Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-18

o9StAlGo III the On1IeQ STATES the fdtS
would be about $50 or $s5 Mt the most The
sleeping car charge to st. Petersburg IS
$Zl.JO For the same distance IN the
United States 1t would be $50 or not more
six pounds of baggage In Europe. in the
United States he allowed 100 pounds.
and between London and st. Peters
burg he is compelled to pay q shilling
pound for every ounce above the allow
ance. had one ordinary trunk weighing
los pounds, so that paid $3.50 on my ex-
ira baggage: making the total cost Of the
Journey $91-90 when in the United States,
for travelling similar distance. the expense
would not be more than $40 or $45 at the
outside. The meals In the dining cars are
SERVED on what is known as the table
hote plan. breakfast. consisting OF very
bad coffee, very good rolls. and nothing
more. Is 81 cents; luncheon of four courses
isi 81. while dinner OF SIX courses Is SIS.
At the Victoria Station.
We started from the Victoria station. Lon
DON. which Is being very much enlarged
had read good deal about the improve
ments in the London papers. and went
down early in order to get chance to see
them They are, however, nothing that
would interest readers in the United States
being simply the extension OF the track
accommodations from nine to fourteen
acres. and the enlargement OF the Grosve-
nor Hotel to twice Its present size. which
makes it one Of the largest, and. the Lon
don newspapers claim. the largest in the
world But do not believe 1t Will be able
to accommodate so many people as the
Waidorf-Astoria or the new Belmont hotels
in New York.
porter meets you your cab rolls
up to the door Of the station. He puts
your trunks upon a truck or a luggage
barrow" as they call it over here. and
wheels them into the baggage room to a
pair of scales set level with the floor. It
tfkes the weighmaster only an instant to
ascertain the weight, which he records upon
blank. with the number Of pieces and the
number Of railway tickets. He hands you
this slip and points to a hole in-the wall on
the other side Of the room. You get into
line and wait your turn. When you reach
the window you pass in your blank with
your railway tickets, and the baggage
agent. after making mathematical caleu-
latfon, hands them back with slip, upon
which Is written your destination, the num-
Der OF pieces of baggage. their weight. the
allowance Of f1fty-six pounds for each per-
son in the party, the excess to be paid for
and the amount due. You pay him what
ever Is necessary, ne signs the receipt ana
gives you a paster about four inches square,
bearing the name of your destination and
number corresponding to that on your re-
ceipt for each one of your pieces You re-
turn to the porter, who In the meantime is
patiently waiting. He gets paste POT,
sticks the pastors on your trunks, anu
wheels them to the baggage car, where ne
slows them away himself with the ASSIST
ance Of the train baggagemen. He then
returns to you. puts you into eompart-
ment places your parcels and bags IN
rack above your seat, and then you give
him shilling
This is all done much more orderly and
easily then the process we are accustomeo
to at home and, while our system or check-
ing has IT'S advantages. 1t Is not by any
means the best in the world. II Is oiten
claimed that the European system - no.
borg
criticism Of our method. The railroad men
assert that any one can change the chscks
on a trunk in America. while IL Wouiu oe
very inconvenient for thief TO 90 SO mere,
II would be necessary for them TO get
number printed exactly like the genuine
one and have pastepot NANCY.
Experience With Baggage.
When we arrived at Plymouth on the
American steamer the other day, I want
ed to send our trunks to London by the
special train in order to avoid the usual
charge for extra weight and at the same
time. it being Saturday night 1 wanted
to stay in Plymouth over Sunday and go
10 to London Monday morning The bag
gage man would not give me any receipt
for my trunks. He agreed to take charge
of them and place them safely in the "un-
called for baggage room at Waterloo sta
ticn. London where, he said. L could ind
them Monday on my arrival. Ihey were
six trunks and II was doubtful thing TO
do I would not have risked it In the
United States without checks receipts or
something. but the baggage agent was so
confident and the station master treasured
me that there would not be the slightest
difficulty SO / let them go. Two days
later upon arriving in London, I called
at the "uncalled for baggage" room. where
l found every piece in good order. The
man in charge asked me for some means
IA ba tod I'd
and the envelope OF a letter bearing my
address. That was sufficient. There was
no charge whatever, although in the United
States I would have paid % cents day
storage each piece.
When l asked the man IL he did not lose
a good deal of baggage or have 1t stolen
he replied that he had never known of a
trunk to be lost or stolen during the nine
years that he had been in the room, but In
a jocular way he told IFS that several years
ago a gentleman walked off with the wrong
dress suit case, which was unmarked. but
was positively identified by him. Three
days later he sent 1t back by express at
the cost of the company with an indig-
nant letter. complaining that he had been
imposed upon and demanding that his own
suit case be forwarded to him immediate
ly. although he indicated no marks of iden-
LITIGATION. AS no attention was paid to
his letter he appeared in person a week
so afterward and threatened to sue the
company for damages.
Inc nrSt-cldSS carriages IN ENG
land are much more comfortable than ours
even our parlor cars or Pullman sleepers,
although they are more confined and half
the passengers are compelled to ride back
ward. Ours was a quick train TO Dover.
It did not stop during the entire journey of
hour and forty minutes through Kent
county, which Is one Of the lovliest land
scapes in the world We saw the towers
OF the Cathedral of Canterbury sacred to
st. Augustine-the place where Christian
fty was first introduced into England-and
we caught a glimpse of the picturesque old
parish church where King Alfred was bap-
tised and where King Ethelbert was mar
ried These figures in English history
sound like characters in fiction to us. un-
til we come near to them on their own
ground. and meet them. as you might say
In their own homes. Here In this corner
of England, on the coast of the channel
large amount of history has been enacted
and the frowning battlements that rise
above the harbor indicate that the British
Hon Is prepared to enact still more history
If occasion shall require.
The Cliffs of Dover.
The cliffs of Dover, as perhaps you may
have read In one of the many novels whose
scenes have been laid in these parts. are
very high They rise one two and three
-