The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-11-08
PuIIrnun's Own Story.
The Invention Of the Sleeping Car as He Tod It.
. 81 81 @

The late George M. Pullman told the
story of the invention Of the Pullman
sleeping car to a reporter a year ago,
but afterwards requested that it's pub
LEGATION be delayed. The presidential
campaign was then in progress, and
he wanted to keep in the background,
fearing that memories Of the Pullman
strike might be used to hurt Mr. Nc
Kinley. The story was laid aside ana
for one reason or another las Lot
been published until now. says the
New York Sun.
Mr.. Pullman did not originate the
idea of the sleeping car. 1t was sUg-
gested to him, he said, by the introduce
ton of sleeping cars on the New York
Central road.
1.-The company which owned That
road" said Mr.. Pullman, twas restrict
ed to a charge Of two cents mile
for passenger transportation. 1t went
to the legislature at Albany for author
ity to charge for sleeping accommoda-
lions. 1 was living then at Albion, do
ing business as a contractor on the
Erie canal. I went into the world TO
earn my living when 1 was fourteen.
Not long after | became OF age L
found myself with my mother, broth
ers and sisters on my hands. One
of nv friends and neighbors in Albion
was Ben Field, who was a member of
the legislature He was one Of the
men who put the first sleeping car in
operation. These cars had ceilings
against which a tall mans head
might have brushed. There was no
steamer deck above and no Yentlla-
ton. When one of them was filled
on a winter day, with big stove fire
at each end. the atmosphere was
something dreadful
Four of these cars Mr.. Field and
some of his friends converted into
sleeping cars. The berths were in
three tiers, the lowest being on the
floor level. This lowest berth cost 81,
the second berth was 70 Gets ard the
upper berth was 80 cents. The sliding
scale. for which some people now
clamor was the original scale of
charges. These sleeping cars were IN
tended for night use only The bed
clothing was piled up in sections in the
daytime. Mr.. Pullman rode on the first
of these sleeping cars which left Buff
falo, and he paid 81 for the privilege,
though he was going only sixty miles:
He wanted the novel experience, and
one of the great luXuries of the trip
was the opportunity to wash your
hands and face In the morning.
Not long after" said Mr.. Pullman,
"I came to Chicago to do some con-
tract work, raising buildings to con-
form to the city's new grade. L had
the sleeping car idea In mN head, and
turned it over a good many times,
T int no hJJC on
the Chicago & Alton road"
The road was a struggling corpora
ton in those days. Mr.. Pullman re-
membered seeing the sheriff in the
ticket office of the road more than
once, waiting to seize the receipts.
Two sleeping cars were put on the
road, running in opposite directions
each night. They were Of the primitive
type of the first sleeping cars. Mean
time these first cars had not been
success, and Field and his associates,
who had bought them on credit, lost
possession of them.
While the experiment was progress
ing Mr.. Pullman got the gold fever
and Went to Pixies peak. He stayed
there off and on for three years. The
Chicago & Alton went into the hands
of a receiver, and this receiver was a
New Orleans man.
''He had idea" said Mr.. Pullman with
smile. that when the war was over grass
would grow between the tracks of Northern
railroads. So he took off the night trains
on the road altogether and for time my
cars were sidetracked But not long. They
opportunity to buy back two of Fields cars
being offered, he and l bought them and
owned them in common. l had an idea for
much better car than these, but l was not
mechanic. and I had to get other people to
carry out my ideas. l found that very hard.
The builders could always find SO many
| hat Tod mt hn
done. So the new cars which / built, while
they were more costly, were not satisfactory.
FINALLY the Chicago Alton people gave
me the use of piece of ground, where the
union depot now stands, and employed
builder to carry out my ideas. Ny notion was
always to utilize the space above the win
dows where the racks were, to store the
bedding. To do this 1t was necessary to make
the car very much higher. My builder ar
gued that the railroads would never put on
car which was so much higher than their
own told him to go ahead and build the
car according to my ideas and we would see
about the railroads afterward: So we made
teen wheels so that it would rice more
smoothly. I sent East then for a decorator
who would make the interior Of the car har-
monious and pleasing to the eye. he re-
NAMED with me my decorator for many
sSWhen the car was finished 1t had cost
me $4,000. It attracted a great deal OF at
tention. Many people came to see it. and 1t
was much admired. That car, by the way,
is in Pullman today, and we use it on oc-
casions.
"When I first put the car in service I told
the president of the Lake Shore road that
I would have to charge 81 a berth. The
Woodruff cars were running in opposition
then, and they charged $3.50. He said he
could not afford to charge 81 II some one else
was charging less. l argued that it would
be a good advertisement, for the people would
be anxious to see what he had that was worth
so much more. AS he could not see the value
of my theory, 1 proposed that he put one Of
the cheap cars on the train with the Pullman
car. The experiment proved that the people
all wanted to ride in the 50 car. and if a