New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-08
ENGLISH RAILWAYS.
rns OF coMpARrMENr-cARs-A
REAL AMERICAN TRAiN-
srAGE-coAcH TYPE.

Yondon February -.
.,. tho murder OF Miss Camp In a SUBURBAN
-, .err,are between Putney ana Wahos-
18th there has been high degree oi nervous
..,s,on among travellers. The aoVen'uie "a OH
.,,.h,s woman. who opened the compartment
soor and clambered along the ioo'ooa'u ~
-, The protection Of the guard wnhe 'ne
.r.,, was trund.ing along at the RATE OK lorS
niles An hour is one Of many episooes Illus
eating the general Apprehension which '""'
crime has caused. Another desperate encou"-
Ger is described to-day. Women avoid entering
.or,nartments which are not well niieo VII"
passengers and when the carriage Is he11H
sn,ptied and they are left alone Win HAL
on the opposite seat they think OF MISS lamp
ard are timorous and nervous. Inc crime nos
increased temporarily the anxiet'es OF traNei
a,d rendered both women and men CONSCIOUS
:. cha ,,sks 70 which they are exposed from $50
,,,or In commandment pens. A woman Is AFRAID
., take a seat in a carriage in which man Is
~. only other passenger; and a man Is almost
soually reluctant to travel in compartment
IN which a woman is seated One thinks OF
,,dsr and the other Of blackmail. and each is
equally uncomfortable.
:, "a true that railway murders are exceed
,rs,v rare in England. There may be millions
=, passengers carried in safety before announcer
,,,s &c sacrificed in consequence Of the iso'a'io"
., the murderer and his victim in a compart-
went Moralists writing for railway Journals
ao not find II difficult TO prove that more muir
ders are committed in houses and on the streets
than in compartment carriages one Oh 'ne'e
writer's. l observe refers to the WhitechaPei
murders which bafiled the vigilance ana III
,suirence Of the police patrolng the streets
near by. and concludes that there Is no 'saief
Mace in the world than compartmen'-car'
7, Is not SO safe q place but that murderer
during an interval Of four or five minutes De-
tween stations can butcher his victim conceai
the body under a seat. and escape without IeaV-
ing behird him any trace OF his presence 10
lead 20 his Identification. Nor Is II 50 sate
Mace as a railway carriage without partluoned
commandments would be. 1nfrequent though
these railway crimes NAV be in England ana
on the Continent, they are remembered iof a
lcrg time and an unfailing source OF
ANXIETY and nervousness among timid and APP
n~ehensive travellers. and this feeling OF trepi-
aatiou and suspicion would be dspeiled if lorg
ears were substituted for conpartment-car-
r.ages
RAILWAY ECONOMICS
II would be IDLE to assume that single crime
IKE the atrocious murder Of Miss Camp WI.
lead TO the reconstruction of the rolling-stock
Of English railways. There have been ever
more sensational cases of railway crime. and
the public feeling OF uneasiness and suspicion
has PASSED away without effectng any mateTia!
modification Of the compartment system The
outcries against the prevailing method or iso-
lating groups OF passengers in separate pens
are 1t is true louder and angrier than the pro-
tests which are usually heard in such Instances
The American long car is advocated by severa
prominent journals as undeniably safer and
more comfortable In many ways than the COM
partment carriage. which is modelled upon the
old fashioned stage-coach: and the perverslly
with which the English railway companies cling
70 a system which facilitates robbery. murder
and hlackman is keenly deplored. These morals
have been pointed many times; but the walled
pen remains on wheels. where any crime can
be committed even with only fve-minute IN
tervals between stations without any chance OF
help from the train guards or from fenow-trav-
ellers either side.
When adequate allowance has been made for
the slowness with which the English people
change their hab bits the maintenance Of the stage
coach system Of construction is to he explained
as a matter Of railway economics. The suostitu-
would he most expensive transformation or roll
INC stock and the corporations have persistenty
resisted IL under the plea that English people are
are accustomed TO the present
methods Of transportation. and must have priVa-
cv and classification Of passengers, even at the
risk Of exposure on rare occasions to attacks from
maniacs and murderers. and TO blackmalling
charges Privacy certainly is not secured, TOT
travellers are brought into closer contact with
one another in a stage-coach compartment than
they would be in a long car OF American design
As for classification II is not impracicaoe IN car
riages which open at the ends instead OF De-
Ing partitioned into pens.
The only genuine American train operated IN
England is on the Southeastern Railway, run
ming between Charing Cross Station and Hast
!ngs every afternoon. and returning In the morn
Ing. II consists OF six elegant American railway
CARRIAGES which were constructed in Troy n. Y.
These are entered at the ends are lighted by cleo
tricity are heated and admirably ventilated are
operated with improved American wheels and
brakes There are three classes Of carriages.
with uniform plan Of construction but with
notifications OF upholstering and appointments
corresponding TO the three rates Of railway fare.
Each has a smoking saloon and lavatory at
one end and the remaining space is occupied with
seats or armchars and lounges. with free pas
sage through the centre. The frst-class carriages
do not differ materially from American drawing
room cars and the remaining carriages COM
Portable ana even luxurious In comparison with
the ordinary compartment OF the same
classes This is the only Journey which an Ameri-
can take in England without finding any
cause for complaint. II Is the best train in Eng
land. and the one which secures passengers In
the largest degree against contact with strangers
and invasion OF privacy-that sacred privilege Of
every full booded Englshman.
These cars were first operated experimentally
In trains to Folkestone and Dover. connecting
with Channel steamers: but within few months
they have been taken from that service and are
now used twice a day between Charinp Crnss O I'd