Daily Yellowstone journal., 1888-06-19
CARE OF PARloR CARS.
They Really Are Cleaned and Aired for
Each Trip. and Stocked. Too.

"NAas 49,
surance to the minds Of many travellers
to know what great care is taken TO
secure perfect cleanliness in the more
luxurious classes of railroad coaches,
known variously as sleeping, drawing
room, dining and buffet cars. A con
viction is widespread, particularly among
women, that the reverse is the case. The
suggestive of cold buckwheat cakes,
being of a feel and thickness unlike any
other blankets, are we're apt to be viewed
with suspicion. AS for the pillows, how
many women have vowed that they
could sniff the hair oil of the preceding
user upon them2 Why, ever bed bug
stories have been told of sleeping cars,
and the anecdote about dropping a gold
dollar in a sleeping car and finding it a
month afterward just where il fell, has
become such a stock story among travel
ing men that some of them now actually
believe it. In view Of all this. there is
solid comfort in such a story rs Superin-
tendent C. d. Flagg tells about what is
done with their cars at the conclusion Of
every trip. He says:
''Every car. as o as it is emptied Of
its passengers at a terminal point, is, as
we term ii, stripped in the yard. The
carpets are taken up, carried out beaten
and aired. The seats and backs are
taken out and thoroughly cleaned in like
manner. The mattresses, blankets and
berth curtains are also whipped, aired
and, if the weather permits, summed.
The spring beds are freed from the bed
dust that gathers from fraying of textile
fabrics, by brushing and wiping in all
parts. All utensils are carried out,
soused in scalding lye and scrubbed.
The pillows are beaten and summed like
the mattresses. The floor and oilcloths
in the saloons are scrubbed, and all the
woodwork, having been secured thor
oughly clean with soap, brushes, hot
water and drying cloths, is gone over
with furniture polish About once a
week the ~veneering or painted canvas
constituting the ceiling is carefully
secured to cleanse from il Accommodations
Of smoke and clinging dust, The win
dows are cleansed and rubbed bright.
All brass and silver mountings are pol
ished. Dust and stains are as carefully
washed from the outside of the car as
from the inside. To do that work we
keep 100 cleaners steadily at work here
in New York, and numbers at other
points in proportion othe work required.
While all this has been going on, every
EI..I 80 faxstsln fnhtaa. slaf ahn,,ll L..
washed-sheets, pillow cases, towels,
napkins and cushion covers-has been
sent to the laundry and replaced by a
clean stock of articles. Each car has
two complete outfits Of these things,
which are used alternately, one being
laundried, aired and packed while the
other is on the road.
Then, when the process is complete,
the car has 10 be retrimmed, by the re-
laying of carpets and oil cloths; putting
in place OF the springs, mattresses, seats
and backs; slowing away Of the pillows,
linen and curtains, and, last of all, the
thorough washing out Of the water tanks
and reflling them with fresh water and
ice. That last thing is never done until
the final moment when the car is about
to be drawn from the yard TO take its
place in the outgoing train. While all
this has ',p'n going On the railroad peo-
pie who are responsible for the care of
the running gear Of the car inspect the
trucks. test the brakes, sound every
wheel, see that the boxes are rightly
packed, and, as far as foresight can GO,
make sure accidents shall be averted.
THAT is the regular routine. scrupu-
lousy followed every day upon every
car that comes in. No housewife, ever
in Holland, ever dreamed of such q
thorough house cleaning as this is. In
addition thereto, the blankets are steam
secured twice a year, which is at least
double the attention they get in most
hotels. The berth curtains are treated so
once a year. Carpets have to be renewed
every fifteen or eighteen months. as the
hard service wear them Il very rapidly.
The only variations upon that elaborate
process Of cleaning are in handling the
dining DOL and buffet cars, where the
operations involve thorough publication
VI uA AlNAaElAst NNitAInlllE VI lilt AIf bOAtA
and kitchens and restocking with pro.
visions. One rule always maintains that
the primary thing to be done when the
car comes into the hands Of the cleaners
is 70 take out Of it everything that can
be taken out. Then every separate piece
so removed must be made faultlesSly
clean before IL is put back.
Each dining room or buffet car has
Its steward, whose duty it is to report &c
the assistant commissary Immediately
upon his arrival what stock he has lief,
over and what he Is short Of. To verify
his report the assistant commissary, who
acts as a check upon him, goes through
his stock and then makes out, to replace
shortages and keep up the supplies, a
requisition upon the commissary. That
requisition is filed utupon a blank form,
on which are specified about 800 articles
in constant use ON those cars. with spaces
left for the addition of more as the con-
ditions OF the markets enable increase in
the Of our commissariat. In
all the management Of this department
there is just such d system Of checking
In and checking out as obtains ip the
stock room OF every big hotel. AL
groceries, wines, liquors, and other non
p%erishable goods are bought in great
quantities, and kept in tho compaDy's
store houses for issue upon requisition
as demanded; but fresh meats, poultry,