Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-04-04

class passengers. THIS practice has made
il almost impossible for women unaccom-
panied by male escort to escape insult II
travelling by second class. As a matter
Of fact. if female passengers are lucky
enough to escape insult at the hands IF
their fellow passengers they are almost
sure Of meeting with it in the officials Of
the road
Nor is the Indictment yet compete.
Extra charges for fictitious services are
a favorite means of official thieviug. So
called fast engines are hooked on at
stopping places and additional fares col
lected from the helpless passengers. Ex
ira charges are made for express trains.
although the speed is rarely over twenty
five miles an hour. The fast trains al!
stop at a dozen or 50 stations to every
hundred miles. and there isn't local
service in the United States. however
bad from which the continental systems,
with few exceptions. could not learn
enough to fill several fat volumes.
Although it holds true generally that
the further south You travel in Europe
the bigger thieves you meet, till in Sicily
You find yourself among a veritable ma
ton of petty bandits and b,igands. What
the employees don't steal from the passen-
gers you can make up your mind is not
worth much. If you have any temper
composure left after accomplishing a
journey You may congratulate yourself
on being an angel without wings: and II
you do not damn the whole system, the
continent In toto and travelling in general
and swear to stick to your little old
United States the rest of your life You
will be a glorious exception among the
multitudes which have gone beforehand
will probably come after YOU
X y
&c 10 hotu
Rome and Paris. One of the daily serv-
ices is a so-called express" for which
you pay special fare. The distance be-
tween the two cities, as the bird flies. or
rather as the ruler lies is about 100
miles. You who are used to the magnif-
cent train services throughout the United
States will find IL hard to credit ii when
it is stated that the time occupied by this
express train to do these TO miles is
just over twenty-eight hours. Imagine
paying a special fare to travel at the rate
of twenty-five miles an hour This same
train, designed. primarily, to get people
who are tired of Italy and its railroads
away from the scenes OF their discomfort
and into Paris soon possible, finds
il necessary to stop fully a score OF times
between the two cities Indeed at one
city a lay-over-it is impossible 10 call 1t
anything else-is made of three-quarters
of an hour, presumably to give the heated
chance to cool
When The Star correspondent Travelled
over this particular stretch of road ap
parently mo attempt was made by the
railroad officials to cope with the pas
senger traffic Many of the passengers
were compelled to spend the night in the
corridors. Those who were fortunate
enough to get a seat, were crowded eight
in compartment with windows tightly
closed and almost suffocated to death.
No.cattie were ever herded closer or with
less regard for their comfort. Your CORE
spondent had sent his baggage on to
Modane the first town over the French
border. and 1t was necessary for him TO
register it from there to Paris Forty
minutes were allowed at the station and
there was one clerk on duty to cope with
the luggage of the passengers This clerk
had no knowledge of the rates and found
it necessary frequently to leave his desk
to consult some superior official at the
other end of the big station. The first
to fall into his hands was an English
woman who was travelling with her maid.
1t took the intelligent clerk just FIVE min
utes to reduce her to tears through ner-