New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-07-09
RAILWAYS IN INDIA.
CHEAP PRICES AND PRIMITIVE AcCoMMoDA.
TONS
G. w. stevens in The London Mail.

C. w. Stevens in The London Mail.
The native has taken up with enthusiasm
the recreation OF railway travelling. and the
Indian railways are accordingly admirable.
They lack only one point Of excellence. and that
is exactly what the European wants and the
native does nOt-speed. The white man is often
in hurry the native never: the Indian train
strolls accordingly at "A decorous twenty miles
an hour. The sahib may get impatient. but II IS
lightning to people whose national conveyance
is a buock-cart The native troubles himself
nothing about timetables: he goes to the sta
ton before sunrise and sits down till the train
comes. And the amount Of native traffic is as
tOnishng- astonishing even though il costs him
about a farthing a mile. The staiion-yard and
the road beyond are a fair by day and dosS-
house by night; at the opening Of the gates the
roaring jabbering platform recalls the break
ing of the crowd when the Lord Mayors show
has gone by. The third-c'ass carriages are even
crates Of fowls; some stand on the seats
some lie the floor You only jungle x
heads and legs and arms projected vaguely out
Of nowhere; at night the compartment IS heap
Of sack-COlOrcd bundles. that might indiffcTcHty
be men or mailbags.
Your own Indian railway carria p is not UNI
ike the Indian house. 1t has space ana all in
dispensabcS fer existing in 4 bad climate. but
little OF finish or "mb llshmcnt. In Europe The
see pinS-car mimics the drawng-room. in India,
where often the very draWing-rOCm is but a
hating place in a perpetual journey. a sleeping
car is merely car you can very well sleep in.
To it, as everywhere in India, you bring your
own bedding and your own servant to lay it out.
You take your meals at stations by the way; II
there is no rcfreshment-roo at the right time
and place YOU bring your food with you The
European train is like a hotel the Indian like
a camp. Your servant piles in your canvas
bundle Of bedding your battered dressing case,
your hatboX, your dispatch-boX, your tOpi your
stick. your flask, your titIin basket, your over
coat your cricket bat. your racquet, your hunt
ing crop. your gun and your dog; you insert
yourself among them and away you go
Tt,.sta 81.
caparisOncd. but it is WOrkmanlike TO the utter
most hatpeg. on the mctre-gauge lines YOU
are little crampcd At night. inevitably; on
the broad gauge there is far more dressing.
washing and shaving space than on any line
in Europe or America. Against the hot weather
screens Of boarding hang from the carriage root
to midway down the window, these stall of
some Of the dust. while most Of the windows are
smoked 70 cool the glare. Ice can be had at
important stations during the hot months An
other vast convenience Is the railway waiting
room IN one Of which. on the Northwestern
Railway. / am at this moment concluding thu
letter. arrived here at o'clock ana took "A cup
Of tea; while drank that a shave and a hot bath
were preparing in the waiting room. while I
took those breakfast was cooking in the kitchen.
| went forth and did what came here for; now
having an hour to spare. | minister to your
mind at 4 better chair and table and room alto
Gether than. doubt. you Will find in any hotel
in India
In short your Briton is not at all the con-
servativc creature that at home he would make
himself out. Put him down where NJ has more
Or less Of a clear field. and he will adapt and
invent and cOntriVc and relieve the usefully
ugly with the best Of them. The small cOnYen-
fence for example Of carriages coorad accord
ing To their class. now timidly uibhled at in
England, has long been familiar 10 India; first
class Is white. second dark green. third native
color. only one fault can think Of IN IN" rcgu-
atiOns for Indian travel; there ar no carriages
reserved FOR men. Consequently ladies' enter
in with their husbands. which at bedtime brings
advertisements once have actually had to
ask the station master 10 put on an extra car
riage solely for me 20 hide my bushes IN.