The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1894-02-17
COURTESY ON 4 tsTaEEr-oAR..
xhe TFavellng Public at the Mercy Of : req
: lncQuaAdaeDfA Raeaa.aaa. !.

Che travelling Public ae the Mercy Of . rev,
1ncOnssderote Persons.
! Come in hero, boys. Lots Of room
! The speaker entered a car on . suburb.
an road, flung the seats over with q
/. crash and bang. threw open . couple
OF windows and dropped upon one OF
the cushions with q self-satisfied air OF
proprietorship that might have made
those who did not know him suppose
that he owned the railroad.
It was blowing q gale, and the air
was damp md chilling. but dressed in
thick clothing and with light overcoat
on, this specimen of the genus homo
. evidently cared very little for the eff.
fects of his conduct on the passengers.
1t was q sudden cold spell in autumn.
and many of the people in the cor
were thinly dressed. After awhile,
first one passenger, then another, rose
and found q seat In some less exposed
location.
The party of half dozen men either
knew or cared little about the discom.
forts of others, until some one, in a
tone sufficiently loud to be unmistak-
able, made some comment on the open.
ing of windows and freezing the rest
of the people out. This was met with
an insolent arrogance that left no
doubt as to the character of the Of
tenders. As the open windows were
about midway of the car, it was impos-
sible for all of the passengers to get
out of the draught. The train man
was appealed to, but he took no notice
of the matter; also the conductor but
he declined to act. Then a passenger,
who evidently was aroused to a pitch
of evaporation. asked to have the win
dows closed, as women, children and
delicate men were suffering from the
cold air. The request was met with
thesmost outrageous insults and buse
and a positive refusal to shut the win-
dows on the ground that, at that time
of the year, no one could take cold
from an open window.
While there are many people who are
willing to put themselves on record as
asserting that fresh air never hurt any
body, there are many others who know,
from the most disastrous experience.
that summer draughts and chills are
among the most exasperating and try
ing of all annoyances in life.
1t would seem as though there might
be some provision for persons who can
not endure such exposure. A part of
the windows of every car should be
closed, and notices put up
to that effect: then people who are un-
able or unwilling to expose themselves
The fresh-air fiends would probably be
to go elsewhere;i if not, authority
should be lodged in the officers of the
train to compel them to vacatc those
seats for the benefit of persons whose
health and, possibly, life would be
jeopardized by the exposure.
AS it is now. the travelling public is
at the mercy of a few incon-
siderate and robust individuals. These
m-blooded persons arc rarely at
fected with any undue amount of
thoughtfulness for the health or feel
ings of their fellows. Because they
can endure any amount of breeze, they
lake it for granted that other people
may or. at least, should: and as for
Them and their house, they show by
their conduct that they intend to as .
sist them to an acclimating or harden !
ng process that they think will be |
beneficial. regardless of whether it
Kills of cures them.-N. Y. Ledger. |