102 HISTORY OF THE GRANGE MOVEMENT; OR, 



ticket was good, and that I was accustomed to use 

 coupons in that way upon all other roads over which I 

 travelled. He replied that ' it was no such thing ; he 

 travelled more than I did and knew all about it; ' and 

 concluded by saying that if I ' attempted to get upon 

 the cars ' he ' would put me off.' Severe remarks were 

 made by several gentlemen standing near to the con- 

 ductor during this time, to the effect that this was an- 

 other manifestation of the general spirit of insolence 

 and meanness towards passengers for which that road 

 was noted. I then purchased a ticket to Providence 

 via New Haven and Hartford, and got on board the 

 train. I felt irritated at the treatment I had received, 

 and having a constitutional objection to being brow- 

 beaten, I determined to ascertain why the practice with 

 regard to tickets on this road was so unlike that upon 

 other roads. Having had time to recover my equan- 

 imity somewhat after the cars had started, and suppos- 

 ing the conductor might be still angry and unreasonable, 

 I determined to put the case to him, as one gentleman 

 would to another, and to exercise self-control, that my 

 manner should be quiet and give him no cause for 

 offence. Accordingly, as he approached me in taking 

 up his tickets, I said, ' Mr. Conductor, there is no use 

 for you and me to quarrel about this ticket. This is a 

 plain business matter, an affair of dollars and cents 

 only. The case stands like this : I am travelling nearly 

 all the time ; and being frequently compelled to diverge 

 from the route that I intended to take in starting, I am 

 left with unused coupons. These coupons all cost me 

 money ; and by the end of the year they would accu- 

 mulate to such an extent that they would represent too 

 large a sum for me to lose.' 



