Report of Way Bills on hand uncollected at close of business

190

and explanation of other items constituting Balance due by Agent as shown in Account Current.

FIG. 10.-(Back)-Actual size 10" wide by 131" high.

foregoing is based upon a system of reports to be made monthly by agents, and it is thought that in most cases the plan will be found to give good results with a minimum of labor and expense.

One of the large items of work for the freight auditor is the revising of way-bills, which he places in the hands of competent rate clerks. The way-bills must be checked for the detection of errors made by agents. These are numerous, and consist of mathematical errors in extension and addition, as well as errors of classification.

Agents should be careful to include in the amount of charges shown on the way-bill, all payments advanced for drayage, cooperage or other extraordinary expense, as well as amounts paid, for freight charges, to connecting lines. The agents should be required to obtain a receipt for each expenditure of this kind. These vouchers when attached to and forwarded with the account current, vouch for the accuracy of the item "advanced charges on freight forwarded" and "prepaid beyond" for which the agent takes credit.

Some lines handle light or "package" freight on passenger cars while others have special fast express cars for this service; frequently wagons are used for the delivery of packages to con

signees. If a contract has been let to an express company to handle this business, the auditor of the railroad has comparatively little to do with the system of accounting in vogue. The contract with the express company may provide that the use of cars upon certain schedules will be paid for at a minimum rate per diem, with the proviso that a percentage of gross receipts in excess of a fixed sum shall revert to the railroad company. The contract may also provide for a sum to be paid the railroad station agents handling the business, based upon the charges collected on shipments to and from the stations. The contract usually provides that the railroad auditor shall have access to the express company's accounts and records in order that he may verify the receipts reported, and that is usually the extent of the work necessary in cases of this kind.

If the railroad operates its own express service, it will be found necessary to furnish shippers with tickets or tags for some articles such as milk cans, chicken coops or ice cream freezers, which may be shipped over the lines in quantities, particularly when a section of farming country is located tributary to a large city. A ticket good for the transportation of a 10 gallon can of milk or a 5 gallon freezer of cream may be sold in quantities to intending shippers. The ticket or tag is in two parts, one of which is taken up by the conductor hauling the consignment to its destination, the other being left attached to the package until it is emptied and is returning home. Newspapers are sometimes sent out in packages from the city of publication to suburban towns; gummed labels are sold, printed in multiples of five or ten pounds, to be pasted upon each package as it is weighed at the newspaper office. Trainmen are instructed to honor these "stickers" for transportation of the classes of goods specified. The express way-bill that is sent with package shipments may be similar in most respects to the four-part freight way-bill with a symbol of some kind added to identify it with the express business. The way-bill is handed to the motorman or the conductor of the car handling the shipment, and delivered by him to the agent at destination. The agents may use the same kind of records for listing the express way-bills received and forwarded as in the case of freight.

When wagon delivery is furnished, a check upon the drivers is had by means of the delivery sheet (Fig. 11). This is filled out

in ink by the station agent, who, with the driver checks the goods into the wagon, when loaded. The drivers secure the signatures of consignees to the delivery sheet and upon returning to the station office must account to the agent by returning the sheet properly signed in all cases where packages have been delivered, and by turning over the money collected. When addresses are deficient or for some other reason drivers are unable to deliver packages the way-bills are transferred from the delivery sheet to an on hand book, until such time as the correct address is received or the shipment is returned to the shipper. The delivery sheets are filed with the other station records, and are frequently a means of settling disputes when claims are made for shortage or damage.

Shippers who desire to have money collected from the consignee and returned to them, should be required to mark each and every package in the shipment with the letters C. O. D.

Then, if the way bill should become lost in transit or should not arrive at destination as soon as the freight, the goods will not be delivered by the agent, without making the proper collection. Agents should be instructed to see that cash only is accepted when C. O. D. shipments are delivered, for if the shipper doesn't care to take chances of collection, it is not advisable for the agent to accept a check which may be found worthless.

A very stout manila envelope may be used for the return of money collected upon C. O. D. shipments. If conditions are such that agents ordinarily have a reasonable amount of cash. on hand, it may be possible to dispense with the actual return of the money collected by the receiving agent to the agent who forwarded the C. O. D. shipment.

Instead, a printed letter of advice, filled in with description of the shipment and amount of C. O. D. collection will be sent to the forwarding agent by the receiving agent, after he has

actually collected the money from the consignee. This letter recites that the money has been collected and that the shipper should therefore be paid by the forwarding agent. The agent collecting the money charges himself in the account current when made up, and the agent paying the shipper takes credit in his account, attaching the letter of advice as authority for the credit taken. If the C. O. D. collections are numerous or in large amounts and not very evenly balanced between the stations sending and receiving, this plan will be found impracticable. Agents at some of the stations may not have enough cash on hand to pay the amount of C. O. D. shipments forwarded from their stations and collected at others.

As the exchange of equipment becomes more prevalent in electric railway practice, it will likely be found advisable to adopt some of the steam railway forms of agreement. When cars are exchanged by steam railways, the amount charged for rental and the liability for damages to equipment are governed by the rules of the association exercising jurisdiction in the premises.

These rules provide that a flat rate, say $1.00 per day, be charged for freight cars in the service of a foreign line. The owner is given the right to demand return of the car within a certain number of days, and to charge an additional penalty rate for each day the car is held thereafter.

When cars are in switching service, the switching line is entitled to make reclaim upon the road for which the service is performed, as an offset to the amount it is required to pay the owner for the use of the car. These are known as the per-diem rules, and in connection with the car-service charged shippers, are uniformly observed by steam roads.

CHAPTER VIII

BAGGAGE.

Notwithstanding the fact that baggage is handled for passengers in ordinary cases without a separate specified compensation, it is as carefully guarded while in the railway company's possession as the highest class of revenue-producing merchandise.

The fact that baggage is safely and cheaply handled is a feature that has done much to popularize electric railways, and to attract a considerable percentage of the traveling public.

It is generally understood that personal wearing apparel only is considered as baggage, but the lines are not always this closely drawn.

The customary rules in effect provide that baggage shall not be checked for a passenger unless he holds some form of ticket good for his own transportation.

The exceptions to the regular practice of checking a certain amount of baggage without charge, are not considered in this. discussion. The exceptional method of handling involves the use of a combination of the express and baggage systems, and varies according to local conditions.

In considering the subject of "free" baggage, the transaction between the prospective passenger and the station agent is the logical start. The passenger delivers his baggage to the agent who gives in exchange for each separate piece, a "check" which. must be presented when it is desired to reclaim the property.

If the rules provide that 150 lbs. of baggage shall be carried. free for each passenger holding a ticket, and the passenger's trunk does not exceed that weight, his ticket is punched as the check is given him, and he is not further concerned until he wishes to secure the baggage at destination.

Usually the letters B C or a distinguishing symbol is punched, stamped or written upon the ticket. This is a warning that the checking privilege granted by the purchase of that particular ticket has been exercised, and prevents an abuse of the right by designing travelers.