Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1871-05-26
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 az we Ray complain, there Is no
better way; in fact, there is practically no
other way. And in view of these facts, 1t
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, 1t is more
provoking to reach the station half min
ute too late, aud 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 a
pitiable weakness to hurry breakfast on q
cold winter morning, when there is good
hour to spare. Yet 1t 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. It is a good
rule tn he at tho station long enough be-
fore the train leaves to make wise choice
of place in it, if it is already there, OF at
any rate, to get the mind composed and
the nerves quieted.
2. In the choice of seat, get one as
nearly as possible in the middle of the car.
Perhaps a seat nearer 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 1t, If he can.
Somebody must sit there, of course. Let
it be the penalty which the late comers
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, or
the jerk of the wheel vibrating in it, is not
so safe and not so comfortable as hard
board bench in better place. Do not sit
near the stove, or over the wheels.
3. Then, when there are several cars fn
the train, choose place in one of the mid
die cars. No place in a train is wholly
safe, and it has no more been decided
which is the safest place in railway train
than where is the best place on the body
to have boil. Other things being equal
the middle car is safer than the front OF
rear car, in case of collision, and 1t has
certainly an easier and more steady mo-
ton. 1t is a mistaken idea that the real
that follow as we'll 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, the
temptation to use the baggage car or the
emigrant car, because in these smoking
is permitted. The luxury of cigar is
poorly purchased at the risk of fractured
| limbs, or in the pollution of foul air.
4. We are disposed to urge, as fourth
rule, the propriety of avoiding night trsve
| in railway cars. How absurd it will per
haps be said. Is this not one of the grand
| improvements of this method of travel
| that the nights can be used, and that yoJ
can sleep as comfortably as in your bed a
home? Is it not great gain to get over the
| ground while you are asleep, and save tht
| WEAKNESS of the long day stretch? New
ertheless, we say don't travel by night
unless you are in hurry to meet some en-
| gagement, to see dying friend, or t.
reach your lecture hall, when the train
have been detained. A bagman or
hummer" who must have all his day
time for traffic, may be excused for travel
| ing by night. He has no purpose of spi
ritual improvement or physical delight
| But one who is travelling for health o.
| pleasure loses much in the wear and tea
of nerve which night travel involves, TIL,
thin light, fickering and faint, is ruinou
to the eyes, and the sleep, which is snatch
| ed and broken, is not refreshing. Ever
the nice bed and the clean sheets of ,
| Pullman palace car are no guarantee TO
genuine rest there is as much wakeful
ness, as much fitful dreaming, as much fea
of the nocturnal powers, and much more
danger in case of accident, in these pal
ace cars, than in the more open cars, wher,
they tumble and toss up N the seats, bu
are ready to move when the shock comes
Not few persons, who thought sleeping
| cars a wonderful invention few year
ago, now religiOusly avoid them, and pre-
fer to watch IN the other coaches, rathe
than be hived in the close cells and tn,
hot air of those splendid cages.
5. To this we add the counsel, not to ca
in the cars. Convenient as the custom
may be, it is not quite clean. One canno
drop crumbs, apple-skins and nutshell
upon the car floor without annoying SOM
of bis neighbors. The odor of food cling
to a car, even when it is open to current
of air. "Ten minutes for dinner" at
railway restaurant, do not, of course, hole
out hope of a Christian meal Ye
where reasonable time is given, it is bette
to go for food in the place where it be
longs. We may doubt, too, if it is alto
gether healthy to eat when the body is fly
&ng through the air, any more than whel
one is walking. There is kind of bodil,
exercise in the motion of railway cal
less violent, perhaps, than that of rowing
or horseback riding, but still quite as real
Who thinks of eating on horseback? TIL
organ. grinder stops his grinding when h
takes his dinner, though he still has on
hand free.
9. DR.. Holmes, in one of his books, say
that the model fellow traveller in a rail wa
car is the one who sits by you with hi
mouth shut, and asks no questions. Ma
we not infer from this remark that mucl
conversation in railway travel is not gooC
and should be avoidedS A dead silenc
is embarrassing, but perpetual stream o
talk when there is this background of ia
and rumble, making it an effort TO lister
is fearfully wearisome. II tries not onl
the eaes of the hearer, but it tries tn
voice of the speaker 1t is not well t
talk much in railway cars, when talking
felt to be an effort and the voice has to b
strained Moreover, we should remembe
that loud talking will be overheard b
those to whom it is not addressed Their
is no greater nuisance in railway car tina
a loud declaimer, who makes his affairs Q
his fancies public property.
Z. Shall we read in the cars. Judiciou
oculists say that it is not safe. But whs
is lone man to do, if he may not eat an
talkS Must he spend all his time in thinl
ing, or in looking out of the window, G
in dozing2 Some reading, certainly, mui
be allowed and the profits of the boo