Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1894-11-15
MICHIGAN CENTRAL R. R.
COMFORT IN TRAVEL.


as necessity, albeit was recognized as
a valuable means OF education, and
our fathers thought they had attained
comfort when they evaded or over.
came some particular discomfort or
danger. But what was luxurious to
them by comparison would ia this day
be considered fur from comfortable.
1t was hut little more than thirty
years ago that Curtis. that most de.
lightfnl and genial Of our essayists,
wrote in his Easy Chair that there is
nh art in traveI-the art of being com.
Portable" Railway travel, however,
he explains, had then certainly not
reached the dignity of "a fine art. How
true this was the traveller of to-day
can understand only by reading the
Easy Chair of 1863, and learning the
necessary pains taken by him who
would travel comfortably. The high
est type of vehicle then was the or
binary day coach which was less COM
Portable than the second class coach of
1894. The writer has still vivid
sense of the hardness. the jolting, the
dust aud cinders. the heat and the cold
OF rail road travel in that day. Wag-
ners were unknown then. There was
no luxury of sleeping cars by night
and parlor cars 10y day. nor even of
such coaches rs the Michigan Central
constructs In its own shops and runs
on its fast trains. There were no
eighty or ninety-pound steel rails. no
"Great Mogul" locomotives weighing
hundred aud twenty tons and pull.
ling heavy train at the rate of fifry
miles AN hour. There were no vesti-
buled platforms then, no automatic
air brakes, no steam heat and perfect
ed system of ventilation, no Pintsch
light Illuminating the car with its soft
radiance. And the widest Utopian
never dreamed of the luxury of dining
in elegance, luxury and leisure while
the train sped ceaselessly onward.
These are comforts and luxuries
that the traveller OIL the Michigan Cen
trail has become so accustomed to that
he takes them as Il matter of course,
without thought of when they were
not, nor of the labor and skill, the ex
penditure and vigilance that has made
them possible, until he has the mis-
fortune to ride over less favored line.
These, in their entirety, are not to
be suddenly obtained, even by princes
ly expenditure. They are evolved
during n long series of years. and
attain their chief value by being oper-
ated by q well-trained and disciplined
corps of faithful, experienced and Wig
liant officials. who bring to bear at
once the highest degree of ability with
the greatest courtesy to the travelling
public.
This is one of the strongest claims OF
the Michigan Central TO popular fav-
or. For In all these things and in "A
thousand others of which The traveller
sees and knows nothing save in their
resultant comfort aud safety, the
Michigan Central Is never satisfied
with what is good. but only with the
best. And the traveller proflteth there.
by.
To illustrate the degree of comfort
and of luxury the Michigan Central
provides for its patrons. let us tske
for example one of its favorite through
trains, the famous North Shore Limit
ed or the Chicago, New York and
Boston Special which run through be-
tween Chicago and New York and
Boston. They are peerless trains.
perfect as is In this day possible in all
their adjournment aud furnishing.
Following the colossal locomotive,
which seems indeed thing of life and
beautiful in it's well-adjusted proper
ton, IL the Buffet Library Car, the
portion of which is devoted to
baggage. Entering from the rear we
find ourselves In u sufficiently spacious
apartment, well lighted and furnished
with luxurious easy chairs in which to
chat or read our papers or watch the
passing panorama while discussing
post-prandial cigars. There are also
well furnished desks where we can
write our letters and kilograms EN-
route, and a library of well selected
books and periodicals in the custody
of the porter from whose catalogue
the passenger may select. Here is
also buffet from whose mysterious
depths are produced lunches and light
meals of surprising variety, daintily
served upon delicate china and where
the merry music of the tea and coffee
urns may be heard.
Then follows two Wagner Palace
Sleeping Cars, which run through
without change Nothing could be
finer, nothing more luxurious or in
better taste than these cars which are
triu nphs IF skill and of art In their
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