Perth Amboy evening news., 1911-04-10
CAR CLEANING
AS A SCIENCE
Railroad Coaches Are Made
Thoroughly Sanitary.

"The feather busters out Of date.
| don't know of any other feature OF
railroad service in which there has
been greater improvement, within
the last generation, than the cleaning
and ventilation of cars and stations. "
This is what General Passenger
Agent Charles S. Lee OF the Lehigh
| Valley told a visitor the other day.
The official went on to tell how the
old haphazard methods had given
place to a new scientific system OF
sanitation.
IF the feather buster might be
taken as typical Of the old way, the
cleaning machine is the SYM
Dol of the new. The public, including
fraflrond men, huve fvrrned lor
about sanitary affairs in the last few
years; the extent to which clean cars
promote general health Is appreciated
everywhere, and the achievements of
modern science have been utilized to
the utmost.
ION the Lehlgh Valley we have
every car scrubbed when it reaches
a division point for a stop overnight.
Not only this, but q man with a va
cuum machine goes through and
draws all the dust out of the cloth
seats. The doors and windows are
thrown open, to give the interior q
thorough airing, and when morning
comes the car Is ready to start its
next journey fresh and clean.
"Of course the public can do a
great deal either to help or hurt
the campaign of cleanliness, and one
Of the tasks of the railroad manage
ment is to enlist the aid of travel
ers. To that end signs are posted
conspicuously, requesting passengers
to throw rubbish only into the pro-
per receptacles and not to spit on
the floor. Some observe the re-
quest, some do not; but the force of
public opinion Is on u side, and
conditions are improving steadily If
slowly.
ventilation is twin brother to
cleanliness, in the general SANTA
ton scheme, and here is where we
have great trouble. l am convinced
that no two persons in the world
have quite the same ideas on how
much air Is needed in a given place
and how 1t should be let in. One
passenger protests that he is suffo-
eating, and then, when the conduc-
tor opens his window, the passenger
in the seat behind begins to mutter
things about fresh air cranks' and
freezing to death
mo matter which way the conduc-
tor decides, there is sure to be some
body who thinks the decision Is
wrong. There Is no real solution to
this difficulty. The only thing we
can do Is to urge our men to be
good-natured and as tactful as pos
sible-to go as far as they can to.
ward pleasing everybody. Thus,
after all, ventilation becomes a hui
man problem, and here the training
that We give our men in courtesy is
very valuable.
THE same reforms have been ap-
piled to stations, in recent years, as
to cars. We have a definite set oil
rules for agents to follow in caring
for their stations, and, while l dc
mot mea to say that the conditions
are perfect, they show how much
can be accomplished by carrying Out
a determined policy. Too often, oil
course, passengers do not look af-
ter their own interests In this re.
gard, being careless in their use Of
the station facilities. But cleaning
up after careless passengers Is par
of the Job, and we try to make the
best of it, while always urging them
to help along the good work"