The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-08-23
sTKEET OARS m EuRopE.
The Splendid Equipment of the Lines in the
Principal European Cities.

ANAhOAPAA AAuAVPctSH SAb1cSs
st. Louis Globe Democrat.
sYou were saying that improvements had
been made in street carsP
Eyes, and very decided ones. The handsom-
est street cars ever saw are in use in Dresden.
1t is really pleasure to ride in one of them.
The climate of Dresden is very much like that
which we have here an average, although it
never becomes so warm there as it does here.
But the winters are about the same. Now, in
Dresden the open street cars are used, except in
rainy OF very cold weather. | may say that this
is not the case all through the continent. There
is no sense in being boxed up in a street car
because the weather happens to be a trife cold.
We ride in mid-winter in an open buggy or
barouche, and we rather like the cold, bracing
air. 1t does us good. We feel all the better for
dash against the wind. There is no reason
why the street cars should be closed up as tight
as bank vault The only opportunity a great
many of US have to get breath of fresh air is
when we go down town in the morning and
when we return at night. We cook in hot
store or bake in hot Office down town, and if
anybody happens to leave the door aiar coming
in or going out it freezes our marrow How
much better it would be if we rode in open street
cars in the winter as well as in the summer
Comfortably sheltered, it would not only be
healthful but enjoyable. At any rate the people
living in large cities abroad take this view of it.
The cars are very long and wide There is no
upholstering to collect dust or dirt even in the
closed cars all the seats being cane or rattan
bottomed and they face toward the horses.
There is comfortable space, for five persons on a
seat, with plenty of leg and elbow room. A
winding stairs runs from the back platform to
the roof Of the car, and as passengers ladies and
gentlemen, pass UP they pay their fares, so that
the conductor doesn't have to follow them The
roof is the favorite part of the car for the young
people of both sexes and it is a very interesting
sight to see the crowded car move up and down
the streets in the early morning or in the evening
when the people are going to and returning from
their work.
Are the street cars well patronized abroadP
why, bless you, yes! More so than they are
here, 1 should say In Germany the. streetcar
fare is ten pfennings, or two and one half cents,
and this fare will carry man an immense dis
lance into the suburbs. The cars travel fast.
never rode on a slow street car in Dresden,
Berlin, Leipsic, Vienna any of the large cities
of Germany. The horses usually go at gallop.
No such snail-like motion as this we are enjoy
ing here would be tolerated. 1t is presumed
abroad that when passenger gets into a car he
wants to go somewhere and that he wants to
reach his destination as quick as he can The
companies conduct their lines on this theory,
The tracks too are kept in excellent condition,
ard the cars move as smoothly as a Pullman
sleeper. The closed cars in. winter are always
well ventilated and kept scrupulously clean.
There Is no bad odor such as we are sometimes
annoyed by on our cars.
us smoking allowedP
There is one of the advantages of the open
cars. Passengers, of course, allowed to
smoke on the roof, or the upper deck as it is
catled, as the three rear seats are reserved for
lovers Of the weed. The Germans like to smoke,
and the companies very sensibly give smokers
all the comforts possible Now, as it is with
getting fresh air, there are thousands of patrons
of our street car lines who have no other time
to smoke than during the morning and evening.
Ihey cannot smoke at their work. and the hur-
ried smoke taken at noon is not enjoyed But in
order to smoke in the morning or evening, they
must walk to and from their places of business,
for they can not smoke on our street cars. do
not smoke myself, but nevertheless understand
fully and can appreciate the enjoyment which is
denied the lovers of tobacco by our system
gu spoke particularly of Germany; how is
it in Frances"
THE French system is similar to the German
In Paris there are no street-carlines on the great
boulevards or avenues. But they have the most
magnificent omnibus system in the world. The
omnibuses are immense in size and, for omni-
buses, very comfortable. 1t is glorious sight
to see one of these great vehicles crowded inside
and outside, coming down the magnificent aven-
ues, drawn by four galloping, prancing horses
abreast the driver guiding them with one hand
and cracking his long whip with the other
have stood almost entranced on the steps of the
Madeleine, for an hour at time, and watched
these omnibuses as they few past on the Boule-
ward Malesherbes. They seemed to be like the
Roman chariots / had read of when a boy,
and certainly there is nothing in this world
that comes nearer to the picture one
Gent Rome than the view from the Madeleine in
Paris. Wherever street cars are used in France
they are large and comfortable and they travel
fast. Indeed, fast as we think we are in the
United States, we can not hold candle to the
Europeans. The buses, cabs, carriages and
common wagons all drive through the crowded
streets at a break neck pace, and woe be unto
the nan who loiters on the crossing, for the
drivers never slacken their speed nor turn out
of their way. 1t is worth a mans life to cross
the streets of Paris or London / never saw a
horse walk in the latter city, unless it was on
the back streets. Even over Holbern Viaduct,
down Cheapside, and the narrow streets around
st. Pauls, the cabs and other vehicles actually
fly The London street cars are not as COM
Portable as those on the continent, nor as popu-
lar. Phe Metropolitan Underground Railway
monopolizes great part of the city traffic, and
in the business center the Hanson cabs capture
all the short distance passengers.
why the Pinkhams Returned to Maine.
New York Evangelist.
Israel Pinkham and wife removed from Maine