“FUNNY BUSINESS”

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 592, 19 February 1929, Page 9

“FUNNY BUSINESS”

TRAVELLER TILTS AT RAILWAYS BRIBERY-BLACK LISTING “Seats are being reserved twice | over. “Frequently ‘fully booked’ trains leave with ‘reserved’ seats unoccupied. “We are satisfied that there ts wangling going on somewhere." made this morning by an experience*! j commercial travell« r—a constant user of the railway services throughout N’mv j Zealand, who called at The Sun office. ! Ho delivered a strong criticism of I the railway booking system, expressing ! the opinion that for some time “some | funny business had been going on In preferring to remain anonymous !ho ccntended, further, that black-list- ; ing existed. “If you publish my name I they would make a note of the scat | I am to occupy to-morrow night on the Limited and see I was given poor attention.” he said. “HAD BEEN ROTTEN” The existence of the present trouble became apparent about three years ago. and it had been growing worse. Duplication of reserves from both the Wellington and the Auckland ends was a common thing, and the unfortunate traveller who was the victim |of this ’mistake’ found it expedient ito cross someone palm’s with silver Ito obtain a comfortable seat elsewhere. “I had that experience two nights ago. and I will go as far as to say that, at present, one can never be sure that one’s booked seat will be vacant and waiting.” “I am by no means the only one. A prominent stockbroker travelling from Wellington the other day took bisreserved seat and was afterwards asked to vacate it as another person had booked it at an earlier date. “The stockbroker refused to leave. “ ‘You will be made to,* lie was told. “GET A POLICEMAN" “ Well,’ he replied, ‘you can go ahead and get a policeman, and make a cas«* of it if you like. I am sick and tired of this duplication business. I was given this seat by the clerk and I shall stick to it.’ “They let it go at that. ‘When Last I travelled from Wellington no fewer than four people out of the 16 in my compartment had been messed up over their reserves.” One found, he added, that quite a number of seats marked “reserved” were not taken when the train left. A man would be told that the good scats were all booked. He would then find it expedient to slip half a crown to someone, whereupon, in' some mysterious way, a seat was found for him. QUITE RIDICULOUS NO BLACK LIST EXISTS STATIONMASTER’S SPIRITED REPLY “it is quite ridiculous to talk of a ‘black list’ existing among railway workers,” said Mr- J. Adams, stationmaster at Auckland, when the complaints were submitted to him by :i Sun man this morning. “Black-listing docs not exist at all“As to the statement that seats will bo ‘found’ if half-a-crown is slipped to someone, that is a grossly unfair felur on the railway staft. It is Cue duty of the person who makes such an allegation to come forward and give the department specific instances «*t any such breaches of regulations. That is one thing we are trying hard lu catch, and if the department prov, s such a thing the official concerned will be dealt with. PUBLIC TO BLAME “In most cases,” said Air. Adam “tipping—if it does exist —is encouraged by those members of the travelling public who attempt to get behind the regulations by bribery, known: all the while that it is- illegal according to the department’s regulations. “Let this man come to me and give me a definite case. It is very easy to talk through a newspaper from behind a veil of anonymity. “As to duplication of reserved seats, there is very little trouble experienced,” said Mr. Adams, “and any cases that occur are adjusted before the departure of the train. At rush periods, such as Christmas and Luster, it is | easy to understand that there is more* ! trouble, owing to the. substitution of longitudinal for chair oars. JPasseni gers are sometimes dissatisfied then, ; but we can only do our best.” EVIDENCE OF RECORDS The railway books in which « duplicated reserves are llstoi displayed. Out of the hundi • people who had travelled on the presses over a period of two week only three cases of duplicated reserves had occurred.