The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1897-06-21
WeinSfOCk, Lubm 6 Co, 4OO-4I2 K Street SaCTamenfO

In some conditions of the outside at
mosphere it seems impossible at first
to breathe the foul air of the tun-
| mel. 1t is an air that you can see; and
you feel it the moment it strikes the
| lungs. The predominant smell is sui
phur, mingled with coal gas, smoke and
damp.
! The sole light in daytime comes
| through a series of small brick arches,
that run up slanting to the air above,
and what little can steal down the
stairways. The long platform conse-
quently is dim and ghostly, and it is
nearly always dirty, though brooms are
cheap enough here. Beyond the end of
the platform, in both directions, is the
| black tunnel totally unlighted
| TRAVELLING IN DARK AND SMOKE.
| Presently there comes a shriu little
whistle, and in a moment you hear a
| rafting of wheels and axles that leads
you to suppose, till you learn better,
that some disabled old engine is being
taken to the shops. But it is no dis
abled engine; it is a train-perhaps
your train. They all have that peculiar
rattle, as if they were about to fall
apart You must be careful, however,
| about taking the train, for several sets
of trains run over the same tracks,
some going in one direction, some in
| another. You hurry up the platform to
ask the only guard in sight, and he
tells you; and if it is your train you
begin to look for a Carriage" If your
| ticket is first class. generally the near
est carriages are all labeled second
class, or third. AS the train is about
to start you take the first carriage you
can get, no matter what it's class; and
the next instant the porter goes along,
slamming to the doors There is no
one to direct you to the carriage in
which you belong. If you have a third
class ticket, you may enter first-class
compartment with impunity, running
the risk of some railroad detective in
plain clothes asking to see your ticket
and arresting you for fraud
''All right the guard shouts. The
engine gives another shrill whistle:
and off you go into the darkness. En-
CINE and cars are both ridicuiousIy
small. There is one tiny gas jet in
the roof of the car, and that is the sole
light. There may be six or eight peo-
pie in the compartment with you. or
you may be all alone. The deeper you
go into the tunnel, the thicker is the
sulphurous smoke.
You are at perfect liberty to get ont
wherever and whenever you please. No
one will interfere with you in the least.
nor is there any one to give you infor-
nation. The names of stations are
never called, and you do not see the
guard till you get out. It is your bus
mess to know where your station is
There is sign at each station telling
what it is; but the sulphury smoke COW
ers the windows with a film. and Won
cannot see without opening the door
and even then seeing is hard work in
the dim light. Arrived at your desti
nation, or perhaps a few stations he
yond it, you give up your ticket to the
man at the gate, and he thanks Won
for it, and you climb the long flights
of stairs into comparatively pure air
and feel thankful that you have es-
capped
Our elevated roads and cable roads
are not quite perfect; but they are half
century in advance of any transit
facilities to be found in London.-Wil
nam Drysdale, London correspondent
of New York Times