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Science of Railways Vol 5 Passenge Baggage Express and Mail Service 1904
The Science of Railways Passenger, Baggage Express and Mail Service By Marshall Kirkman 1894, 1904 Hard Cover 609 Pages Forming one of the 12 volumes of the revised and enlarged edition of The Science of Railways.
Principles, methods and needs of the baggage traffic, legal status of carriers, practices and governing principles of various countries, receiving checking insuring carrying storing & delivering baggage, peculiarities and details of the business, the express and mail traffic described, fiscal methods with illustrations of the inception growth and evolution of primitive transportation.
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, consequently, 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 English 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 savages 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 volumes, the methods of carriage in vogue today in many parts of the world are quite as crude as those used by the ancients.
PREFACE
The accompanying volume represents the practical experience and observation of nearly half a century of work. In writing it I have not sought so much to be original as practical; to write something that, while it might not be the best solution of the subjects treated, yet would be a safe guide to follow. I may say further, that I have not been satisfied to simply recount my own experience, but have sought to supplement it with the experience and wisdom of others, and it is upon the latter ground largely that I venture to offer this volume to railway men.
While the principles underlying the operations of railroads are alike, their methods of business vary. But knowledge of the practices of one renders it easier to acquire knowledge of those of another. Hence the value of descriptive books of this character. While this volume may be used as a handbook, it was designed primarily as a book of reference. As already stated in its preparation I have supplemented such personal knowledge as I have by reference to the best authorities within my reach.
The first books I wrote lacked perspective. They assumed too much. Took too much for granted. They jumped into the middle of subjects much as a man might fall into an unprotected cistern on a dark night. They made no attempt to explain the matter in hand before formulating the rules governing it; made no attempt to prepare the reader's mind for what was to follow. They were glaringly at fault in this respect. This is the reason why I have permitted them, one and all, to lapse. They did not suit me. I fear I shall never write one that does.
The rules and regulations of railways should be made a medium of instruction to those who seek to learn railway work. Explanation should accompany direction.
Only those who give the most profound thought to the philosophy and practice of corporate life can understand or appreciate its subtleties, its complexity of purpose and method. Explanation is essential in many instances, even to experts in routine work. Wherever it is omitted, the reader must supply it unaided or the writer must weave it into each rule; it is because writers seek to do the latter that the so-called manuals of railroads are so tiresome to read, so difficult to understand or remember. They are verbose without method, prolix without plainness. Much that I have to say in this book, it will be noticed, is of a preparatory nature. I do not write from the standpoint of the manualist.
The growth of the rules and regulations affecting the ticket business has been very slow, just as progress has been slow in other departments of railway service.
In the accompanying rules and regulations I do not attempt to separate those that relate to accounts from those that relate to traffic. They are in many respects inseparable, so intimately blended, in fact, that it is impossible to assign them definitely to either branch of the service. I, therefore, group them together.
In the accompanying volume I assume, for convenience, that the official affairs relating to tickets are subject to the disposition of an officer known as " ticket auditor."* Upon many roads such an officer is unknown. However, this fact does not change the necessities of the case. Someone must perform the duties. It will, therefore, be understood that whoever this person happens to be, he is recognized herein as the ticket auditor.
The accompanying rules provide that the fiscal affairs of agents and conductors shall be closed on the last day of each month, the amount standing to the debit or credit of each agent or conductor at that time being entered on the journals and general books of the company. However, these rules are not confined to any particular system or practice; they will be found to apply substantially and generally to both daily and weekly systems; they are neither provincial, special nor personal. They are fundamental; such as the requirements of the passenger service demand, without reference to the devices or methods of particular roads.
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