the destination lino of the transaction. A form for this purpose will be found in Appendix, Form No. 14. 18 274 SCIENCE OF BAIL WAYS; the danger of issuing the wrong form of way bill and will assist the receiving agents.* The different forms referred to herein will be found in the appendix. Reference to them will make clear what otherwise maybe difficult to un- derstand. It will be observed that the forms pos- sess many features in common. For example, each form is numbered in triplicate; each portion exhibits the date baggage was forwarded; point of departure, destination, numbers of brass checks attached to the pieces covered by the way bill, number of passage tickets held by the owner of the baggage, and, finally, the number of pounds of excess weight; in addition to these particulars, which should appear on every way bill, local forms should specify whether charges are col- lected in cash or coupons. The local unpaid form should also contain a space for inserting the num- ber of any excess baggage card attached to the bag- gage at the time of rechecking. This local un- paid bill has a place for both excess and total weight printed upon it (the one above the other); this is intended to provide for cases where charges are to be collected on the total weight; in every case the maker of the form indicates by running his pen through the proper word whether charges shall be collected on the excess or total weight. The local unpaid form of way bill is also provided * By recent action of the National Association of General Bag- gage Agents in the T'nited States, uniform colors were adopted for the interline prepaid and unpaid (C. O. D.) excess baggage cards or way bills, respectively. Red was selected as the color for the prepaid and bhie for the unpaid (CO. D.) cards. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 276 with a place for the signature of the baggageman. This is necessary to locate responsibility when the form is issued by train baggagemen, and per- mits the same form to be used by agents and train baggagemen. Agents, however, are not required to sign their names to excess baggage way bills they issue, as their identity is evinced by the name of the station from which the baggage is forwarded, which appears on each portion of the form. Interline prepaid and unpaid forms exhibit the route of the baggage precisely as it is shown on the coupon passage ticket presented by the pas- senger for baggage cancellation. The practices of European companies in connec- tion with the way billing of baggage are gener- ally more elaborate than in the United States. They also differ somewhat in detail. Thus, they provide for inserting the gross weight of the bag- gage in the way bill instead of the excess only. Other differences might be pointed out if neces- sary. For the information of the curious, a copy of the Austrian excess baggage bill is embraced in the appendix.* It covers a great deal of ground and indicates a complaisant public. For the car- rier to ask his patrons to reach the station in time to have two such bills made (one for the railroad company and one for the traveler) is asking a good deal. It is a device of the Austrian gove rnment and is enforced under its supervision. * See Form No. 10. 276 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS. Let those who advocate government management study and ponder this particular form. It is a sample of the bulk of those used under similar conditions. Carriage in Jeddo. CHAPTER XXyill. EXCESS BAOOAOE, PARCELS, STORAGE, ETC. Having referred to the forms used in connection with excess baggage, it is necessary, in order to understand the subject properly, that the rules and regulations should be given in detail. They are as follows: FORWARDING EXCESS BAGGAGE. All passen^rs who, under the rules, are entitled to have bag^ gage checked without additional charge, should present their tick- eta at the baggage room. I'pon presentation of such tickets the baggageman will check the stipulated amount of personal bag- gage l)elonging to the owner of the ticket without extra charge. Rates for extra baggage should be charged for all in excess of the stipulated amount^ ( 'barges should, as far as possible, be collected at the forward- ing station. ^f^gg^g^ should be weighed in order to determine whether there is any excess or not To this end, agents will notify transfer companies, drivers of vehicles and hotel employes at their respective stations, that bag- gage should l)e delivered at the station in time to l)e weighed, checked and charges, if any, collectetl. Also, that no excess bag- gage rei'eived by trains will l)€ delivered until it has l>een re- weighed and all charges due thereon ascertained and collected. Whenever ordered so to do, agents will accept in paynient for excess baggage such coui)ons, i)ermits. franks or orders as may be specilically directed by the proi>er authorities, ( !oui)ons or other tokens accepted in payment of excess baggage should be carefully i)reserved mid transmitted with their returns for excess baggage. Any errors or omissions will l)e charged to the agent the same as deflcieucies in cash remittances. (277) 278 SCIENCE OF RAIL WA Y8; Should an excess baggage money or mileage ticket be pre- sented with an insufficient number of coupons the agent will ac- cept it in partial payment and collect the balance in cash. Detached coupons, i. e., coupons detached from the ticket, are void, and can not be accepted. The covers of excess baggage tickets should be taken up by agents when the last coupons are surrendered. All coupons thus collected should be preserved till the close of the month and enclosed in a sealed envelope with the monthly excess baggage return. If a trip frank or permit is presented, the agent should take up the same and remit to headquarters, entering its number and date on the way bill; also the name of the party by whom given ; if a season frank or permit is presented a similar description should be given. An excess baggage waj"^ bill of the proper form should be at- tached to all excess baggage forwarded. Each portion of the excess baggage way bill should show the date, the stations from and to which the baggage is billed, the numbers of the metal checks attached to the baggage, the num- ber of passage tickets held by the owners of the baggage, the excess weight, rate per hundred pounds, and amount collected. or to be collected if forwarded unpaid. The agent's record of the prepaid forms should also specify the gross weight and the ex- cess weight. When interline forms are used the route should also be en- tered in the place provided, especially on the strap check and agent's record. This should specify in abbreviated form the dif- ferent roads over which the passenger and his baggage are to be carried, as they are shown on the coupon passage ticket. All entries should be made with pen and ink, or copying pen- cil. No alterations or erasures should be made. Should an agent spoil a way bill in issuing it, he should take a new one and retain the spoiled one until the close of tlie month and account for it on his monthly return as void, and enclose it therewith. Excess baggage way bills bear a printed number and are sup- plied to agents in numerical order. They should be issued in the same order, commencing with the lowest number. Excess baggage way bill supplies are obtainable on requisition on the proper supply agent. Baggagemen should keep on hand an ample supply of excess baggage way bills. SAGO AGE, EXPJlESf^ AXD MAIL BUSINESS. 27^ Prepaid forms pIiouUI l;e used when charts are collecte-.l by the forwarding ajjent ; unpaid (C. O. D.) forms when charges are to be colletted on delivery at destination. Local forms sliould be used for excess baggage going to sta- tions on the same line as the forwarding station. Carriage on the Coast of Syria. Interline forms should be used in forwarding excess baggage to points on other lines. Interline forms are not required at stations where coupon passage tickets are not sold. Beside their use for the purpose of way billing excess charges, the unpaid (C. O. D.) forms afford a convenient medium for regulating the collection of suntlry other charges which 280 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; accrue in connection with the baggage traflSe of railways. These charges are for transfer, storage, steamship charges, advanced charges, charges for rope used in securing packages, and so on. These items should be duly specified on the various portions of the way bill to insure collection, and for other pur- poses. In using the interline unpaid forms, if there should be appre- hension that the strap check of the way bill may become de- tached from the baggage before it reaches its destination, the agent will notify the general baggage agent.* In the use of the local and interline forms, the strap check pjortion should be strung on the strap of the metal check at- tached to the baggage, and the number of the latter plainly entered on the former in the place provided. If in checking interline baggage, the metal special check holder or "shell" is used instead of the old style reversible check, the strap check of the excess baggage way bill should be inserted therein. Should there be more than one piece of baggage belonging to the same person, only one way bill will be required. It may be strung on the strap of the metal check attached to one of the trunks, but the agent should be careful to enter thereon the cor- rect numbers of all the checks attached to the entire lot of bag- gage, including the check to which the way bill is attached. The number of passage tickets presented by persons deliver- ing excess baggage to be checked should be entered in the space provided therefor on all portions of the various forms. For- warding agents will save recei\'ing agents much trouble with owners of baggage by requesting passengers to show all the tickets they have. In order that they may make this entry cor- rect beyond all question. Forwarding agents will recognize but one ticket in the check- ing and way billing of any one lot of sample baggage belonging *In form, say, as follows: Station 189. . G. B. A B. B Checks, Nos to on No today with C. O. D. charges for dollars and cents. C.O.D. Check No Agent. The general baggage agent should thereon notify the agent at destination, thereby insuring the collection. This precaution will seldom be necessary in the way billing of local excess bag- gage. B AGO AGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 281 to commercial travelers, and will make no greater free allowance in weight than is accorded to the general traveling public, unless otherwise authorized by the proper officer. Baggage agents are required to endeavor to ascertain the real owners of sample cases presented to be checked. They should refuse to check sample cases which, by marks and other indica- tions, manifestly belong to persons other than the ones present- ing the tickets. Should an agent have reason to 8U8i>ect that the owner of two or more sample cases has induced other passengers carrying no baggage of their own to present their tickets, or to let him present them, and request that such baggage be checked thereon, he will, in the event of a dispute regarding property rights, request the owners of the tickets to produce tlie keys to the respective cases. If they refuse to do so, the agent will be justified in presuming them to be guilty of misrepresentations, and will therefore refuse to check the baggage on the tickets presented. Baggage consisting of two or more pieces belonging to one person should never be checked to more than one destination. Station baggagemen should use dispatch in collecting charges and in checking, weighing and way billing baggage. If baggage \k not presented for transportation in time to admit of these mat- ters being done in proi)er manner before the leaving time, bag- gagemen will endeavor to hold such baggage for the next train. But, in the enforcement of this rule caution should be exercised, the agent endeavoring to discern to what extent the rule may be maintained without detriment to the interests of the company. In emergencies of this kind, if passengers insist on having their baggage forwarded at once, agents are required to make every possible effort to accommodate them. There are certain classes of travelers who intentionally come to the station late. Notwithstanding this, if the agent has time to check their bag- gage and put on a blank, unpaid, way bill, he should do so. In such cases he should instruct the train baggageman to fill out the bill after leaving the station, and to inform the receiving agent of the circumstances. As a further prei'aution, the receiv- ing agent should l>e apprised by telegraph, giving him necessary information and advising him of the number of passengers accom- panying the baggage. Should the agent not have time to pat on an unpaid way bill, he will refjuest the train baggageman to do so. This rule shoidd also be followed in those cases when the agent receives a heavy 262 SCIENCE OF BAIL WA YS; piece of baggage just as the train is leaving without the possibil- ity of satisfying himself as to its weight. Agents will under no circumstances load property subject to excess baggage charges without first checking it. Baggage arriv- ing at stations too late to be checked should be held over until the next train. In case of dispute with passengers arising from the enforcement of this rule, agents will make a memorandum of the time the baggage in dispute was delivered to them. Train baggagemen will carry out the directions of station baggagemen as foreshadowed in the foregoing rules. The destination of baggage may be changed by station or train baggagemen at the request of owners, provided the owner Carriage in Japan. holds a ticket to the destination desired. But no lot of baggage consisting of two or more pieces, covered by one way bill, should be divided. All pieces thus checked should be forwarded to and left at the same station. If charges are to be collected on the total or gross weight of the baggage, the fact should be clearly indicated on the strap check of tlie way bill. This is especially lequired when the local unpaid (C. O. D.) form is issued by train baggagemen. If baggage bearing an excess baggage way bill is to be re- checked to some other local station, the strap check of the form issued should be strung on with the strap check of the way bill attaclied, and the number of the latter should be inserted on the BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL JiirSlNESS. 283 former. This rule is for the government of train baer charges collected, and the fact immediately reported to the accounting officer. Excess baggage stopped in transit for delivery to the owner at an intermediate station will be treated by the receiving agent in the manner provided for disposing of overcharges. Upon receipt of baggage bearing an unpaid (C. O. D.) way bill, the agent should investigate the facts and, if the baggage is found to lie chargeable, compute the charges and collect them, making the entries on the waybill to correspond with the cin'um- stances. If. however, the baggage be found not to exceed the weight entitled to be passed free, the agent should make an en- dorsement to that effect on the way bill and record, and report it accordingly. Receiving agents should detach all excess baggage way bills upon collection of the charges and delivery of the baggage and send them to headquarters with their monthly excess baggage returns. Receiving agents should be on the alert to discover any bag- •gage weighing more than the free allowance with no excess bag- gage way bill attached. In the event such baggage is received, charges should be collected from the point of shipment and the fact immediately reported to the proper officer, giving the num- bers of the checks attached to the baggage. Baggage received by freight trains should be reweighed by the receiving agent and checked against the waj* bill. If an un- dercharge be discovered, enough cash should be collectetl to make good the shortage and correction made on the way bill. Before delivering baggage received by freight trains, receiv- ing agents should require the claimant to surrender his receipt and otherwise fully identify himself as the owner of the baggage. Any loss resulting from the delivery of baggage to others than the rightful owners will be charged to the person responsible therefor. Lost Checks, Etc. — In the event a passenger loses his duplicate metal check, the agent will make such charge therefor as instructed bj' the proper authority. He will in such cases take a local prepaid excess baggage way bill and write upon the face of the strap check and ticket auditor's record thereof : " cents collected for lost check Xo " He will enclose the way bill and metal strap checks, together with the receipt given BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 287 by the person to whom the baggage was delivered in an envelope to the proper officer by first train. The ticket auditor's record, also bearing the same notation, should be sent to headquarters with the monthly excess baggage return duly incorporated thereon. Station agents and train baggagemen should keep a record of excess baggage way bills received from headquarters for use in conducting their respective branches of excess traffic. A proper way bill should be used for every transaction in- volving the carriage of excess baggage. No deviation from this rule can be allowed. Every numbered way bill supplied by the disbursing officer should be accounted for. Station and train baggagemen's records should exhibit the numbers of each form used and accounted for from month to month, and the highest numbers of each form remaining on hand. Entries of the particulars of each way bill used should be promptly made on the proper station and other record books both by forwarding and receiving agents. Records and returns should be so written as to show the charges collected in cash separately from those settled for by the surrender of excess baggage money or mileage coupons, trip passes, franks or permits, or season franks or permits carried by passengers. Each transaction should be entered and described on the records. Collecting Baggage Storage Charges. — Where it is not the general custom to collect storage on baggage, such charges should not be exacted without special instructions from the proper authority. When storage charges are collected a storage ticket should be attached to the baggage when put in store. This ticket should be previously stamped in the place provided with the station stamp, showing the date; it should be again stamped and dated when property is released from store. Storage tickets are numbered consecutively, and should be used in numerical order. When baggage is taken out of storage and delivered to the owner, the agent will detach the storage ticket and send it to headquarters with his monthly return of excess baggage. (2S8) CHAPTER XXIX. excess baggage, parcels, storage, etc. — (continued.) In auditing the freight accounts of a road the receipts of stations correspond exactly with the amounts reported as forwarded by the various stations, and the fact that they so agree is cor- roborative evidence of the correctness of the ac- counting. This check is hardly possible with the excess baggage traffic. It is only occasionally that it is necessary to correct the original exten- sions as entered on a freight way bill. With the excess baggage traffic it is different. The bag- gageman does not have the time that the freight agent does to accurately weigh the freight and bill it correctly; on the contrary, he is compelled, as I have shown, frequently to forward excess baggage without billing it at all, trusting the train baggageman to attend to the matter for him. In the haste and confusion inseparably connected with much that the forwarding agent does, mistakes are unavoidable. These inaccuracies the receiving agent cor- rects, substituting the actual figures; and as the number of alterations are great, it is desirable to avoid the labor and expense of requiring agent-s to make correction notices therefor. (289) 19 290 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; The accompanying rules and regulations con- template the closing of the accounts of agents on the last day of each month, the rendering of returns at that time, and the making of a careful examination and audit of the accounts as soon thereafter as possible. Upon receipt of the return by the accounting officer, it should be the duty of that official to compare the same with the way bills as returned by agents and others, any errors or omissions being carefully corrected and the agent forthwith notified of the same. The methods of accounting to be pursued by agents are as follows: And first we may notice THE MONTHLY RETURN OF EXCESS BAGGAGE.* Every station agent, and every agent having excess baggage coupon tickets for sale, is required to make a monthly return of excess baggage collections. This return is a detailed and classi- fied statement of all excess baggage forwarded, and a monthly report of all forms used in connection therewith. It is, more- over, the medium provided for rendering an account to the com- pany of miscellaneous charges collected in conducting the business of the baggage department, and embraces a statement of charges collected for storage, lost checks, etc. If no excess baggage has been forwarded and no collections made during the month the headings of a blank return should be filled up and transmitted. This return should embrace a correct statement of every way bill forwarded, including baggage billed free as described else- where. It should be sent to the accounting oflScer not later than the fifth day after the close of the mouth. The form used for this purpose requires to be carefully studied. Reference to it will make perfectly clear what would otherwise be (litficult to explain. Indeed, without the form to refer to. the rules and regulations governing would hardly be intelligible. * See Form No. 9, Appendix, BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 291 The revenue to be reporteil on excess ba^^^aj^ returns is niainl}' derived from four sourees, namely: Local charges, interline charjjep. baijjjaife ticlvet sales, and storage charges. All transacti»)n8 arising under each head should be exhibited 8ei>- arately, with the reortant that those connected with the baggage department should exercise care in handling and watching over baggage. The interests of the company and the interests of the passenger are identical in this. Employes in anj' way connectetl with the department are ex- pected to exerci««e their ingenuity in securing for the company every species of revenue that justly belongs to It. (»») 800 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; Employes should not collect or accept any fee or perquisite for acts performed, or for concessions granted, except by permis- sion of their employers.* When no charge is exacted by a com- pany, none should be made by its employes.! When upon duty employes should wear the uniform prescribed by the company. For the information of the officer in charge, and to enable him to trace baggage, and for other reasons, he should require an accurate return of the number of each check attached to trunks or parcels carried. When unchecked packages are transported, a brief description of the same, including the address, should be entered on the Carriage in Canton. *"'The servants of the company are strictly prohibited from receiving gratuities, and passengers are urgently requested to abstain from giving them money; any servant of the company detected acceptinga gratuity will be liable to fine or dismissal." — Begulations London & North- Western Railway, Englatid "No gra- tuity under any circumstances is permitted to be taken by any servant of this company.'' — Regulations Midland Railway, England. Upon some lines, on the other hand, charges on property, such as guns, dogs, baby wagons, etc., are looked upon as a perquisite of the train baggageman. "The fees for carrying dogs, monkeys, parrots, guns, baby wagons, and saddles are for the personal com- pensation of the train baggageman for the extra work and re- sponsibility they cause him." — Regulations Central Pacific Rail- road. t This rule is more honored in the breach than in the observ- ance. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 801 various records and statements. Envelopes containinjj ordinary- statements. rei)ort8. letters, etc., are excepted from this rule. A record should, however, be made of valuable letters or packages said to contain vjUuable inclosures. The record of valuable letters and packages and all luichecked parcels should be so clear and explicit that they may subsequently be traced from point of deliv- ery to place of destination. Agents and train baggagemen are held responsible for the value of packages for which they receipt, not delivered by them in like good order. It thus becomes of the greatest importance that they should carefully compare the articles with the receipt before signing the same, otherwise they may become responsible for property never in their possession. No person except authorized officials should be allowed to have access to baggage or baggage checks. Passengers should not be permitted to open a trunk or pack- age without first delivering the check and formally receiving the property. Rough handling of baggage, improper language to passengers, boisterous conduct, profanity of incivility of any nature, to or in the presence of passengers, on tbe part of the agents or baggage- men, should occasion the infliction of a severe penalty by the company,* Employes of the baggage department should be so manifestly careful and painstaking in the performance of their duties as to relieve the public of all just cause of complaint.t In accepting or receipting for baggage the condition of the same should be particularly examined. Agents and baggagemen should tie up, or otherwise carefully secure, any baggage they may receive in bad order and any bag- gage that may be injured while in their care. Articles found in the cars or upon the track, and remaining uncalled for twenty-four hours, and articles found at stations and remaining uncalled for one week, should be forwarded to the * " In all their deportment toward passengers they will be gen- tlemanly and accommodating; and when passengers expect or claim what it may not l>e proper to grant they can decline with such ex- planation or reasons as will he likely to prove satisfactory, and not the cause of offense." — Regulations Illinois Road, 1853. t In reference to the handling of baggage in Italy a gentleman writes as follows: "Baggage is sometimes injured by care- less handling, but I do not think it is worse treated in Italy than elsewhere. There are occasional complaints of pillage of trunks 802 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; officer designated to receive them ;* a statement should accompany the articles. The statement should recite the date when tlie article was found, also the number of train or name of place, name of person by whom found, also a description of the article and the name of the person transmitting the same. STATEMENTS AND RETURNS REQUIRED OF AGENTS OR STATION BAGGAGEMEN. Agents should keep a record of baggage forwarded from or received at their stations. This record should give the number of the train, date, number of check, and name of train baggageman. For baggage forwarded it should give place of destination, and for baggage received it should give name of place where checked. They should deliver, with baggage loaded into cars, a descrip- tion of the same, taking the receipt of the train baggageman upon the record corresponding to such description. This state- ment should recite the date, name of the station where loaded, the number of the checks and place of destination, a description being given when no check is attached. They sliould sign and transmit to the proper officer the "state- ment of baggage delivered" which they receive with baggage and parcels from train baggagemen. All claims for loss or damage, or complaints relative to baggage, should be forwarded to the officer designated to re- ceive them. Agents should promptly advise the officer in charge of care- lessness or neglect of duty upon the part of train baggagemen ; they should also advise him of other matters of importance con- cerning the baggage department that the interests of the com- pany render it desirable he should know. AH communications concerning checks, missing baggage, etc., should be addressed to the officer in charge of the baggage de- partment. by conductors and baggagemasters, but in the many thousands of miles I have traveled in Italy 1 have never lost anything by theft except trunk straps, which, unless nailed to the trunk, are taken off not unfrequently." * A record should be kept in the general office of articles trans- mitted to such office. "All articles found in trains and not claimed within twenty-four hours will be sent to the general office of the company, and in such cases due notice must be given." — Roman Bailway, 1872. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 808 The following statements, reports and returns required by such officer are explained more fully further on: 1. Applications for lost baggage. 2. Receipts for mismatched checks. 3. Receipts for baggage delivered, for which checks are lost, 4. Returns of unclaimed baggage and parcels. Carriage In the Greciu: ;'elago. 6. Baggage to be returned with estray cards attached, when it has remained unclaimeer of tlie missing check. The receipt with the strap check should be inclo.sed to the officer in charge, to l)e filed and preserved. Tlie money should be forwarded as in other cases.* When no check is attitched to baggage, or the check is mis- matched, the property should not be delivered until the agent is sjitisfied that tlie party claiming it is entitled to recjeive it. A receipt siiould Ije taken from the part}' to whom the baggage is delivered. UNCLAIMED BAGGAGE. Agents who receive an order to forward unclaimed baggage should send a copy of the order to the officer in charge unless it is signed by him. In reporting unclaimed baggage agents should descrilje any distinguishing marks it maj' have. •The identification of baggage in those cases where tlie owner can not prove his rights by the production of the custo- mary check or receipt recjuires that the baggageman should make the most searching inquiries. The interests of both the company an«l the owner are conservee surrendered at a |)rior station upon the return of tlie receipt.** — Regulations Austrian lioads, 1877. 810 SCIENCE OF BAIL WA TS; Agents should make a report on Saturday of each week of un- claimed baggage and parcels at their stations, giving numbers of checks, and, when not checked, a description of property, and send it to the officer in charge by first passenger train.* When baggage remains unclaimed fifteen days it should be sent as the ofticial in charge directs, with an unclaimed card attached stating the date when baggage was left at station and where it came from. At the same time the officer in charge should be advised by letter.f EXCESS BAGGAGE. See directions in reference to this business elsewhere. When passengers have baggage weighing more than the free Fulton's First Steamboat. allowance each piece should be checked. The excess way bill should be strung on the metal strap check or shell. *"A11 lost or unclaimed baggage left at any station must be immediately entered in a l)ook for the purpose, and reported to the superintendent." — 7(9.7.7. t '' Station masters are jiarticularly requested to have a period- ical examination of the cloak or left luggage room, cases having occurred in which lost luggage has been found there." — Hegnld- tions Clearing House, England. " \Vhen owners, after notice, will not remove baggage in store, and likely to be damaged, such baggage will be sold without further notice, as i)rovided in special conditions. The same dispo.'.ition will be made of baggage if not taken away within fourteen days, unless otherwise agreed."- Boman Baihcay. BAOOAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 811 When passengers have more than one piece of excess baggage the way bill should give the numbers of the metal checks attached to all the pieces, and should Ijc attached to a particular piece. Agents should be careful to prevent way bills from being taken from baggage by interested i)er8ons. Baggage or parcels to which way bills are attached should not be given up until the owner has paid the charges. An unpaid bill should be made and kept on flle by the agent for all unpaid charges. MISCELLANEOUS INSTRUCTIONS TO AGENTS. Agents should collect storage at; tariff rates when baggage is not taken away within the time specified in said tariff. They should also collect for parcels, bundles, etc., left tempora- rily in their charge. Baggage proper consists of the wearing apparel or personal effects of a passenger, not exceeding the quantity or number of pounds stipulated.* When weighing over such amounts tariff rates should be charged, except in cases otherwise specially pro- vided. Children traveling upon.half fare tickets should be allowed only half the (luantity of baggage allotted to passengers of like class. Jewelry and other valuable goods, unless they pertain to the wearing apparel of the passenger, should not be received as bag- gage. Such articles come imder the head of express or parcel business. If forwarded as baggage a release should be exacted.! Perishable property should l)e prepaid and should not be re- ceived except at the owner's risk, a formal release being exacted in each case by the agent the same as for perishable freight. * In the event a company receives articles such as baby wag- ons, bird cages, dogs and saddles as baggage, especial notation to that effect shouhl accompany the rules and rcgulalioiis. fForm of relea.se for excess baggage traHlc: Station. 18.. For and in consideration of the transportation of by passenger trains from to in the same manner as ordinary baggage. 1 hereby release the company from all responsibility for loss or damage to the same or contents while in said com- pany's charge iMJtweeu the points named. , AgerU or Owner. Check Noa I I I Charges^ f 812 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; A release should also be signed for light or fragile articles, such as children's wagons, cradles, cribs, masical instruments; also for dogs and other animals. The tariflf rate for transjwrting a corpse is the price of one first class passage ticket; the ticket or tickets should be delivered with the corpse to the train baggageman. The purchase of a ticket covering the transportation of a corpse does not cover rights to the transportation of baggage. The casket containing a corpse should be enclosed in a box and should be accompanied by the certificate of a physician, or oflicer of the board of health, as prescribed by law. In some cases the particular manner in which a corpse shall be prepared for transportation is s|)ecified, violation thereof being a jienal oft'ense. Enactments of this kind should be observed by em- ployes and others. "When it is desired to forward a corpse a notice of at least six to twelve hours must be given. The coflin must be hermet- ically sealed, and must be enclosed in a box; it must be in charge of and must be accompanied by a competent person. The papers required bj- law must be made and forwarded, and the railroad companies' charges must be paid in advance. If a corpse should be delivered, under a false statement, to be for- warded as ordinary freight, the diff"erence in the charges must be paid, and a fine of four times the amount of such charges may be exacted. A corpse must be removed from the depot within six hours after the arrival of the train."* Agents receiving baggage in bad order from connecting roads, or from passengers, should note particulars in ink, or with indelible pencil, on the receipt. The use of the words '*bad order" is not sufficient; details should be given. On the arrival of a passenger train at a station, the agent is expected to give attention to the baggage car before attending to other duties. Agents should be careful not to deliver baggage that is checked without receiving a check in retum.t ♦Regulations Austrian Roads. 1877. t Mode of identification or delivery of baggage is thus de- scribed: ~And the porters at King's Cross are, on the arrival of the trains, to take care that the luggage thus labeled is placed in the proper bins, or divisions of tlie barrier on the platform, and delivered only to the proper owners. Xo luggage at King's Cross, or any other station, may be delivered to any one unless BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 813 Ba«!;jrage gliould be well guarded or kept in a secure place. Atteiulants are held responsible for the safety of bae enablee prepared to go on duty in case of accident or sickness of the baggageman of the preceding train." — Old Regulation. 320 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS. They should respect the authority of the conductor and obey his instructions in all things not inconsistent with established rules. They should not leave their trains to change oft" with other baggagemen without permission from the officer in charge. They should not sleep while on duty. At the end of their run they should remain with the car until the baggage is delivered, or the baggageman who is to relieve them takes charge. When they leave the car unoccupied, they should see that the doors are locked. All articles carried should appear on the return of the bag- gageman. Baggagemen are held responsible for loss or damage to bag- gage from carelessness on their part. They are not allowed to lend the checks assigned for their use to agents or other baggagemen. They are required to embody in their returns a statement of all special or unusual facts that come to their knowledge relating to baggage. Thej' should promptly report to the officer in charge any neg- lect of duty on the part of agents or station baggagemen ; also any irregularities that may come to their notice. They should not copy their statements and reports from those made by others ; they should write up their accounts from the baggage. ( 'are should be exercised to prevent accident from fire. Ex- plosive oils should not be used, and the door of the stove should be kept fastened when the train is in motion. Train baggagemen are expected to perform the duties of brake- men when the exigencies of the service require.* No unauthorized person should be allowed to ride in the bag- gage car.f * " They will consider themselves to be, and act as, brakemen when the train is in motion." — 1853. t " Passengers must not be allowed to travel in the guard's biakevan." — English Standard. CHAPTER XXXI. EXPRESS TRAFFIC. [Note. — This and the other chapters herein devoted to the express business are intended more as a resume of tlie particulars of traffic rather than an exhaustive treatise on the subject.] The parcel traflBc is the least bulky, and rela- tively the most profitable to handle that a rail- way company has. It is made up of petty items that, while individually of little importance, are yet in the aggregate of great value and of a char- acter that can pay higher rates than ordinary freight. The parcel traffic embraces the transportation and partial insurance of property (save baggage) carried on passenger trains. It also includes the collection of accounts, the execution of papers, and the handling of documents and valuable let- ters. The industry that is embraced in America under the head of express business is known in England as the Parcel Traffic. It is not material which designation is used. The carrying of par- cels, however, is a peculiar feature of the busi- ness and, consequently, the British designation is an appropriate one. But as the parcels are car- ried in the United States by special messengers, the use of the term Express in that country is 822 SCIENCE OF BAILWATS; also appropriate.* Messengers are, however, not always provided. While the parcel trafiBc is relatively very prof- itable, it is not as productive as formerly. The introduction by governments of money order de- partments in connection w^ith the postal service, whereby people are able to remit suras of money through the mails for a merely nominal fee, has reduced the demand upon private companies for services of this kind, besides necessitating reduc- tions in rates. The express business has been still Baggage Truck. further reduced by the enlargement of postofiice facilities to embrace the handling of what is known in America as fourth class matter.f This class of business was handled wholly by the ex- press companies formerly. The parcel traffic has also been further depleted by the use in the freight * "An express messenger on a train ; a messenger sent on a special errand ; a courier; hence a regular and quick conveyance for parcels and the like." — Webster. " That which is sent by an express messenger or message." — K. Charles. t Merchandise, minerals, agricultural and horticultural prod- ucts, advertising matter, works of art, etc., in packages weighing four pounds or under, BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 828 service of refrigerator cars and the introduction of fast freight trains and other improvements of the freight departments of railroads. In the carriage of merchandise by freight trains carriers base their rates primarily upon tonnage, length of haul and the space occupied. In the passenger department the questions of speed and space are all-important. Care and insui'ance also form prime elements. The parcels that make up the traffic of exps-ess companies embrace articles too valuable to be entrusted to the comparatively rude appliances of the goods department. The business includes property that requires quick carriage and the guardianship of a trustworthy messenger. A large part of the parcel traffic, except for these conditions, would seek the slower and cheaper freight trains. Epecially would this be so with vegetables, fish and game. A profitable branch of the service is comprised in the collection of notes, drafts and accounts; also in the attention given to the execution of deeds, conveyances and contracts; in the trans- portation of gold and silver coin, bank notes, cur- rency, deeds, conti-acts, bullion, precious stones, jewelry, watches, clocks, gold and silver ware, plated articles, costly pictures, statuary and other articles of virtu; in the carriage of musical instruments, laces, furs, silks, china, stained glass, birds, valuable animals, delicate fruits, fresh vegetables and fish. The carriage of de- ceased persons is an important source of revenue. 824 SCIENCE OF BAIL WA T8; The carriage of milk forms a part of the par- cel traffic performed by passenger or fast express trains. As a rule, however, this business is con- ducted directly by the railroad companies, and they therefore derive the profit. When traffic from this source is sufficient to warrant it, special cars and trains are provided for its accommodation; the cans are brought to the city in the morning full and returned during the day empty. The rate in one direction covers the service both ways.* The distribution of newspapers, magazines and books forms a large part of the business. The great dailies, and many of the weekly papers, are distributed in this way. The business is easily handled, and each year adds to its value. The risk is unimportant. The traffic is therefore especially desii-able to the carrier.f In handling business of this description, promptness is one of the chief requirements of the sers^ice, as a delay of a few hours is sufficient to render the property valueless in many cases. The conduct of the business requires watchfulness upon the part of * The machinery that has been devised for keeping accurate account of the milk traflBc may be said to be practically perfect. It is direct and extremely simple and inexpensive, and consists of consecutively numbered tickets attached to the cans. To obviate the diflBculty that arises in consequence of the cans not being uniform in size, tickets are provided for the various grades; these tickets are tied through an eyelet to the can at the starting point and are canceled by being torn off when the milk is un- loaded from the car, fTo accommodate this business stamps of different denomina- tions are prepared and sold to the various newsdealers. These stamps are attached to the packages containing the printed mat- ter, and are cancelled when used. BAGGAGE, EXPItESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 826 the carrier, and involves precision, harmonious action and efficiency. All these are happily com- bined in the conduct of the service.* The carnage of common freight of a heavy or bulky character on passenger trains is avoided by railroad companies. The expense attending its movement is too great. It is, beside, not practi- cable to provide the necessary facilities for hand- ling the business.f The profits of the parcel traffic, as before remarked, lie in the handling of small and valuable packages, and in the ad- justment of accounts. The collection of notes, indeed, forms a more general and lucrative source of income than is commonly supposed. It em- braces the accounts of banks, collecting agents, insurance companies, manufacturers, jobbers, traders and others, and requires in its prosecu- tion the utm ost tact and fidelity. * In England parcels containing newspapers only, weighing twelve pounds or less, are carried by the railroad companies for a charge varying, according to weight and distance, from two to twenty cents, prepaid by stamps, and when weighing over twelve pounds at half the ordinary parcel rates, either prepaid or col- lectible at destination. Periodicals published at intervals not exceeding one month are conveyed at half the ordinary parcel rates, with a minimum charge of eight cents. Packages of such periodicals containing single copies or several copies are taken, irrespective of distance on the lines of the company, at one cent per copy, prepaid by stamp. Special rates are also made on peri- odicals in van loads. All these rates are made at owner's risk, and do not include collection or delivery. To prevent fraudu- lent use of these rates, packages are required to be open at the ends and subject to inspection. t In the United States the high rates exacted of the express companies leave them little or no margin for doing this class of traffic, and it is only in exceptionally urgent cases that such property is offered as express matter. SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; The parcel traflBc, while not so complicated, nor presenting so many diflBcult problems as the freight business, is nevertheless extended and in- tricate and requires for its successful handling, business ability of the highest order. Its successful operation embraces all the diverse features governing carriers, including the mani- fold theories and practices common to transpor- tation companies. Beside this it embraces many of the features of a banking house, and requires for its agents men familiar with regulations gov- Baggage Car and Crates, A. D. 1848. erning the making of notes and drafts, the rate of interest, the liquidation of contracts, the protest- ing of paper, and kindred services. The satisfac- tory discharge of these manifold services requires in their execution definite and extended knowl- edge and integrity of the highest order. While the parcel traffic has been a source of wealth to the express companies of the United States, it is doubtful whether, if it had been con- ducted by the railroad companies, it would have afforded them similar profit, for the reason that the minutiae attending it require attention to BAOOAGE, EXPIiESS AXD MAIL BUSIXESS. 827 details that the business of a railroad company rarely receives. Some of the objectionable features of the traf- fic, when carried on by railroad companies direct- ly, have been noticed in connection with the baggage business. The parcel traffic is fragmen- tary in character; made up of innumerable items of small amount. Many of them seem hardly worthy of regard when compared with the trans- portation of goods and the carriage of passen- gers, and would undoubtedly be so considered in many cases by those in charge of the affairs of these larger and more lucrative departments of the service. The inability of the railroad com- panies of America to successfully grapple with the minutiw of the traffic of sleeping and drawing room cars (so necessary to their profitable work- ing) has been so marked that, reasoning from analogy, we are justified in doubting whether they would manage the parcel traffic any better. In the conduct of the latter by companies formed for the purpose, business is considered with direct reference to its income and expenses are governed accordingly. This must necessarily be so as they have no other source of revenue. On the other hand, small ventures of this kind, when directed by railroad companies, are not so care- fully watched and it often results that very little attention is paid to the relation that expenses bear to income. The methods of accounting of the express com- panies are in harmony with the nature of the bus- 828 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; iness and simple and economical in the ex- treme. Charges are, as a rule, collected at the point of delivery, the returas of the agent at such place being verified by the accounts of others. Ship- ments are rarely, if ever, made unless accompa- nied by a way bill. This necessary rule is not al- ways observed by railroad companies in handling freight. In the operations of railroads, when branches of business coiTesponding to the parcel traffic are opei*ated directly by them, being relatively small as compared with the passenger and freight business, they are too often placed in charge of minor officials; officials not only lacking in expe- rience as compared with those in charge of the express companies and sleeping car lines, but, as a rule, denied adequate authority to prosecute the affairs of their departments successfully. Others more influential trespass upon their domain and use its facilities to aggrandize the business of the departments under their charge. The result is to weaken and demoralize the lesser department without bettering the greater, or rendering it any service that could not be dis- pensed with. If in the operation of businesses like the parcel traffic railroad companies would require minute organization and appoint officials equal in administrative ability to those in charge of other departments, they might be conducted directly by the railroad companies to advantage. In the past, however, their operations of this B AGO AGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 829 kind have, iu the main, been characterized by directly opposite practices. The working of the parcel traffic by companies organized for the purpose has had the effect to leave the fragments of business that they do not find profitable without any provision whatever in many cases. This was the case in reference to the transportation of baggage in excess of the legal limit. It is also true in many instances of the innumerable articles that find their way into the baggage car upon non-express trains. The items are so small sepai-ately considered, that the need of organization and co-operation among railroad companies for the purpose of collecting charges thereon, is not so manifest as in the freight and passenger departments; nor, indeed, as manifest as it would be if the express traffic as a whole were carried on directly by the rail- road companies. In the case of excess baggage one company is frequently deterred from enforc- ing requisite rules because a neighboring line does not make any charge for such business, or is lax in doing so. And in the case of merchandise that is franked as baggage, the amount is so small that it does not seem to justify effective and concerted effort, or, if effort is made, it is rendered abortive by the practices of competing lines. If the baggage and parcel traffic could be con- solidated under one head and subject to the con- trol of officers who understood the principles of the business and had a general acquaintance with 880 SCIENCE OF RAIL WA TS; the transportation service, including its methods of accounting, and were, besides, clothed with authority to make their wishes respected, much of the business that now escapes the payment of any charge whatever would be made to pay its just proportion. An obstacle in the way of the baggage depart- ment, and through it the limited parcel traffic handled by railroad companies, is the subordina- tion in which its officials are held. In many cases they are merely appendages of the passenger or freight department. The baggage and parcel Locomotive " Trevithick," A. D. 1800. traffic may be made more productive by chang- ing all this. Those in charge should be men of good executive ability and experience, not only in their branch of the service but in collateral branches. Too much stress can not be placed upon the latter. Indeed, general knowledge of methods of handling traffic is necessary to enable those in charge of any particular branch of busi- ness to perform their duty with the highest effi- ciency. The conduct of the express traffic is attended with many expenses not known to the freight BAOOAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 831 business. In the large cities the carrier is obliged to traverse the streets from door to door for the purpose of collecting and delivering goods. Con- venient offices, accessible to the business commu- nity, are also needed in handling the traffic, and capacious vaults must be at hand in which to store valuable articles. Agents, accountants and laborers of capacity and tried experience are re- quired to transact its business and protect its depots; and finally, property while in transit must be accompanied and kept under the immediate eye of skillful and trustworthy messengers. Not the least important of the special expenses of the parcel traffic is the exceptional speed that char- acterizes the conduct of the business and the valuable space it occupies. In these latter re- spects the traffic occupies the same relative position that a passenger does, and pays cor- respondingly. Many of the expenses that attend the conduct of the parcel traffic by separate companies might be reduced, and in some cases avoided, if the business were carried on directly by the railroad companies. On the other hand, the former are oftentimes able to compass results at a less ex- pense than the railroad companies would be able to do. This is true in regard to the managing force, many distinct lines contributing to its mainte- nance, thus minimizing the cost to each. This, however, would not operate against a railroad company whose lines were so extended as to con- stitute a system. Indeed, all the advantages that 882 SCTENCE OF BAILWAY8; operate in favor of the express company as against the railroad company cease when the extent of the latter's lines reaches a point where its par- cel traffic is such as to require the undivided attention of a corps of officers; where, in fact, it constitutes a system; always provided the rail- road company is able to conduct the business with the ability and vigor that characterize its operation by separate companies. In the case of short and isolated railway lines, however, the superior organization of the express companies, and the great concentration of business in their hands, will always enable them to carry on the business more effectively and economically than the owners of the railroad lines would find it possible to do. An advantage the express com- panies have is noticeable in the handling of prop- erty in large cities, where separate offices, distinct from those required to do the freight and passen- ger business of the railroads, are needed. The express companies in such cases are able to ap- portion the cost among several lines. In the same way, and because of the great volume of their business, they are able to utilize their force to better advantage than a railway company would ordinarily be able to do. On the other hand, if the business were carried on directly by railroad companies they would be able in many cases to make the train baggagemen perform the duties incident to both the baggage and parcel traffic, where two men are now employed. They would also in many cases be able to add the BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 888 duties incident to the express business at the smaller towns to the duties of their agents with- out overburdening the latter, and in all but the larger cities the business could be concentrated in the same building with the baggage and ticket business, thus avoiding expenses now separately incurred for rent, fuel, lights, etc. Generally, however, the responsibilities that attend the handling of the parcel traffic are so peculiar that there can not be any wide division of duty. The business must be restricted to particular agents and emyloyes, whose fitness has been carefully considered in advance. The conduct of the parcel traffic by distinct companies organized for the purpose and monop- olizing a large section of country has other ad- vantages than those named as compared with the conduct of the business by the railroad lines. In the former case transfers of parcels at railroad junctions are avoided, and the delay and liability of loss in consequence thereof is lessened. Responsibility also is more direct and explicit where business is concentrated in a few hands. There can be no doubt that interline business is conducted more expeditiously by express com- panies than it could be by the railroad companies. Other influences operate in favor of the express companies. While they are held in check l)y the mercantile classes and the concentration of rival lines at all the great trade centers they are com- paratively free from the devastating competition that has impoverished so many railroads. They 884 SCIENCE OF BAILWATS: are consequently able to provide facilities for conducting the business expeditiously, and em- ploy competent agents to carry it on, and at the same time return a fair rate of interest on the capital invested. It is hardly reasonable to sup- pose that the express traffic, if carried on directly by the railroads, would be free from the disturb- ing elements that have so injuriously affected all other important sources of revenue which they possess. Until these disturbing elements are eliminated or brought under better control, the ex- Locomotive "Oruktor Amphibolis," A. D. 1804, press traffic as now conducted is more secure in its results and more productive to the railroad companies than if carried on by them directly. If, however, the business could be organized by the railroad companies under officers as com- petent as those now in charge (with power to develop its resources in all directions) and able at the same time to avoid destructive com- petition, then the business could be conducted more advantageously in many respects by the railroad companies than by anyone else. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 885 As already stated, the parcel traffic requires for its successful operation a carefully selected and well drilled organization, and attention to detail not usual with the business of i-ailroads. Several railroad companies in the United States have at different times attempted to caiTy on the business directly, but without marked success. Doubtless the opposition of the express companies has had something to do with the failure, but still more manifest has been the inability of those in charge to grapple successfully with the subject. The relation that express companies bear to the community is, as already intimated, that of common carriers generally; their relations to rail- road companies such as are specifically defined in the contracts under which they do business. " The legal status of the express companies is un- doubtedly that of common carriers, and such they have frequently been held to be, although in con- nection with the carrying business they may per- form other services. . . . They contract with the railway companies for necessary facilities on their trains, either by renting so much car space, or by paying a certain price for estimated or act- ual weight of freight or (which is the most usual method) by an agreement for the division of the gross earnings received by the express company, for its entire service in respect of the article transported. The reason is obvious why special contracts in reference to this kind of business are necessary. The transportation required is of a kind which must, if possible, be had for the 836 SCIENCE OF B An. WAYS; most part on passenger trains. It requires not only speed, but reasonable certainty as to the quantity that will be carried at any one time. As the things carried are to be kept in the per- sonal custody of the messenger or other employe of the express company, it is important that a certain amount of car space should be specifically set apart for the business, and that this should, as far as practicable, be put in the exclusive possession of the expressman in charge. . . . Each railroad company, as a general rule, only admits one express company to the use of its express facilities, so that on any particular line of road the express company has the same mo- nopoly and control of its traffic as the railroad company has of its ordinary freight traflBc. Nor is there any peculiarity in the express traflBc, or any distinction between it and many kinds of com- mon freight, except in the method of transporta- tion. . . . Usually the contracts between the railroads and express companies provide that the latter shall not carry such articles as may con- veniently be taken as ordinary freight, except at rates considerably higher than first class railroad freights. It is easy to see that but for this limi- tation on its charges, the express company might easily, by suflBciently reducing its rates, take from the railroad a very large proportion of its most valuable and hence most profitable traflBc." * The conduct of the parcel traflBc by express companies is a tacit acknowledgment by rail- * W. D. Dabney, " The Public Kegulation of Railways." BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 887 road companies that the former are able to do the business more effectively than the latter. Otherwise the express companies could not pay the royalties they do and still make it profitable. The conduct of the express business abroad directly by the railroad companies indicates one of two things: either that the railroad companies have a better organization for purposes of carry- ing on work of this kind than in America, or are not particular as to results. The wants of the parcel traffic are practically the same in all commercial countries. Some who advocate the carrying on of the ex- press business directly by the railroads claim they would be encouraged to solicit the carriage of goods by passenger train, at high prices, that now go by the slower and more economical freight trains. This is only pai-tially true. The arrange- ment of the railroad companies with the express companies specifies the character of business which the latter shall have. It embraces traffic that naturally seeks transportation by pas- senger trains. The basis upon which the express companies do business with the railroad companies varies upon different roads according to the extent and character of the traffic. Upon the bulk of roads the price is so much per diem for a stipulated amount; this may be called the minimum; when the volume of business it provides for is exceeded an additional charge is made. a2 888 SCIENCE OF BAILWATS; Of the adequacy of the security the express companies afford the public there can be no question. They carry the valuables of the com- munity and in many instances those of the rail- road companies as well. The principal express companies in the United States touch many of the great commercial centers, and are thus able to do much of the business that is offered with- out the intervention of other organizations. This fact adds to the security. Also to the conve- nience they afford, as in the event of loss or Locomotivo " Mechanical Traveler," A. D. 1812. damage settlements can be made without the in- tervention of others. Ability to do this is an important consideration, as compared with an organization made up of several distinct com- panies requiring to be consulted before action can be taken on claims that affect more than one of their number. The measure of success that characterizes the conduct of the parcel traffic by separate organ- izations is dependent upon the good will of the railroad companies, and while the latter can not BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 889 perhaps exclude express lines from their roads, still there is nothing that can prevent them from carrying on the business independently of the express companies if they see fit in the absence of any contract to the contrary; and the fact that this is so in a measure places the express companies at the mercy of the railroad com- panies. That this power is not likely to be abused the past history of these organizations demonstrates. The rates of express companies do not increase or decrease in the same ratio as for common freight. This is due to environment; more par- ticularly restricted facilities. The bases are speed, distance, quantity, space, value and character of property. Releases are taken for perishable prop- erty, as usual with common carriers. One hun- dred pounds is the unit of service for merchan- dise. Packages weighing more are charged on this basis; those weighing less, relatively higher. No package is taken for less than a minimum sum, generally twenty-five cents. The merchandise rates of express companies are in the neighborhood of three hundred per cent, higher than those of railroad companies for carriage of goods by freight. In determining rates an additional charge is made for value, when they exceed a certain amount, say fifty dollars. Light and bulky articles carried by express are charged, relatively, very high. Looking glasses, picture frames, statuary, etc., are three times the regular 340 SCIENCE OF BAIL WA YS; rate; plate glass and showcases, twice the regular rate; poultry, when in coops, twice the regular rate, and live stock from one and one-half to three times the regular rate. The rate for corpses is double the first class passenger fare. Rates for extra baggage are ten per cent, per one hundred pounds, of the unlimited first class passenger rates.* In the carriage of extra baggage railroad companies do not make any dis- tinction, as a rule, between goods that are valu- able and those that are not, nor between those that are light and bulky and those that are the reverse. These distinctions are rarely, if ever, overlooked by express companies. Indeed, they form, and properly so, an important element in determining the rate. In making rates on money and valuable papers the charge is based by express companies on value. Distance is considered, but not to the same extent as on ordinary parcels. The rate for one thousand dollars in currency is the unit; sums over this amount are charged on this basis. On smaller sums an arbitrary rate is made pro- portionately higher than the rate per thousand dollars, but modified to meet the low rates of the government on postal money orders and regis- tered letters. In the transportation of gold and silver the element of weight counts: an additional * This rate, of course, varies. Rates charged by railroad com- panies for extra baggage in some sections of the United States are twelve per cent. It is hardly probable that a railroad company would, knowingly, x>erniit express companies to charge less for excess baggage than it is charging itself. • BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 841 charge per thousand dollars or fraction thereof, as compared with currency, is made. The addi- tion for gold is in the neighborhood of twenty- five per cent; for silver double that for gold. Papers which can be replaced in case of loss are charged a fraction of the rate for currency. When papers are received for collection a fraction of the currency rate is charged for carry- ing the documents and making the collection, and full currency rates for carrying the money; when, however, papers taken for collection have a specific value, for which the carrier would be liable in case of loss, such as bonds and coupons, currency rates are charged both ways. When goods are sent to be collected for on delivery, regular rates are usually charged for the trans- portation of the property and for the return of the money.* Rates governing the parcel traflSc are affected by extent of traflBc, its character, length of haul, and nature of competition. What I have said is to be accepted qualifiedly, or as representing averages only. ♦ In the regulations governing the transportation of parcels it is understood by those having the conduct of such business that in billing matter designed to points on the lines of other companies the through price is to be inserted when it is knoMOi, otherwise agents bill only to the junction points of their re- spective lines. rjsi?:? LocomOtite " Howapd," A. D. 1829. (842) CHAPTER XXXII. EXPRESS TRAFFIC. — ( CONTINUED.) The parcel traffic, as already intimated, is car- ried on in the United States partly by the rail- road companies and partly by express companies. The major part of the business handled by rail- roads is made up of excess baggage and the par- cels that find their way into the baggage car. The great bulk of the business is handled by the express companies, and while the following reg- ulations apply in the main to the traffic gen- erally, they have reference here only to the busi- ness of the express companies. As already explained, these companies under- take in connection with the carriage of packages to collect notes, drafts and accounts. This feat- ure of their business finds great activity in towns where there are no banks or agencies for col- lecting debts. In many cases the express com- panies are made the agents of owners to collect the value of merchandise before delivering same to the consignee.* In this way the seller is * This is called C. O. D. business. In such cases the invoice or hill (inclosed in an envelope) accompanies the property. When collections are to be made it is required that the amount to be collected shall l)e marked on the way bill, and on the property and envelope as well. Sometimes the property is subject to the Inspection of the consignee. If refused it is customary (unless (W3) 844 SCIENCE OF BAILW ATS; secured against loss, while the express company derives revenue from the carriage of the goods and also from the collection and return remit- tance. Not only does the carrier collect the cost of the goods, but, when directed, also includes incidental charges, cost of carriage, collection and transmission of the money to the consignor. As a precautionary measure the express com- panies require the identical money collected by an agent to be remitted. The responsibility is thus fixed, and in the event counterfeit money is paid it can be definitely traced. Other ad- vantages also accrue from the practice. In making collections, the express agent acts as the attorney of the person employing the ex- press company, and he carries out the wishes of such person, protesting paper in legal form when required, and performing any other necessary acts that may be demanded. instructed to the contrary) to notify the forwarding office (hold- ing the property meanwhile), so that the sender may be con- sulted as to its disposition. "When a consignee can not be found, or refuses to receive parcels which have been booked to him, the sender shall be immediately advised, and the parcels are not to be returned to the sending station until the sender's instructions have been received. If the consignee tenders a con- signment, ordering the parcels to be returned or otherwise dis- posed of, he must first pay the carriage, and sign the delivery book ; otherwise his consignment must not be accepted. In the case of fish, fruit and other perishable articles, when consignee can not be found, or refuses to accept them, it is the duty of the receiving station to sell them immediately, and any company returning such articles to sending station shall be held responsi- ble for all loss arising from such a course of action." — Regulations Clearing House, England. BAOQAQE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 846 The express companies through their agents give a receipt specifying the value of each pack- age received. This is necessary to protect the carriers against excessive claims in the event property is lost; moreover, it estops persons from presenting fraudulent claims on the plea of hav- ing delivered property for which no receipt or other evidence of possession was given in return. A general supervision of the express business is exercised by division superintendents, much as the local affairs of railroad companies are looked after by corresponding officers. The division superintendent has immediate charge of the ser- vants of the company, adjusts claims, and per- forms many important functions corresponding to those of the traffic managers of railroads. The property of each company, including its traffic, is under the immediate care of the agents at the various stations. The companies employ experts called route agents, whose duty it is to examine from time to time the affairs of the various agencies, and see that their accounts are kept in accordance with the prescribed form, and that they duly account for moneys coming into their possession. The servant of the company who has charge of traffic while en route is called a messenger. He receipts to agents for the property they deliver to him, and exacts similar receipts for property turned over by him.* •" It is the duty of the guards to ascertain that the parcels de- livered to them for transmissioD, as well as all carriages, horses, 846 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; In the operations of business the work of re- ceiving and delivering packages is performed with so much celerity at the stopping places of trains that the receipts that pass between the agent and the messenger are receipts in name only. A minute examination of each parcel for the purpose of seeing that it corresponds with the receipt would require time; this is not granted. The result is that agents and messengers virtu- ally receipt only for the number of way bills de- Ixjcomotlve " York," A. D. 1831. livered to them. Afterward the parcels are ex- amined in detail, and if not found to agree with (logs, cattle, etc., correspond with the entries on the way bills handed to them, and to report, specially, to the superintendent all irregularities. They must count the parcels and compare them, as far as the time will allow, with the way bills; and at their arrival at each station they must count out the parcels to be left there, and they must, themselves, give them to the per- sons appointed to receive them, and at the end of the journey the guard must remain at the station and count out his parcels, and give every assistance in the transferor them to the parcels officer, whose signature he must at once obtain for their proper receipt ; the guard is held responsible for the parcels entrusted to him at the time of starting and during the journey." — Great Northern Bailway, England. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAm BUSINESS. 847 those called for on the way bills explanations are demanded. Good faith as between man and man enters very largely into all the transactions between the oflBcials of an express company, more largely, perhaps, than in any other business of equal mag- nitude. It is thus of the utmost consequence, not only to the company, but to its servants, that great care should be exercised in introducing new men into the service. A rogue may not only seriously cripple the company by his depre- dations, but quite likely bring upright associates into serious and undeserved disrepute. As greater time is allowed for way billing and accounting for express traflBc, at the starting point, a more elaborate system of accounts is possible than that devised for excess baggage by railroad companies. The community understand that the immediate forwarding of their property by the express companies is dependent upon their allowing officials a certain margin of time before the departure of trains in which to perform the clerical work required. The forms employed by express companies in their business conform generally to those in use in connection with the freight traffic of railroads. Such changes and modifications are made, how- ever, as the nature of the business and the neces- sity for dispatch require. The general books railroad companies need are equally applicable to the wants of express com- panies. 848 8CIENGE OF BAIL WA TS; The agencies of the express companies are classified under three heads — reporting, half re- porting, and non-reporting offices. The first regularly way bill all property forwarded, and make returns of all business forwarded and received. The half reporting agency makes returns for either the business forwarded or received, as may be directed. If the returns are for business re- ceived, then no regular way bills or returns are made by it for the business it forwards, such bills and returns being made by the messengers. The third or non-reporting office makes no re- turns to headquarters, nor does it regularly way bill the trafSc it forwards. So far as the general accounts and books of the company are con- cerned, the agencies on either side of the non- reporting offices receive all business of such non- reporting offices. The business forwarded from such offices is delivered by the agent thereof to the messenger with a memorandum way bill: from this the messenger way bills the property. But in place of inserting the name of the for- warding station in the way bill he inserts his own name. At the end of the week, or as often as required, he makes returns to the company (the same as an agent) of way bills made by him. Accounts are thus kept both with agents and messengers as cases require. Business destined to non-reporting offices is way billed to the first reporting station beyond, but the messenger leaves the property with a BAGGAGE, EXPBESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 849 memorandum or duplicate bill at the non-report- ing office, and collects the charges of the agent at such office at the time of making the delivery, or subsequently, as may be agreed upon. The charges thus collected the messenger leaves with the way bill at the station to which the property is billed. The same principle of accounting is observed at the half reporting offices. Some of these offices report business received, the traffic forwarded being way billed and reported by the messenger as already described; others again way bill and report the traffic they forward, while the business they receive will be way billed to, and reported by, offices on either side of them. The volume of business regulates the nature of the agency. The effect of the system of half reporting and non-reporting offices is to greatly lessen the work of the agents at such places, while the number of returns received at the home office is materially lessened and, in consequence, the accounts re- quired to be kept upon the general books of the company are reduced correspondingly. The sys- tem of offices described is peculiar to the express companies; railways require reports from every station where there is an agent. As the class of agencies of express companies is constantly changing, messengers are required to conform thereto. For instance, if freight should, through mistake, be billed to a station that had previously been a reporting office, but had been reduced to a non-reporting office, the 850 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; messenger would not deliver the way bill, but would carry it to the next reporting office, leav- ing a duplicate bill only with the freight. The form of way bill used by the express com- panies is adapted to the requirements of their business.* The system pursued by them often- times in numbering their way bills differs from that of railroad companies. The latter com- mence with number one on the first of each LocomotiTe A. D. 1836. month, the bills following each other consecu- tively. The express companies commence with number one on the first of January, and all bills made on that day are numbered one; all on the second day are numbered two, and so on through the year. If a day passes without any way bill being made, the number for that day is not passed, but the number is continued where left off. At the larger stations two series of numbers * See Form No. 12, Appendix. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 861 are sometimes used, one for freight and one for money packages. When this practice is pursued one series will commence with number one, while the other series will perhaps commence with five hundred. In way billing, valuable packages, other than those enclosing money, are frequently entered upon money way bills, but this is only when the element of weight is of so little importance as to practically cut no figure in fixing the rate. EXPENSING (adjusting DIFFERENCES). Among the many makeshifts for saving labor the device resorted to for adjusting differences between agents, and between agents and the home oflBce, is worthy of notice. Those familiar with the manipulation of traflBc accounts know that the amount entered upon a way bill in the advanced charges column is credited at the home oflBce to the forwarding agent, and debited to the receiving agent. Accordingly, in the express business if Agent Doe owes Agent Roe the latter will make a bill reading from his station to the former's, inserting in the advanced charges col- umn the amount of Doe's indebtedness to him. In auditing the accounts at the home office the same rule is observed. The term " Expensing " is used by the express companies to designate this peculiar form of transaction. In prosecuting the parcel traffic contracts are made by the express companies with railways, 852 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; bankers, merchants and others, as the exigencies of "business suggest, by which the first named agrees to transport express matter for a specified sum. These are called season contracts, and in way billing property coming under this head, the charges column of the bill is left blank, " S. C." (season contract) being entered under the head of "Remarks." In reference to agents' records and returns, the following comprise the principal ones, not in- cluding those already enumerated. The forms vary somewhat with different organizations, but methods are practically the same with all. 1. Agents are required to keep a record of notes, drafts and accounts forwarded by them for collection. This record provides for: date sent, in favor of, on whom, where payable, with what payable, amount, when returned, remarks. The column "when returned" remains blank until the collection has been heard from, conse- quently the form represents at a glance the ac- counts in course of collection. 2. The " out trip book " is a record in which the way bills for property forwarded are copied. The columns correspond exactly with those of the way bill referred to.* At the head of the page the number of the balance sheet that em- braces the business that follows is entered for purposes of reference. 3. The " in trip book " is used for copying all way bills received. It corresponds with the " out * See Form No. 12, Appendix. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 868 trip book," except that two columns are added for "Signature acknowledging receipt of pack- age " and " By whom identified." The signatures in these columns, opposite the description of the packages, are the evidence of tlie delivery of the property by the company. 4. A form of blank which agents use in giving a receipt for express charges collected by them. 5. "Abstract of bills forwarded." The name of the oflBce making the abstract is inserted at the top, also the time for which the abstract is made, and the number of the balance sheet in which it is included. The columns of the ab- stract provide as follows: for the number of the way bill, its date, where to, the total amount of the advanced charges on the way bill, the total amount of the express company's charges, the total amount to be collected, and finally a column for " prepaid " business. The footings of this abstract agree exactly with the " out trip book," described. 6. "Abstract of bills received, including an account current, or balance sheet."* The last named is intended to embrace way bills received since the date of the last return (way bills for different months not being in- cluded in the same abstract). The aggregate footings of such way bills should harmonize with the totals, as shown on the " in trip book." Stations are required to be entered in alpha- betical order. * See Form No. 13, Appendix. as 864 SCIENCE OF HAIL WAYS; BAGGAOE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 855 7. The balance sheet referred to embi*aces a summary of the affairs of the agent, viz, the balance brought forward from the last account made up of uncollected charges, cash, etc., total unpaid charges on way bills, as shown by the abstract of bills received, amount of prepaid charges collected on business forwarded. These are the debits. On the credit side there are: the total amount of charges advanced on bills for- warded, the total amount of cash remitted to the home office, the amount of " deductions " as explained upon the way bills and entered on the abstract of bills received, the total amount of charges remaining uncollected at the time of "making the return, the amount of vouchers for services of employes paid from proceeds of agency, etc. No complete recapitulation can be made here of the items appearing in the balance sheet, as they will increase or decrease as the importance of an agency increases or decreases. In reference to the amount due the company, and necessary to balance the account of the agent, it is transmitted to the treasurer at the time of making the return. In addition to the blanks enumerated, agencies are provided with record books, in which they copy the returns forwarded by them from time to time. The forms described embrace substantially the traffic returns of express companies. In con- nection with these, llowever, there are many 356 SCIENCE CF BAn.WATS. auxiliary forms of minor importance. But, as already explained, they are not materially differ- ent from those used by railroads in connection with the passenger and freight traflBc, and need not, consequently, be again described here. In reference to methods of accounting pursued by express companies differences more or less marked occur, but these differences are of form only; the principles observed are the same with all companies. CHAPTER XXXIII. EXPRESS TRAFFIC. — (CONTINUED.) In concluding what I have to say in reference to the parcel traffic, it is proper to call attention to the fact that the relation receipts from this source bear to receipts from other sources of business is not to be determined from the exhib- its made by railroad companies. For while earn- ings tables embrace substantially the same class of receipts under the heads* specified, on all lines, they are only approximately correct in the divisions they make, for the reason that different classes of business are so interwoven that no accurate division can be made. Thus, earnings credited to passengers not only embrace the amount collected for carrying the passenger, but also the amount received for transporting bag- gage. Further, the amount received by railroad companies for the carriage of mail and express agents, newsmen, pedlers, and so on, clearly forms a part of the receipts of the passenger de- partment, although not credited to that branch of the service; the charge for carrying these peo- ple is included in the larger charge for something else. The earnings of the freight department also sometimes embrace receipts for goods car- ried by passenger trains, such as milk, tish and • (867) 858 SCIENCE OF HAIL WATS; parcels. Miscellaneous earnings also include charges that under a more rigid construction would be embraced under other heads. The amount set down in the earnings tables as parcels receipts abroad, covers all earnings on German Locomotive, A. D. 1846. property carried by passenger trains. Express earnings are generally supposed to cover the same thing in this country, but in the majority of instances they only include the amount paid to railroads by the express companies: they might with propriety embrace, in addition, the BACtGAOS, EXPBEStft AND MAH. BUSINESS. 869 amount derived from the carriage of baggage and the amount collected for property carried on non- express passenger trains, collections from ped- lers, etc. When the parcel traffic is carried on directly by the railroad company no reason exists for separating the receipts just named (except in the case of baggage), and we may con- sequently expect to find these receipts grouped under the head of Express Earnings. But when an express company collects for a part of the traffic carried on passenger trains and the i-ailroad company collects for part, then the receipts of the latter will appear under some other head. The methods of accounting adopted by railroad and express companies for ascertaining the amount due from the latter are very simple. If the agreement under which the express com- pany opei*ates specifies that the remuneration of the railroad company shall be upon the basis of tons carried the express company reports the number of tons handled and the railroad com- pany generally accepts its statement without question; if remuneration be based on a percent- age of the earnings of the express company, what- ever the express company reports is also accepted as a rule, without verification. This seems, at first sight, to be unbusinesslike. However, the only way in which the carrier can verify the re- turns made by the express company is an exam- ination of the accounts of each express agent in 860 SCIENCE OF BATLWAYS. detail. This is impracticable; the expense would be too great. The subject has received much attention and study from those interested. A committee of the Association of American Rail- way Accounting Officers has had it in hand. This committee recommended that each railway com- pany over whose lines an express company oper- ates should appoint with the express company a joint auditing committee, to be a part of the accounting force of the express company, whose duty it should be to verify the returns of the lat- ter as far as they affected balances due the rail- road company. This is probably the most eco- nomical way possible out of the dilemma and un- doubtedly quite as effective as an itemized audit of the accounts would be, which latter would in- volve almost as much expense as the cost of writ- ing up the records and returns in the first in- stance. CHAPTER XXXIV. MAIL SERVICE. [Note. — This chapter on mail traffic is intended as a brief resvme of the traffic from a carrier's point of view.] No satisfactory basis of compensation for car- rying the mails has up to this time been devised. The obstacle is the impossibility of ascertaining the cost of carriage. If this could be determined the percentage of profit that it would be fair to allow the railroad company would be the only thing left to determine. This would be easy. But, unfortunately, there is no means of separ- ating the cost of passenger and freight trains, re- spectively, and in the event this could be deter- mined, another difficulty would still remain, namely, cost is directly dependent upon weight, speed of trains and condition of the property. The peculiarities of each line must be remem- bered and each train must be separately consid- ered. Upon no two lines is the cost of operating and maintaining the same, and no arrangement can be considered equitable that ignores this.* Not only is the cost of operating never rela- tively the same upon different lines, but it can never be the same for any considerable time on * This question is considered in the volume " Financing, Buildine and Maintaininc:.*' (Ml) 862 SCIENCE OP RAILWAYS; the same road. Rates, therefore, for handling mails must not only be peculiar to the road to be entirely fair, but must possess flexibility propor- tionate to vicissitudes of service. In the United States the rate allowed by the government is based on the average weight' of the mails, including postal supplies, mail bags, sacks. Carriage in the Alps. stationery, etc., transported the whole length of the route.* To enable the government and the railroad company to know what the weight is, the postollice department weighs the mails as often * For this purpose the lines of every company are divided by the postofflce department into routes, which correspond as nearly as possible with the divisions inade by the company for tlie operation of trains. BAGGAGE, EXPIiESS AND MAIL BUFUNESfi. 868 as once in four years. When this service is per- formed the process of weighing must go on on that mail route for at least thirty consecutive working days. The average thus determined is the basis of compensation for the succeeding four years, or until a new adjustment occui-s. It has been suggested that the rates shall be based on the number of lineal feet furnished the postoffice department. Under such an arrange- ment compensation could be re-adjusted from time to time with much less cost and labor than at present. In this connection the understanding of the railroad companies with the express lines is in- teresting. The latter pay an agreed sum based on the privileges enjoyed. Tiiese privileges are the transportation of fixed quantities of matter, including valuables and the carriage of attend- ants; a certain allotment of space is allowed on each train; in the event the tonnage agreed upon is exceeded, the charge is increased. In every case the price paid by the express company is a matter of negotiation and agreement. The facilities enjoyed by the postoffice depart- ment correspond very closely with those of ex- press companies, and the methods of handling the affairs of the latter afford many suggestions for aiTiving at an equitable basis for handling the mails. Present arrangements between the railroad companies and the postoffice department in the United States are not equitable. In many cases 864 SCIENCE OF RA IL WA YS; the rights of the carrier are not considered at all, or only generally. He is told, arbitrarily, the price, and is left the poor privilege of accepting it or of arraying him- self against the law-making power, and inferen- tially against the People! He has no recourse, and the government appears unable to see in the arrangement anything that smacks of dislionesty. In the first instance, it fixes the rate it will pay without consulting the carrier, and, naturally, it arrogates to itself the right afterward to change the rate thus made whenever it thinks proper.* The law determining the rate of compensation for transporting the mails makes no distinction between the cost of working different properties. It bases the rate on the weight of matter carried without reference to other considerations. If the property of the carrier costs little and can be worked cheaply, good! If it costs a great deal and requires a large outlay to operate and main- tain, it is all the same! It is a law of averages where averages are valueless. However slow and uncertain in other things the government may be, it is quick to recognize the fact that it is possible to conduct a large business at relatively less cost than a small busi- ness; acting upon this knowledge, but without knowing the relations, it sharply reduces rates *In 1876 (act of July) the government arbitrarily reduced the rate of compensation that the railroad companies should re- ceive ten per cent. In 1878 (act of June) the rate of compensa- tion was still further reduced five per cent. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSIXESS. 866 for the transportation of the mail as the tonnage is increased. According to the rate of reduction the price for transporting five thousand pounds daily is only four times greater than for trans- porting two hundred pounds! In other words, the compensation allowed, compared with the amount carried, increases as four to twenty-five. In what manner, or by whom, this basis was ar- rived at, I do not know. The details of the service are very simple, so far as the carrier is concerned, the work of open- ing and distributing the mails and watching after their safety en route being performed wholly by the officials of the government. At all terminal points, unless otherwise provided for by the gov- ernment, the carrier is required to carry the mails back and forth between the postoffice and the station. For this labor he is allowed the same rate per mile that he receives for carriage on his line proper. The cost, however, is much greater, for the reason that he must make spe- cial arrangements in each instance.* At local postoffices on the line of a railroad the carrier is required to carry the mails back and forth, with- out compensation, between the station and post- office when they are not more than eighty rods apart; when the distance is over eighty rods, car- riage is performed by the government. *An official of the LouiRvillc & Xatthville liAilroad dnimcd that that company wa« compelled to pay $1,8()() for carrying the malls back and forth at Louisville, while it received only 9160 from the government. 366 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; In reference to the carriage of mails between stations and postoffices an equitable arrange- ment requires that the service should be con- sidered by itself, and a rate of compensation agreed upon commensurate with the expenses in- curred in each instance. It does not properly form a part of the duty of carriers and should not be attached as a rider to the service required of them. Screw Locomotive for Steep Grades, A. D. 1857. In defining the facilities that railroad com- panies shall provide the law directs " That the mails shall be conveyed with due frequency and speed; and that suflBcient and suitable room, fix- tures and furniture, in a car or apartment properly lighted and warmed, shall be provided for route agents to accompany and distribute the mails." * * Law of 1875. BAGGAGE, EXP li ESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 867 In addition to the compensation allowed for transporting the mails, based upon weight, an ad- ditional allowance js made, according to the im- portance of the route and the number of times the mails are carried, for what are known as postoflBce cars.* The rate for transporting the mails covers the transportation of the agents in charge of the service, also all special agents and inspectors of the postoffice department. In the event the carrier fails at any time to transport the mail as required, or fails to deliver it on schedule time at points where mail con- nections are made with other routes or carriers and connections are thereby missed, a deduction proportionate to the delinquency is made by the postoffice department from the carrier's pay. Fines are also imposed for failure to promptly carry the mail back and forth between stations and postoffices and for other delinquencies. Deductions and fines are made directly from the carrier's pay when settlement is made, but the postoflBce department allows the carrier to file applications for the remission of fines and de- ductions For delays which, in the judgment of the postoffice department, are occasioned by causes beyond the carrier's control, remissions are made. It is the contention of the government that the interests of the postal service imperatively * However, if the cars arc letw than forty feet in length, inside measurement, no extra compensation is allowed. 868 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; require these deductions and fines to be made; that the postal service is so interwoven with the schedules of trains that the non-maintenance of the latter demoralizes the former, and that only by means of fines and deductions can railways be induced to put forth sufficient effort to main- tain a reasonable standard of service. This argu- ment, however specious, is not tenable. With but few exceptions the mail service is performed on regular passenger trains, and the interests of the railways require that every practicable means be employed at all times to move trains accord- ing to published schedules. That such means are employed is indisputable, and no system of fines can improve matters. As already intimated, it is necessary, to secure remission of fines and deductions, that causes for delay shall be beyond the carrier's control. The postoflfice department decides as to the reason- ableness of the excuse. Unfortunately, however, for the carrier, the department's list of excusable causes does not embrace many inseparable from the operation of railways. But as the statutes make the postoflfice department the arbitrator, the carrier has no recourse. While the postoflfice department is, in the main, fair and reasonable in its interpretations, it can not from the very nature of the case be just in all cases. Another objection is, in the preparation of evidence asking for remission of fines and deductions, the carrier is put to great expense. The information furnished must be BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 869 minute in every particular and supplemented by the oaths of parties familiar with the case. Not only is the expense considerable but, meanwhile, the carrier is unavoidably kept out of his money. The government settles with carriers quarterly, for the calendar year, for services performed. Payment is usually made by draft on a sub-treas- urer of the United States. Formerly carriei-s were required to collect balances due the post- office department from postmasters along their lines and apply the same upon the amount due from the government. But this arrangement, which was once a great annoyance and a consid- erable expense, has happily been changed. In the discussions of economists, the question often recurs why the government should take charge of the handling of letters and newspapers any more than it should take charge of the food of the community. The great number of those engaged in trans- porting the mail in earlier times rendered it impossible to harmonize their interests so as to make a homogeneous service independent of the supervision of the government. It was necessary, moreover, that this homogeneity should extend as well to the international service. It is quite as essential that the people should be able to send letters to points in other countries as it is that they should be able to reach local stations. The arrangements between governments permit this. 870 SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS; The present customs of the postal service are the natural outgrowth of these earlier conditions. So far as cost is concerned, there is no doubt the service could be performed much cheaper by private persons than by the government. That part of the postal service connected with railroads is a supreme factor in social economy. Those in charge, the officials, should be men of exceptional ability. The nature of the duties re- quires that attendants should be of robust health, vigilant and industrious; men of experience and filled with generous pride in the eflBciency of the Locomotive, A. D. 1894. service. This last only comes to those long asso- ciated with the service. Men whose position de- pends upon extraneous causes never have this feeling. For this reason those connected with the mail service should hold their positions during good behavior, with the promise of a pension when too old to work. The postal service of railways is especially dan- gerous. This fact, and the fact that it requires men of experience and character, emphasize the need that when misfortune overtakes those in the service or when, through disability, they are no BAGOAOE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 871 longer able to work, the government should take up the task of looking after their welfare. The English make a much fuller use of their postal ari'angements than the people of America. However, the latter are improving in this respect. On the continent all kinds of packages are sent by mail. In England a very effective money or- der system is connected with the mail service; also general postal savings banks which allow a small rate of interest on deposits. We have an effective system of registering valuable packages sent by mail; also of money orders or drafts. The savings bank feature we lack, and so long as our civil service is a floating one its success would be problematical. Every railway is a postal route. In early days mail and baggage were thrown together indis- criminately in the car. In the transportation of mails the government contracts directly with the carrier. The attendants are usually the employes of the government. In some cases, however, they are also in the service of the carrier. In such in- stances the custodian is sworn in as an agent of the government. The system of distributing the mail in the cars while en route is of recent origin. It greatly facilitates rapid movement. By this means the mails for various districts and connections are separated en route. Thus, when the mail reaches Chicago that which goes to points beyond has been assorted, so that no delay occurs. This is rendered literally true by the fact that the time 872 SCIENCE OF BAILWAT8; tables of connecting lines are usually so arranged that the arrival and departure of connecting trains are coincident. While the tenure of office in the postoffice department in the United States is not, on the whole, what could be desired, yet in some branches civil service rules are applied and examinations and promotions carried on with more or less precision. These arrangements will in time, it is probable, be applied to the whole service. The fast mail in America is an outgrowth of the system of distributing mails en route. One idea has led on to another. However, the devel- opment of the railway postal service is altogether due to the generosity of the carrier. The gov- ernment has rarely dealt fairly with the railway companies. It has acted the part of the Big Boy at school who cuffs the little fellows and occa- sionally robs them of their dinners. • . In the operations of business, some of the pos- tal cars are devoted wholly to newspapers; others to miscellaneous matter. Postal cars are provided with tables, racks, boxes, pigeon holes, hooks and other furniture, such as the service requires. The number of at- tendants depends upon the quantity of matter to be handled. These attendants must possess fine clerical capacity and wide acquaintance with the geography of the country. They must be able to determine at a glance the most expedi- tious route of every letter or package they BAGOAGE, EXPRESS AND MAIL BUSINESS. 878 handle. This knowledge can only be fully at- tained by prolonged and laborious study. The postal cars of railroads, like those used for baggage, are strongly constructed so as to withstand the exposed place they occupy in the train. They are also furnished with every facility ingenuity can suggest to aid the escape of inmates in case of fire, derailment, or other accident. Many mishaps occur, however, not- withstanding these precautions. For this reason the government should take the same care of those disabled in the service that it does of those wounded in battle. There is no distinction between a soldier disabled in the defense of his country and a railway postal servant maimed while in the performance of a dangerous duty. APPENDIX, OW) APPENDIX. IVnoc 1.— >FoRH USED IN Wat-Billino (Checeino) Baoojlob m EUBOPE, AS AK£ia>ED. IflUHMWAT, « 2S780 * Tt- vmmni * * 2S780 * ♦ 2S780 n. The first of the above blanks is retained by the forwarding agent as a record ; the second is torn off and pasted upon the baggage ; the third is detached and given to the passenger as a receipt The asterisks printed on the blanks enable the railway company to identify particular coupons 'in the event deception should be attempted to be practiced. The name of the place from which baggage is checked (billed) should also be printed on the blank. It would answer, however, just as well if the bill were ttamped with the place of shipment by the official in charge. The stamp required to do this might also be made to include the date of shipment At all the principal stations the place of destination should be printed on the bill, thus saving tho necessity of writing It The place provided for weight would only be used for Inserting any excess there might be of weight over the amount the car rier transports without extra chaise. (877) 878 APPENDIX. Local Check.— Fobm 3. C. & A. RR. 185 LOCAL. KOTE. — This check should always have one or more aster- isks stamped apon its face to distinguish it from the dnplicatd given to the passenger. See Form 2]^. Form 2^. 0. & A. R. R. 219 Baggage Traffic CHECK. Form of Local Check attached to baggage when there are duiges on account of excess weight APPENDIX. 879 Reyebsible Check.— FoKic 8.. (To be attached to inter- line baggage.) C D St. Louis TO MiLWArKEE. C. & A. C. & N. W. c D Note.— The reverse side of this check reads Milwaukee to St Louis. The check is consequently good only between these points. (Sec Form Z%.) Reversible Check.— Fobm Z%. (Form to be delivered to the passenger.) C BETWEEN D St. Louis AMD Milwaukee. 01490 C. & A. C. & N. W. (Tbib u pabt or Fobii 8.) 880 APPENDIX. EXPLANATION OF THE FOLLOWING FORMS OF WAY BILLS. The subjoined forms for way billing excess baggage prepaid and C. O. D. to local and interline points are triplicate in char- acter; the three portions being designated: ticket auditor's record, passenger's duplicate (or receipt) and strap check. The first two are merely indicated by their respective headings ; the latter is shown in full. They may be prepared on one piece of paper or cardboard in the forms of coupons to be detached one from tlie other; or, In the form of books, the ticket auditor's record and passenger's duplicate being made of ordinary paper and the strap check — the portion to be attached to the baggage — of cardboard. "When prepared in this manner and used in con- nection with carbon sheets, there is no reason why the three parts can not be filled out simultaneously. When the three forms are not filled out simultaneously, the work of the forwarding agent may be advantageously reduced by abbreviating the passenger's duplicate; but the strap check and ticket auditor's record should exhibit all the details sug- gested by the accompanying forms. APPENDIX. 881 "FoRsr 4. COLUMBIA R-R.CO. Ticket Auoitor'sRecobo of LOCAL bas&age" oRWARDtp PREPAiO MUM^WI I CATC 1525 189 COLU MBIA R. RXOT PASSENGER'S C J RECEIPT "« LOCAL B/>&GHGrro^ARPEDpffEPAID. 1525 189 GOLU MBIAR. R.CO" STRAP CZZZDCHECK;"^ L0CALba6ga6e"f%V^aroet) PREPAID. 1525 FROM TO CHECK NOS. No. of TICKETS Oro» Tree 189 CHICAGO Vy£l6MT*»««»RATE Sxcett TE CHARGES PREPAID IN BAG6A6t TtCKET GOUFOitS ^ CASH MO. OF TICKET n AMOUMT AMQUNT n^ in <* « ?• i. Q W V o S w ' ^ t* o ,■« 111 > • s 'lis 882 APPENDIX. Form 5. COLUMBIA R.R.CO. Ticket Auditor's Record of LOCAL BAG0A6E FORWARDED C.O.D. 4925 1&9 COLU MBIA mSENGtR'SC R.RCO. Z:>DUPUCArt- LOCAL BAGGAeVrowvABtErf C.O.D. 4.925 JS9_ COLU MBIA R . R, COl STRAP CIIZID CHECK"" LOCAL BAGQA^Voi^AROEQ COtD. MUMOER 4925 189 FROM TO CHECK NOS. Mo. Of TICKETS CHICAGO WEIGHT ANo RATE Gross. Free Excess. KATE /^eENT AT DESTINATION will collect on deli^er^,dSf«llovA ForExcessWeigTit.a* alxnre "Storage _ "TransEer- *^Other Charsies(5K'£'=rcrT Total Amoonlto be Collected QO 55 • 55 p. g. — 4'S"2 o§-o3 f> >»? So""; Sw «) , PASStN&ER MOLDS PUPLICATt CHECK Ho. Stsnttur* or Issuinj Train BasS3S13 WO J * o ® o - ill APPENDIX. 888 FOR3I 6» COLUMBIA R.R.CO. Ticket Auditor'sRegoro of IHTERLINE BAGGAatVoRWAwcD PREPAID 2750 Jfi2. COLU MBIA R .R-CO- Bl^eWfiER'S C ^ RECEIPT ^^^ WTERUHt BAGGAG^FoilWAROeD PREPAID. 2750 189 COX.U MBIA R .R.Ca STRAP CZZZIDCHECK«>« INTERLIME BAoS^lllf >o«wardcd PREPAID NVM0eK 2750 FROM TO ROUTE CHECK NOS 189 CHICAGO No. cf TICKETS] GtOSS WEIOHTam.RATE Free EJLTE I Amount Pf CVwrgea Prepaid! V a> k* ay J oo*- .5 0:= ^ ♦* ^ o o ** ^< lll « g ■o5£ 2 s «* 1 2- •• o O J J"? 884 APPENDIX, Form 7. COLUMBIA R.RCO. Ticket Auditor's record of WTEHUNiBA6BaG'k"F'oVwARDt:D C.O.D. 5075 189 COLU MBIA R« R» Co» PASSENBlirS C^ZJ!ZDDUPLItA\E roK IMERLINlBAeGAeETORVVARDfD C. 0. D. 5075 189 O J COS ft) OS ,o25 COLU MBIA R« R « Co* l^.^g STRAP t > CHECK roRJ IHTtRLlHt BAGSA/t'poiWAROtP C.O>P» NUNIBEn 5075 FROM TO ROUTE CHECK HOS Na or TICKETS 189 CHICAGO V«CTGHT AND RATE Gross l&xess RATE Free ^_^ AGEHf AT DESTINATIOr^ will collector! deliverj,as(bllo»vsi F»r Excess vyeiglnt,as abov% u Storage for - RV t' Transfer «» ** Other Charges, jllWl^ Totai ^mounttobeGrilectoi| (0 4jT5 o > <» ■> ©2* o » < ^nf^^ HOLOa OUPbtCAtC CHECK Ha IIP «t§?9 ^^1 APPENDIX. 885 Form 8. TRAIN BAGGAGEMAN'S RETURN OF EXCESS BAGGAGE STRAP CHECK IMUED BY COMFAKY NAMED BELOW miiLUNs EXCESS BA6fiAiSe VIA AND BEYOMD THIS LIME. CARRIED ON OlVtStOM. 189 M«Mt or i»»um« noAo< TmnnwiT Pr«r«U «r C .«l BXft fr lilOt. 18S FROM TO ROUTE HOS. Ho. Of TICKIT4 Cxces& WtlGMT, BATt. Charges for Excess Wdciht For Storage B'y « Transfer R'y « Other Charges, specif ed Mow, Total Charges, Vat above i» a trae and correcc cofj' T.B.W. m if 4)5^ - 3 on'^ "5 »>P* I'll m. 25 886 APPEXDIX. ' Form 9. MOKTHCr RETURN OF EXCESS BA66A6E STATEMENT OF AMOUNT COLUECTtD OH ACCOUNT OF EXCESS LOCAL BAGGAGE. AMOUNT COLUeCTEO PREPAID I <=^';:Q)6 GASH STATEMENT OF AMOUHT COLLeCTED ON ACCOUNT or EXCESS I NTERLIWEBW&AGE. AMOUHT COLLECTED PREPAID CARDS ISSUED Ho. I He. I;ls^>itctl| BUS. EXC. CMCCK CARD PESTINAWHJI POUTE Iwu^T ^^■'^ basgageI TltKtl COUPQHS CASH STATIMEHT Of AMOUNT COLLECTED ON AC- COUNT Of EXCESS BAfe&AfeE COUPON TfUCElssou) Ctot.NQ FORM ^^J^ ^%l s^ld Voia Mtimbers. RATL Total AMOUNT Conti'nucrl orv not •pa^c APPENDIX, 887 Form 9. lYlONTHLY RETURN OF EXCESS BAGGAGE. (COHTINUtD). SATErACrtT OF AMOUNT COLLICTf ON ACCOUNT No. or B«:ess Interline Ba^^a^©, r— — — # # — Total Amount, of \ Bal^a^e TtcKet Coupons, i 1 cer^if) thai thl» return it correct: AaenL TOTAL AMOUNT > CASH cSuECTtOI f ' 888 APTEXDIX. Form 10. . rin to Train Baooaos Receipt and Wat-Bill No. 1. Waglaof Baggd I. 1 It. m. IV. Conntct-IConnect-iConMct- Coonrct- IngRoadjioglU'ad.inGcRoad iotcRotd DoUl cu DoUmi Doll. rU DolUlrtslDolli CU Uolltl cU FrtightChargm MaOary Baggage.. 0)$. " " Number of Dog» " " Total Stamp Duty Declared value of (he Freight perlb.^.. Damage in the «ve*l of any delay f. . . . - Label! for otiwr conoecUii( I law itr« printed ia xRed Ink." - - - _ - - _ ^_^ _ 1 — —J (The duplicate (attached) which is given to the paBBcnp'er is the Bams as this. Passeugers mast arrive In time to have their baggage weighed and two blanks, such as tbe above, properljr filled np, otherwise tbe oag* gage does not £0,} Receipt for E.kcess Baggage Charges.— Form 11. Blank Road, -Station, ~ ~ ^^ Jittiiued qf ' — "~ f.. — ,/or Charges on Excess Baggage, viz. forwarded from - statioit to •■- 18 Way Bill No- station -, Agent. APPEXDIX. Wat-Bill of Parcel 'fRAFrtc— Form 11 (Messengers mast register their names In rotation serosa tbe oatside of this way-bill.) No. To From... .18. k «> Si «5 u This form of way-bill is used by both agents and messengers. Honey way-bills in some cases, hare )Ee word "MoneyT' printed upoa them, but in other respects they arc the same «s the form described abore, except that the column for weight is omitted. A different colored ink la, for convenieDCe, sometimes nsed. The duplicate or memorandum bill nsed by messengers and agents (as described further on) in connection with the traffic of half-reporting and Don-reportlng offices does not differ materiallv from the above form. The receipt boolc,4n common use, which tne agent or messenger signs (for the way-Dills which one delivers to the other) ^ves the name of the offi- cial making the delivery, the date number of way-bill, the date of same, whether money or hieight, where from and where to; a colomn is also In*- serted for the name of the party receipting for the way-bills. Pabcel Traffic— Form 13 Abttrad cfbllU received and Balance Sheet,from ..(igke,yo Including all Wav Bills and Proeeedt received prevloxu to 18. Thit Abstract forwarded to the General Office on Way-Bill No Dated 18.. < W < o The amonnts of the charges as entered on the way-bills sreftequenti} Incorrect. If the amount entered Is too mncb.tho excess is generally en- tered herein. In the column headed "DMaetlons." This oolomn serves as s Clearing House for agenU to adjust the overcharges of their stations in •ecordance with the nets. A fall czplaaation of each deduction is re- qnlnd to bs made npon the wajr-bUl. 890 APPEXDIX. To Form 14. C. O. D. Advice to Destination Line, No of baggage forwarded unpaid. Accounting Department. ... n. R. Co. Ticket Auditor's Ofl&ce. Chicago, , Dear Sir:— On 189 , Baggage bearing Clieck Nos was forwarded From To via having attached C. O. D. Excess Baggage Card No for the collection of charges specified hereon . Please advise me on back hereof amount of charges. For Excess Weight, ( . . .lbs.) " Storage, " Other Charges, - - - Total, - when the proportion due this Com- pany will be reported, and greatly oblige the undersigned. Very Truly Yours, .Ticket Auditor. Form 14. — Continued. [ This is printed on the reverse side of the preceding form.] To. Ticket Auditor, 189. . . . R. R. Co. Dear Sir:— The collection of C. O. D. Baggage Charges mentioned on the other side, will be reported to your Company in Yours truly,.. . .R. R. Co. Form 14. — Continued. Record of C. O. D. Advice to Destination Line, No OF BAGGAGE FORWARDED UNPAID. To R. R. Co \ccounting Department, Ticket Auditor's Office. Chicago 189. Concerning Interline Baggage. For\vardedC. O. D 189 bearing Check Nos From To via «... having attached C. O. D. Excess Baggage Card Nos AMOUNT OF CHARGES. For Excess Weight, {. . .lbs.)i " Storage, I " Other Charges, - - - | ToUl, I for the collection of charges specified hereon. INDEX. Abraham, Carriage in Time of 12 Abstracts, Express Traffic 352 Abyssinia. Carriage in — Illustration 62 Accidents to Baggage 107, 112 AccountiDg, Baggage 246, 257 Difficulties in 240 Express 327, 347, 359 Accounts, Baggage Depository 222 " Collection of 323, 325, 344 Afghanistan, Carriage in — Illustrations 108, 176 Africa, Carriage in 9 " " " — Illustration 42 " Soutli — Mail Carriage in — Illustration 186 " West — Carriage in — Illustration 70 Agencies. Express — Classification of 348 Agents, Association of General Baggage 270 " Baggage— Collection of Charges by 239 " — Miscellaneous Instructions to 311 —Responsibility of 283,301 "" Claim — Employment of 42 " Route — Express 345 Alcinous 11 Alexandria, Carnage in — Illustration 106 Algiers, (Carriage in — Illustration 168 Alps, Bavarian — < 'arriage in the — Illustration 212 " Carriage in the — Illustration 362 Amazon — Illustration 180 " River, Carriage on the — Illustration 262 America, Baggage System of — (.'omparison with those of Europe 67 ** Carriage in — Illustration 88, 168 " North — Carriage in — Illustration 236 " South— " '^— Illustration 226 " "* — "on Pampas of — Illustration 150 Animals, Pack. Use of 9 * Valuable— Carriage of 323 Appendix 375 Arabia, Carrier of — Illustration •. 100 Ashur, Carriage in, 1920 B. C — Illustration 26 (891) 892 INDEX. PAGE Asia, Central — Carriage in 13 Minor — *" " — Illustration 104 " Use of Asses in 12 Asses, Use of, as Carriers 12 Association of American Kailway Accounting Officers 360 " " General Baggage Agents 270 Associations, Railway 268 Assyria. Ancient — Carriage in — Illustrations 24, 28 Australia, Baggage Allowed in 183 Austria, " " " 182 in 177 " " Storage Charges in 221 Way Bill Used in 275 " Billing Baggage in 215 " Checking '' " 215 " Responsibility for Baggage in 195 Bad Order (B. O.) Baggage '. 125, 312 Bagdad, Carriage in — Illustration 12 Baggage, Access to 115, 301 't Accidents to 107, 112 • " American System of Handling — Underlying Prin- ciples of 23 " Articles Xot 175 " " that Constitute 175 Bad Order 125, 312 " Billing 205, 272, 277 " " in England 213 " Bulky 107 " Business, Cost of Doing 17 " " Principles of Organization of 17 " Car — Associations of the 139 " Care of 87,105,199 " Carriage of 52 " Changing Destination of 282 •' Charge for Carriage of 55, 56, 61 Checking 205,266,277,281.304 •' " in England 213 " " " Europe 67 " " Suggested Change in 79 Through 85 Children's 311 C. O. D 263 ** Cost of Carriage of 57, 186 " Damaged 99 " Damages for Loss of 60 to 37,111 " Definition of 167 " Delivered bv Train Baggagemen to Agents 304 " Delivery en" Route : 89 " 'of 258 INDEX. 898 PAOB Baggage, Delivery of, by Train Baggagemen 315, 316 Department — Dirticulties of 32 •* " — Ett'ect of Public Opinion on 22, 23 " " —Interest of Publio in 17 ** Depredations of 115 " Destineii to Stations at whieli there are no Agents.. 261 " Differences in 91 " English System of lianiUing 32, 33 " Estray 307 " "■ — Causes for 101 " European System of Handling 25 Excess 227, 237, 247, 277 ** " Accounting for 289 " " Carriage in Euroi)e 70 " " Directions to Train Baggagemen 317 " " Forwarding .' 277,284 " " Payment for 131 ** " Keoei ving 285 " " Release for 311,312 " Facilities for 105 " Forwarding Ill, 243, 265 " Found 301 ** Handling 129, 301 " "en Route 87 " " — Suggested Change in Methods of 49, 79 " Hypothecated 317 " Indicative of Its Owner 93 " Inspection of 123 ** Insurance of 219 " Interest of Traveler in 81 " Interline 240, 2G2 Kinds of 91 ** Legal Deflnitions of 170 Loading 108, 111 Local 241 ** " — Tickets for 255 Loss of 37, 121 I-08t 99, 115, 307 Marking 210 " Meaning of Term 167 " Method of Charging for Carriage of 55, 56, 61 Missent 115 •* "Over' 102 " Particulars of 91 Perishable 311 " Protection of 115 " Provision for 105 Quantity ( "arried Without Extra Charge 179 ** Reasonable Requirements of Passengers as to 34 " Receipting for 301 894 INDEX. PAGE Baggage.Keceipt of, by Train Baggagemen 315, 316 " Receiving 258 " Kechecking 282 " Responsibility of Carriers for 189 " Restriction of Quantity of 53 " Robbery of 115 " Rooms, Floors of 106 Room, The 79, 83 " Short" 102 " " Smasher,"' The 117 " Smuggling 58, 59 " Station Depositories for 219 Stolen 101 " Storage of 219, 277 " Suburban 91 ** Systems, Comparison of American and European . . 67 " Through 85 " Traffic, Comparison of, with Freight Traffic 259 " " Difficulties of Collecting Charges on 233 " " Excess — Organization of 2-15 * " Neglect of 228 " " Reform in 246 " Transferring Ill " T:rvM\i— Illustration 322 " Unchecked 300 •' Unclaimed 99. 309 Under Billing 294 " Unloading 108, 111 " Warehousing 219 " Way Billing 67 " Weighing 277 " •' —Automatic Truck for 83 in Europe 68 " " in United States 69 Baggagemen, Duties of 123 Peculiarities of 129 Responsibility of 301 " Station 135 Train 151 " " — Collection of Charges bj' 283 " " — Delivery of Baggage by 315 " " — Receipt of Baggage by 315 " " —Returns of 298, 313 " " —Rules Governing 319 " " —Special Directionsto 317 Balance Sheets, Express Agents' 355 Bank Notes, Carriage of 323 Belgium, Baggage Allowed in 180 " Carriage in — Illustration >. 222 Bengal, Carriage in — Illustration 154 INDEX. 895 FAOB Benp^al. Carriage of Mails in — lUustralion 46 Billing Baggage 205. 272 Through t<5 Birds, Carriage of 323 Blanks, Baggage 246 Boats of Euphrates 13 Bombay, Carriage in — Illustration 152 Books, Carriage of 324 Bulgaria, ( 'arriage in — Illustration 64 Bullion, Carriage of 323 Bullocks, Use of. as Carriers 9 Burmah, Carriage in — Illustrations 130, 132, 13G, 264 Buisiness, Railway, Divisions of 18 Camels, Use of, as Carriers 9 Canaila, Baggage Allowed in 183. 185 Canton. < "arriage in— Illustrations 258, 2G0. 300 River. Carriage on — Illustration 273 Car, Baffgage. A. I). }S4S— I Ihistration 326 Cards. Excess Baggage. (See "Way Bills.") Care of Baggage 87, 105. 199 Carriage Among Indians of North America — Illustration. ... 50 " " the Lipan Indians — Illustration 162 ** Gypsy — In England — Illustration 190 " Ideal — Ancient Grecian — Illustration 22 " " — Egyptian— /7/«.*frff(jo?i 38 " in Abyssinia — Illustration 62 ' in Afghanistan — Illustrations 108, 176 ' in Africa— Illustration 42 ** in Alex&ndria.- Illustration 106 •* in Algiers — Illustration 168 " in America — Illustrations 88, 168 " in Ancient Assyria — Illustrations 24, 28 ** " Kgypt — Illustration 18 " " Persia — Illustration 32 ** " Rome — Illustration 20 " in Ashur. 1920 B. C— Illustration 26 " in Asia Minor — Illustration 104 " in Asiatic Turkey — Illustration 142 " in Belgium — Illustration 222 " in Bengal — Illustration 154 " in Bombay — Illustration 152 " in Bulgaria — Illustration 64 " in BuT\i\i\\\— Illustrations 130. 132, 136, 264 in Canton— ///w/ffra(?o«« .258, 260, 300 " in C&shmeT^- Illustration 128 " in Ceylon — Illustration 248 " in ChilQ— Illustrations 208, 240 in ChinVi— Illustrations 30, 94, 192, 216. 291 " in Constantinople — Illustrations 72, 74 ** in Delhi— Illustrations 94, 206 896 INDEX. FAOK Carriage in Eastern Russia — Illustration 202 "n England, A. D. Vl^fi— Illustration 232 18th CentMry— Illustration 182 n France — Illustration 174 •^ A. D. 17Q0— Illustration 228 n Germany — Illustration 224 n Herzegovina — Illustration 210 n Holland — Illustrations 252, 297 n Jnd\&— Illustrations 102,112,118,122,124,144, 2-12 n Jamaica — Illustrations 92, 267 u Japan — Illustrations 164, 282 n Jeddo — Illustration 276 n Jumrood — Hhistration 126 n Kaffraria — Illustrations 68, 148 n Khiva — Illustration 114 n Khyber Pass — Illustration 110 u Ladak — Illustration 160 n Little Russia — Illustration 166 n Madras — Illustration 90 n Mexico — Illustrations 214, 256 n Xatal — Illustration 144 n New Guinea — Illustration 270 n Xorth America — Illustration 236 n Norway — Illustration 82 n Peru — Illustration 154, 194 n Puttiala— i7/Ms/rff^o?j 120 In 'RoumamsL—Illustration 196 n Rural England — Illustration 1-10 n Russia — Illustrations 116, 188 n Servia — Illustration 184 n Shanghai — Illustration 98 n Singapore — Illustration 78 n South America — Illustration 226 n Spain — Ulustrafions 134, 204 n Switzerland — Illustration 80 n Tamatave — Illustration 84 n the Bavarian Alps — Illustration 212 " Dutch East 1 nd ies— Illustration 286 " Fiji Jsiands— Illustration 307 " Grecian Archipelago — Illustration 303 " Xaga Hills — Illustration 44 " TxTo]— Illustration 76 in Time of Abraham 12 " " 17ebuchadrezzar 12 in Turkey — Illustration 230 in Venice — Illustration 250 Invention of 14 in Vienna — Illustration 220 in West Africa — Illustration . . . .' 70 Land^-Origin of 10, 11 u c- INDEX. 897 FAOa Carriage, Mail— in England, A. D. \lhh— Illustration 200 " - ^ Gernianv— ///Jw^rflf^'on 213 " " " 1 mWa—illnstnitinns 198, 234 Japan — Illustration 40 Sontli Afrira — Illustration 186 " « " Znluland — Illmtratiun — Frontispiece. " Means of — Prior to Historical Period 10 " Medieval— 7//Ksabney, AV. D .- 336 Damaged Baggage 99 INDEX. 899 PAOB Damages, Baggage 37 Darius, Baggage of : 168 Deeds, Carriage of 323 Exeirution of 323 Delhi, < Carriage in — Illustrations 94, 206 Depositories, Baggage 222 Differences, Adjusting — Express Traffic 351 Diomedes, Carriage of— Illustration 30 Dogs, Carriage of 173 Use of, as Carriers 11 Drafts, Collection of 323 Earnings, Express Traffic 367 '' Passenger — Effect of, on Baggage 105 East Indies. I >utcli — Carriage in tlie — Illustration 286 Egj'pt, Ancient, <,'arriage in — Illustration 18 " " " 1 800 B. < :.— Illustration 16 Egyptian Carriage, Ideal — Illustration 38 Emigrants, liaggage of 239 Employes, Discipline of 208 ^ Esprit de Corps of 109 " Faithfulness of 109 ^ Surveillance of 109 '• Tips to 129 England, Baggage Allowed in 182 Depositories in 225 " '• Storage (Jharges in 220 " Billing Baggage in 213 ** Carriage in. A. D. \1^— Illustration 232 " " " 18th Century— lUustratinn 182 ** '• of Baggage on Freight Trains in 55 " '- " Parcels in 326 " Checking Baggage in 213 '• Express Business in QA. 321 " fiypsy Carriage in — Illustration 190 " Handling Baggage in 207 ** Mail ( 'arriage in — A. D. 1755 — Illustration 200 " Itesponsibility for Baggage in 190 " Kailway '.'onVeniences in 20 " Rural, Carriage in — Illustration 140 '• Use of Parcels Tickets in 263 Errors in (."het^king Baggage 80, 81 Euphrates, Boats of 13 Europe, Baggage Allowed in 179, 181 '• ( 'hecks Used In G7 " ** Depositories In 224 " " in 178 " " Systems of — Comparison with that of America 67 " Billing Baggage in 217 " Checking " " 217 400 INDEX. PAOB Europe, Way Billing Baggage in 275 " Weighing " " . . : 68 Evolution of Primitive Carriage 9 Excess Baggage. (See also " Baggage, Excess.") '• " Practices Abroail 231 " " Rates for 231 Expensing, Express Traffic 351 Express Business, English 63 " " Relation of, to Baggage 62 " " Revenue from 62 " Companies, Advantages of 332 " " Rates of 339 " " Relation of— to Community 335 " Service, Origin of 11 Traffic 244, 321, 343, 357 " " Accounts of 347 " C. O. D 343 " " Conduct of — bv Raihvav Companies 327 " " —in United States 228 " " Contracts 351 " " Lost Articles 103 Facilities, Baggage — Limitations of 18 Fiji Islands, Carriage in the — Illustration 307 Fines, Mail Service 367 Fish, Carriage of 323 Forms, Abstract of Way Bills— Parcel Traffic 389 " Baggage Receipt and Way Bill 388 ^ Way Bill 381, 382, 383, 384 " " " — European— Amended 377 " C. O. D.— Advice to Destination Line of— Baggage Forwarded Unpaid and Record 390 " Development of 268 " Local Check 378 " Monthly Return of Excess Baggage 386, 387 " Receipt for Excess Baggage Charges 388 " Reversible Check 379 " Train Baggageman's Return 385 " Way Bill of Parcel Traffic 389 France, Baggage in 177 Allowed in 180 '■ " Storage Charges in 220 " Carriage in — Illustration 1 74 —A. I). 1760 -Illustration 228 " Responsibility for Baggage in 1 93 Franks, Baggage 242, 277, 278 Fraud, Prevention of 117 Frederick the Great, Baggage of 169 Freight, Carriage of — as Baggage 58, 59 " Traffic, Comparison of — With Baggage Traffic 259 Fruits, Carriage of 323 IXDEX. 401 PAOB Fulton's First ^iesxabovit— Illustration 310 Furs, Carrij^ge of 323 C^me, Carriage of 323 German Passenger ( 'oach — Illustration 318 Germany, Baggajce Allowed in 180 " Carriage in — Illustration 224 ■ " ilail Carriage in — Illustration 213 Glass, Stained — ( 'arriage of 323 Gods, Ancients' — Carriage of 13 Gold, Carriage of 323 Goldsmith, Use of Word " Baggage '"' by 167 Government Control 44, 276 *' Management 44 Officials, Delegation of Public Rights to 27, 28 " Ownership, Ettect of 19 " Supervision, Efl'ect of 29 Grant, General — Baggage of KJS Great Britain. (See also "England") " Baggage Allowed in 182 in 177 " Responsibility for Baggage in 190 Grecian Archipelago, Carriage in the — Illustration 303 Greece, Ancient — Ideal Carriage in — Illustration 22 Herodotus 168 Heroes, Mythological — Carriage of 13 Herzegovina, Carriage in — Illustration 210 Holland, Carriage in — Illustrations 252, 297 Homer 11, 22 Illustrations in These Volumes 9 Income, EflTect of — on Baggage Business 18 India, Baggage Allowed in 182 •' Carriage in— Illustrations . . .102, 112, 118, 122, 124, 144, 242 " Mail Carriage in— Illustration 198 " " Carrier of — Illustration 234 Indian Sea, Carriage on ti\G— Illustration 238 Indians, Lipan — Carriage Among — Illustration . 162 " of North America, ("arriage Among — Illustration. 50 Inspection of Baggage 123 Interline Baggage. (See " Baggage, Interline.") Italy, Baggage Allowed in 181 " " in 177 " Billing Baggage in 216 " Checking Baggage in 215 " Responsibility for Baggage in 194 Jamaica, Carriage in — Illustrations 92. 267 Japan, (Carriage in — Illustrations 164, 282 " Mail Carriage in — Illustration 40 Jeddo. Carriage in — Illustration 276 Jewelry, Carriage of 323 Joseph, Baggage of 170 26 402 INDEX. PAGE .Tumrood, Carriage in — Illustration 126 Kaffraria, Carriage in — Blustrations G8, 148 Khiva, Carriage in — Illustration 114 Khyber Pass, Carriage in — Illustration 110 Liaces, Carriage of 323 Ladak, Carriage in — Illustration 160 Land Carriage, Origin of 10,- 11 liOcal Baggage. (See "Baggage, Local.") Locomotive, A. D. 1894 — Illustration 370 for Steep Grades, A. D. 1857 — Illustration 366 "^ German, A. D. 1846 — Illustration 358 " " Howard," A. D. 1829— Ilhistration 342 " " Mechanical Traveler," A. D. 1812— /«Ms«r«^?oM. 338 " "Oruktor Amphibolis," A. D. 1804— Illustration. 334 " " Trevithick," A. D. 1800— Illustration 330 " United States," A. D. 1836— Illustration 350 " " York," A. D. 1831— Illustration 346 Losses, Baggage 37 Lost Baggage 99 Luggage. (See " Baggage.'") Madras, Carriage in — Illustration 90 Magazines, Carriage of 324 Mail Service 361 Mails, Carriage of 361 " " " in Bengai— Illustration 46 " Weighing 362 Managers, Railway — Duties of 21 " —Early 63 Mars, Carriage of — Illustration 34 Medieval Carriage — Illustration 254 Merchandise, Carriage of, as Baggage 58, 59 Messengers, Express 323, 345 , Metal (Jhecks. Objections to 205 Mexico, Carriage in — Illustrations 214, 256 Mileage Coupons, Baggage 243 Tickets, " 247 Milk, Carriage of 324 Moon, Ancients" Idea of Carriage of 14 Moslems, Baggage of 170 Motion, Ancients' Idea of 13 Musical Instruments, (,'arriage of 323 Naga Hills, Carriage in the — Illustration 44 Natal, Carriage in — Illustration 144 Nausicaa, Chariot of 11 Nebuchadrezzar, Carriage in Time of 12 New Guinea. Carriage in — Illustration 270 Newsboy. (See "Train boy.'") Newspajpers, Carriage of 324 New Zealand, Baggage Allowed in ' 183 Norway, Carriage in — Illustration 82 IXDEX. 403 PAGB Notes, Collection of 323 Orders, Baggage 277 Packages, Baggage— Fastening 107 Pack Animals. I'se of 9 Paper. Use of, for Baggage Way Bills 273 Parcels. Delivering 340 " Kecelving 346 " Trartic— Accounting for 289 Parcel TratHc 227, 237, 247, 257, 277, 321, 343, 357 " " Coupon Mileage Tickets for 252 ** " Suburban 244 Paris, Newspaper ( "arriage in — Tlluatration 66 Passengers, (Jlarriage of 52 ** Devices of, to Escape Baggage ( 'barges 235 " Ett'ect on. of Loss or Damage to Baggage 37 ** E(|uaniruity of 88 ** Reasonable" Requirements of, as to Baggage 34 " Represented by Tbeir Kaggage 93 " Suburban " 91 " Supervision of, in ("becking Baggage 80 Passenger Trains, (,'arriage of Baggage on 51 Permits, Baggage 242, 277, 278 Persia, Ancient — < "arriage in — Illustration 32 Peru, Carriage in — Illustration 154, 19 1 Ph(eiiicians, Ships of 22 Pictures. < 'arriage of 323 Pledges. Passengers'" 318 Portugal, Baggage Allowed in 181 Postal Service 361 " Origin of 11 Postofflce Department, Device of — Illustration 168 Precious Stones. Carriage of 323 Primitive ( 'arriage. Evolution of 9 Method of ( arriafre— illustrations 52. 54, 56, 58, 60 Public, Interest of, in Baggage Department 17 ** Opinion, EflTect of, on Baggage Department 22, 2A " " Railways 19 " Service, Characteristics of 31 Punches, Baggage 266 Puttiala. ( 'arriage in — Illustration 120 Rafts, Use of 13 Railways, American — Rates of 21 ** "■ —Service of 21 •* Classes of Business of 18 " EflTect of Public Opinion on 19 ** Government Ownership of — KfTect of 19 ** Principles of Baggage Business of 17 " Regulations of — Interest of Public in 17 Bates, Baggage 278 " Excess Baggage 231 404 INDEX. PAGE Rates, Express 323, 339 " Mail 3(J2 Receipts. Bao^gage— European 216 Express 345 Records, Baggage 200 " Express Traffic , 352 Reports, Baggage . (See "Returns/') Responsibility of Carriers 189 Returns, Baggage 200, 201, 268, 295, 300 —Agents' 302 " " — Examination of 266 " Baggagemen's 302 " Express Traffic 352 " Interline Baggage 262 " Monthly, of Excess Baggage 290 Revenue, Excess Baggage— Separation of 262 Richard Coeur de Leon, Baggage of 170 Risks, Limitation of 1S9 Rome, Ancient — Carriage in — Illustration 20 Roumania, Carriage in — Illustration 196 Route Agents, Express 345 Rules and Regulations, Baggage 299 Russia, Baggage Allowed in 181 " Carriage in — Illustration 188 " Eastern — Carriage in — Illustration 202 " Little — Carriage in — Illustration 166 " Mail Carriage in — Illustration 116 Samples, Commercial — Carriage of 251 Servia, C'arriage in — Illustration 184 Severn, Carriage on the — Illustration 244 Shakespeare, Use of Word " Baggage " bj' 167 Shanghai, Carriage in — Illustration 98 Silver, Carriage of 323 Singapore, (Carriage in — Illustration 78 Skins, Inflated — Use of, as Rafts 13 Sleeping Car, A. D. 183 — Illustration 314 Spain, Baggage Allowed in 1 78, 181 " " Storage < "barges in 220 " Carriage in — Illustrations 134, 204 " Responsibility for Baggage in 197 Stamps, Baggage — Payment by 243 Station Baggagemen 135 " Numbers 210 Stations at which there^are Xo Agents, Baggage Billed to.283, 295 " " " " " " Destined to. 261 DeliveringBaggageat 316 " " " " " Receiving Baggage at 316 " Baggage Facilities at 106 " Designation of 210 Statuary, Carriage of '..... 323 IXVEX. 406 PAGE Steamboat, Fulton's YirsX—Illuatration 310 Steeds, Ancient Use of 11 Storage, Baggage 277 Charges for 220 Parcels 277 Supply and Demand — Law of. Applicable to Railways 230 Switzerland, Carriage in — Illustration 80 Syria, ( "arriage on the Coast ol— Illustration 279 'tfags. Baggage —Use of 210 Tamatave, < 'arriage in — Illustration 84 Theatrical Effects, Carriage of 172 " Parties, Baggage Tickets for 247 Through Baggage 85 Tickets, Baggage — ( .'ounterfeit 249 " ** ^Couiwn Mileage 247 — Exierts 293 —Storage 287 " Corpses" 312 " Excess Baggage 278 ** ** Money Coupon 254 " Parcels 252 " Passage— Marking When Baggage < 'hecked 266 Tips r . 129 Traffic. Classes of 18, 19 " Express 321, 343, 357 " Mail 361 " Parcel 321, 343, 357 Train Baggagemen 151 Trainbov, the 157 Train, Roval, A. D. 1841— Illustration 354 Trains. Fast Freight— Effect of Use of 323 '* Freight, Charges for Baggage Carried on 295 Delivering - " " 286 " ** Forwarding " on 284 " Local, Baggage on 94 " Passenger, Carriage of Baggage on 51 " " Effect of Baggage on 51 " Suburban, Baggage on 91 ** " Parcel Traffic on 245 " Through Baggage on 93 " Variability of. Baggage on 93 Transfer Agent*. Delivery of Baggage Checks to 121 Transportation. Equitable Division of Cost of 18 " Inventors of 14 Primitive 9 Trojan War, Vessels in Time of 10 Truck, Baggage — Illustration 322 '' " Automatic Weighing 83 Trunks, Saratoga 97 Turkey, Asiatic, Carriage in — Illustration 142 406 IXDEX. PAGE Turkey, (^'arria^ in — Ehistration 230 Tyrol, Carriage in The — niustration 7& Ulysses. Rescue of 11 Unclaimed Baggage 99 Uniformity in Billing Interline Baggage 268 United States, Baggage Allowed in 179, 183 " •' '• Storage Charges in 220 " " Railway Conveniences in 20 " " Responsibility for Baggage in 190 " " Weighing Baggage in 69 Vegetables, Carriage of. 323 Vehicles, Ancients" Ideas of 13. 14 Venice, Carriage in — Illustration 250 Vessels of Time of Trojan War 10 Vienna, Carriage in — illustration 220 Watches, Carriage of 323 Water Carriage, Origin of 10 " Supplying Passenger with , 161 Way Billing Baggage. (See also ''Checking.") " 'i •• 257 " '• Express Traffic 348,349 " Bills, Baggage, (See also " Checks.'") " "' ^ 243.257.278.279.280 " " Advantages of 71.72.73,74,76, 77 " " C, O, D 265 " " Colored Paper for 273 " " Forms of 380 " *' Interline Prepaid 272 « " Local '• 272 " " " Unpaid 272 " " Objections to 73 " " " Statement of 293 Use of, in Other Countries 119 " Excess Baggage 242, 267, 269, 271, 272 " Express Traffic 350 " " Interline Baggage 240 " Local " 241 Weighing Baggage 277 '• " Automatic Truck for 83 World's Railway Commerce Congress 35 Xerxes, Baggage of 168 Yang-tse-Kiang, Carriage on the — Illustration 294 Zululand, Carriage m— Illustration {Frontispiece). THE SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS. HOW TO RUN A RAILROAD, INCLUDING ITS LOCA- TION, CAPITALIZATION, CONSTRUCTION, MAINTENANCE, OPERATION AND GOVERNMENT. ILLUSTRATED WITH SIXTEEN HUNDRED PICTURES, PORTRAYING THE INCEPTION, GROWTH AND EVOLUTION OF PRIMITIVE TRANSPORTATION. BT hA A. ¥9. SUA. 1^1^ M. ICIRKIV1A.N. VOLUMES: 1. ORGANIZATION AND FORCES. 2. FINANCING, BUILDING AND MAINTAINING. 3. OPERATION OF TRAINS. 4. PASSENGER BUSINESS. 6. FREIGHT BUSINESS. •6. BAGGAGE, EXPRESS AND ]SL\.IL BUSINESS. 7, ECONOMICAL PURCHASE, CARE AND USE OF MATERIAL. 5. ECONOMY OF RATES. PRIVATE versus GOVERNMENT CONTROL. 9. FISCAL AFFAIRS. DISBURSEMENTS. 10. FISCAL AFFAIR.S. COLLECTION OF REVENUE, AND THE PRINCIPLES GOVERNING IT. 11. GENERAL FISCAL AFFAIRS. 12. FISCAL "DUTIES OF AGENTS AND CONDUCTORS. GENERAL INDEX. Sold only in 5ets. Price of Twelve Volumes, $30.00. The World Railway Publishing Company, 353 TO 357 Dearborn Street, CHICAGO, ILL. kirkma:n^'S fiscal methods HOW A RAILROAD JIAY SAVE §120,000 A YEAR. Railways may increase the responsibility of their fiduciary agents, add clearness, accuracy and fullness to their accounts, and at the same time greatly reduce their operating expenses, by adopting Makshall M. Ktkkman's fiscal methods. The Chicago & Xorth - Western Railway effected an annual saving of $120,000 in this way. In addition to economy in clerk hire and prevention of waste of stationery, new safe- guards are thrown around the revenues of railroads and increased responsibility and effi- ciency attained in other directions. Mr. Ku-kman's rights have been acquired by The American Accounting Company of Chicago, and it is prepared to introduce his methods and otherwise organize the accounts of railways, on practical and scientific prin- ciples. Also to examine, audit and revise the fiscal methods of railways, manufacturei-s, mer- chants and other business men. American Accounting Company, 353-357 Dearborn St, Chicago, Ills. t.\t,-n. :}fjifjf:*^jf:jfjf:^^ UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 3 0112 084205589