The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-07-22
rRroHrFuL HALLWAY ACCIDENT.
NAMINO SLEEPIN0-CARS.
1t h a Difficult Task, and Worries tho
officials.

IL Is a Difficult Task, and Worries tho
Officials.
There is young man in ono Of the offices
Of each of the great sleeping-car COMPANIES
who is-engaged every day, except Sunday Of
course. in bending over an atlas searching for
suitable names for the sleeping, dining, and
psrlor coaches which IA turned out by the
company. fl is no small matter when you
come to understand that every name must
signify something and That there are
already on the road something ike
many hundreds OF such coaches and new
ones being turned out at the rate OF two
or three hundred year. The Chicago Tribune
says that when the FIRST sleepers were hullt
tho owners took the alphabet, lettering the
first one "A and so on until the alphabet
run out. Then commenced the search Tor
names The first sleepers TO be named were
those run on tho Pennsylvania limited be-
tween New York and Chicago. They were
named for the various nations. that Of America
being the first one chosen. The original
seepers are those first named) America Eng
land. France, Russia, Scotland. Germany and
SO on.
The next names were taken from the yari-
Gus towns through which the road run. If
the road was in Ohio. for example. the sleep
ers on such roads were named for some OF the
principal towns and cities IN that State. This
plan. however. was soon deemed unadvisable
as il sometimes becomes necessary 20 transfer
the sleepers to roads IN other States. Then
came the plan Of naming the coaches after
the sections of the country. Those which
run on the roads OF the West were gwen In
dian names.
As far as possible it is now the rule for the
names of the palace coaches TO bear some
sort Of relation to the nature of the business
in the section where sleepors run. For IN
stance on the roads running out OF Washing
ton there are such names on the sleepers a.
Senator. diplomatic. Congress etc.
On few lines which traverse noted battle
fields some Of the sleepers are named IN honor
of famous Generals. The books of one Of the
principal companies show that Achilles. AJAX
and Ulysses have been honored on wheels
The present is an age of colleges. These
institutions have associated with their curricu-
lum boating. football and other athletic ex-
ercses This same company concluded for
awhile TO embalm the names OF the leading
literary Institutes by painting their names on
their sleeping cars. This was the most popu-
lar idea which the company had adopted.
But there is a limit TO noted schools in
America. lust as there is a limit TO the alpha
bet, and il was soon discovered that there
we're not enough colleges to 20 round. or.
which is the same thing, there were too many
sleeping cars.
Then commenced the hunt on the atlas for
names. The system Ofnamlng is now followed
in this manner: A Young man is employed 10
make out an alphabetical list from the atlas
Having selected his name he goes to the root
of it and ascertains its origin and significance.
When list is prepared it is passed TO the
vice president of the company. who adopts or
rejects.
Sometimes suggestions are sent IN by out
siders. They are filed away in order. and II
anv of the names thus suggested are adopted
in the course of construction they find their
way TO the gaze of the travelling public.
Dining-cars are named, as far as the names
signify, for rivers, lakes and bays. In the
West for Indian chiefs ParlOr cars are nearly
always feminine in nomenclature. The my
biological deities on the feminine side have
been literally hOnOred. The names OF some
of the more notable female characters in
history and fiction have been transferred to
these palace cars of the rail.
The instruction 10 the young man whose
business il is 10 keep up the list is 10 get the
shortest names where they have any signin-
canoe, keeping in mind at the same time those
which are most euphOnlOus.
This is busy age. 1t not only costs less 20
paint short name. but you do not want to
stop 20 read or write such q word as Asslni-
bOine when there arc 50 many shorter ones,
and ones which are so much smoother 70
speak and which mean more.
The naming IF these cars is no small job
and the man who has trplets 10 chrlsten is
not half so much worried about names as the
vice president OF sleeping-car company
Chicago lnter-Ocean.