The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-10-06


chant marine by the awarding to it Of
preferential tariff duties will have no
warmer supporter when once the mat
ter is clearly brought into congresson-
al discussion than President Mckinley.
Our Railroads Best.
Ex-Superintendent of Census Porter,
who has been in Europe making COM
parison between European and Amer-
can industries, is especially impressed
with the decided superiority of Ameri~
can railroads. We recently noted some
comparative figures given by him in
letter from London with reference to
freight charges, and now he considers
briefly the matter of passenger SER
vice. AS showing the comparative cost
of service the following figures are
given. the distances being from Lon
don to Liverpool and New York to
Washington:
Far, on the English ine.............$li00
Berth rate ............................. LOO
fetal Observation-Disclosures.
I'are on the American road.........Sl0.OO
-
Total .....................,.... 90
The relative degree of comfort. Mr..
Porter says. would largely be in favor
of the New York ashington trip, be-
cause the sleeping cars are supplied in
greater number, because they are
placed at the disposal of travellers early
| in the evening and long before the
| train starts, and because they ride
| much more comfortably. The ordinary
| third-class passenger in England. who
| is the business man, is debarred from
sleeping at all. except by paying first
| class fare. In England this class Of
! travellers comprise about 95 per cent of
the total traffic. "On this very day."
writes Mr. Porter, under date of Sept
8, Il came up from the eastern coun
ties on the Great Eastern Railway, and
nearly half the third-class carriages
were the wooden pens of a generation
ago. These carriages had not ves-
tige of cushion on the seats which We're
pine boards painted. and as bad, if not
| worse, than the fourth-class carriages
were cushioned. but they were poorly
built, the windows rafting and the
wheels joting and Jerking, while they
were about as filthy and disagreeable
as one could possibly imagine.
LAS for the smoking compartment,
that was too horrible to contempla te.
For riding one hundred miles in such
| rrin I ha
costs me to ride in a handsomely up
holstered coach from New York to
Philadelphia. Bear in mind, however,
that for fifty cents extra in the United
States l could secure a seat in the
Pullman car while to obtain a seat in
the mustv and mildewy first class
empties, which rattle along, wedged in
between the crowded third class car
riages here in England, would have
cost me practically double fare. The
continental method is hardly any bet
ter, eXceDt that the railway carriages
are better built and the material used
in construction of better quality" The
cars of the Holland state railroad i'm.
pressed Mr. Porter much more favor
|
and generally more comfortable. Dutch
German, Austrian and Swiss railroads
he found superior to the English ar
ticle. The system of securing sleepine
car apartments he considers absolutely
abominable. There are compartment!
: de luxe" he admits, on these foreign
lines, but the prices are such that only
use them.
During these continental and Eng
iish experiences with sleeping cars,
Mr.. Porter concludes, Il mentally de
clared that 81 per night, and no three
four, five or six first-class fares and n,
supplements and no extras was dir
: cheap, and that if / ever grumblet
again at our methods of travelling
richly deserved to spend eternity in tn
numerous dreadful contrivances cata
;ogued as compartments de luxe Why
the common, everyday luxury of tn
poorest Pullman car, with the most in
; different colored porters, beats thes
SO called compartments de luxe of tn
continent out of sight. But even NOR
to the point is the fact that our sleep
ing arrangements are managed o
equitable business principles, and Will
with us it is ten to one that YOU ge
comfortable ber,h, in Europe, wit
. all their frilis, it is ten to one that yo
60 not get it, even If Sou are willin
to pay must outrageous price for
u few hours imperfect slumber. Ou
public is fsr more eXaCtilg t!.an tha
of Europe in such matters, and as
4 result the passenger traffic not onl
y costs more than here hut, to meet tn
y requirements of the general public, I'll
. service is really rendered, when a,
commodation is considered. at prat
tically half the cost demanded and pai
" by those who travel in Europe"
. And yet Americans grumbe.
" =
n Hasn't Spain's sudden reform spas
d something of the semblance of a dealt
IL bed repentance?
II Growing TireSome.