New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-05-05
TRAVEL NOTES.
EXPERIENCES ~ WAGONS-LlTS fhoM
PARIS TO NICE-uOW 4 GREAT COM
PANy TREATS THE PUBLIC
THE DEAREST TRAVEL
LING ~ THE
WORLD.

WORLD,
Nico. April H.
r. ,hsro be ono institution which the traveller
-, 81, rurorear continent has occasion to- bless
"a o. o,,rso ,,oro often than another IT Is the
r,ompaynia rnternatonale dcs Wagons-lAts u''
cra,ds rxnress Europeans. Bless 1t he must Dc
oouso a ostan affords him the only coiniortapl'
mr. ,o,orabIv comfortable. means of doing n "nS
dav and night tourney. Curse 1T he must because
n, IFS tyranny its monopoly. its extoron us u'i-
cleanliness and its many details OF bad manage
ment Like other monopohes IT goes i's wv
way with little no regard to the coii'p"i''s ~
the nublic by which and on when II hN's' i"0
Times and other papers have puphsheu hHo"
not how many hundreds Of letters from aggrieVeu
travellers complaining not merely OF ulsc"Nl"'' -
hut Of bad faith and broken contracts. frooap'S
come Of them were i-founded or capapie u ~
nIanation but the astute managers OF the co"'-
nany seem to have adopted the pohcy OF s''e"o'
as on the whole the wisest, and TO THESE P"''0
imputations upon their management VI '''
upon their honesty. they pay no at'eh'o" anu
mako no reply. or. It may be that. secure IN
their monopoly, they are as ihuiioi' -
ances they SEEM
A., ,,ost recent experience of the Wagons-lAts
o. ,r coming from Paris to Nice. and as there Is
.o,h,,, excentional in mine 1t may serve as
o,,oer will begin by saying that have no
syr,evance or none other than every traVeier mas
arising out Of the system adopted by the COMPANY
admit cheerfully that there has peeh an I'M
movement since my last journey. Inc p.pN'
now pays rather less, and is on the Who'e
little better treated. This may be an indirect
effect Of the publicity which referred 10 apoVe-
the continual stream of letters OF Complaint Anu
though mine is not letter Of SPECIFIC complaint
Il NAV also have it's effect. For, AFTER all pun
ucitv Is what evildoers dread above all Inc
reduction in the price OF berth from rams ~
N,oa 10 dne nartly to the difference of season.
I paid if remember righty' "heh "'>e''"e
IT, January q wear or two ago 500 That was at
tho height of the outward season Now the sea-
eon ,s near its end-woud be quite dead but for
49, rrasorce Of the Queen at Nice Her Majesty
icons things alive all along the Riviera for an
otber fortnight or three weeks. Be that as IL
NAV the price when | came was Sll % as against
500 formerly. To engage return berth nave
had TO pay SIG. The tide Of travel sets the o'iiei
wav The distance from Paris TO Nice Is lVoo
kilometres or under 500 miles 1T Is less IMAM
half that distance from London 10 huliiou s"'
and for a sleeping berth by the Great Nor'iiein
from London to Edinburgh, far more roomy anu
comfortable than the Wagons-Lits. you pay u 90
Double it, and the charge or the Wagohs-Hi'S
Company is still more than six times as ''u'"
as that Of the English company. Every traVeHei
may Judge for himself whether extortion Is 100
strong a word to apply to such charges as
these And If you once engage your perm W"
have to nav whether you use II or not.
What you get for your $l6-I take the present
season price-is a berth In compartment holding
sometimes two and sometimes four. II you dis
like prsmiscuous company and wish to engage
hoth or all the berths in one compartment you
must nav not merely the full price OF each ber'h'
hut the full price of as many railway tickets IN
herths. And as the price Of Il railway ticket from
Paris TO Nice IL $2s. You probably do not care 10
nay II many times over for single Journey "ha'
the Englishman who travels with n servant n"''
ia Ia tnke two berths and tickets irs'clahS-thcrc
IN no second-for himself and servant ana 'h'h
send his servant, 10 sleep somewhere 'ls'' hu' IN
tho train dc luxe rs composed 'NcluNlN'y ~
wngons.nts ana n wagon-rcsloufant. TINS plan can
only be worked by nm arrangement with IN" con
ductor And the rigor Of the system may perhaps
be mitlgatcd more chcaply by an arrangement
Of a different kind with the conductor II you
apnlv 90 tina, austcre functlonary you will be told
fret with gravity what the rules OF the company
are. II then depends on your familiarity with
the ways Of conductors whether you come to
terms with him Independently OF the company.
=, Won RELY on any guarantee OF exclusive posses
sion Of YOUR compartment from the company or us
officials not in writing, you will find II ignored by
the other officials.
The commandments in a wagon-lit are extremely
narrow and so Is the corridor out OF which they
omen. The seats are too narrow TO sit on In com
fort. the sofa for use by day being encroachci
upon by the upper berth. which. when not In use
ms n berth forms the back Of the sofa. When two
people occupy a small compartment. or four per-
sons a double compartment. as the company In
tend and as always happens when the train Is
crowded. the quantity OF room and air allotted 70
each ought TO enlist the attention or the sanitary
INSPECTORS II there are any; ought TO- but does
not have never spent night in these crowded
circumstances and have no idea how people man
aee. nor whether they undress. you may con-
veniently enough II alone. The berths as berths
are fairly roomy The compartments are smaller
than any cabin 7 ever on an Atlantic steamer.
but YOU have, should think. nearly as much room
in full compartment OF a wagon-lt as you nave
in the steerage OF White Star Liner Not so
much cleanliness I never yet saw clean sleep
,ng-car on the Continent No doubt, French ideas
Of cleanliness are less stringent than ours Al
lowance has to be made for that But when 1t
comes TO questions Of lavatores and such matters,
and Of clean water and clean towels. wagon-iit
might be expected to equal In these respects a
second-rate French hotel 1t does not. The sheets
in the berths are clean. Whether they are aired
is more doubtful There is an ingenious arrange
ment by which seats and berths revolve,-one 60
ing under as the other comes up The berth part
is enveloped in india wrappers; which keep
out dirt and keep in moisture
The travelling restaurant which makes the
whole journey between Paris and Nice is fairly
good. though dear. Coffee in the morning 5Oc.,
lunch without wine 81. dinner without wine 81 90;
and the wine dearer than anything else. But you
escape the frantic rush for food at railway buffes.
and you need never leave the train once you have
entered 1t till you reach your destination. On the
whole. therefore. though you know you have been
robbed and your comfort sacrificed in order that
Tho company may make about % per cent more