Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-05-25
Railway Travelling.

UNLESS we stagnate at home, or dry up
or rust out in the routine of village life,
we must make use of the fatal railways.
They have the right of eminent domain,
and the very capitalist who vows he will
not travel by them, has to sell his land to
them, and to hear the villainOus whistle,
screaming ten times in day as the hate
full train shoots through his garden, and
sends its dust into his chambers. A man
who in our time undertakes to fight with
the railways is in worse plight than Don
Quixote in his fight with the windmills.
Much as we may complain, there is no
better way; in fact, there is practically no
other way. And in view of these facts, it
may not be out of place to give some rules
for comfortable railway travelling.
1. Be punctual. 1t is never safe to count
upon delays, though they so often occur.
Provoking as it is to wait half an hour or
an hour in some dreary station, it is more
provoking to reach the station half a min
ute too late, and see the train gently glid-
ing away. One may be late anywhere
else with more reason. There is no need
of being half an hour too early, and it is
pitiable weakness to hurry breakfast on a
cold winter morning, when there is good
hour to spare. Yet it is still more mel
ancholy weakness, which brings one, red
in the face and out of breath, to jump
upon the platform day after day when the
train is in motion, at the imminent risk of
being thrown under the wheels. A rail
way station is an excellent position for
the study of human folly. 1t is good
rule to be at the station long enough be-
fore the train leaves to make wise choice
of place in it, if it is already there, or at
any rate, to get the mind composed and
the nerves quieted.
2. In the choice of a seat, get one as
nearly as possible in the middle of the car.
Perhaps seat atnearer the door may be safer
in case of accident, and one may find
easier escape. But that advantage is more
| than met by smoother motion, and the
| more comfortable air in the central part of
| the car. There are fewer cold draughts in
| that part, and in most cars the red hot
stove is less nuisance there A place
over the wheels is not good for the brain
a prudent man will avoid it, if he can
Somebody must sit there, of course. Let
it be the penalty which the late corners
pay. The material of the seat is of much
less Importance in long railway journeys
than the place of the seat. A velvet arm
chair, with the wind blowing upon it, OF
the jerk of the wheel vibrating in it, is no
so safe and not so comfortable as hare
| board Dench In a better place. DO not 81
near the stove, or over the wheels.
8. Then, when there are several cars il
the train, choose place in one of the mid
die cars No place in train is wholly
safe, and it has no more been decided
which is the safest place in railway trail
than where is the best place on the body
to have boil Other things being equal
the middle car is safer than the front O
rear car, in case of collision, and it has
certainly an easier and more steady mo
ton. It is mistaken idea that the rea
car is the least exposed. There are train
that follow as well as trains that encoun
ter, and some of the worst railway acci
dents on record have come from these fol
lowing trains. Avoid, at any rate, tn
temptation to use the baggage car or tn
emigrant car, because in these smoking
is permitted. The luxury of cigar i