Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1896-12-19
ENGLISH RAILWAYS.
THEY ARE SLOW TO ADOPT IMPROVE.
MENTS IN THE SERVICE.

American Wrinkles Are Adopted In n Sort
of Half Hearted Way, and Very Little
Effort Is Made by the Managers to Pom
uIarize Them.
Two factors in English holiday travel
are obvious from these great piles of
passengers baggage. One is that there
is no check system on the railways, and
the other that if it cost as much to hire
cab in Liverpool Or Manchester as in
New York there would soon be dimi-
mutton in the number of packages, if not
i'll the weight of the baggage, which
English families take with them on
their holiday travels. Few big Saratoga
trunks are to be seen on the platform at
Crewe Here and there may be seen
trunk which it takes two men to lift,
but the address on it will almost Ger
tainly show it to belong to an American
visitor English people will not take
the trouble to pack all their belongings
into one or two large sized trunks.
Neither is there any need why they
should so long as the railway companies
will accept without demur II CT 10
small trunks, hampers, bundles and
other miscellaneous packages as ,he
baggage entitled to go with one set CT
railway tickets, and so long as an Eng
fish cab driver will pile all this stuff
on the top Or box seat OF his cab and
carry it and the family attached to it
from their home to the railway station
for half a crown.
Every now and again an Englishman
who has been i'll America writes to Tie
Times concerning the advantages CT the
check system as it is Crked on the
American railways, but all these letters
go unheeded. English railway managers
have dread of innovations, Cspes tally
if the innovation comes from America.
and the English people, who are accus.
toned to the scramble for baggage at
the railway stations, are quite satisfied
with the existing system, or rather lack
of system. On tho whole, they save Il
little money by it. English railway
companies allow Il third class passenger
56 pounds of personal baggage, and Il
first class passenger double that an cunt.
Any excess is supposed to be paid for,
but tip Of thleepence to Il porter will
usually see the whole travelling impede
ments of Il family carried straight from
the cab to the train and insure that 10
questions as 10 weight ale asked. 1t is
usually the lack of IL tip Or Il hostile
hint from cabiran who is not satisfied
with his fare that leads to Il call at the
weighing machine OH the Way from the
cab to the baggage van. Under the eX-
listing sy stem English people have al
ways to watch over their own baggage
at every change, and sometimes 10
scramble and struggle for il at the end
of the journey, and TO tumble over ether
peoples baggage us they fight their way
into crowded tram. Eut then, Us
have shown, it is IA system undcr which
the passenger can nearly always get the
best of the railway con. paUy H. he INST
ter Of excess Ct baggage, %ir moi C'.y
gives any heed to tie frrqv,Ut suEs,3-
lions that the American syatcm { I tLccEs
should be adopted.
In one or two directions the English
companies are row following tie exam
pie of the American railway CNnpaIics.
After years Ct ulging t,tI ike lCarG Of
trade and the government de-. rtn!ent
which has TIE oversight Of lailN avs
several Of the lines are gradually intro
ducing long cars for Icing distance travel,
They have not boldly adopted tie Amer
lean car. The pattern CT car LOW being
brought into use is d compromise be-
tween the American car and the Eng
fish compartment carriage. The COM
partment is retained, but each compart-
ment is connected with corridor which
runs not down the middle, Int along
one side Of the car. This has given the
name CT corridor train to the train made
up of carriages hui after this fashion.
On some Of the trains all the car
riages arc connected with yCstibulcs
like these On American railways On
other trains there arc two Or three cor
ridor cars, while the rest Of the carriages
are of the old fashioned style. 1t is
characteristic Of the English people that
there is seldom any scramble for places
in the new cars. People seem to like
tnc Ola compartments pt ttCf, Il 1acE
upon which tho railway companies do
not fail to lay stress when, after some
outrage i'll u train, the companies are
pressed by the board of trade to make
tho use of corridor cars more general.
The corridor trains are principally i'll
use between London and Scotland. On
scores of the long distance runs in Eng
land all the carriages are still of the
old fashioned kind.
Another fact concerning .he corridor
trains is typical of the English char
acter. Newsboys are not carried on
them. The English railway newsboy is
still kept solely to the platforms at tho
railway stations. And he is likely to be
kept there, for English people would
vote it nuisance too great to be borre
to be postorcd to buy books and confec-
tionery they do not want. The uowsboy
who travels with the train has few
friends among EnglisEnen WHO have
been i'll America. People gru!nbIe at
the prices charged by the monopolists
who control all the railway news and
bookstalls in this country. But it is
often put to the credit Of the monopo-
lists that their newshoys are always at
hand, but never make themselves .
nuisance, nor worry passengers who dc
not want the books they are vending