CLAIMS THAT MADE ME GASP!

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXVI, Issue 17756, 3 January 1920, Page 3

CLAIMS THAT MADE ME GASP!

By A RAILWAY OFFICIAL. | For some part ot my railway I career I was in the “Claims DepartIment” of a certain great line, even- | tually rising to be in charge. ' It was an experience calculated to i destroy faith in one’s fellow creatures. Notoriously, quite reputable citizens think nothing ot “doing” a railway company by travelling without a ticket or saying “Season!” without cause. Certainly, in the matter of claims for lost or damaged goods or property all classes seem to consider the company "fair game.” Small wonder if their claims are usually resisted. With my own line—and I think 'the practice is general—the “Claims Department” has power to settle claims not exceeding £2O only. Anything over this amount must be referred to the General Manager, by whom it is usually referred back, with instructions to fight, settle or compromise for no more than so much. I remember, however, once settling a £l,lOO claim on my own. HOW WE SETTLED THE CABHORSES. It was in respect ot a number ot cab-horses which had been in a col lision, some being killed, others injured. It seemed to me thatf the claim of £l,lOO was well in excess of the then market value of the average cab-horse. My own bpss and the G.M. were both away. Being young and ambitious, I decided to see what I could do on my own account. fixing £7OO as my 'limit. I found the claimant at his London home, and we chaffered until there was only £5O between us-—my maximum of £7OO, his minimum ot £750. Meanwhile a friend of his, also in the cab trade, had come in. Taking a sporting chance. I agreed to his arbitration. and he decided in my favour. The claimant, however, backed out, and, disgusted, I left, accompanied by the “friend.” 11 e were walikng along when the claimant, driving a smart dogcart, overtook us. “Hi!” shouted the "friend,” "come out of that and be a man.” Claimant pulled up, descended, and in an adjacent hostelry the matter was settled, i got an official wigging for my pains and promotion a few days later. After I had become Claims Chief I received a demand for £5,000; one table, two or three chairs—anyway, a few pieces of furniture damaged in transit. Five thousand pounds! Antiquities of great value, I surmised. and went down to see—some very homely bits of wood—plain deal, market value under ss. Then I found that these commonplace ’sticks” were the original furniture of Robert Burns' living-room, which had been going about on exhibition. However, as there had been no declaration of special value, the Company compromisd for a few pounds. LOST—A LIGHTHOUSE! Of course, things do get lost in an extraordinary manner. The old tale of the man who lost the big drum is pallid compared with that of the railway company that mislaid a lighthouse. My own company, however, has nothing to boast of, for in my own experience we were nearly successfully accused of having lost a locomotive. A Colonial Government had ordered thirteen locomotives from an English engineering firm, and it was arranged that when completed they should be hauled over our system. Later the Government in question reported to us that they had only received twelve locos., and claimed a large sum for the missing one. Our various officials had checked in and signed for thirteen engines —that was proved: High and low we searched for the missing one, but not. a trace. The Company was on the point of paying up wheif by a fluke it was discovered that ihe thirteenth engine had never been built. The "thirteenth” signed for was our own hauling locomotive.