Evening journal., 1893-05-19
COST OF PALACE CARS
FACTS CONCERNING PARLOR CARS
AND SLEEPlNG CARS.

No other country can boast of railroa7
service equal to our own. Even our pi.
nnd horses have palaces on wheels
In 1851 Webster Wagner, then frei9'
agent Of the New York and Iiudsoa ltiF
railroad, running from New York 60 4
bany, conceived the idea Of putting bert
into cars so that passengers might sleep j. |
them One year later four Of these ear
were in operation. Wagner used ordinar /
coaches and constructed berths in ticr
like those in ocean steamers.
There were three tiers. The upper bcitLs |
were made Of Stats. During the day thcs |
Stats were taken out, together with tie |
mattresses, and were piled in the ends OF |
the cars The cost of construction of these |
cars was about Sl2, 600 each. Twoyears lHtal !
Mr. Wagner changed these bcrths SO that |
they were hung from above by iron rods
On sharp curves the occupant of the berth |
was apt TO be thrown out or at least lave
his elbows thumped against the side of the
car. The cars were very crude. A tin wash
basin apologzed for the absence of bnth
room The absence Of all other comforts
apologized Tor them
a few months after Mr.. Wagner CON
ceved the idea of "a sleeping car George Nj.
Pullman was riding on the Chicago and
Alton railroad when a similar scheme
struck him. lie got two Of the railroads
passenger coaches and constructed sleep
ing car much like Mr. Wagner's. Neither
gentleman was aware of the doings Of the
other. One OF these cars built by Mr.. Pull
man was the famous PIONEER" now hon
orably retired. From these two beginnings
sprang the two great palace car companies
Of today, the Wagner and the Pullman.
The one operates l,s0O cars on 1900 miles
of railroad, with 30 different railroad COM
panes. The other operates 1900 cars on
100000 miles of railroad. There were also
two smaller companies years ago, the
Woodruff and the Mann. The Woodruff
was merged into the Pullman company in
1891, and the Mann company is almost de-
funct
A picture Of car Of 1860 and descrip-
tion Of a car of today would serve better
than anything else to convey an idea of the
progress and advancement in travelling But
with all the crudoness and plainness of the
one and all the gOrgeousness and luxury OF
the other so great has been the advance
ment In car construction that the cost of
the cars of today does not exceed the cost
of the first palace cars built 10y $1,000, save,
Of course, in special instances. IL took one
year TO build the Pioneer, and it cost SlS,-
600. II takes two months TO turn car out
now, and seldom does it cost $4,000.
10 was but q step from a sleeping car 20
/ pnrlor car But IL was years before hotel
or buffet car was turned out. Pullman built
the first one in 1876 for use at the centennial
lt was a sleeping car with kitchen attach
ment. The passengers slept in the car, and
their meals were served in the spaces their
berths occupied at night. All the Pullman
sleepers are buffet cars now. Few of them
are hotel cars, where freshly cooked meats
are served. The dining cars supplanted the
hotel cars, which were modified into buffet
cars. The observation and combination cars
are only a few years old. Private cars began
| with the organizations Of the companies,
but they have changed much in furnishings
and finish.
The furnishings of an average Wagner
sleeping car, which has compartments TO
accommodate 82 passengers, for an ordinary
run of n day and a night and return are 100
sheets, 100 hand towels 100 pillowslips, l2
cakes of soap, g boxes Of matches, brooms,
g whsk brooms, @ combs and brushes.
The Pullman furnishes 100 sheets, towels
and pillowslips respectively The sleeping
cars vary i'm their accommodations of pas
sengers from 20 to 81. They have i'm ad
dition TO theirother equipments hammer
monkey wrench, hatchet sawand crowbars,
II
ers The cost of equipment of "a car in
cludng tapestries, averages $500. The
Of the car proper averages $4,000 more.
The conductors of the cars receive from
s15 20 SlOO month, according to ability
and length of service. The companies gov
ern conductors with "a set of rules much
like a civil service system. It is supposed
that those with the best records get the
hest runs and the top notch salary. Eacl
conductor buys lis own uniform. The
company provides an overcoat, which II
stores in SUMMER. The porters' salarie.
vary from s2l TO a15 month. Very few
rpt ai5. Like the conductors they buy thei
own uniforms and wear overcoots iurnishe,
by the company The conductors are re
puircd 90 give surety bond i'm the sum %
b 500 The portc3 give no bond.
} The arrangements between the railroa,
3 comn,nic, and the palace car companies j.
Ordinarily I'M the form of "a contract where
i Toy the palace ear company agrees toiurnisl
The capital and the cars, while the road
agree 10 haul them free, only pocketinl
, | the regular uilroad fare paid 10y each pas
,enger IN some instances where palac
S ear traffic is apt 10 be light the railroo
S company pays proper sum 90 the palac
;, ear company for running cars on the road.
80 4 point ou which the general travelin
q public has long been uncertain of the att
a tude of the Wagner and Pullman compauie
!. Is the responsibility for the baggage an
(, elrectsoi the passengers while i'm the palaC
- cars Officials of both the Pullman an
T. Wagner companies say that they are nc
y the custo3aus of the passengers person'
effects They call their porters and cor
ductors servants aud not agents and stat
chat they are forbidden 90 become custod
Is ans even for the time being
is a palace ear pays an enormous intere
u when thcamouut of capital invested Is co
h, sidered Unofficial Of one of the compani
- s,ys that the fare 20 Chicago is So, and th'
~ "A sleeper makes six round trips mont
Is carrying 10 passengers each way, and I
IS, turns 35 per cent clear profit ON the pr
Or cccdS. IL Is q poor run where the Gle
lg yearly proceeds are not so per cent of q
or cost Of the car New York sun.
Etiquette of spoon and napkin.
n a man has mustache which fa
down over his mouth, he may be pardon
for putting the point of the spoon To
Inns But when YOU see well dressed IN