Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-03
TRAVELLING IN INDIA
Characteristics of the Railway
Lines.
THE SLEEPING CARS
PROVISION FOR COMFORT SEEMS
MEAGER TO AN AMERICAN.
Bunks Too Marrow for Beds and Too
Wide for Seats-Expense Of
Private Conveyances.
rHE SLEEPING CARS
By WILLIAM e. CURTIS.


Special Correspondence of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald.
AHMEDABAD India, February 8, 1904.
The railways of India are many and long
and useful, but still very primitive in their
appointments, having been built for utility
and convenience, and not for comfort. The
day will come, suppose when modern i'm
provements will be introduced, and the long
journeys which are necessary to reach any
part of this vast empire will be made as
pleasant and luxurious transcontinental
trips in the United States. Just now, how
ever, the equipment is on a military basis
Of simplicity and severity. Passengers are
furnished with what they need and no more.
They are hauled from one place to another
at reasonable rates of speed; they are given
shelter from the sun and the storms en-
route, and a place to sit up in the daytime
and to lie down during the night, and at
proper intervals the trains stop for refresh
ments-not very good or very bad, but fair
to middling,' the Yankees say, in quality
and quantity. If traveller wants anything
more he must provide it himself; hence peo-
pie who live in India and are accustomed to
these things are perfectly satisfied with
them, although the tourist who has just
arrived is apt to criticise and condemn for
the first few days.
Every European resident of India who Is
accustomed to travelling by train has an
outfit similar to the kit of soldier
naval officer He has roll of bedding, with
sheets, blankets and pillows, protected by a
canvas cover securely strapped and ar
ranged that when he wants to retire he
need only unbuckle the straps and I'M
roll the blankets on the bunk in the
railway carriage. He also has a "tiffin
basket with a teapot, an alcohol lamp,
a tea caddy, plates and cups of gram
to Univ md fnrly hoy Of
sugar, a tin of jam, a tin of biscuits or
crackers and other concomtants for his in
terror department in case of an emergency;
and, never having had anything better, he
thinks the present arrangement good
enough, and wonders why Americans are
dissatisfied
Persons of ordinary common sense and
patience can get used to most anything, and
after day or two travellers trained to the
luxury of Pullman sleepers and dining cars
can adjust themselves to the primitive ia
cilities~of India without loss of sleep or
temper, excepting always one condition:
You are never sure where you are at" so
to speak. You never know what sort of ac-
commodations you are going to have. There
Is always an eXaSperating uncertainty as
to what will be left for you when the train
reaches your place of embarkation.
The Sleeping Cars.
Sleeping berths, such as they are, go free
with first and second-class tickets, and
every traveller is entitled to one bunk, but
passengers at intermediate points cannot
make definite arrangements until the train
rolls in. no matter whether it is MONDAY or
o'clock in the morning. You can go down
and appeal to the station master a day or
two in advance and advise him of your
wants and wishes. and he will put your
name down on a list. If you are so fortu-
nate as to be at the starting point of the
train he will assign you a bunk and slip a
card with your name written upon 1t into
a little slot made for the purpose; the other
hunks in the compartment will be allotted
to Tom. Dick and Harry in the same man
ner There are apartments reserved for
ladies, too, but If you and your wife or
family want one to yourselves you must be
a ma jor general lieutenant governor or
a rajah or a lord high commissioner of
something or other to attain that desire.
If they insist upon being exclusive ordinary
people are compelled to show as many
tickets as there are hunks in compart-
ment, and the first that comes has the pick
as is perfectly natural The fellow who
takes the train later in the day must be
satisfied with Mr.. Hobsons choice and
takes what is left. even If it doesn't fit
him. If the train is full. if every bunk is
occupied, another car is hitched on, and he
gets a lower. but this will not be done as
long as single upper is vacant And the
passengers are packed away as closely as
possible, because the trains are heavy and
the engines are light, and the schedule
must be kept in the running. A growler
will tell you that he never gets a lower
BERTH that he Is always crowded into a
compartment that is already three-fourths
occupied with passengers who are trying
to sleep, but he forgets that they have more
than he to complain of, and If he is ma
licious man he can find deep consolation in
the thought and make as great a nuisance
of himself possible. / do not know how
the gentler sex behave under such circum-
stances, but have heard told stories that l
am too polite to repeat
Divisions of the Car.
The cars are divided into two. three or
four compartments for first-class passen-
gers, with a narrow little pen for their
servants at the end, which is absolutely
necessary because nobody in India travels
without an attendant to wait upon him
His comfort well as his social position
requires it, and few have the moral courage
to disregard the rule. To make It a little
clearer l will give you a diagram sketched
from nature by your special artist on the
spot: