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1884. "The Lamson Cash Railway Company of Boston, Mass. filed a bill in yesterday in the United States Circuit to restrain the Continental Cash Car of Baltimore." The Sun, 6 May 1884
1884. "The Lamson Cash Railway company .. have brought suit against Willie (?) G. Burnham, formerly of this city and now manager of the Flagg Cash Carrier company, and against Abel T. Atherton of this city. It is charged that they have authorized and caused the publication of certain articles in the newspapers of Boston, which are not only injurious to the above company but false." Lowell Weekly Sun, 26 Jul. 1884, p.8. The Boston Post article is reproduced here.
1884. "The Flagg Cash Carrier Company has brought suits in the United States circuit court. In Boston vs. Shepard, Norwell & Co., Arthur G. Pollard and the Lamson Cash Railway for an infringement of the plaintiff's patent for carrying parcels and money to different parts of the store." Lowell Weekly Sun, 16 Aug. 1884, p.8
1886. "Before Judge Colt, in the United States circuit court at Boston, Wednesday, the case of the Lamson Cash Railway company and Edwin P. Osgood, in equity, was heard. The complainant charges the defendants with infringing three patents." Lowell Weekly Sun, 17 Jul. 1886, p.5
1887. "On the 16th of March, 1887, I filed a bill in equity on behalf of the Lamson Cash Railway Company against Wm. M. Whitney and others of Albany, in the United States Circuit Court for the Northern District of New York." Supreme Court, 1888, p.21
1887, 2 May. Lamson Cash Railway Co. v. Martin and others. "Held that, in view of the marked differences, the Martin system did not infringe the White patent." (Regarding patent no. 221,488 dated 11 Nov. 1879 granted to J.C.White.) Federal Reporter
1887. "Judge Brown, in the United States District Court, at Detroit, granted a decree for complainant in the suit for infringement of patent brought by the Rapid-Service Store Railway Company, of Detroit, against the Merchants' Store-Railway Company. of New York, and Taylor, Walfenden & Co., of Detroit. The judge made a liberal application of mechanical equivalents, and held that the prior patent of the complainant covered all devices for an original impulse to a cash-carrier traversing a permanent way." Hazel Green Herald, 2 Sep. 1887, p.2
1887. "Infringing a cash railway patent. SOUTH BEND, Ind. Nov. 18. A number of suits have been instituted in the Federal Courts against merchants of this city, Elkhart, Laporte and other cities in Indiana for damages and for injunctions on account of an alleged infringement of the cash and parcel store service apparatus patent, by the Lamson Cash Railway Company and the Continental Store Service Company, both of New York." New York Tribune, 19 Nov. 1887, p. 1
1887. "We also claim that the so-called Martin & Hill Electric Cable System is an infringement of patents owned by the Lamson Store Service Company, and suits are now pending in the Supreme Court and the Circuit Courts of the United States against parties using the Martin & Hill apparatus. Merchants using that system are liable to be sued at once, as we are prosecuting all infringements vigorously. Lamson Store Service Company." Portland Daily Press, 21 Nov. 1887, p. 4
1887. "The Lawson [sic] Cash-railway Company filed a suit in the United States Circuit Court, yesterday, against Wm. Laurie and others for using without license the plaintiffs' patent appliance for sending money to the cashier's desk in stores. Indianapolis Journal, 9 Dec. 1887, p. 8
1887. The Lamson Cash Railway Company, of Boston, to-day filed bills in equity against Charles Baum and E.S. Mayer et al., for an injunction to restrain them from infringing patents for facilitating payments and delivering of goods, of which they claim to be the owners. Evening Star (Washington), 14 Sep. 1887, p. 3
1888. "A special from Mansfield says that C.E.Foster and Frank L.Freeman, of Washington, D.C., have brought suit against W.M.Sturges and the Barr Cash and Package Carrier Company for $75,000 for malicious libel. Suit has also been brought against the same parties for a like amount in the United States Court here on a similar charge by W.S.Lamson and Frank Means. The trouble grew out of the issuance of a circular containing alleged derogatory statements." The Semi Weekly Age, Coshocton Oh., 2 Nov. 1888, p.2
1889. "Action by the Lamson Consolidated Store Service Company against John W. Hart, sheriff of Albany county, the United States Store Service Company, and Gilbert M. Speir, Jr. " National Reporter System, New York (state). Supreme Court, 1889, p. 890
1889. "A notable case is that which comes up in the United States circuit court before Judge Shipman at Hartford to day. The Lamson Automatic Cash Railway company has sued the Acme Cash Railway company for infringement of patent. There are some seventeen suits involved." New Haven Daily Morning Journal, 27 Sep. 1889, p. 3
1889. "In the United States Court yesterday several suits were filed by the Lamson Cash-railway Company and the Lamson Consolidated Store-service Company, relative to a use of patent cash cars. The defendants are Ezra H. Murray, Huntington; Jacob Sheets, Ligonier; william H. Sellers, Kokomo, and others." Indianapolis Journal, 6 Nov. 1889, p. 7
1890. Judge Colt of the United States circuit court for Massachusetts has decided in the case of the Consolidated store service company against the Lamson store service company - both being foreign corporations - that the defendants can be sued in this state. Lowell Daily Courier, 26 Mar. 1890, p.1
1890. "An important legal victory has been gained by the Fuller Cash Carrier Company of this city [Meadville], by the dismissal of all the suits brought against their patrons by the Lampson [sic] Cash Carrier Company." Pittsburgh Dispatch, 17 Feb. 1890, p. 1
1890. "It is probable that Mr. Jerome, in declining to urge the grand jury to find an indictment against Mr. [Thomas W.] Lawson, was influenced by the result of a former indictment found against Mr. Lawson in New York for depressing the stock of the Lamson Store company in 1890. This incident became public today for the first time." Salt Lake Tribune, 27 Dec. 1904, p.1
1891. Lamson Cash Railway Company, Complainant v. Henry L. Lovejoy, defendant. United States Circuit Court (Mass.) 330 pages. On Google books
1892. Starr Cash Car Co. v. Reinhart. Action concerning the purchase of 15 cash carriers, sold by Starr to the defendants. It was alleged that the plaintiff took to themselves an existing system worth $150 and the defendants demanded a reduction for that amount. New York Common Pleas 2 Misc. 116 (N.Y. Misc. 1892)
1892. E.P. Osgood et al v. Lamson Cash Railway Company. "Judge Sherman of the Superior Court today entered an order in the cases of E.P. Osgood et al. against the Lamson Cash Railway Company, and the same against Ames and Harris, that the plaintiffs take either $1,000 damages or a new trial. The plaintiffs owned a store on Hanover street, and alleged that in 1885 the defendants caused an illegal attachment to be put on their stock of goods and bank account .., the purpose being to injure Osgood, who was interested in a rival cash-carrier system." Boston Evening Transcript, 18 Mar. 1892, p. 1
1893. United States v. Patterson and others of National Cash Register Company. "Judge Putman of the United States Circuit Court has just given a decision sustaining the Sherman Anti-Trust Law. The decision is given in the case of .. officers of the National Cash Register Company, who are charged .. in connection with their dealings with the Lamson Cash Railway employees." New York Times, 2 Mar. 1893
1894. Osgood and Fessenden v. Lamson Cash Railway Company. "Boston, May 29 - Three verdicts for $17,250 each were returned in the third session of the superior court before Judge Bishop, in actions for malicious attachment brought by Edwin P.Osgood and Emily Fessenden against the Lamson Cash Railway Company, George L.Ames and George M.Harris." Lowell Daily Sun, 29 May 1894, p.12
1894. Lamson Store Service Company v. Hawick Co-operative Store Company. "Lord Stormonth Darling, in the Court of Session to-day, closed the record in an action at the instance of the Lamson Store Service Co. (Ltd.), 20 Cheapside, London, against the Hawick Co-operative Store Co. (Ltd.). Pursuers ask to have defenders interdicted from infringing their patent... They also ask for .. an order on defenders to destroy an apparatus they have in use at Hawick... Defenders say for about eight years they have used for conveying cash .. a contrivance which was fitted up by their own joiner." Edinburgh Evening News, 12 Jun. 1894, p.2
1894. Martin Cash Carrier Co. v. Lamson Co. "The Martin Cash Carrier Company, of Boston, has just won a decisive victory over the Lamson Company, in the United States Circuit Court. The Lamson Company claimed that the Martin cable systems infringed the Lamson patents, but the court decided that they did not infringe. The Martin Company has now won all suits brought against it, and the leading merchants are rapidly adopting the Martin cable systems." Toronto Mail, 14 Jul. 1894, p. 8
1895. Martin & Hill Cash-Carrier Co. v. Joseph C. Martin. Circuit Court of Appeals, First Circuit. 30 Dec. 1895. No. 97. For infringement of patents granted to the defendant for improvements in automatic cash-carrier systems for store service and assigned to the complainant company. The court held that there was no infringement. Federal Reporter 71 F1, p.519
1895. Buch v. Bostedo Package and Cash Carrier Company. "Supreme Court - Chambers - Beckman, J... Class VIII... 19 - Buch vs. Bostedo Package and Cash Carrier Company." New York Times, 23 Dec. 1895, p.12
1897. Consolidated Store-Service Co. v. John W. Wilson et al. Circuit Court, D. Massachusetts, 20 Oct. 1897. No.788. For alleged infringement of two patents relating to cash-carrier or store-service apparatus. The cause was heard on a motion for preliminary injunction. Federal Reporter 83 F1, p.201
1897. Starr Cash Carrier Company v. Joseph Starr. "The Starr case in New London [Conn.]. There is a long legal tangle connected with the Starr Cash Carrier Company and Joseph Starr. The latter obtained a patent for a cash carrier system. To add to its practicability a Chicago patent was purchased by the company then formed. This latter patent, it is alleged, Mr. Starr has held, claiming it to be his own property." New York Times, 15 Jul. 1897, p.1
1897. Brush Electric Light Company v. City of Muncie and Pettis Dry Goods Co. "The Brush Electric Light Company yesterday withdrew its patent suit against the city of Muncie and the Pettis Dry Goods Company, in which an infringement of an electric cash railway patent was charged." Indianapolis Journal, 17 Sep. 1897, p. 6
1898. Consolidated Store Fixture Company. "An answer to a suit for infringement on a cash carrier was filed in the United States court this morning, which practically denied the right of the Consolidated Store Fixture Company to maintain a suit against any person using the carrier, on the grounds that it was not a new or novel invention at the time the patent was granted. The answer was filed by Harris and Schumacker, of Sandusky, who were using a carrier which, the Consolidated Comapny claimed, was an infringement on its patents. It denied that .. Osgood .. was really the original inventor of the device." Sandusky Star, 18 Oct. 1898, p.1
1898. Bostedo Package and Cash Carrier Company v. Fisher and Lingham. District Court, Sydney. "The plaintiffs .. had employed the defendants as their agents to sell certain bicycles, fittings and other goods." (This seems to have been another activity of Bostedo!)
1900. Bostedo Pneumatic Tube Company vs Harris-Emery. "Suit has been brought in the United States court by the Bostedo Pneumatic Tube Company of Chicago against the Harris-Emery company of this city [Des Moines, Ia.], for an injunction to restrain the defendant company from infringement upon a patent plaintiff has on a system of tubes used for a pneumatic cash carrier system. It is claimed that the system now in use in the Harris-Emery store is an infringement." Iowa State Bystander, 13 Jul. 1900, p.2
1900. Acme Cash Railway Company v. D.C. and E.M. Peck Company. "The complainant alleged that the defendant had infringed on a patent granted to Moses C. Sweezy of Orange .. for cash railway apparatus." Daily Morning Journal (New Haven), 11 Jul. 1900, p. 5
1904. Lamson Pneumatic Tube Co v. Phillips. High Court of Justice. Chancery Division. The defendant's contract of employment stated that, on ceasing to work for the plaintiffs, he would not engage in a similar business, for a period of five years, anywhere in the Eastern hemisphere. It was felt that such a restriction was reasonable, bearing in mind the plaintiffs' business.
1904. Lamson Store Service Co. v. J. Wiedenbach & Co. [Australian] Full Court in Bakkruptcy. On 19 August 1902, Lamsons leased to Wiedenbach and Co. a cash railway for five years at £50 a year. The company made an assignment shortly afterwards, and the appellant company claimed the residue of the rental for five years. [Perth] Daily News, 29 Nov. 1904, p. 10. It was decided that the appellant company was entitled to the full amount of £250.
1906. Lamson Store Service Co Ltd v. Russell Wilkins & Sons Ltd. High Court of Australia. 4 CLR 672. There was an agreement for the lease or hire, for ten years, of a Lamson Perfection cash railway with fourteen stations. Wilkins was to pay in advance £6/10/00 per annum per station. Clause 8 of the agreement provided that in the case of bankruptcy, insolvency or otherwise the whole rent for the remainder of the term was due and the system could be removed. During the first year of the agreement, Wilkins Co. was ordered to be wound up. There was disagreement about whether it was a penalty against which equity would grant relief. (Presumably the Russell Wilkins of Brisbane)
1906. Hamilton Brass Manufacturing Co. v. Barr Cash and Package Carrier Co., 38 S.C.R. 216 (Supreme Court of Canada). By agreement between them the Hamilton Brass Mfg. Co. was appointed agent of the Barr Cash Co. for sale and lease of its carriers in Canada at a price named for manufacture; net profits to be equally divided and quarterly returns to be furnished, either party having liberty to annul the contract for non-fulfillment of conditions. The agreement was in force for three years when the Barr Co. sued for an account, alleging failure to make proper returns and payments.
1907. Barr Cash & Package Carrier Co. v. Brooks-Ozan Mercantile Co. 101 S.W.408 (Ark., 1907) The apellant sued the appellee on a written contract whereby it was agreed that appellant should erect for appellee a system of five stations of cash and package carriers. The contract provides that .. the appellant should lease to the appellee for five years.
1908. British Cash and Parcel Conveyors Ltd. v. Lamson Store Service Co. Ltd.. 1 KB 1006. This is a famous case for the definitions of maintenance and champerty. "Maintenance .. is directed against wanton and officious intermeddling with the disputes of others in which the defendant has no interest whatever, and where the assistance he renders to the one or the other party is without justification or excuse." Champerty is an aggravated form of maintenance, in which the maintainer receives something of value for the assistance given. Concerned three businesses - Reese & Gwillim of Cardiff, Whiteman of Derby and Harper Bros of Balham - where BCPC and Lamson were competing for business.
1909. Lamson Cash R. Co. v. Godehard. 8 C CA 265, 19 US App. 360, 59 Fed. 776. US Supreme Court Reports, p.1145
1914. The Lamson Store Service Co., Ltd., Collins street [Melbourne, Australia], were charged with having employed R. Weigall at a lower rate of wages than that provided by the Wages Board. Ararat Advertiser, 2 May 1914, p.2 and The Herald (Melbourne), 1 May 1914, p. 1. Mr G. Read Murphy, P.M. in the District Court declined to order that a man who was not a fitter. and did simple work requiring no skil,l should be paid the wages set out for a fitter.
1916. Lamson Co. v. Standard Store Service, Inc. The predecessor of the plaintiff was the Martin Cash Carrier Company. "Before Amsden's application there had been high-line installations wherein the carriers had been lifted in elevators or hoisting devices operated by the sender to the overhead level of conveying tracks and cable, and there held until so engaged with such tracks and cable as to be carried along by them at that level to the central station or cashier's desk... In Amsden's first patent, elevators or hoisting devices, distinct from the main tracks and cable, are dispensed with by carrying both tracks and cable, at each station for sending and receiving, downward from their normal level, around a short curve at the station level and upward again to the normal level, thereby forming with them what the patent calls 'drop loops.' District Court, Massachusetts, 21 Feb. 1916
1927. "Herbert Rafferty, sales manager, sued the Lamson Store Service Company, Ltd., an English firm with Australian and New Zealand branches, claiming £396/14/6, a balance of commission alleged to be due on orders placed for certain installations of pneumatic tube and dictagraph appliances in business houses in New Zealand. It was stated that the company's business in New Zealand was conducted under the name of the Lamson Despatch Company, Ltd., but that the accounts were handled in Sydney." Sydney Morning Herald, 20 Dec. 1927, p.8
1930. In re Gelino's. In November 1929 the Lamson Company Inc. filed a claim for $1,918 for rental of a Preferred Cable Cash System which had been leased on a 10-year agreement. District Court, E.D. Illinois. 43 F.2d 832
1930 J.B.Wallis Ltd. v. Maher and others. "J.B.Wallis, Ltd. (in liquidation), brought an action against James Maher, Henry Herbert Walters and Betty Glynn, trading as the Australian Cash Railway Company, to recover £315/4/5, as the value of turbos supplied for a pneumatic railway system which ws installed in the 'Sun' building."
1931. Telfer v. Maher. Mrs Adeline Telfer .. sued James Maher, of Dulwich Hill, alleging that he was indebted to the estate of her husband, with whom he had been in partnership as dealers in cash railway systems and other business systems... Plaintiff agreed to discontinue the suit." Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 17 Apr. 1931, p. 9
1933. Johnston v. Lamson Company, Inc. The Lamson Company entered into a contract in 1927 with the R.B.Bass Company (which became Gilliam-Padgett), a department store in Roanoke, VA, to lease a Preferred Cable Cash Carrier with a 10-year agreement. Gilliam-Padgett went into receivership in 1929 with James Johnston as receiver. Lamson claimed for $2,707 still outstanding. Virginia Supreme Court, 12 Jan. 1933
? Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents (United States), date unknown, p.309. "If, however, it could be conceded that Fordyce's experiment in 1901 constituted a reduction to practice, the testimony, in my opinion, shows that the invention was concealed in the shops of the Bostedo Pneumatic Tube Company for such a period of time as would subordinate his rights to those of Stoetzel, who installed and successfully operated several systems embodying this invention prior to the date upon which Fordyce filed his application."
? Johnson v. Lamson Co. "An example of such a transaction was presented in Johnson v. Lamson Co., a case involving a lease. The object of the lease, a cash carrier system, was installed pursuant to a contract between a Massachusetts corporation and a Virginia corporation in a store of the latter located in the city of Roanoke. Virginia Law Review, vol. 39, no. 6, Oct. 1953, p.846
1894. A case was reported in The Capricornian (Rockhampton, Qld.), 29 Sep. 1894, p. 22, where the accused was charged with tendering a false soverign at Messrs. James Stewart. His Honour asked for an explanation of how it was conveyed by cash ball to the cashier.
1896. West Ham Borough Police Court. "Robert Henry Abell, 25, a shop assistant, was charged at West Ham with embezzling 2s. 5d., the moneys of his employers, J.R.Roberts' (Limited), of Stratford... She gave in payment two florins, which .. should have been sent to the cashier, via the cash railway." East End News, 3 jun. 1896, p. 3
1897. Emma Harding. "FRANCES KIDDELL . I am assistant to William Roper, a draper, of the Bon Marche, Kilburn—between 6.30 and seven p.m. on May 7th, I served the prisoner with one yard of ribbon at 4¾d.—she tendered this 5s. piece—I folded it up in this bill, and sent it up in the cash ball on the cash railway to Miss Grey, our cashier." Proceedings of London's Central Criminal Court, 24 May 1897 and following
1897. Frederick James Norton, in partnership with William Percy White, drapers at White Rock Place, Hastings. "The money was sent to prisoner by means of cash railway, the assistants putting money with a ticket into a box which was sent to prisoner... Prisoner, charged, pleaded guilty." Hastings & St Leonards Times, 20 Mar. 1897, p. 8
1901. Theodore S. Bacon. Central Police Court, Sydney NSW. "Accused received 3s 6d or 4s from the customer [of Horden Brothers]. He wrapped the parcel up, and then put the money in his pocket. After that he went to the cash railway, and took a ball from the receiver. He opened the ball, and took a bill out, and threw it away, and then put the ball on the counter. He had not sent the money along... He was sentenced to three months' imprisonment with hard labour." Evening News (Sydney), 18 Jun. 1901, p. 4
1907. "Athol Souter, 22, grocer was charged at the Water Police Court yesterday with having embezzled the sum of 6s 6d from F. Lassetter and Co., George-street, at whose establishment he was employed... The accused .. at first said that he sent it in the pneumatic cash tube but an inspection showed that such was not the case." Australian Star, 19 Nov. 1907, p. 6
1908. Daniel Donovan was charged on three counts with embezzling .. the property of Jas. Loneragan, Ltd., Mudgee... "From produce department money is sent with two dockets per pneumatic tube to cashier, who keeps one and returns the other docket." Mudgee Guardian, 4 Jun. 1908, p. 9
1909. "A stylishly dressed person, Elspeth Fletcher .. was charged with stealing from 65, High-street, Lewisham, 3 yards of satin, the property of George Stroud... He sent 1s. given him by the prisoner by 'the cash railway' to the cashier." Woolwich Gazette, 23 Jul. 1909, p. 2
1912. "Accused was employed as a shop assistant by John Court, Limited... Accused wrote a bill for 6d, put the shilling in the pneumatic tube, and sent it to the cashier. When the sixpence change was sent back, he appropriated it." New Zealand Herald, 26 Mar. 1912, p. 6
1917. Herbert Hicks."Herbert Hicks .. is a lay-preacher, .. a Christian man and a shop-walker... He is or was employed in a draper's shop at Chiswick... When a purchase is made the money should be put on the cash railway and wafted with a blessing to the cash-desk. Instead, where the exact amount was paid, he sometimes adopted the curious practice of placing the amount behind him on a shelf... There was one case in which it was proved that the exact amount was paid to Bertie and never received at the cash desk... When counsel asked him why a lay-preacher falsified the books he replied .. 'It was the fiction of foolishness, not of criminality.' John Bull, 17 Nov. 1917, p. 13
1918. "The scheme worked by Mrs. Smallwood, after waiting upon a customer, .. is to remove the money fro the pneumatic tube cash carriers, hide the carrier, and then complain to the store authorities that no change arrived from the cashier." Washington Herald, 5 Sep. 1918, p. 2
1922. Arthur Wm. Baker. "Arthur Wm. Baker, a shop assistant .. was charged at Coventry Police Court on Monday, with stealing, on September 16, 4s. 6d., the money's of Geo. Mason Ltd., 15 Cross Cheaping... Prisoner said that instead of sending up 6s. 6d. on the cash railway at the shop he had only sent up 2s. Coventry Herald, 22 Sep. 1922, p. 11
1929. William Webb. "Alleged fraud .. Fined £5 at Cheltenham. At Cheltenham Police Court to-day .. William Webb .. an assistent in the grocery department of the Gloucester Co-operative and Industrial Society's branch premises at 89, High-street, was charged with falsifying accounts... The note and a ticket for 6s. 11d. were placed in a cash carrier and despatched to the cash office. The carrier was returned and an assistant .. handed to the defendant the change." Gloucester Citizen, 18 Feb. 1929, p. 7
1931. Lewis's, Manchester. "Three boys belonging to the Rochdale Road dsitrict of Manchester showed remarkable ingenuity in stealing exploits at Messrs. Lewis's store, Market-street... The boys were stated to have been caught in the act of taking money from the carrier used on the automatic cash tube which connects the casher's department with the various counters... When money was 'shot' along the tube and the carrier came back with the change, one boy would hasten behind the counter when the assistant was unable to see him, and take whatever money there ws in the carrier." Manchester Evening News, 6 Feb. 1931, p. 9
1938. Bright & Colson, Bournemouth. "The wife of a farmer, Lucy Norton.. was fined £10 for shoplifting, at the Bournemouth Police-court on Monday. She was charged with stealing six handkerchiefs .. the property of Bright & Colson, Ltd... While the assistnt was taking the money to the cash tube she took the handkerchiefs." Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser, 10 Sep. 1938, p. 6
1941. Peter Jones's, Sloane Square. Ethel May Regent at Westminster Police Court. "She went behind a corner where the cash tubes are." Westminster & Pimlico News, 4 Apr. 1941, p. 1
1941. Harold Sunderland. For stealing a tubular cash carrier from a Market-street store, Harold Sunderland (33) .. was sent to prison for one month by the Manchester City magistrates today. Detective Hesketh said Sunderland took a cash carrier from one of the cages in the store thinking it would contain money, but all he found was a receipted bill." Manchester Evening News, 1 Nov. 1941, p. 3
1944. Taunton Magistrates Court. "Mrs. Joan Winifred Pearson (21) .. was found not guilty by Taunton magistrates .. on a charge of embezzling £2 12s 3d as a servant of Messrs. w. Brake Ltd., East Reach, Taunton... Mrs. Pearson was engaged on February 8th as a clerk in the accounts department... The shop assistant was paid by the customer, and the money together with a bill .. was sent by overhead wire to the cash desk... When the money and bills were checked next morning £4 14s was missing." Taunton Courier, 11 Mar. 1944, p. 6
1947. Treadways, Melbourne, Vic. "The former head cashier of a Bourke Street store appeared in the Fourth Court today .. charged with larceny... She was Myrtle Mary Fleming... There were about 20 cashiers altogether... As the money came up the tubes she placed it in a cash tray, which was handed to the accused, who put it in a cupboard in the tube-room. " The Herald (Melbourne), 14 May 1947, p. 9
1949. Macy's, New York. "A salesman employed at Macy's .. robbed his employers of 50,000 dollars .. it was alleged today... Hickey wrote fake refunds requests from fake customers... He sent these through the store's pneumatic cash tube and when the refunds came back he pocketed them." The Herald (Melbourne, Vic.), 11 Nov. 1949, p. 1
1952. Marcia Ash and Eileen Trow. "A Shrewsbury grocery stores lost £400 in ten months in the overhead cash conveyor on its journeys between counter assistant Marcia Ash and cashier Eileen Trow, it was alleged at Shrewsbury yesterday... Ash sold goods without issuing the sales slip by which accounts were checked... She then sent the money to Trow by the overhead 'railway'. Birmingham Daily Gazette, 5 Feb. 1952, p. 3
1952. Lewis's, Glasgow. "While the woman assistant went to the cash tube with the money for the sale, Appleton walked to a tray where 8s 11d ties were displayed." Daily Record, 13 Nov. 1952, p. 8
1960. Exeter Magistrates Court. "Lawrence, who worked in the office [at Walton's store] where sales staff sent cash by suction tube, had taken money and destroyed the bills." Express and Echo, 6 Oct. 1960, p. 7
2007. Sainsbury's, Croydon . "A thief stole more than 90,000 pounds after intercepting bundles of cash sent in the pneumatic tube systems of supermarkets. Peter Blackham, 26, is thought to have gained entry to the roof space of several stores by locking himself into a disabled toilet and removing ceiling tiles. He then disconnected the high-speed air tubes - used to transport money from the tills to the safe - and helped himself to the cash. Blackham, from Petts Wood, Kent, was arrested in May last year when he was disturbed committing a burglary at Sainsbury’s in Croydon. After realising large amounts of cash were going missing from the internal handling system, the supermarket had launched an internal investigation and installed motion sensors in the roof." Daily Telegraph, 15 June 2007
2010. Monoprix, Paris. (Somewhat similar to the Croydon Sainsbury's case.) "The two men would enter the store after hours wearing ski masks. They would locate the safe and then find the tubes leading into the safe. To get the money was simple: drill a hole into the tube system and then attach a strong vacuum to the hole. The vacuum would then suck the money directly out of the safe. This bypassed all security that was set up to protect the money in the safe. The men would then leave the store carrying their loot... Over the years, the thieves were responsible for over $800,000 in thefts from the grocery store chain " History Collection website (At the time of the article the gang had still not been caught.)
1858. [Not relating to a cash carrier.] The Electric Telegraph Company installed a tube to its branch office in Mincing Lane in 1858. So that steam engines would not be needed at each end a 'vacuum reservoir' measuring 10 X 12 X 14 feet was constructed in a house in Mincing Lane. Once a carrier got stuck in the tube, causing the reservoir to implode and demolishing the wall of the house. "At the time the landlord of the house happened to be dining in the next room, and he suddenly found himself, his dinner and the door .. precipitated into the room amongst the debris of the chamber." Following this incident compressed air rather than vacuum was used.
1892. William Parsons' grocery store, Ontario. "Last Friday evening as Ernest Parsons was at work at the desk of Wm. Parsons' grocery store, he reached up to one of the handles which operates the cash railway carriages, and as is the custom pulled it down with a violent jerk. The string by which the handle was attached broke, and his hand, carried by the force exerted, went violently toward the desk. At that precise point was a bar in which pins are placed for the filing of sales items. His hand struck this and three of the pins entered his hand quite deeply. For a moment he did not notice the fact, and when he did he had considerable trouble in releasing his hand. Dr. Hawley dressed the hand, which has since caused considerable trouble, and has prevented him from working at the store." Ontario County Journal, 2 Sep. 1892
1894. "A saleswoman in Providence is suing her employers for $5,000 damages from a singular accident. She was measuring off lace when a ball full of specie jumped from the cash railway, hit her on the head and knocked her senseless." Daily Morning Journal (New Haven), 28 Sep. 1894, p. 4
1897. Briggs v. Callender, McAuslan & Troup Co. (RI) 653. "Complaint in action for injuries from fall of box from cash railway, charging location of terminus of railway as negligence, amended."
1898. Jonas Long's Sons' department store , Scrampton, Pa. "By the bursting of a large steam pipe in the engine room .. three men were painfully injured.. John D. Vanderwalker, foreman of the Lamson Cash Carrier system, of Boston, who was superintending the work of putting in the engine, sustained a painful abraison of the left leg in jumping through a window, and his assistant, L.M. Lamson, of this city, .. had both hands badly cut." Scrampton Tribune, 1 Jan. 1898, p. 7
1901. William A. Briggs vs Callender, McAuslan & Troop Co. "Mr Briggs was an employee in the Boston Store as a salesman of stoves in the basement. A station of the overhead cash carrier system was above the place where he worked. One of the metal cash carriers, failing to stop when it reached its terminal station, struck and dislodged another box which was stationary on the track so that the latter box dropped off the track and struck Briggs with great force upon the head between the eyes, so .. that he became totally blind." Manufacturers and Farmers Journal, 25 Nov. 1901, p.5
1904. Leitner Bros., Corunna, Mich. "Leitner Bros., dry goods merchants of this city, have made a settlement with Miss Maud Teal .. for the loss of her left arm, which she sustained last February through an injury received on the cash carrier system in Leitner Bros.' store two and a half years ago. Messrs. Leitner paid Miss Teal the sum of $500 cash." Corunna Journal, 14 July 1904
1907. Five and Ten Cent Store, Flushing, N.Y. "Mrs. Anna Aldsworth, of Flushing, was awarded $90 last week because she was struck in the forehead by a cash carrier in the Five and Ten Cent store at Flushing." Suffolk County News, 19 Apr. 1907, p.1
1908. "Scream after scream rang through the dry goods store of H.A.Baker & Co., 1,720 Broadway, Williamsburg, at 5:30 o'clock yeaterday afternoon... The few who ran in the direction of the screams found Kate Gorham, the young cashier of the store, lying in a heap in her booth. The girl's head had been scalped almost bare by a flying wire carriage in which goods are sent along to the wrapping room on overhead wires. One or two girls who had seen the accident said that Miss Gorham sttod up to speak to a friend just as thecarriage came into the booth." New York Times, 16 May 1908.
"In order that Miss Catharine Gorman, cashier in a Brooklyn department store, may come out of the hospital with a full head of hair, more than 100 department store girls each will sacrifice from a quarter to one inch of scalp with long locks attached." Youngstown Vindicator, 2 June 1908, p.1
1913. "Struck on the left temple by a little car in the cash carrier system in his store, Louis Craine, a Hollidaysburg merchant, was rendered unconscious. Doctors said he had a narrow escape from death." Pittsburgh Press, 26 Sep. 1913, p.7
1914. Supreme Court, Adelaide. "Three weeks ago, before Mr. Justice Buchanan, in the Supreme Court, Dr. Alexander M. Morgan .. began an action against John Martin & Co. Limited, drapers, of Rundle street, to recover £200 damages for injuries alleged to have been inflicted by the noise and vibration arising from an engine used to work the firm's cash-carrier system... M. Magarey said that a coke andbreeze silencer had been installed, which had entirely removed the alleged nuisance." The Journal (Adelaide), 24 Mar. 1914, p. 1
1919. Frank A. Cook. "Miss Agnes McGee .. who is employed by Frank A. Cook, met with a peculiar accident... She was pulling a cord, attached to the cash railway system of the shop, when the cord broke. Miss McGee, who was standing on a small platform, missed her footing and fell backwards, striking her head on the floor. She was considerably shaken by the fall, and was removed to her home." Sun (Christchurch), 1 Nov. 1919, p. 11
1922. Buckley and Nunn. "While working on pneumatic tubes at Buckley and Nunn's premises in Bourke street today, Gordon Taylor .. had the thumb and another finger of his right hand cut off. He was taken to the Melbourne Hospital." The Herald (Melbourne, Vic.), 4 Dec. 1922, p. 9
1923. Shirley v. O'Brien & Co. "Council for Miss Fay Shirley, vaudeville actress .. settled her $15,000 damage suit against P.C.O'Brien & Co. for $1,000. Miss Shirley alleged she was struck on the nose by the metal basket of a change carrier in the dry goods store of the O'Brien company, Jersey City, last July." New York Times, 27 Mar. 1923, p.23
1931. Hong Yuen. "An unusual accident, which was attended by painful consequences to the victim, occurred at Messrs. Hong Yuen's Emporium, Inverell. An employee in the drapery department .. was working near the line of a cash-carrier, and this .. struck the employee (Miss Sarah Bell) under the right eye." Armidale [N.S.W.] Express, 21 Oct. 1931, p. 5
1933. Electrical Equipment Co. v. Frederick J. Cook. "Plaintiff in error operated a store in which it sold electrical equipment, radios, and automobile supplies. To expedite its business it had cash carriers running from various points in its store to a central cashier's cage. The cashier's cage was near the ceiling and was built up from the floor. The cash carriers traveled on wires at an angle of about forty-five degrees, the lower end being about six feet and the upper end about eleven feet from the floor. Defendant in error was employed to redecorate and paint the store of plaintiff in error and while in the discharge of this employment he was struck on the head by one of these cash carriers as it was operated by one of the clerks in the store." Supreme Court of Florida, Div. A, 19 Dec. 1933
1937. W.J. Gorman Stores. "While assisting to erect an overhead cash carrier at the W.J. Gorman Stores, Oaklands, recently, Mr. James Rewbridge suffered an injury to his eye. He .. was ordered to Melbourne, where it was found necessary to remove his eye." Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga), 3 Sep. 1937, p. 4
1938. J.C. Penny Co. v. Forrest. Supreme Court of Oklahoma. On the afternoon of the 12th day of December, 1934, the plaintiff..while a customer in the defendant's store, suffered an accidental injury when a mechanical carrier fell from the overhead system for the carriage used in the store... The system was the approved system used by thousands of stores all over the United States.
1938. Grace Bros., Sydney. "Claiming that she had been struck on the head when a cash container flew from the wires in the perfumery department, Patricia Robins, 18-year-old shop assistant, claimed damages from Grace Bros. in the Supreme Court yesterday. Labor Daily (Sydney), 11 Mar. 1938, p. 12
1960. Exeter Magistrates Court. (Walton's Stores). "Lawrence , who worked in the office where sales staff sent cash by suction tubes, had taken money and destroyed the bills." Express and Echo, 6 Oct. 1960, p. 7
2003. The news service icSolihull on 28 November 2003 recounted how a cashier had trapped her hand in the pneumatic tube apparatus at the Tesco store in Castle Bromwich. She was rescued by firefighters from Sheldon and suffered only bruising and scratches.
2013. Tescos, Parrs Wood, Manchester. "A 21-year old supermarket manager was left red-faced... The duty manager was stuck for 30 minutes with his right-hand in the pneumatic tube next to a till in Tesco at Parrs Wood. Fire crews from Stockport, Withington and a specialist rescue team from Ashton were called to the incident." Manchester Evening News, 17 Apr. 2013, p.4
? Anderson v. Mc Carthy Dry Goods Co. 49 Wash 398. An action to recover damages caused by the falling of a basket from an overhead carrier system in the defendant's store.