by deducting the amounts reported to lines not used in the changed routing, from the next month's reports.

A uniform interline passage ticket has been the subject of much discussion on the part of steam railway traffic officials and accountants. The greatest precautions must be taken to prevent fraudulent manipulation. The use of an approved safety paper is generally considered essential, and when writing. must be done by agents, a particular grade of ink should be used. An ink made in Japan by a secret process is said to be used in that country on all government records. It has been found that it resists all attempts at alteration.

It is desirable that roads doing an interline passenger business should agree upon a few standard tickets, of the forms requiring very little writing on the part of agents. This will minimize. the liability of error and facilitate settlements.

If one car and crew runs over two lines from starting point to destination it is sometimes thought advisable to make but one collection for the entire trip from through passengers paying cash fare. A means must then be provided for making interline settlements of the cash collections. This is done by having conductors issue a receipt for each fare paid. The receipt has two audit stubs that are punched simultaneously with the part given the passenger and in the same relative places. One of these audit stubs is received by each of the lines interested in the cash fare. When reports of cash collections are received from the collecting line they are verified by comparison with the audit stubs.

The accounting for charges on excess (paid) baggage checked on interline tickets does not materially differ from the plan used in making ticket settlements.

If the baggage travels over two lines only, the receiving line will possess the checks detached from the baggage, to use in verifying reports made by the forwarding line. As extra baggage coupons are not ordinarily provided for each line handling a trunk traveling over three or more lines to reach destination, agents' or conductors' "passing" reports must be used. The intermediate line will have no coupon to show that it has handled the baggage, and omissions or errors in forwarding lines' reports will be located by comparison with the reports of its own employes.

CHAPTER X.

INTERLINE FREIGHT ACCOUNTING.

The freight shipment that travels over two or more lines to reach its destination is handled by interline or "through" billing. The methods of accounting for this business are determined by the agreements which have been made between the officials of the lines concerned. These agreements specify that "audit office" or "junction" settlements of freight collections shall be made.

An audit office plan of settlement is usually desired by the railroad's traffic officials, whose duty it is to increase the business of the line, for the reason that this plan sometimes saves a certain amount of delay in handling freight at terminals. The traffic official is thus enabled to promise prompt delivery to final destination. On the other hand the road may not wish to extend credit to a connection not financially strong, and the junction settlement plan will be insisted upon. Another item usually taken into consideration, when deciding upon the method of settlement, is the relative amount of work that will devolve upon junction agents and the auditor.

The audit office system of accounting for freight traveling over only two lines will be described, based upon the use of a five part way-bill (Fig. 20) for each shipment. All of the parts are written simultaneously by the forwarding agent, and thus considerable labor and expense is saved to the lines handling the shipment.

In addition to the four parts used as original way-bill, expense bill, forwarding agent's file copy and forwarding line's audit copy, there is an additional copy which is furnished to the auditor of the line receiving the shipment. This may be sent to him by the forwarding agent, or the two audit copies may be sent to the home" auditor, who will in turn forward the extra copy to the auditor of the "foreign " line.

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If the shipment moves over three or more lines, the intermediate lines handling it should be furnished by the forwarding line, with a record of the shipments. This record may consist

of an extra impression copy of the way-bill, or a daily abstract of shipments forwarded. The information should be furnished promptly in order that intermediate lines may have a basis

When Consignee pays freight charges delivering agent will sign and give this expense bill to Consignee.

Car Number

ORIGINAL FREIGHT BILL SHOULD ACCOMPANY ALL CLAIMS FOR OVER-CHARGE LOSS OR DAMAGE AND BE
PRESENTED WITHIN 5 DAYS, FROM DATE OF SHIPMENT.

Central Traction Co.--Eastern Traction Co.

This W-B of freight must go with shipment to be held by delivering agent.

This blank used only in billing freight between stations on Central Traction Co. and Eastern Traction-Co,

FIG. 20.-Actual size 8′′ wide by 6" high.

for computing daily earnings, including their prorata proportion of revenue earned on interline freight.

The audit office settlements between companies, for freight charges collected on interline shipments, are made on the basis

Car

Number.----

FOREIGN WAY-BILL.

Way-Bill
Number

A.

Central Traction Co.--Eastern Traction Co.

Billing Agent must forward this copy to Auditor Central Traction Co.

FOREIGN WAY-BILL.

Way-Bill

Number A______

Central Traction Co.--Eastern Traction Co.

Billing Agent will forward this copy to Auditor Eastern Traction Co.

Central Traction Co. - - Eastern Traction Co.

This copy to be held by forwarding agent for his file:

of agents' abstracts, supported by the copies of way-bills. In order that unnecessary duplication be avoided, it is usually agreed that the company upon whose line is located the final destination of a shipment, shall render a report to the line forwarding, and to all intermediate lines that handle it. The report is made up by the receiving agent in the following manner thus avoiding the necessity of rewriting the report in the auditors office.

Interline way-bills received are listed by the receiving agent, in his abstract of interline way-bills received. This abstract is written up daily. The agent keeps separate sheets for each line from which shipments are received, and lists the way-bills, grouping the shipments originating from each particular station, under the proper heading. Two or more impression copies of the abstract are made by the agent, dependent upon the number of lines over which shipments have traveled. These copies are sent to the auditor. After the auditor has verified the figures in the abstract, one of the copies is sent to each road affected. Accompanying the abstract is a recapitulation or settlement sheet (Fig. 21). These sheets are provided with columns for indicating the rateable proportion due each line that has handled the shipment. The settlement sheets are made up in the auditors office; the amount of revenue due each line is usually fixed upon a percentage basis, each road receiving the proportion to which it is entitled by reason of the mileage traversed by shipments. The division of revenue is sometimes further influenced by the inclusion of arbitrary terminal charges, bridge tolls, etc.

When interline way-bills are forwarded, the agent lists them, under destination headings, in his abstract of interline way-bills forwarded.

At the end of the month, columns are totaled, a recapitulation is made, and an impression copy of the abstract is forwarded. to the auditor.

The auditor of the forwarding and of each intermediate line receives from the auditor of the receiving line, the report of interline way-bills received by the latter and proceeds to check its accuracy. If the auditor checking, is not on an intermediate line in this case, the checking may be accomplished by comparing with the report, his own agents' abstracts of interline