Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-03

frst-class railway carriage in India with
out meretricious embellishments.
Second-Class Carriages.
The second-class compartments. for
which two-thrds of the f1rst-class rates are
charged, have six narrow hunks instead of
four. the two extras being in the middle,
supported by iron rods fastened to the floor
and the ceiling. The woodwork is plain
matched lumber, like our flooring, painted
or stained ana vanished. The floor is bare,
there is no carpet or mating, and around
on the wall wherever there is room for
them enormous hooks are screwed on. Over
the doors are racks of netting. The hunks
are plain wooden benches, covered with
leather cushions stuffed with straw and
packed as hard as tombstOnes by tho
weight OF previous passengers The ceiling
is OF boards pierced with a hole for glass
globe, which prevents the Oil dripping upon
your bald spot from feeble and detected
lamp. 1t Is too dim to read by and scarce
~ pr1ght enough to enable you to distin-
guish the expression upon the lineaments
OF your Fellow passengers. scoop net OF
green cloth on a wire springs back over the
light to cover it when you want to Sleep
Sometimes it works and sometimes 1t
doesn't
The toilet room is Spartan in it's SIM
pncIty' and the amount of water in the
tanks depends upon the conscientiousness
of naked heather of the lowest caste. who
walks over the roofs of the cars and is
supposed to ill them from bibulous pig
SKIN suspended on his back. OF course you
furnish your own towel and the most I'M
udy passenger in the compartment usually
wants 10 borrow 1t, having forgotten to
prlng one himself. You acquire merit in
heaven. as the Buddhists say, by loaning
1t to him, but the better plan is always to
carry two towels, in order to be prepared
Tor such an emergency
Ihere is no ventilation in the ceiling. but
lnere Is a 1rleze of blinds along both sides
OF the car. with Stats that can be turned to
LEI the air in directly upon the body of the
occupant or the upper berth, who is at
liberty to elect whether he dies of pneu-
iN ma or suHocation. The gentleman in
the lower berth has a row of windows
along his back, which have wide gaps and
ADMIT a forced draught of air If the night
is damp or chilly. If it is hot the windows
swell and stick so that you cannot open
them, and during the daytime they rattle
So loud that conversation is impossible I'M
less the passengers have threats of brass
Ike the statues of silva. In India, during
the winter season, there is wide variation
IN the temperature, sometimes much az
81 or 40 degrees. AT night you will need
a couple of thick blankets: at MONDAY il
Is necessary to wear a thick helmet or
carry an umbrella to protect the head from
the sun, and as people do their travelling
In the dry season chiefly, the dust Is dread
ful Everything in the car will have a
soft gray coating before the train has been
in motion half an hour.
The hunks are too narrow for beds and
TOO wide for seats. The act Of rolling over
In the night is attended with some danger
and more anxiety, especially by The occu-
pants OF the upper berths. In the daytime
you can sit on the edge of a bunk ike an
embarrassed boy, with nothing to support
your spine. or you can curl up like Buddha
on his lotus flower. with your legs under
you but that is not dignitied, nor is 1t A
comfortable posture for a fat man Slender
girls can do 1t all right; but it is imprac
ticable for ladies who have passed the
thirty-third degree, or have acquired en-
bonpoint with their other graces. Or you
can shove back against the windows and
let your feet stick out straight toward the
Infinite 1t isn't the fault of a hallway
corporation the master mechanic of a
car factory If they don't reach tn; floor.
1t is defect for which nature is respon
sible. President Lincoln once said that
every mans legs ought to be long enough
to reach the ground,
Engaging Private Car.
AS we were about starting upon a tour
that required several thousand miles of
travel and several weeks of time, the idea
of avoiding all risks and anxiety by secur-
ing private car was suggested, and nego-
tiations were opened to that purpose but
were not concluded because of numerous
considerations and contingencies which
arose at every interview with the railway
officials. They are not accustomed to such
and could not decide upon their
own terms ascertain, during the period
before departure what the connecting lines
would charge US. There are private cars
fitted up luxuriously for railway managers
and high officials of the government but
they couldn't spare one of them for so long
a time as we would need 1t. Finally some
body suggested a car that was fitted out
for the Duke and Duchess of Connaught
when they came over to the durbar last
winter. 1t had two compartments with a
"a tc1,a
but only three hunks. They kindly offered
to let use it provided we purchased six
first-class tickets, and were too obtuse to
why we objected to paying six
fares for a car that could not possibly ad-
NIT more than three people. But that was
only the first of several issues At the
next interview they decided to charge us
demurrage at the rate of IS cents an hour
for all the time the car was not in motion
and, finally, at the third interview the traf-
fic manager said 1t would be necessary for
us to buy six first-class tickets in order to
get the empty car back to Bombay it's
starting point, at the end of the journey.
This brought the charges up to total as
large would be necessary to TRANSPORT
a circus or an opera company and we de-
cided to take our chances in the regular
way.
We bought some sheets and pillow cases,
pillows and Oldfashioned omfortabIes and
blankets, and bespoke compartment on
the train leaving Bombay that night Two
hours before the time for starting we sent
our bearer, down to make
up the beds, which, being accustomed to
that sort of business, he did in an artistic
manner, and by allowing him to take COM
mand of the expedition we succeeded in
making the journey comfortably and with
full satisfaction The ladies of our party
were assigned to one compartment and the
gentlemen to another where the latter had
the company of engineer engaged upOn
the Bombay harbor improvements and a
INT ND %