The Indianapolis journal., 1896-06-14

a.. oush tnlcdgo train. II serves dinner and
- switched on al some convenient point 10
DC hitched to a train which goes out at
n.anight without such furnishing and give
those passengers breakfast The dining cars
are the heaviest of the lot Other trains
earry .rry tneir dining cars right through. par
ISuiarly X the route Is short one. The
Vtner plan admits OF the passengers tasting
the creations of several cooks before they
rsacn their journeys end. Where there are
rVaI IVA dining cars under different conductors
II IS easy to find out which one Is the most
economical as well as most satisfactory ca
terer, aitnough one car may serve a lot OF
@ passengers who order profusely and waste a
great deal three kinds OF meat and two
Kinds OF soup for one individual. for in
stance; orders which they cannot consume),
ana the other caterer may have the luck
10 fail in with a different lot.
ALL SORTS OF PEOPLE.
Yes. there are all kinds of people TO be
catered to. A man travelling alone insists
upon sitting at big table which would ac-
commodate a family when he could just as
wen sit at small one: passenger who de-
ciares that he can't ride backward plumps
down into the only desirable vacant seat at
table. though a lady stands just behind him,
waiting for place. There is the traveller
who comes in TO breakfast so late that the
car Is all set In order for the next meal,
and the cook bothered to death keeping
things hot for him. and who complains that
the fare is wretched. and the man who
euiHS oul dl o o CLOCK ana fumeS because
breakfast Is not ready. There is the man
VINO gets the buffet porter to fix out a cock
tan Tor nim over night, because the State
they will be going through in the morning
will prohibit his before-breakfast toddy,
ana then storms because the drink Is fiat
ana has been mixed too long. / have heard
OF passengers who took their boots in the
Derth with them, because they did not want
tnem cleaned, an! OF other erratic individ-
uals or peculiar tastes. In twenty-one
years or contact with the travelling pubic
one comes TO know many phases and many
or the foibles of human nature. Talk about
the domestic economy OF the special train
term 1t extravaganza"
'Railroading amt exactly the smooth,
pleasant life that people take II to be-" said
he settled his mineral water bottles into
their Ice bed and closed and locked the
| square tin box containing cigars. IF you
| want to give satisfaction you must be on
the jump all the time, day and night, and
no matter how much out Of temper you
| fault, you have to be smiling aud polite
with the next one, right along. Then little
piece OF lint on the car floor no bigger than
a. grain OF salt will look as big bale
| or cotton to the conductor, who wants 10
appear mindful OF the company'S reputation,
and so reports you. In the matter of tips,
| porter only gets a quarter nowadays,
where he used to get a dollar, and he has
his meals TO pay for and sleeps only at
odd times when he's on duty. He is respon-
| sible for the linen that he uses; all the soap,
matches, combs and brushes, cleaning cloths.
etc, and If spittoon is missing or towel
/ not accounted for, he has to make it up"
| Are there no sleeping accommodations
provided for the porter?'
mo. He can make down good berth in
i the little compartment back OF the smoker
| If he likes, but he must be constantly on
| the alert in case his bell rings, and be sure
| 10 be out on the platform ready to help any
passengers that may be boarding the train
at night"
/ tips?" he was asked.
THE FALLING OFF IN TIPS.
'T think it's this way" returned the serv-
ing man. knitting his brows. "a while
back it was only the rich people who trav-
| eled on these extra comfortable trains
They knew they had privileges that the
common people couldn't enjoy, and they
liked the feeling and were generous to the
porters accordingly. Nowadays anybody
| that can raise 50 or $40 buys a berth and
sits here in the smoking compartment, right
| alongside of the millionaire. The Million
aire thinks that the whole business Is made
| cheaper somehow, and so he gives only a
| quarter or so cents in return for services
| where he used to give dollar or two. Be-
sides that, men require a great deal more
waiting now than they used to- the
| porter really does more work and makes
/ less money.
There are a great many things to be
| learned about railroading. l used to have
| a sleeping car in charge before L took the
! buffet. / kept account OF my linen myself;
| all the sheets, pillow-cases. towe.s. my own
| linen overalls that put on to make down
| the beds in, and everything of the kind. Try
| as l would. there would invariably be some
/ article missing when the account was bal
anced. l found out afterward that the per-
/ son employed by the company who took the
| things TO the laundry looked upon it as his
peculiar business TO strip the beds at the
| end of trip and count the linen. After I
| ,et him manage the account and tipped him
each time the lists always came out even.
md had rhnr 10 ah los
/ pieces. They will tell you the same thing
| in the dining car about the table naDery.
All the linen in every department being
| stamped marked. in fact, the name of
/ the company being woven right in ii, it
seems strange that any one should venture
to take IL, but liz gets away somehow.
| think a porter would, provided he was not
complete blockhead. There's all kinds
comes on board in a bad humor. Nothing
| suits him. He takes a drink, and says 1t
isn't fit for pig, wonders how reliable
company can tolerate such vile cigars.
| thinks the chairs uncom Portable, and il
| the porter is busy and delays answering
his bell a moment he flies into a rage and
| swears that the man is not fit for his
| place. Something has aEgered that man be-
fore he came on the train; trouble in his
| business or disappointment in some scheme
no had hoped to carry through. Almost al
| ways, after he has cooled down. he is sorry
| for the abuse he has heaped on the porter,
| and In the end rewards him literally. and
is not at all exacting. The opposite kind OF
| a passenger is all smiles during the first
| part of the trip, and at the last finds out
| that nothing suits him, in which case he
| leaves the train dissatisfied, without remem-
| bering the porter at all. You may brush
him off and fix his cases and 'roll-ups' and
| try all you can to please him, but he's
| bound to be in a bad humor. Some men
| want their berths made up right after din
| ner. and then there's the smart man, who
| wants to make people think that he never
| goes to bed before 1 or O'clock and so
| sits up drinking and smoking until all
hours. Just on purpose to keep the porter on
| the watch.
THE POPULAR COMMERCIAL MAN.
''Of all the people who travel, rich and
| poor, give me the commercial man or the
sporting man; they are always free-handed
whether they really own any property Oh
not. And the drummer is such good COM
| pany I like to stay round and hear his sto-
| res. If he makes an acquaintance who is
| going to be OF use to him in business way
and he nearly always does, why, he grows
livelier and lvelier and Is sure to be very lib.
eral to the porter. They great jokers
happy fellows, these travelling men, and We
have them TO depend on in the winter sea-
| son when travel amt so free. i used 10
be in the service years ago, when the sleep
were first put on, when there weren't
| hooks and magazines provided