SOME RAILWAY POINTS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 4, Issue 195, 15 June 1861, Page 8

SOME RAILWAY POINTS.

*",.'■ [From Alt- the . Tear JRound.] Wje have had occasion to see and hear a good deal along the line of this railway, and that, as doing our part towards making tip the six hundred and forty million of journeys performed by rail every year in the United Kingdom. We were not among the victims of that paternal wrath whereof we have read in one of the reports of Captain Galton, Government Railway Inspector. *• A girl who was in love with the engine-driver of a train, had engaged to run away from her father's house in order to be married. She arranged to leave by a train this man was driving. Her father and brother got intelligence of her intended escape ; and having missed catching her as she got into the train, they contrived, whether with or without the assistance of a porter is not % very clear, to turn the train through facing points, as it left the station, into a bog." The report omits to state the result of this daring scheme for stopping a runaway couple. We know something about stations, and the state of things behind the pigeon-holes at which you pay your fare. When the traveller by rail having reached his journey's end gives up his ticket, he has done with it, but the pasteboard has a great deal more to go through. The company having got it back again, has a watchful eye to its future career. All tickets anywhere collected, are made up daily into bundles ; duly scheduled as to their number, class, and station. These bundles are despatched to tbe audit office. There they are checked by the returns sent in from all stations at which tickets were issued. If any are missing, notice is sent to the station where they should have been collected, and the reason of their absence is required. In the case of through tickets — that is, of tickets issued between two stations on different lines, as between London and Scarbro' — both tickets and returns are forwarded to the railway clearing house, to be there checked, and for the mileage division due to each company on such traffic to be declared. The young gentleman of pleasing manners, who hands you your ticket through ' a pigeon-hole, and flings about sovereigns and silver as if coin came as natural to him as. mud comes to a hippopotamus, has a few duties to keep him awake while you are travelling. After, issuing a couple of hundred tickets to fifty or sixty different stations, each paid for at a different rate, he has to make up his train book, and balance his cash to a farthing. When he opens his ticket case, and throws up his little window to begin booking a train, his tickets are all smoothly arranged in their cases ; while on a slip of slate above each set of tickets is marked the number for that set's particular station — that is to say, the number printed on the next ticket that •will be issued to the public.** When he takes a ticket out of one of these compartments, and, after pushing it into a press to date it, hands it to the passenger by a quick movement, of the finger, he at the same time half draws out the next ticket, and so on with each case till he has booked the whole train. The half-drawn tickets left when'he comes to make up his account, show him at a glance not only to what stations there have been issues, and so save him the necessity of going through his entire case of, tickets, but their numbers compared with the commencing numbers on the slips of slate, at once give the number of each sort of intermediate ticket issued. These are what he has got to account for, and to balance with the cash he has received. That duty done, he is at liberty to turn his attention to some of the interminable returns required, either by audit, clearing house, or parliament ; from one or another of which he is seldom free, till the:time comes for him to book the next batch of .passengers.' 0 We are glad' to know that one northern railway company has for some time p^st-r employed at some -of its stations women as booking ccilerks; -. - ■ '. ■'■•-' •••' ■-■ * '■■ -I

The different systems of 'check and audit employed by. large companies 'againist ihe 1 ? not only of the pub- J lie; 5 but- of their own servants', are very' Complicated. In the old days of great dividends paid: out of little profit, everything wa ,s taken for granted more than it is now; the Honesty of men who stood well with *c world was held to be. unimpeachable ; andfigrires were .believed in. One after : another, .great exposures shook this confi- , 4?sg?»^ il * ib y the- slow growth of year s a C t^ s W-^ d s y«tem of check and counter- ?■ i mmo^s™gM*» the/hisheat official W:Ws°y* est > working in and out from one '■: s^f^# S»%?» *wa tais department to

that department,; has; come into use. Whether in all cases its end is answered, there, is some reason to doubt.

There is one well known weak point. No railway company can set up a complete check against dishonesty in dealing withthe excess fares, which at a principal sta-^ tion amount to a large sum in the course< of a month. Mr. Twiddle takes a second-, class ticket, but for some reason choosesto take part of his journey in a first-class carriage; or, he takes a third-class. return ticket, and chooses to make the return journey by second class. At his journey's end, the ticket-collector demands of him payment for the difference between the two fares. The differences thus collected are known as '• excess fares," and are supposed to be paid with due particulars by the man who collects them. But what if he pays in only three-fourths ; or even one-half, of what he receives, who is the wiser ? There is no regular check upon him, and that large gains have been made in this way by collectors in different parts of the country, is a well-ascertained fact in railway history. Still, the game is a dangerous one to play ; the system of detection being to employ a man, personally unknown to guards and collectors, to take his ticket as an ordinary passenger, but travels part of the way in a different class, so as to be mulcted in excess. A note of the amount paid is taken, and should the collector not account for it accurately, he suffers immediate expulsion. In spite of all precautions used by railway companies to insure themselves against frauds and dishonest passengers, cases are now and then disclosed which go to prove how impossible it is to guard every loophole against ingenious trickery. For cx r ample : It is customary with all -railway: companies to issue half yearly or annual tickets to persons travelling frequently between any two stations. Mr. 8., a man holding a respectable position in society, and living about ten miles out of London was. for two years the purchaser of an annual ticket from a certain company ; and as he travelled to and fro every day, his face was soon so well known to guards and collectors that he was seldom called upon to show his ticket. At the end of the second year, instead of purchasing a third annual ticket, he had a ticket manufactured similar in appearance to those issued by the manager of the company, and with that gentleman's signature neatly forged on the back. With this forged ticket Mr. B. succeeded in travelling daily for nine months between' his house and London. It was only through his losing it in a cab — through which accident it got into the superintendent's hands — that the fraud was discovered.

The proceeds of the sales by auction of left property to which owners cannot be found, serve in some measure to reimburse the railway companies for their numerous losses by thieves. Notwithstanding all vigilance, and abundant means at command in the way of detectives and policemen, robberies on railways are very common; not merely robberies from, the person, or of travellers' luggage, but systematic andskilfully planned robberies from merchandise trucks, while in transit.- In many cases, of course the thief or thieves — for there are sometimes gangs of men connected with such depredations— are detected ; .but it frequently happens that in spite of all inquiries and precautions, goods are purloined no one can tell how or where. Cloth, silk raw and manufactured, fancy goods of all kinds, hampers of game, fruit, boots and shoes, wines, and even cheese vanish mysteriously. For the more valuable classes of goods, lock-up trucks with iron roofs are now coming into general use, and they are protection against fire as well as, robbery. In one case the thief was killed in the very act of robbery. The wagon robbed, formed one of a train from London to the north, which had to be shunted into a certain siding about two o'clock every morning, until the mail train passed. The siding was on the top of a very high embankment, arid lay open on both sides to the' fields. The train had been -robbed once or twice a week for two months or more, and all 'the vigilance of the officials was at fault in the endeavour* to detect the culprit. But he was found at daybreak one winter morning, a mangled mass ; lying across the rails of the siding, with the* contents of a caddy of tea, which he hach taken out of the truck, scattered about him.* 1 - He had clambered up the embank*: ment while the train was waiting^ Had. Un - fastened the sheet of the truck, had crepjinside, and picked ou t a cadjdy of tea. But, while in tfie act of getting down, the engine had given a sudden ;jerk at the' train, causing him to lose hi* footing/ So,

he fell between the wagons, of which several passed over his body.

A series of mysterious cheese robberies took place some years ago, and were never detected. Three or four times a week, for several months, one or two cheeses would be taken out of a train of twenty or more trucks, all laden with cheese. As a last resource a man was put into one of the -trucks, speeted over, and sent on a dreary journey of one hundred and fifty miles, armed with a dark lantern, and a policeman's truncheon. But though the thefts continued, no thief ever came near the truck in which the man lay hidden. These robberies ceased as mysteriously as they had begun, when cheese enough to stock a small warehouse had been stolen.

One of the most daring railway robberies on record was a robbery of passengers' luggage that took place several years ago, on one of the metropolitan lines. The London season having come to an end, a noble •family left town for the east coast. The boxes and packages were large and nu-_ merous. There was a brass-bound box, containinga selection of plate. Instructions were given for this box to be put under a seat in a carriage ; but, as it was too large to be so placed, it was packed on the roof with the rest of the luggage ; the whole being protected by a tarpaulin cover, carefully fastened down. The train was the afternoon express, which stopped only at three or four large stations during the whole of the journey, and arrived at its destination two hours after dark. On the arrival of the train, it was found that the brass-bound box had been robbed, in transit, of a considerable part of its contents. Upon investigation of the case, it appeared that a person not altogether unknown to the police, had been seen lounging about the London platform before the starting of the train. Immediately after it was gone, he telegraphed in cypher to a certain station in the country. When the train arrived at this station, it was joined by the person who received the message, and who was shown by the guard into an empty compartment. As soon as it was dark, this man must have opened the door of his compartment, and while the train was going at a speed of forty miles an hour, must have tra versed whatever number ofcatriages there may have been between him and the box; must have mounted to the roof of the carriage ; must have unfastened the tarpaulin ; picked out the. box from' among twenty other heavy packages ;. forced it open, and disposed of as much of its contents about his person as he could remove ; finally he must have refastened the tarpaulin, and got back safe and unseen to his . own carriage. Encumbered with a somewhat bulky portmanteau, he quitted the train at the next station, unsuspected.

By mail train there arrived one night at a certain station in the north of England, a large hamper, booked as containing a live dog, and addressed to a clergyman in Lincolnshire. The hamper was taken into the parcels' office, to await the departure of the train by which it was to go forward. [The clerks, as soon as they had ten minutes to spare, being curious, as it became them to be, concerning the breed and culture of dogs, unfastened the hamper, which was merely tied with a piece of thick string, No sooner was the lid fairly opened, than the specimen, with a loud snarl, and a yell of as much terror, as anger, sprang clean out of the hamper, cleared the office in two bounds, and sped away down the platform at his swiftest. Chase was immediately given, joined in by all the guards and porters about, but the dog was irretrievably gone — swallowed up by darkness — far away in two minutes among sidings, and waggons, and dead engines, where pursuit was useless. What was to be done ? the dog had certainly been received, and it would not do to send the hamper forward empty.

Blank despair overwhelmed the clerks, till a whispered sugges|ion came at length I from one of them : " Why not sedd Nipper V* Nipper was a rough and venerable animal, of all sorts of breed, who lived by prowling round the station, taking all the kicks he got in hope of victuals. He was a desperate -old thief, and he looked as disreputable as he 1 was. But the case was an extreme one, and accordingly Nipper was hunted up from his snooze in the

■ — Rcloak-room, was feasted sumptuously, "and I was- decorated with a pink ribbon fastened rcjtrnd his neck, ;and tied in a bow under :hisl.chin,~ to show that be was out. for holi'•d'ays. Thus prepared for travel, he was \ carefully packed up in the hamper, which 'was Forwarded to its address, by the next j train. -No complaint, we believe, was. ever made to the railway, and we hope that, for ' the sake of the fiieud who. did not send him,

Nipper diedin clover, after haying -won, as the clergyman's dog, respect thro fl^feut his parish. „ ■.'-'-.

New Zealand Sheep. — A Very important sale of sheep ( pure Spanish merinoea and Saxony merinoes) was held on Tuesday the sth May, at Messrs. Miles and Co.'s stores, in Flinderslane West. These animals were imported here by G. Rich, Esq., of Mount Eden, Auckland, a breeder eminent for his judgment, and - wellknown for the value of his well-selected and highbred stock. Mr. J. G. Doughart (of the firm of Kaye and Butchart) was the auctioneer on the occasion. Many of the principal breeders, and some of the -wealthiest settlers in the Australian colonies, were present at the sale, and amongst the buyers were Messrs. De Sailly, T. Chirnside, Fenton, Chave, Winter, Walter Clark (of Clark and M'Leay,) Hawdon, Morgan and Mackintosh, M'Pherson, the Bogan River Company, and Dr. Rowe. The auctioneer stated it to be his belief that these sheep were capable (if fairly introduced into this country) of increasing the growth of .-wool on the sheep of the colony fully 40 per cent. The bidding was very spirited for the greater part of the lots, but we regret to state that the greater number and the best animals were bought for the New South Wales settlers. Two pure-bred Spanish Merino rams, imported per Constance, and selected by Mr. Rich from a renowned flock on the borders of Prussia, fetched the highest price, Messrs. De Sailly, of the Billabong River, N.8.W,, being the purchaser of the one that fetched the top figure, £90- and Dr. Rowe, of the Terricks, on the Murray, Victoria, secured the other at £61. Messrs. De Sailly also purchased a pure Spanish Merino ewe and lamb for £80, and besides 12 Spanish ram lambs at £28 each, several pure Saxony Merino rams, the price of one of them being £44. Mr, T. Chirnside, of the Werribee, and Mr. J. P. Chirnside, of East Charlton, on the Avoca, were also purchasers of the Spanish Merino blood. The ewe and ram lambs sold were bred by Mr. Rich, by pure Spanish Merino rams out of Saxony merino ewes. Thirty- four of the rams sold were of the very highest class. This importation has attracted considerable attention for the breeders of Victoria, but perhaps scarcely so much competition was shown as might reasonably have been expected to secure a cross for our sheep which may increase the revenue of our woolgrowers by a very large per centage. Mr. Rich's flock is not extensive, but very select and carefully bred flocks may occasionally aff'rd us a benefL-ial change with the blood we at present affect, and if the next draft from his farm in JSFew Zealand do not fetch higher prices than were realised at yesterday's sale we shall certainly be surprised, for there can be no question that the breed of Mr. Rich's sheep is undeniable, and is recognised as being of the very highest class by the Lost important breeders of the animals all over the continent of Europe. -Melbourne Argus. Mauve Dye. — Hollyhock leaves make a beautiful dyf. G-uther the faded leaves of the darlc maroon colored hollyhock, single or double flowers ; place a iacgu handful into about a quart of water with a piece of alum the size of a filbert ; let it simmer down to about the quantity ; dip ribbons, cashmere, woolleus, or silk, in the liquid and you will obtain the fashionable tint called " mauve ; " ribbons should be wrapped in a piece of white calico or linen, so as to dry gradually and evenly.

A University wag posted, up the other day an announcement of a lecture by Dr. Ingleby who is somewhat famous for his peculiarly haf d language) on "The Profound Analogy between the First Predicates of the Inconsequential in Relation to the Indefinite Phase of the Incomprehensible." TJBAVELLERS MEET WITH STiIANGE BEDFELLOWS. — A certain judge was once obliged to double with an Irishman, in a crowded hotel, when the following conversation ensued : — " Pat, you would have remained a long time in the old country before you would have slept with a judge, would you not ? " " Yes, yev honour," said Pat, " and [ think yer honour would have been'a long time in the old country before ye'd been a judge too." Taking the Conceit oitt of Him. — A story of a quiet rebuke is current in the " East Nuik of Fife," and told of a minister, Mr. Shirra, a man well remembered for many excellent and some eccentric qualities. An officer of a volunteer corps on .duty in the place, very proud.of his fresh uniform, had come to Mr. Slurra's church, and walked about as if looking for a seat, but in fact to show off his dress, which he saw was attracting the attention of some of the less grave members of the congregation. He came to his place, however, rather quickly, on Mr. Shirra quietly remonstrating, " O man, will ye sit doun, and we'll sec your new breeks when the kirk!s dune."

Kitchen Odours.^— The unpleasant odours arising from boiling ham, cabbages, &c> ia corrected by throwing whole red pepperfe into the pot — at the same time that the flavor of the food is improved. Pieces of chareoal 4 wjUl. produce the same effect as to the odour. > -> '