Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1889-11-09

OF Continental TraveI-faesuIts Of In
vestigatiOns Among tho slower
Classes''-Some Interesting Features
of European RaiIways-OdditIes OF
the Tyranical Railway Omc1als-
Bavariaa Beer-A Peep at Old Nu-
remberE.
NANTES, France, Dot. "a.
To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
have a habit, at home or abroad, of try
ing to look at life Though Its back doors
and windows, from the under and rougher
side, as it were; and so here on the CONT
nent, in the little time have had this au-
tumn, and in the more leisurely wanderings
have had here in other years, have passed
the most time with the CLOVER classes" as
they are called; at public fountains, where
the back-breaking loads of water are drawn,
among the men and maid servants In the lit
tie courts of great and small hotels, with
the porters about railway stations, with those
who labor in most menial duties upon the
street, at the sunny sides of market places,
where you will see the real peasantry of eoun-
tries and can fnd what it can accomplish
and what is its utmost ambition, and think
whole there is general contentment. 1t is
hard for us to understand this, because it lie
inoonceivable to us how we could be thus
contented. When you get close to the Euro
psan peasant you will find that it is equally
as difficult for him to conceive of any other
condition than that in which he exists.
This Is why, also. that republics obtain SO
slowly here. To be sure these people are
church and throne ridden, that is, from our
standpoint they are; but they were born into
it, fashioned out of 1t, and have so assinila-
ted of it that they know no other life, desire
no other life; and, perhaps as some social
scientists assert, compelling them to acquire
the intellectually requisite, would be some-
thing like an act of cruelty. They are sim
pie, childish people, content in their severe
labor; satisfied with their, to us, niggardly
recompense; happy in the few holidays the
year brings about; patient under the titheing
of either king or church; proud that the one
protects and the other shrives; and quite
radiant, at the end, to lay aside tine working
clothes of the sodden days behind, for the
promised finery of the eternal holiday be-
yond.
Continental railway travel has some truly
interesting features. They have the same
idiotic little carriages as In England, CON-
prisipg from four to six compartments, each
holding eight people in the first and second
and ten persons in the third class oompart-
ments. In Bavaria there are fourth class
cars or carriages. These are principally
used in time of war for the transportation OF
troops and are plainly marked: "To con-
tain ten horses or thirty-six men," Save in
France the service. such as 1t is, is every
where equal, if not superior, to that In Eng
land. One has to personally see his baggage
in the luggage van, and not only give trink
gelt or pourboire, to have it labeled, but
| also to have it put aboard. The guard is the
| monarch of the train. While he cannot tax,
money for fare, whether OF no, with unblush
| ing GOODNESS he would take bribe from any
| body for anything; and even officers of tn
road think it quite the proper thing to pa.
tribute to the guard should they wish to oc
cupy an entire compartment. So far doe
this guard-bribing go that train of thirteel
first and second-class carriages moved out o
Berlin last week containing sixty-seven peo
| pie when there were accommodations TO
four hundred and fifty people, and over on
hundred people were left at the station VIII
desired to take this particular train. Th
guards had sold the exclusive use of nearl.
every compartment on this train to individu
al passengers. In connection with this uni
versal nuisance have heard it seriously sta
ted that the zeal reason why the introdue
tion of the American sleeping cars upol
continental railway lines is SO slowly effecte.
ia the opposition of these very guards, VIII
thus loose great portion of their revenue
T If you have to travel all night, by slipping
Eve mark piece (about one dollar and TWEEN
ty-dve cents) or very much less, into tn
hand of the guard, you will secure an entir
compartment, or, at least one side of one
where you can stretch at full length, what
ever may be the discomforts of other passen
gers, too poor or too ignorant to employ tn
same system. A berth in the dirty littl
continental sleeping cars that have crept int
the service, and which contain about fou
compartments of four berths each, cost
three times as much. and is not half as com
Portable, as these sleepers have no accomda
ionslwhatever-the conductor, usually viii
fellow, who continually insists upon you
purchasing his bad wines, refusing to black
en- your boots, brush you or do up you
berth In the morning, although he Is con
ductor and porter In one.
The first grand scramble at stations over
one inquiries hastily of one of the myriad o
uniformed officials how long a wait will b
had. II he says fifteen minutes, for he i
quite likely TO-, as no one knows anytime
about IL, the train pulls out in three. If b
tells You five 1t is more likely to be half 81
hour. If you are assured by the grsa
Horned Spoon that you are to have half al
hour at such and such q station for . meal
and you get seated at the table, your none
taken-for that is the first thing-you hav
possibly got gulp stored away, when a uni
formed lunatic rushes in with the Mysteries
announcement that your train is just pullin
out. Back somersaults are turned, th
wrong compartment is found, You are locke
in, and directly You will witness nearly ever
one Of this train load quietly retracing hi
steps to the dining room. Again, you wi
see tempting lunch spread in little sta
not ten feet from your nose and the carriag
|. window. You essay to get out of you
compartment, but are informed the train
just moving. You sink back in your seat /
olk S,p ho1e hor