Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-11-23
PERELs OF UPPER BERrHs.
why a Railroad Conductor Says They
Arc Dangerous.


From the Memphis Weekly.
While sitting In the smoking-roOm Of palace
car. cOnversing with acquaintance of mine
from Brooklyn, the conductor dropped in and
commenced an easy chat.
Being a railroad man." he said, .'it may be
foolish In me to speak of it, but did you ever
notice anything particularly dangerous about
the upper berth in Pullman sleeper"
mo" exclaimed and yet have slept In
them frequently what do you meaR7"
Come here and | will cXplaia" was the
reply. and leading the way into the car he let
dowc one OF the upper berths. and, putting
aside the mattress, displayed its inner work
ings.
Now to look at IT." he said. "yOu would
Imagine lis heavy bottom weighed fully hun
dred pounds vet SO nicely il Ii balanced the
slightest pressure lifts it up into its place. Give
a mere push and it goes up n; light as feather
This Is done by means of the strong coilet
springs inside. which roll up the supporting
berth chains The woodwork fits SO CLOSELY that
when shut the whole appears a. one solid part
OF the car The cracks are not even visible If
man were TO be shut IN in one OF these places
II wJnid he an alright tomb. and he would die
OF sltfucatiOn'
Bat is it possible to be shut in one of thems''
Exclaimed shudder passing through me at
the idea
Certainly" replied the conductor. grimly.
This lock. as You see. shuts with a spring
Push MP the berth ever so gently. and the lock
faStens automatically. with an almost impercep-
fible click. The lock is on the outside. and it
would be utterly impossible to open 1t from
within. Let the berth shut on a man. and he
VII! De sGOthered 70 death in less than ten min
utes-wOuld be 'fatteped out and jammed be
tween the berth and the roof Of the car, gaSpinr
for BREATH
lis there nothing to prevent these berths
from flying up2F'
They make only pretense of it. This small
Retl 10
lower end fitted by slots into the berth below
/. But a little ioting is enough to Jerk these out
OF place, and then the slightest Tipping of the
car will send the berth flying up into its place
imDrisOlng the unconscious sieeper in the
twinkling Of an eye"
The conductors story was very hair-raising
and We all looked around at each other un-
easily.
IF this thing is so dangerous why don't We
near OF some accidents!" | asked.
You would hear of them if you looked in
the right place. A case occurred not long ago
Trough fortunately not fatal one. The car
somehow jumped the rail. and the Jolt caused
one of the upper berthS whose wire fastening
mad come loose to hy up in its place. A young
man was sleeping in the berth. and. as it hap
pened. had his arm hanging over the side The
arm was pretty badly mashed, but it saved his
life. for it kept the birth from entirely closing
and gave him ar until We came to his relief. 1t
Is becoming difficult row to sell upper berths."
hOch-S Discovery Questioned.
Prom the Medical Record
The editors of the Chicago Medical Journal
0;sG Efddiie1- announce that they will shortly
publish an article bv Dr. III. d. Schmidt Of New
Orleans. which article will contain very strong
evidence. if not actual proof that the bacillus
tuberculosis IS net 81 organized body but a fat
crystal DIR. Schmidt began series OF studies
upon the subject of tubercle a year ago. When
kOchs discovery was announced he tried to find
the new organisms. following strictly Kochs
directions. Like Others. he was unsuccessful.
although he states that In some specimens
OF sputa certain bodies became visible
having faint Blush color and present
Ing something of the shape and size of the
bacillus Still. il impossible to say that
these were organized bodies. He then used the
caustic potash method adopted by BaumGarten
the sections be!n" soaked in 80 per cent sOlu-
ton In this way the presence was established
In tubercuous tissue and sputa of minute rods
which. IN every respect. correspondent to the
description given of kOch's bacilli. In close
connection. however. with these minute bodies.
there were almost always dropletS of fat. The
Idea was suggested that the baeili might be
only crystals. such. for example. as had already
been seen in the degenerating fat-cels OF lep-
rous tissue. This i;ea was strengthened by
hndlng the potash sections of various
tissues in which there was fatty degeneration
developed fine crystals in short time even
after they had been mounted We are told that
DR. Schmidt. pursuing his theory further. now
claims that every form of kOchs bacillus can be
artifciay produced. He does not succeed i'm
staining them, however. although they are
highly retroactive and have a faint blush color
which may have deceived some observers. By
Ehrl,ch's and by Gibbes method the supposed
organisms We're demonstrated. but not in a
stained condition. In tuberculous tissue the
rods were by no means found to correspond with
each other in the matter of form and size. They
were generally recognizable in those elements
OF the tubercular mass which had undergone
degeneration.
Dr. Schmidt has high reputation for
microscopic skill and his views will be exam
ined with much interest BY coincidence.
one of the best microscOpists in this city has, we
are told expressed opinions similar to those of
DIR. Schmidt. IL is. of course difficult to sup
pose that a discovery which has been confirmed
quite widely and by a considerable number Of
skilled observers, should prove to be q mistake
after all Furthermore. the fall of the bacillus
OF tuberculosis would involve that of a number
OF other infectious organisms. There will be
very strenuous opposition, therefore, to the fat
crystal theory.