Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1869-05-26
THE CHRONICLE.
ODD LETTERS.
Correspondence Cincinnati commercial.
MAC-A-CHEEK, May Is, 1869.

u As the prosecutors OF neWSDaperS aQ(
n the vile imprisoner OF editors, | an
1t expected to regard him with abhor
ance, and assail him without stint
n If 1 can make Fisk wish he were dead
]. and exeerate the grave of his grand
4 mother, supposing that such thing
ie exists, / am expected so to do. 1t i,
n all wrong, then, TO say word in hi:
!, favor. My duty as correspondent
and my love of truth are in conflict
for l am forced to say that under his
management the Erie, and Atlantic
: and Great Western have come to be
the pleasantest. quickest, and safest
line from New York to Cincinnati.
]. Time was when this line carried
4 one from New York to Cincinnati OF
f to another world for the same fare,
: with the chances largely in favor oil
;; the last named. That was the time
4 4 when the miserable passenger insured
!, ms life, took no end of accident
: tickets, bade weeping farewell to his
: anxious family, and found his suicide
J, OF the PainfGlest sort some where on
/ the route. Rotten ties, broken rails,
reckless engineers, drunken condue-
f tors, ended in a general smash, and a
( slow roasting in an old car.
! Fisk, jr., takes hold, and forthwith
like unto magic, all is changed. The
old rails have given place TO the steel
rail, over which the new cars glide
evenly and with swiftQess. The con-
! ductors, If they are not Chesterfelds
in their politeness, attend soberly and
well to their duties and, take it alto
gether, this line is by far the pleas
anter and safer one between the
points named. One great advantage
is to be found in the wide cars the
broad gauge is enabled to carry. One
is not crowded, nor forced to be mean.
The temptation to surreptitiously ap-
propriate two seats, and say "engag-
ed" when a bag-laden traveller comes
along, Is removed. I could sit COM
iortabiy with even Pigiron or Putty
face by my side.
Then, again, instead of jolting over
rough pavements for an hour when
leaving New York, and getting
damned in the narrow streets, to hear
carmen and carriage-drivers BIAS
pheme when you have not moment
to spare, you drive or ride in a stage
from your hotel TO the foot of Twenty
third street, where comfortable
depot and new boat awaits YOUR
convenience l did this, and seated
| myself and party in the palace car.
l did not sit therein long. 1t is
gorgeous. The palace car, in theway
OF upholstery, is more wonderful
than the Tempest. 1t is immense 1t
Is so arranged as TO give certain
amount of privacy to individuals and
parties. 1t is, in fact. an approach TO
the first-elass carriages of Europe. an
arrangement we ought 10 have had |
long since. If q man or woman |
wants upholstery, while travelling. |
and can afford to pay for it. let such I
male or female donky enioy their I
luxury. But do not, as we have been |
doing, force sensible people to nav for I
Whist they don't want. These were |
my thoughts when the custodian of 1
the palace-car demanded one dollar |.
and fifty cents more for each seat in 4
this wonderful creation. / inconti-
nently gathered up nv little party I
and retreated in good order to less I
pretentious car. 500 -
l see that the author of Fin1othv
Titcomb, writing from Europe. la
ments the want of our cars. I need J.
not say TO you, that the author of l.
Timothy Titcomb is an ass. The I
snug little carriages on English and 1
French railroads are perfection in
that sort of travel, and BY the side of
these huge bOXy cars into which we
crowd fifty or sixty people, and poi-
son them with heated air and dis.
eased lungs are luxuries. There are
no comfort in the seats, no privacy tn
the passengers, no escape from the
dust and cinders, nor the hot air from
huge stoves, that IN case of accident
roast you to death. In a. European
car your feet are warm and YOUR head
cool. In an American abomination. !,
your feet are cold while your head is
hot. ----------
When one sets out on a Journey. ,
one is possessed of a strange desire to ,
purchase something. This strange 4 /
impulse IS seized upon by enterpris-
ing boys and men, who pass through
the cars, calling out all sorts of useless
Why Is it that on a l
car you are attacked by ''gum-drops.n {
and what are 'gum-drops ?'' / tried |
one. L don't know why / did il. q
unless impelled by thirst for knowl- {
edge. L found nasty, sweet sub I
stance sticking to my teeth. Before
| could get rid of the abomination. 1
had an attack of sea-sickness, I {
suppose it is called gum-drop from the
fact that it sticks to the gum. and is, c
| presume, the rubber before being I
that dentists talk of as 8
being good for suction. saw one
poor old lady pull out superb set of ]
teeth, while trying to extricate a
gum-drop. She hurriedly elapped I
the row of ivory back, and said, 8
Gracious meu' Then we have the /
and maple sugar, and cream a
candy, all dirty, indigestible COM S
pounds, that no sane man would {
touch at home but abroad he has the
crazy desire to poison himself. These I
agents on the cars act as if they were |
possessed. A fellow rushes through
The car shouting 'gum-drops,u and 5
directly he returns, with his arms t
full of light literature, that he madly +
These are mostly indie o
cent pictures, in cheap, illustrated ] q
journals. Sometimes thew are nov B
Els. l enjoyed laugh, over the fact
Df disseminated devil of book agent
lhrusting book under the nose of a I :,
little, meek-eyed Moses of a man, =
seated by bony, fierce-looking wo- =
man, and screaming out, IL
The Hen7pecked Husband, sirpn
That was really the name of the 7
novel, but the poor man started as if +
shot, while the wife turned on the =
lggressor with look that made him =
lodge, as the car broke into laugh. 4
KENT. Z
Ticket-agents are selected because e
Of their capacity in the way of hand I
ling tickets and counting change. il
To be possessed of any general INTEL y
Iigence, and a polite disposition to a
mpart the same, would interfere with {
their business. So they are supposed s
TO be ignorant, and judging from my v
experience and observation they do t
not belle the supposition. Next, TO
Pig-iron, Puttyface, old Horace Gree
y and the venerable Carey, of Phila-
ielphia, ticket-agents are the most
gnorant men in the country. They Z
know nothing beyond the little pen :,
IN which they take in change and 4
1eal out tickets and curses to the =
human family. With this fact be- I
ore me, was fool enough to take :
he word of the agent in NeR York, y
hat the train leaving that city on :
morning would run through. o
Judge of my disgust on being told,
Sunday morning, that the train went y
no further. l found myself in the L
'old dawn of cloudy morning, on a
wooden platform of a dirty station