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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 13, Issue 3 (June 1, 1938.)

Promotion for “Old Bill.”

Promotion for “Old Bill.”

“Old Bill” is, of course, the waybill of ancient lineage, dating back to the stage-coach days. The waybill is the basis of accounting for goods and parcels, becaùse it is a complete record of a consignment—its designation, weight, journey, charge, consignor and consignee. This information is transferred to a tabulated card by a machine which punches holes in the appropriate places. In an hour a skilled operator can make 350 waybills tell their stories to the cards, which are then ready for various kinds of magic in other machines. At the rate of 300 a minute the cards can be sorted for any category desired, and then the tabulators will carry on the good work at the rate of 100 cards a minute. One sees wonderful deals of cards.

A Start from Guards’ Dockets.

Apart from the big machine-room, page break page 11 which has a floor-space of 2,000 square feet, there is a room which has some calculating and adding machines. This is where the guards’ dockets yield their treasure trove of train statistics. Mr. Bishop says that practically all of the train statistics are compiled from the original information entered by the guards on their running sheets. Small dockets are attached to these sheets, and are forwarded daily to the Chief Accountant's office.

Yes, a train-guard has to do much more than punch tickets, blow a whistle and wave a hand. A small boy's ambition to be a guard, to enjoy all-day rides in trains all the year round would vanish with a vision of the figuring on those dockets.