NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD, Instructions to Station Agents. OCTOBER, 1881. gWABD W. NOLAN \'.\U\\\ NORTHERN PACIFIC R, R AUDITOR'S OFFICE, St. Paul, Minn., Oct. 25, 1881. To Station Agent:. . To insure uniformity in reporting to this office, and for the information of all Agents, the follow- ing instructions have been prepared : Reports Required from Station Agents. 1 . Copies of all Way-Bills of Freight Forwarded. 2. Copies of all Corrections of Way-Bills. 3. Copies of Elevator Weights of Bulk Grain. 4. Daily Balance Sheets. 5. Monthly Balance Sheets. 6. Monthly Report of Freight Forwarded. 7. Monthly Report of Freight Received. 8. Monthly Report of Local Ticket Sales. 9. Monthly Report of Coupon Ticket Sales. 10. Monthly Report of Extra Baggage Collections. 1 1 . Monthly Abstract of Commodities Forwarded . 12. Monthly Report of Tonnage Forwarded. 13. Monthly Report of Tonnage Received. Station Books. The principal books of a Station are the Cash Book, Freight Eeceived Book, and Freight For- warded Book, and in addition, at the larger sta- tions, a Freight Receipt Book. REPORTS AND REPORTING Way-Bills. Copies of Way- Bills must be forwarded to this office daily, either impression copies or the green sheets provided for the purpose, care being taken in all cases, where impression sheets are used, to see that they are readable. Corrections. The Agent making a correction on a Way-Bill must, in all cases, notify this office, and all others interested. Elevator Weights Bulk Grain. Agents shipping bulk wheat, where the actual weight cannot be arrived at, will way-bill the same as One Car Bulk Wheat, leaving weight and charges blank. The Receiving Agent will notify the Forwarding Agent and this office of the weight of grain received. The Forwarding Agent will then enter such weights in his Freight Forwarded book and extend the proper charges. In case re- 3 turns are not in for all cars shipped when the time comes for making report, agents will enter the number and date of way-bill and forward report to this office, where the necessary additions will be made. Daily Balance Sheet. This report is intended to show the financial condition of the station each day, and to be used as a basis for arriving at the earnings for any given time ; it must be carefully prepared in accordance with printed instructions thereon, and should show the same result at the close of the month as the monthly balance sheet. The Traveling Auditors are instructed and required to compare these bal- ance sheets with the books, and to treat discrepan- cies as intentional misrepresentations. This Bal- ance Sheet must be forwarded to this office daily. Monthly Balance Sheet and Freight N Re- eeived Report The monthly report of Freight Received and Monthly Balance Sheet must be made up on the last day of each month, and forwarded by the first train thereafter. The first must give a complete abstract, in station order, of all way-bills received during the month, and must also show a recapitu- lation of the business, by stations, the totals of which must agree with the Freight Received book. The Monthly Balance Sheet must give a complete financial statement of the business of the station for the month. All uncollected freight must be carefully listed in the space pro- vided, and full explanations of the reasons for non-delivery of Freight must be given. Agents will be allowed to retain ten dollars as a working fund; but in no case must the balance due Com- pany at the close of th3 month exceed this amount. Agents must remit daily, or as often as twenty-five dollars accumulate. This rule is imperative, and no excuse will be received for deviating therefrom. Monthly Report of Freight Forwarded. This report must be prepared immediately after the Ticket Reports, Received Report and Balance Sheet are out of the way, but in no case must it be delayed longer than the third day after the close of the month for which it is made. This report must give a complete abstract of all way-bills for- warded, arranged in station order, and recapitula- ted, same as is done on the Received Report. Ticket and Extra Baggage Reports. All Ticket and Extra Baggage Reports must be made up and forwarded to this office on the first day after the' close of each month. Authority for deviating from tariff rates must in all cases accom- pany the ticket reports, otherwise they will be corrected to tariff rates. Abstract of Commodities. This report is intended to be a careful abstract of commodities forwarded eastward and westward from the station each month. The total pounds must be made to agree with the Freight Forwarded Report, and the classification must be strictly fol- lowed. Where an item is classified it must appear there, not under the general head of "Merchan- dise," as is the common practice. Tonnage Reports. The Tonnage Reports, Forwarded and Received, are merely the recapitulations of the Freight For- warded and Received Reports respectively, and must agree with these reports. The Commodities and Tonnage reports should be prepared as soon after the close of each month as practicable, so as to reach this office not later than the 15 th of the month. Separate Reports. Agents will, in all cases, make separate For- warded and Received Reports for all freight billed to or received from a .station on another road ; for all Government freight, and also for all construc- tion freights billed to. the engineering department or the contractors, heading the reports "Joint," "Government," or "Construction," as the case may be. 6 Government Freight. No agent must, in any case, receipt a Govern- ment bill of lading until he has checked the freight and knows he has all the articles mentioned there- in. Forward no Government freight until you receive the bill of lading, except by request in writing from the Shipping Quartermaster. For- ward the bill of lading to the Receiving Agent, by mail, as soon as receipted, and endeavor, so far as practicable, to keep the shipment together. Receiving agents should carefully check the bill of lading with the freight as received, and if dis- crepancies occur, take immediate steps to find the missing articles, and as soon as delivery can be made, get the bill of lading receipted by the per- son named therein, attach the expense bills and remit to this office for credit. Construction Material and Supplies. Agents receiving construction material consigned to contractors or the Engineering Department, in accordance with General Freight Agent's Circular No. 21, must, on delivering the same, require the consignee to receipt for the articles on the face of the expense bill. Once or twice each month forward these re- ceipted expense bills to the Chief Engineer's office, at Brainerd, and request voucher for the amount. All such freight must be carried on the uncollected list until the voucher is received. No credit can be obtained unless the certified expense bill is pro- duced, so the agent can appreciate the importance of compliance with the instructions in this respect. General Remarks. The books of the station should be written up each day and the work proved, as in no other way can an agent do his work satisfactorily and without loss to either himself or the Company, The cash book should be considered the most important of all the station books, and all moneys received or disbursed should be entered therein. It should be balanced with the cash at the close of each business day. This book, at all stations, great or small, should receive the agent's personal inspection and attention. No freight should be delivered until the way- bill has been properly checked and the expense bill is made and ready for delivery to the con- signee. Deliver no commercial freight without collecting the charges, unless you receive positive instructions in writing from the General Manager, or other officer authorized to grant such privileges, to do so. Take receipts for all freight delivered, for by so doing you can very often protect the Company against trumped-up and fraudulent claims. Particular attention is called to Rule No. 14 of the current Freight Tariff, in reference to advance 8 charges; it says: "Agents will not make advances on property except for ordinary transportation and storage charges, and such advance charges must, in all cases, be guaranteed by responsible parties when the value of the property is not known to be sufficient to fully cover the same." It is hoped that agents who have been in the habit of advancing money contrary to the above rule, will discontinue the practice in future, and make advances for ordinary transportation and storage charges only. Agents are requested to observe strictly the rules in regard to the time for making reports. To give satisfaction to the management and the Company we serve, our work must be done promptly and effectively. Failure on your part involves failure on mine, and consequently just dissatisfaction. Merit will be appreciated by the Company, and those who try cannot fail to succeed. Yours Truly, M. P. MARTIN, Auditor. Approved: H. HAUPT, General Manager.