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Show IN RAILWAY CIRCLES ... MISSING WAYBILLS WITH A SALT LAKE CONNECTION. A Wild-Kyed Official Who Wilf Pay Liberally for Them But They Are Believed to Be In Possession of the Interstate Commerce Commission Commis-sion Western Freight Mate to Be Iicued Headlight Flashes from Far and Xear. The Chicago Herald of the 1st inst. publishes pub-lishes the following, which may be of interest inter-est to certain railroad officials of this city: A wild-eyed railroad official was ransacking ransack-ing the city yesterday for a bundle of missing miss-ing waybills. He had been authorized to offer any sum up to 110,000 for their return, with a more than probability of having his oivn fat salary discontinued unless bis quest Was successful. The lost waybills were not the usual iunocent yellow paper, covered with scrawls of figures and letters representing represent-ing the starting point and destination of freight and the rates charged. These much sought waybills were built on plans and specifications not furnished by the interstate commerce commission. They were adorned with bay windows consisting of vouchers for rebate, and expense bills showing how and why the rates were cut. The interstate commerce act has decreed that waybills shall be only of the gothic style of architecture. All such modern frills as rebates and cut-rates are frowned down Upon to the tunc of two years in the penitentiary peni-tentiary and $0000 fins for the offending architect. The official who was responsible for adding these unlawful frills to the way- Ibiilj was more perturbed at their loss because be-cause he had reason to believe the interstate commerce commission would have occasion to liarsMy criticise their forbidden architecture. architec-ture. It was the old story of the $50- I a-month clerk trusted with important I secrets and then refused a $10-a-I month advance in wagns. At least no ' other explanation of the loss of the way bills is t hand. It is practically certain that they were stolen from motives of revenge, re-venge, and it is equally certain that the revenge re-venge will not be complete unless they are put in the hands of the interstate commerce commission. The interested official is even now trying to figure out his line of defense ' when he is hauled up before the commission. He doesn't know that the commission has or ' will have the waybills, but he does know that he has 10,000 large dollars that he will pay for their return. A pointer that the commission Is already in possession of the waybills came from Salt Lake City yesterday afternoon. The traveling members were to try the case of the Salt Lake City board of trade asrainst transcontinental lines fur making, higher rates from Chicago to Salt Lake than from Chicago to San Francisco. In the light of previous decisions, the hearing could hardly have taken more than a day or two, leaving plenty of time to arrive in Chicago before Judge Gresham delivers his decision on. compelling witnesses to testify in the case against the Illinois Steel company. But Commissioners Veazey, McDill and Clement postponed ' the Salt Lake case indefinitely in-definitely without ostensible reason, unless it was to look over the lost waybills. There are a couple of hundred of the bills altogether, alto-gether, each adorned with full proof that rates were cut. Any tip as to their whereabouts, where-abouts, if not with the commission, will remove re-move a load of irloom from the shoulders of 'he interested official. . a |