New-York tribune., 1868-10-31
BOSTON,.

THE DELIGHTS OF SLEEPING -CARS-CHANGEs IN
BOSTON N-CHAUNCEY-PLACE SCHOOL - THE
STATE HOUSE AND ITS RlVAL-FANEulL
HALL--A GREAT INyENrION-THE ETHER
MONUMENTAL BIG THING.
fFRoM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Boston, Oct 10. 1868
"BIessedr SAYS Sancho Panza, lis the memory OF
the man who invented sleep. Ii wraps man all
round like blankctw Cursed, say J. be the mem
ory of him who invented sleeplngcars. IL Is the
same TO a man as if he had been tossed IN blanket
have often wondered how it has happened that in
all literature there such thing as good descrip-
ton of shipwreck; one that makes you feel in read
ing it: this man has been part of what he de-
scrbes these are not mere words. mere rhetoric the
labored composition of the study; this Is the reality
Homer Virgil. Shakespeare. DE Foe SAINT ilerTr,
have all tried their hands at IT, and have made Sc
rjes of fiat and lamentable failures. Their heroes
are neither sea-sck themselves, nor the cause OF sea
sickness in others They are one and all lar enough
from exciting the least terror III our alnds We iol-
low their adventures with an lmperturbable serenity,
and hear about their gnlplng quarts upon lnuls oi
salt water about their being banged on the rocks,
scraped over the barnacles, rolled IN tho sand,
pinched between floating timbers clingng To hen
cOops, living for weeks upon ShgIe Dscult or nit
of candle and finally being picked mp IN the mex
of time by some vessel that Is bound to place TWO
or three hundred miles away from the spot they were
aiming at all this we read wlthont the slightest ag
itation. without the quckenlng OF pulse
or the heaving of sigh; in short;
without any belief whatever IN the doeinl
story Either the writer's do not draw from thtlr
own exDerience or they write too long after the
event or they labor too much over their compost
tion but whatever may be the clnsc the result II
too apt to be tastecss draught No doubt one great
obstacle is found i'm the difficulty of getting at work
with pen-and-paper soon enough after the calStr0
phe And vet, naked, bleeding. manned. paDRed.
headachy and disprited hungry, thirsty. ana cold
one would hardly feel in tlc mood 10 wlte, even II.
with more than X. CrusOes luck. he should ma
| neat aud complete wrllngappaiatus awaiting MN
| hfsxk
n flow of words. but more or less dependent on
circumstances and surroundings iof the fcliciy 9i
their composition ana clrcumst3loee ana sui ou'iu'
| ings less propitiOus than those nave hhted AI IL
| would perhaps he impossible 10 imagine.
These reflections were forced upon my mlnd when,
Yesterday after night OF mcnta! agony ami piIar-
SiIled L1diIN suiiering was tossed upon the plat
form of the Boston and Worcester Railroad sfition
in this bright httlo city, shattered ana 80 ft'as7
creature the wreck Of happy and intelligent iinan
| being who. only few honTs before, haG pifudly
paid his fare received n check for his baggage and,
| with more INSTRUMENTATION aud pity ir plssen-
I gers in the common carriages tian was becoming
had taken his seat for the inst time an sleeping
car As entered the long alley between IA. Otfth,
and made one OF the queue that Slowly
! icgl person who with the utmost deb-
Grafton takes down from the mouth of each person,
! particulars OF his name ana Iesl9cuec thr h'F anu
hour of his birth, the number Oi ms flnilr his oc
cupatun average income. and many other Items that
be thinks unnecessary, regardless Of the squeezed
iunatient muft,ring crowd that swcIfs and SINNERS
| I'M the nllcy-I had abundant leisure 10 study the
arrangement of the sleeping car. There was some
| thing touching in the perfect ncatncss aud comfort
Of the beds. In the midst 81 grra dirty roaring
selfish city, one could hardly have looked for such
! donesticitV and motheriv providence. How cool
and fresh the linen looked :, How sptingy the mat
/ frcssesl How soft the ploWsl Surely this must
le the happicst way tO bridge the two hundred aud
| odd miles between NcW-lork and Bnst1ul To
-iccp. and. los sleep tO say We end the uCWsbOyS
and the popcorn man, urclun with guni-drops, aud
with Ndcy's candies, the long array Of bound
hooks novels. liarpcrs' LeshCs" " Fun for
Three Months and. though last, not least, the
stencil, the gloom, The smoke the dirt Of that foul
place the Depot at New Haven, III, a cou-umma-
lion devoutly TO be- wish'dl little thought that IN
that sleep there might be drcams'
After the tedious gentleman had gwen me my
ticket suffered myself 10 be led like lamb 10 a
bench In an alcoye al one sdeoi the car Ih- bench
q youth shared with me and Opposite were two other
victims. All four oi ny were innocent and
unsuspectug; We entered into light and
courteous conversation; We played abont the sub
lect that al nearest our thoukhlaah inouRh We were
utterly Indifferent 90 H. We encouraged each other IN
n fatuous confidence IN the honor and good intcn-
tiOus OF those 10 whom we bad bndly iutTustcd
selves We expressed our belief IN the beds Each
one told the other that he expected To sleep like
top! We believed should or We tried To believe
II, and really know nothing abont tops aud
how they sleep perhap, we did sleep like them. In
that case, tops are miserable class oi Creatures, and
| commend them TO my friend Mr. Bcrgh. Converse
tiOn soon became confidential. The youth my neigh
bOr wound up his watch. lie said that ho had been
told he must particularly look out for Pckpockes IN
the slecpngcars' lis papa bad told him that they
"a valuable one. Mamma had giyen'it tO him on his
birthday, OF which occasion Judged he could not
have celebrated many anniversaries. lie bad more
money with INN Than hc cared To lose. Ills aunt
had advised him 10 pin II into hlsfOb; but his brother
mad told him that all such devices were useless
against pickpockets. We had good deal of this
innocent wattle and then the man appeared who
makes up the beds. lie pulled levers up aud down.
shot bolts, turned windlasses, adjusted screws and
finally our snug alcoyes transformed into
four beds of such piileess and prepossessng ap.'
pearancc might have deceived the very elect
For us, for the rest, snOw-whitc sheets were
spread crimson blankets which the chilly August
air and the dreary, pattering rain made seem most
comfortable, were costly tucked in, plumpest pillows
invited our heads and shad0wnR curtains incOsed
me and the COntiding youth in their folds while
undressed for the night. But. reader, am no poet
and cannot describe that night. ! have neither the
Tcteraivo descriptive power of Iupprr nor the burn
ing eloqnence Of his American rival Holland; can
not count nay grlefs and catalogue them, as Walt
Whitman would do. nor can enshrlne them in pat-
tudcs IA Robert Buchanan might and doubtless would
if he knew them. No, must deal in generaltes aud
not even venture upon particulars shall Ray moth
ing about tho groaDs that Tesounded. mingled with
snores and gaspngs from one end of the sitting
10 tho other do not even allude 10 the Voc begOne
ana miserable shapes that criwed out of their berths
and SAL for change upon the edges l spare my
readers the details Of the calculations and will not
attempt 10 say how many times | heard words that
began with AZ burst from lips that pcrchanco had
hitherto been Strangers TO such profanity To those
who suiler much, much must be forgiven, and surely
all noeded forgiveness If suffering were the price
to pay Tor it. After "a few hours Of abOrtive
attempts at sleeping l at last found my
self in the early gray Of morning, ~ wilo
awake rs If it broad noon ] leaned
out Of NY coffin and looked about IN the dim light
10 see how it Jared with the other dead people. NJ
coniding friend sitting on pillow on the floor
by tho side Of his berth, apparently wondering why
his naiden-aunt had not included sleeplng-cars IN
her list Of dangers ho was to avoid attempted 10
address huQ a few consoatory remarks hut my
words sounded Ike tho hollow niockory they were
lie answered me with grOans, and using word that
began with ID" lie banged his head against the
edge OF his berth. Above us the lamp glimincred
with q sicky ray. Cur friends on tho opposite side
for in misery. not all friends y had aban-
donod thei, bcrths and while one of them, dis-
~ g 1af tIIiu a..