Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-08

America as In Europe, the advantages are
all on the American side. Mr.. Skinner said
that IL a passenger secured cab and
waited for his luggage at the station and
drove of with 1t, there was just as quick
delivery as was accomplished in England;
but the passenger has In the first place to
wait a great deal longer than he does in
England; he has in the next place to pay.
as l understand, in this country p cents
per package for each piece that is deliv-
cred: he has then to get cab at an enor-
nous expense. say S1.jO to 81, and he then
gets to his destination just quickly as
he would in England. but with the differ
cree that in England he would not have
had to pay all these serious extra charges.
and the normal condition In America is
that he has to wait two or three or even
four hours for his baggage.
Then Mr.. Skinner says that the British
system Is somewhat self-condemned be-
cause it has TO advertise that passengers
should ask for receipts IL they desire them.
L think the answer to that Is that pas
sengers do not ask for receipts, and there
fore obviously do not require them. If
they did need them 1t is open to them to
ask for them. but the fact that they do
not shows that the system is popular
one and meets with general approval.
=. One or two bugbears We're raised as to
the losses produced by the British system.
which are in fact. as Sir Charles Owens
pointed out so exceedingly small that any
different system would be. owing to the
increased STAFF which would be required by
the companies to effect registration. much
more costly than at present: and as to old
marks causing luggage to go astray, this
misfortune practically never happens. be-
cause II the baggage is travelling on the
same railway company's system. care Is
almost invariably taken to obliterate the
old label by placing another on top of it,
and If the baggage Is travelling on another
system it is obvious that the old label of
another company does not interfere at all.
Much Rough Handling.
Ito oil no
I may, that the American system seems to
produce a great deal of rough handling of
baggage, a good deal rougher than occurs
in Europe European boxes often meet the
i'll fate of being seriously damaged in Amer
lea. To record my own experience, L
brought along with me strong leather
portmanteau, and 1t was so knocked about
within the first week that I was here that
| was obliged to buy an American trunk
Now, that is no doubt very prohtable to
the American trunk makers, but l do not
think it is altogether credltaDle 10 the syS-
TEN of baggage transfer
And lastly, l want just to call attention,
for l do not think sufficient emphasis has
been laid upon it. to point which Ger
tainly deserves more special notice. 1t Is
what Mr. Skinner has said about the Rus
sian law. The Russian law limits the la
bility of railways provided no value Is de-
clared on the baggage. to certain moderate
sums regulated according to the class of
ticket taken by the passenger I consider
that is a very good law, and If II existed
in no other country l think it would be
right that this section at any rate, should
record by speech or resolution its approval
of that limitation Of liability of railway
companies to a certain sum unless higher
value is specially declared. / wish 1t eX-
listed in England. and l dare say that other
delegates here would approve of its intro
duction the continent of Europe.
Even If we do not quite convince each
other about our respective methods of car
rying luggage, l believe agreement upon
this matter would be of practical value, and
l hope that nothing L have said will con-
vey the impression that l do not recognize
that different customs and conditions may
alter circumstances in different countries