US163462A - Improvement in railroad-tickets - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

E. REZEAU COOK, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENTIN RAILROAD-TICKETS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. l63,462,'dated May 18, 1875; application riled July 19,1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, E. REZEAU Cook, of Trenton, New Jersey, have invented an Improved Railroad-Ticket, of which the following is a specification z The object of my invention is to prevent conductors from defrauding either railroadcompanies or passengers in way-fares; and I attain this object by the use of the couponticket illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which has rows of numbers, indicating successive sums of money, between any of which the ticket may be torn off, leaving one portion, A, as a coupon, to indicate to the proper officer the amount of fare received by the conductor, while the other portion, B, has the exact sum paid as fare marked upon it, and is a guarantee to the passenger that he has not been overcharged bythe conductor.

There are two rows of coupons and collumns of figures, a.' and y, the former indicating dollars, the latter cents, and the spaces between the columns and between the several gures in each column are perforated or scored, so as to permit the ticket to be torn off at any of the said points. Below the rows of figures, and on the part ot' the ticket to be given to, and retained by, the passenger are explanatory sentences anda dial, the latter having the hours and minutes marked upon it, and surrounding the same are two concentric circles for the months and days of the month, and four smaller circles, upon which are marked letters indicating the points of the compass.

The tickets are bound in a book, which is given to the conductor, and are intended for way or through passengers who have neglected to buy their tickets before entering the cars. On receiving a fare the conductor tears oli' a ticket, through the two columns of figures, at a point which will indicate at 'the end ot' the detached part the exact and the direction in which the train is moving.

In the ticket illustrated in the drawing,

for instance, which has been divided at the angular line z, the coupon, or series of coupons A remaining in the book will indicate to the proper officer, when the conductor makes his return, that the sum of three dollars and fifty cents has been received, and is to be accounted for, while the detached portion Bis a receipt to the passenger for the same amount paid on a train moving south, and leaving a certain station at 8.16 A. M. on the 7th day of June.

In the arrangement as shown in the drawing a punch for the minutes, outside the dial, indicates A. M., while, it' the punching be done inside the dial, P. M. is indicated.Y

rlhe punched coupon-ticket is a check upon both conductor and passenger, for the latter can ascertain at a glance whether the conductor has given him a new or an old ticket, while the conductor can as readily detectl au old ticket attempted to be passed upon him by a passenger. I prefer to tear oft' the ticket, so that the portion given to the passenger shall indicate the exact amount ot" fare paid, and the coupon remaining in the book a greater than the proper amount, as the companys officers can more readily make the proper calculations than the passenger, but this is immaterial. If desired, however, the coupon portion ofthe ticket may be printed upon the back also, with the iigures moved up one step, so that the said tigures upon the back will indicate the exact fare received for the detached ticket.

I claim- 1. The coupon-ticket provided with detachable dollar spaces, and detachable cent spaces, arranged in die'rent detachable columns, as shown and described.

2. A railroad way-ticket, provided with de-v E. REZEAU COOK. WVitnesses:

WM. A. STEEL, HARRY SMITH.

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