The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-08-11
TRAVEL IN THE WEST.
cONveNlENCES WHICH EASTERN
n PASSENGERS 90 NOT KNOW.
Privileges Of the Dining Csr-TraveLing
Lunch Chests-A Good Result Of Low
Rates Travel In the Night Time-The
Train Men.

RateS-TrAvei In the might Aiu'e Ae
Train Men.
In ons respect the western railroads go
ahead of tho eastern railroads, and that
Is in feeding their passengers. Hardly
road in the east has dining car on its
local trains The limited and through
express trains have dining cars, but they
are generally for the parlor and sleeping
car passengers only. A man who is going
from New York to Philadelphia, or New
Haven, or Albany in an ordinary car must
get OIL at some station to eat or 90 with
out, nuless he can make meal from the
cigars, fruit, candy and novels of the
train boy.
Out west they do this better. Almost
all the main lines make provision for feed
ing the passengers on the trains. More
dining cars are run than on the eastern
roads, and, though the meals are not so
elaborate as on the New York Central and
Pennsylvania limited trains, the price Is
seventy-five cents instead OF 81. The
door of the dining cars that the passengers
who are not in parlor ears would enter is
not locked, and anybody in the train may
go in and eat. This is not so pleasant for
the parlor car passengers, but 1t Is better
for the general travel of the road.
In many trains where there is no dining
car there is . sort of lunch counter rugged
ND in the smoking car. TNaec is an attend
ant who will serve u luncheon in any part
of the train. He brings the things on
tray. and they can be eaten with much
mora comfort and leisure on the tram
than in the hurry of short stop and the
crowd and confusion of railroad lunch
room. The apparatus is kept III the
smoking car during the trip, and at the
end the things are packed up Ill pig
chest, tho way u newsboy packs up his
outfit, and the chest is taken away to De
resiocked and put on another train TINS
Is convenience that the eastern roads do
not seem to believe in. The prices are
moderate, IL little lower than those charged
at the average eastern railroad lunch
counter; the dishes are clean, and q nap
kin goes with them.
In one way those travelling lunch chests
must be educators of the people. No
knives are served with pie. An order for
pic. coffee and Il sandwich brought fresh
sandwich wrapped up in transparent paper
and covered with tin foil like prize pack
age. a thick, white china cup of coffee
with a little jug of cream and some sugar,
q piece of pie OH plate, spoon and
fork. There was no knife. The western
inhabitant who undertook to eat pic with
a knife would have TO furnish it himself,
for the attendant brought none The
only ways of eating the pie were with
fork or with the fingers. This is better
than in the east, where at four railroad
lunch counters out of five knife goes
with pie, and usually it is vigorously
used.
Don't you give knife with pie" the
attendant was asked
"Oh, no" he replied. You don't need
knife to eat pie.
Is this scheme of the railroad to edu-
cate the travellers
Il don't know about any scheme. All
| know is that pie don't need any knife.
Have you ever reflected on the results
of this denial of knives to the pie eating
publicY
Look here young man, whatre you
asking that for! DO you take me for
kid? knives don't go with pie, and that's
oil there is to it
There is less expectation Of fees among
the walters in western dining cars. They
sell ten cent cigars, too, and cheap beer.
Altogether. the railroads seem to be run
more for the accommodation of the aver
age passenger and less for the people who
nav extra. That may be because there Is
more competition.
One good result of these low rates is
that travelling is encouraged. Western
men travel many times as much as cast
ern men More western men come east
than eastern men 90 west. Brooklyn
man would think trip to Chicago some
thing to be thought over, and lac would
not 90 to Boston without making some
preparation A Chicago business man
thinks nothing of going to St Louis, st.
Paul. Kansas City or Omaha, and a trip
TO New York simply means the expense
and day lost. They do not think any
more of a trip to St Paul than an old
Brooklyn citizen would think OF trip to
Westchester county on the elevated road
One result of the universal western
habit Of travelling is that the bulk Of the
passenger traffic is done at night. Every
road from Omaha runs night express,
arriving at Chicago in the morning, while
the day trains are generally slower and
more for local traffic. \ western man Is
accustomed to do his days business and
then start off, while an eastern man looks
on the act of travelling as serious under
taking. and starts off in the morning with
q feeling that he will be moro tired by
evening than if he had worked in his
Office western man. on the other
hand, finishes his business, goes to the
station in time for supper OH the train,
smokes his cigar in the smoking compart-
ment of the sleeper, chats with his fellow
travellers, goes TO bed and wakes up in
the morning in time for breakfast at his
destination, aud goes at once to attend to
his business there as If lie did that sort Of
thing every day--indeed, some Of them
do.
The relations between the trainmen
and the passengers are more pleasant in
the west The trainmen arc not SER
wants, but workmen and business men.
They look forward to promotion on the
road or to striking wealth in speculation.
Among their passengers every day they
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