The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-10-19
IN THE SLEEPING CAR.
WOman's LamentatiOns-AH
True, Too.


New York, has found her voice and spok-
en-. There is plenty TO be spoken about.
Ask any woman of your acquaintance
what she thinks Of sleeping cars in gen.
eral, and of the woman's end of a sleeping
car in particular, and you will be able to
give your vocal organs a proIracted rest
while she tells you. That is what the re-
porter did.
do 1 like to ride in a sleeping carr"
this time with the accent on the do"
THAT was what l asked?" the reporter
murmured apologetcally.
The woman opened her mouth. Then
she shut it again with kind of hopeless
air.
DO you know Putnam" she suddenly
asked, laying her hand on the reporters
arm.
NO. havn't that pleasure" apollo
geucally.
Pleasure! Did you say pleasure? VOL,
never mind! You don't know him. then?'
No"
Got any influence with Wagner"
'Er-not much. I'm afraid.
Acquainted with Mann?"
Not yet, I believe"
"Oh. well, then. what's the use? III
just get all wrought up, and it won't do
any good"
Couldn't you tell me without getting
wrought up?' suggested the reporter.
NO, can't! Why, for years we women
have been ground under the iron heel Of
| the oppressor and you. expect me to tell
you about it calmly and joyously as il
l liked it, Maybe / could be calm if I
hadn't just been through the MILL so
to speak, and if ] didn't have the pros
pect OF going through it again day after
tomorrow"
But what is the matter any way?"
You ought to get married." said the
Chicago woman irrelevantly.
"Why?'
You'd know so much more than YOU
do now. You'd know, for instance, that
when woman has been talking the Wav
l have, you don't want to turn AROUND
and say, but what's the matter?' Matter!
Why don't the suffragists make out a list
OF some of the rights that women really
want? Give us the ballotr Who cares
about the ballot? Give us basins! That's
what we want. Wash basins and room
to comb our hair and the right to kill the
woman who gets into the toilet room at
| a, m. and keeps the door locked on her
suffering and unwashed sisters until the
tram is within five minutes of its destinA-
| ton.
Wrought up, did I say? Come herep'
| ana the Chicago woman cornered the re-
| porter on a sofa. What right have Won
| men TO large and airy apartment at one
| END or the car, wash basins galore, an
| lnimitable expanse of mirror and the
/
! in? What right have you, I say, to all
| that, when we women have a 2 bv 3 box
! at the other end of the car, with one wash
| basin, no elbow room in which to brush
our mar, and somebody else already in
| there, with the door locked behind then,
| Some of the toilet rooms do not have this
| latter objection. The builders have evr-
IDENTIFY heard rumors of selfish women
| VINO take their time to their morning
toilet, protected by bolts and bars. They
| have said in their idiotic brains;
| Wen fix thatr'
And they have fixed it by removing
the door altogether They have substitu-
| ted therefor a curtain which SWANS with
every motion Of the train, is brushed
| aside by every passer-by and which is
Just saturated with the I beg your par
dons' OF people, men and women, black
and white, who are continually lifting it
| up to see what is behind it, and are en-
barrassed when they find out"
me chicago woman paused for breath
Then she began again.
| The first thing / do, and the first thing
| almost every woman does when she gets
into sleeper for an overnight Journey.
Is to count the number of women and
children in the car. For of course. the
| children are booked for the women's toilet
box IN the morning. ] shall never forget, I"
ana there was dreamy smile on the wo-
| man lace. IAN overland journey / once
made from Chicago to San Franciso. 1t
was at the time of the California boom.
| and quantities of men were going west
| Wen, from Ogden clear through to San
| Francisco, l was the only woman in the
car. Think of that Why, at night I'd
| wrap the drapery of my berth around me,
and l couldn't bear to so to sleep, it was
so nice to lie there and think of what a
| good time l would have in the morning
l could get up whenever / pleased. Not a
soul to lock the door on me and my hand
bag when we got ready to make my
toilet.
DO you know" said the Chicago wo-
man earnestly, what is one Of the sad
diets spectaces in travelling? 1t is a wo-
man who has got herself together in a
makeshift fashion in her berth and then,
bag in hand, has run the gauntlet of the
early risers only to find the toilet room
closed against her. When she comes back
the porter Is already at work at her
berth. With burning cheeks aud tumbled
hair and half-fastened gown she sits down
to wait her turn.
THE sleeping car is a foe to feminine
poiiteness, too. 1 tell you it doesn't do
to be polite under the circumstances.
When l came on from Chicago the other
day got up a little late. hoping to es-
cape the rush for the toilet room. You
see, most women say to themselves:
Now, I'll just get up early and be the
first onen
80 l waited until we We're about half
| an hour out and then 1 made a break-eX-
cuse me!-for the ladies' end of the car.
There was some one ahead Of me. She
was a nice woman, though. She opened
the door and said she would be through
In minute. l politely said that l would
wait. and then deposited myself and my
| bag in the nearest seat, so that l could see
her the moment she came out. Just then
along came a brigadier-general sort of
woman-a tali, commanding, kll-the-trst-
one who-opens- his-mouth sort of a wo-
man. She tried the door of the toilet box.
| II was locked. She knocked as If she
were ordering a cavalry charge. The nice
woman inside opened the door a crack.
IN be through in just minute, she
said.
Ian right said the brigadier-gener-
aless, III come right in now And she
did
Il couldn't help smiling TO myself at my
! position. and I heard a sound behind me
! which indicated that somebody else was
| smiling a it, too. / turned around. There
So. a nice old gentlemen chuckling to him
self al my discontinue. He Strengthened
his feof ,uhrp 1oalra1 a him. 6Iff / smil-