Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-11-03
RIDING ON THE RAIL.
Oliver Optic Talks About His Travels
in Foreign Lands.
PARL0R CARS in ENGLAND.
Some Comforts and DiScOmforts Of Euro
pean Railroads.
ENGLAND.
THE CRACK TRAIN OF THE CONTINENT
WRITTEN For TILE p1sPArcH.i

WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPATCH.i
On the Midland Railway from Edinburgh
or Glasgow, or from Liverpool, to London,
certain express trains are run with Pullman
cars attached to them, including parlor cars
by day and sleepers by night For the
parlor car no extra charge is made, but seats
in them are furnished to any frst-class
passengers. For sleeper the supplementary
charge is 3 shillings, or 81 25. On both
cars there are porterS who are called sat.
tendants, and those have met weregentle.
manly and intelligent men.
1 have made three trips between London
and Liverpool in the Pullman day car, oi
which there was never more than one on g
train, while there were at least dozen ot
the ordinary compartment cars, or "car
riages," as they are invariably called in
Europe. 1 noticed that on each of thest
journeys not more than three or four of the
chairs were occupied. People in England
appear not to like the parlor car, perhap:
because the interior consists of only a single
apartment for passengers, instead of com.
partments each accommodating eight or ten
persons. Probably this is the reason why
no extra charge is made for seats In these
cars.
In ''the States" or "in America" as oul
English brethren generally call our coun.
try, travellers are willing and glad to pay
from 81 to So day for the privilege of rid
ing IN these luxurious cars. They are pro-
vided with every convenience found in a
hotel or private dwelling, the want Of which
on train sometimes causes great suffering,
and always in journey of any length much
| discomfort.
1 have been from Liverpool to London,
and from Calais or Boulogne to Paris, in a
compartment OF carriage. Half the pas
sengers must ride backward, which is far
from agreeable to many. The four corner
seats are always preferred, and travellers 90
early to the train to secure them. because
they are near the windows and the doors and
one can see, the country to better advantage.
NO ROOM TO STRETCH.
Passengers confronting each other for sew
eral hours or whole dav do not ALWAYS
know their own legs from their opposite
neighbors, for their lower extremities have
no exclusive rights in the premises But
our English friend prefers this sort of ac-
commodatiOn, as rule, to the luxury of a
Pullman, for which Americans are willing
to pay liberal price. am unable to un-
derstand it. For company of four or six,
who may secure the exclusive occupancy of
a compartment on the Midland, it is all verv
well. To the ordinary traveller, who is one
of a smaller party in a apartment than in
an American car, the partial excIusiveness
he obtains is outweighed by being brought
into closer contact with strangers. They
may be very nice people, or they may be
bears and swine.
When L landed at Queenstown a quarter
of century ago had to go through Ire
land by rail. 1 had heard about first, Sec
ond and third classes on the train. Ny first
business was to examine the carriages. It
was said that only dukes, lords and Ameri-
cans Travelled frst-class was not of an
aristocratic turn of mind, and was not dis
posed to spend any extra money on gilt bor-
ders and varnlsh. l found that the first
class compartment was luxurious in its
limited appointments; but the second class
was provided with only uncushioned seats,
though the floor was carpeted. In the third
class there was no carpet, and the only
other substantial difference was that the
hard seats of the second were followed out
like a kitchen chair, while those of the
third was on plain board. went first
class.
Inever rode in second-class car in Eng
land or France till about year ago. Then
found the second quite as comfortable as
the first The former have been greatly i'm
proved in late years. Compartments of all
three classes are sometimes found in the
same carriage.
In winter there is no means of heating
the compartment except by hot water tanks,
shaped like f1attened stovepIpe, covered
with carpet or canvas. They are changed
at the stations as occasion may require, or
upon the request of passengers. They keep
the feet warm for time, and that is about
all the good they do.
CHEAP AND COMFORTABLE.
The midland Railway has made the in
novation of abolishing the second class, and
the third class on this road is quite equal to
the second on other lines. Last summer,
when went to St. Pancras station TO take
the train for Liverpool, asked the porter
who took my baggage from the cab about
the third class compartments. He invited
me to look at one before bought my ticket.
1t was carpeted, provided with cushioned
seats, and leading from it was washroom
and closet. 1 bought thlrd-class ticket
The compartment had no tinseI ornament,
but it was quite as comfortable as any first
class BY which had travelled.
The fares from Liverpool to London in
our money are: First class, 81; third class,
81. On other roads the fare, second class.
is S. 25. The ratio of these rates is 4.3 and
23; and it does not vary much all over
Europe. The distance is about 200 miles,
and the fares per mile are 81, 2-5 and 2
cents. Between London and Paris, by the
two principal lines, the first class fare is
over cents q mile and the second about
cents.
In France, Italy, Holland and Belgium
the carriages are about the same as in En-
gland; but in Germany and Switzerland the
frst-class cars do not differ from those de-
scribed, though the second-class are usually
much superior, for they are very often the
same as our ordinary coaches.
In Russia there is q frst-class car, which
has room in the middle with compart-
meats at each end, opening from an aisle at
the side of the car This arrangement af-
lords seats long enough for passenger to
lie down upon them, and the car is called
voiture au lit, or sleeping car. Going from
st. Petersburg to Moscow, place to sleep
is sold for about 81 more than the fare of
either class. The passenger is supplied
with pillow, but no covering of any kind,
and even in the summer he is likely to be
too cold to sleep. A sort of bunk is made
at each end of the compartment about four
feet above the floor, and sometimes over the
two long seats.
A RUSSIAN SLEEPER.
spent night in one of these compart-
ments. slept with my overcoat on, and
wore two pairs of socks, besides my boots;
I mean that 1 lay thus, for could not sleep
on account OF the cold, though it was in the
month of August. About o'clock in the
afternoon Russian crawled into the bunk
over my head, and slept there till midnight,
when he had evidently ''slept out" He
was nervous and uneasy, and fell to smoking
cigarettes with the most tremendous per.
sistency. He spit at random from his Sleep