The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09

Perhaps there are honest people who
really prefer our railway SYSTEM to the
best afforded in other parts OF the world,
I will not dispute that. j hsve seen men
who never smoke riding in an "aecommo-
dation' smoking car among the oCowda and
filth and breathing its fetid atmosphere for
hours, though they might have gone in one
Of the other cars with ladies and gentlemen
Apparently they felt more at home in such
surroundings.
To my mind the best cars are yet to find
a place on our roads, though they have
been used to some extent for years in Ger
many, Switzerland and France. These are
the corridor cars" or combination Of the
American n European systems. The cor
rider car ID a long car with a corridor running
| from end door to end door, with l~Avatory
and toilet.
This corridor is not in the centre of the
car. but on one side; all the rest of the
space is divided into compartments which
open into the corridor instead Of outside.
People are not locked in. though the oocu-
pants Of any compartment may be as private
us any Englishman could wish by keeping
the door shut. They may leave the door
open and thus nave a command Of the
scenery on both sides, if it pleases them.
, The bell cord is always in sight and the
railway officials are within reach in any
emergency. One may get out and stretch
his legs up and down the corridor and smoke
without interfering with anybody else's
comfort or perilling his own ribs while
en- route They are also steam heated, after
our system in winter.
Fol the whole Of a journey, too, one
may be comfortably seated in the foreign
compartment, with a high back and arm
rests that permit the traveller TO 60 to
sleep. This is in compartments OF any
class.
Even the third class cars on the French
and Italian roads, in which the partitions
that separate the cars into compartments
do not reach to the ceiling, have a backing
that shields a traveller from the annoy
ance Of his next seat neighbor. 1t can't
be seen over without standing on the seat.
Here in America the most diabolical
arrangement of seats restricts your limbs
in front and knocks heads in the rear. To
rest or sleep is impossible. You can't lie
down even IL you have a whole seat TO
yourself, and the unnatural, cramped
position Of your legs, together with the
fact that you must hold your head up for
hours without support. render riding a
physical torture. This is the way nine
tenths Of the American people must travel.
Supplement this with squalling babies,
yowling trainmen, rapid changes from
extreme heat to cold by the throwing open
OF both doors at every stop, the rubbish
left to accumulate by every ~loafer, incon-
siderate people Of both sexes falling over
-~,, 49, avl ot-- - N,,or, . IT, .~I
you may have some idea Of the real Ameri.
can thing on local lines.
Our Wanted dining car on even our best
through trains is often more vexatious
and unsatisfactory than the old time stop
OF twenty minutes for dinner" | have
stood in line for half an hour in a swaying
car awaiting my chance at a seat in the
dining car. When traffic is heavy his is
always so.
INC when o get in, a negro waiter.
worked half to death. will literally throw
anything he chooses at o regardless Of
you order and hurries you up for the next
victim. The bill is 81, no matter what you
get. and the waiter expects rs per cent.
The reason for this is in the fact that our
dining cars" usually are not run through
with the train. but are attached only for a
short run to some intermediate station.
where they make the trip back with the
through train going the other way, putting
another set Of passengers under the same
pressure. The European dining car goes
through with the train. Between meals 1t
is a sort Of cafe. where those who AVE
dined may sit and smoke and drink wine at
their leisure.
| know that it is the general impression
among us that we are first in everything.
Many there are who truly imagine that
the railroad had its birth in this country
and they don't like to think that our first
locomotive came from England; that the
fastest trains IN the world are run in Franco:
that the first underground trolley cars
were in operation in Budapest, Hungary,
before we thought Of trying them here;
that the French are ahead of us in passenger
car improvement and engine building;
that the automobile was first perfected
in France as a practical road vehicle; that
our street paving system originated abroad.
so far as asphalt and wooden blocks are
concerned; that Notwithstanding Edison
our uses of electricity are mostly copies;
that telegraphing by signal was invented
in France; that wireless telegraphy was
invented in Italy; that in the sciences and
arts. as we'll as in literature, England, France
and Germany are greatly our superiors;
that, while We are the greatest foodstuf
producers in the world, Of most prepared
condiments, fruits, &c, the foreign article
is preferred by u own, people at a much
higher price.