The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-07-31
The Travelling Tyrant.

AMONG our leading fiends there is no
one who surpasses in effective malignity
the sleeping-car porter. 1t is his duty
to attend to the discomfort of travellers
and in the discharge thereof he displays
an unwearied assiduity which has made
countless thousands swear.
Every sleeping-car is nominally in
charge of special conductor, gor-
geous being, with an ornamented cap,
who disappears from view when the
train starts and is not seen again until
morning. The real despot of the sleep
ing car is the colored porter, who, as
soon the conductor has gone into anoth-
er car to make himself comfortable, as
sumes unlimited authority. The mo-
ment it is dark, he puts his passengers
to bed. No matter how anxious trav-
eler may be to sit up until 10 O'Clock in
order to pursue an innocent CONVERSE
5ion with young lady, the porter APP
proaches him at o'clock and remarks :
"We want to take up the beds now,
sah!" With the abjectness of spirit
characteristic of American travellers,
the unfortunate man never dreams of
disputing the porter's authority, but
promptly rises and balances himself I'M
easily against a neighboring berth
while his bed is put in order. The OBJ
jet of the porter in thus requiring his
passengers to go to bed at s o'clock is
readily perceived. The sooner they are
out of the way the sooner he can 90 to
bed himself. What to him is the wall
Of the wretched traveller who is
thrust into sitting berth hours before
he can by any possibility 60 to sleep?
What cares he for the disappointment
Of the young man and the young wo-
man who had expected to enjoy each
others society during the EVENING" He
knows that if he orders the passengers
TO go to bed they will not dare to DISC
oey him, and his own personal comfort
is the only object which is dear to
lim.
AS soon as the passengers are in bed
The porter takes away their shoes, not
necessarily with view to backing
hem, but as guarantee that they will
OF venture to get out of bed without
permission. These shoes he takes to
mis- private den at the end of the car,
where he spends little time in mixing
hem, and then prepares for sleep. AS a
rule, the porter does not snore, because
he holds that the duty of snoring prop
erly belongs to the passengers. If, how
ever, as sometimes happens, no passen-
ger volunteers to snore, the porter
demonstrates the fearful power of the
African nose by snoring with a sus-
,ained vigor that no ordinary travelling
nose can hope to emulate. Before 60
ing to sleep the porter has, of course,
closed all the ventilators if it is summer,
and stirred up the fires if it is winter,
thus making sure that his victims shall
suffer from heat and gain as little sleep
rs possible for their money. What with
The heat and the noise the passengers
rarely manage to fall asleep before II
o'clock, by which time the porter, re-
freshed by his nap, rouses himself and
begins his midnight round. He stops at
every berth, and, shaking the sleeping
passenger, wakes him up to ask him,
"Was it you, sab, that was wanting to
get out hereP" OF course no one wants
to get out, as the porter perfectly well
knows, but it is part of his fiendish
system to wake every body at midnight,
and thus prevent them from forgetting
their miseries In sleep.
When his midnight round is finished
the porter returns to his den and takes
sound nap. Long experience has