Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1883-12-08
BOUDOIR SLEEPERS.
The New Form of LUXURIOUS Trav.
cling.

Boston Herald.
The New York Tribune of Saturday stated
that the Mann Boudoir Car company has
closed an agreement with the New York,
New Haven g. Hartford and the Boston &
Albany railrad companies for running the
Mann boudoiI sleeping cars on the New York
G. Boston route, by way of Springfield.
These cars differ SO radically from the Amer.
ican palace cars, and apparently offer some
such decided advantages, that description
taken from The American Tourist Gazette
will be of interest. They are essentially
Through cars" j. e.. while forming comfor-
table sleepers at night, they are readily con-
vertible iato luxurious day parlor cars, all
indications of sleeping arrangements disap-
pearing. This is desideratum, the long dis
tances travelled by the same car in this coun-
try rendering it indispensable that it be not
only good night car, in which regard our
palace cars certainly leave much to be de-
sired. The boudoir car has at either end
vestibule, from which open respectively
ladies' aud gentlemen's dressing rooms and
closets The lavatories are supplied with
both hot and cold water, while the closets are
real water closets, thus preventing the dis
agreeable odors incident to the system in use
in this country. Connecting the vestibules,
and shut off from them by doors, is a COM
modious corridor running along the side of
the car. Opening off this hallway by doors
arc several compartments or boudoiIs, some
arranged for two and some for four persons.
BY day these rooms are simply pretty cabins,
with high, arched clear ceilings, large plate
glass windows and one OF two luxurious sofas
The sofas are athwart the car, and under
them and behind the inclined backs are car
ried the mattresses and bedding. Thus the
chief weight is near the floor, while the enor-
mously heavy palace car bed, hinged up in
the top of the car rendering it unstable and
topheavy and shutting off half the window
space is entirely dispensed with At night
the back of the sofa, hinged at its top to the
cross partitions is raised to horizontal posi-
ton, where automatically fastening itself,
it forms the upper bed, the sofa seat becom-
ing the lower bed Thus, with the addition
of bedding. two wide beds are made up from
each sofa. The beds are longer than those OF
the palace car, and the head is made up next
to the corridor PARTITION bringing the vital
parts Of the body in the middle of the car,
safer position than along the side by the win
the sleeper avoids the rolling motion expert
enced in longitudinal beds, while the head is
removed from the noise incidental to close
contact with the car wall.
The ventilation of the car is by novel
system, without the dangerous draughts and
smothering dust from the windows in the
elevated roofs of American cars This roof,
a great top weight, and an element Of weak
Tod hue cir
pie high dome, or Norman arch. Abundant
air is taken in at one end of the car by
tunnels and forced through an ingenious
filter, freeing it of all dust, after which it is
discharged into the heater room. In winter
the purified air is thus heated, while in sum-
mer the heater room is converted into huge
refrigerator with ice From this room the
air passes along 1ue inclosing the heater
pipes down the corridor, and is discharged
through registers opposite the door of each
compartment, which doors, being provided
with Stats or louvres, admit the fresh heated
OF cooled air in great quantities to the COM
partments In each compartment are three
exhausting Ventilators, which, while they
cannot admit air from without, constantly
draw off the air from within. All the air in
the car is changed every five minutes, alb
portance of good ventilation in cars cannot
be overestimated.
It should be mentioned that off the ladies'
vestibule is a two-place boudoir, always re-
served for ladies travelling alone In this
young girl might journey across the con-
tinent without escort with perfect propriety.
Connecting with the gentleman's vestibule
are smoking room and buffet. In each COM
ha1l -
call the porter. The chief feature of these
cars seems to be the very desirable privacy of
ones home or hotel attained by the division
into compartments. Every traveller has OBJ
served the necessary exposure and incon-
venience of dressing or undressing in a
palace car; so Objectionable is this that many
ladies decline to travel in them. Again,
there is great annoyance at night by con-
ductors, trainmen and way passengers pass
ing to and fro between the long lines of cur
tains, all of which is avoided by the fully
partitioned corridor of the boudoir cars. The
entire interior of these cars is flushed in
Amaranth woodwork, embossed with illumi-
mated leather and French tapestry
1t is claimed that the dead weight Of these
cars per passenger carried is fully IS per cent.
less than that of the palace cars. This would
be a vast recommendation of them to railroad
managers. The interior partitions necessar
lily strengthen the cars against crushing III
accidents, and would greatly retard the pro
gress of fire through the car, which has S,
often been the cause of fearful loss of life
The cars will be lighted with incandescent
electric lamps, thus averting the danger of
mineral oil lighting. The electricity is stored
and regulated by accumulators under the