New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-10
\ Piece from Paris,
Not About War
Continued from Page one

Since the war women nave fcpidOSu
men almost entirely in the running OF
the trains. do not know if there were
any employed prior to 1914. but they
act as though they had always been
there. Personally. consider the Paris
woman subway guard a distinct I'M
provement over the New York male va
riety. She is seldom unshaven, for one
thing: she knows how to speak her own
language at least: and she is amazlngi|
polite. It is bit of a shock to a New
Yorker to have a public service en-
ployee say. Your ticket, please, sir
and, after punching and returning ii.
remark, Thank you, sir'-just as if
ycu were patron Of the company, aEd
not victim.
You never DO give up your ticket, by
the way. If you transfer to another line
YOU present it again to the guard, who
once more punches it and gives it back.
When you leave the station at your des-
tination YOU are supposed to drop 1t into
a box provided for the purpose. BuC II
YOU don't. nothing happens-beyond the
fact that pockets gradually fill up with
punched subway tickets, samples OF
which you are continually presenting to
reproachful guards instead of good
ones.
To me the most delightful part of a
ride in the Metro is getting started.
This is no mere Slamming OF gates and
sudden boiling out of the station, as
with US. Far from it. 1t is an event, a
crisis. involving considerable agitation
and three separate kinds OF noise. A
Metro train is a sensitive and high
strung animal. in need of coaXing and
announcements She-one instructive
" uses the feminine prOnoun-pos-
sesses none of the iuggernaut efficiency
of our Interborough trains, any more
than she possesses their weight.
AS / have said, it takes three dis
tinct noises to get her under way.
First of all, the guard on the last cor.
who is armed with a species of police
whistle. sees that every one is on board
and blows an agonized wall to signify
that all is well. This is a signal for
the guard on the first car to take last
lock around before uttering her partic-
ular noise. She has a toy auto horn,
upon which she Quacks madly Just as
she leaps aboard.
Finally, after both signals have been
given, the wheels begin to turn, and as
the train moves off the mOtorman blows
private whistle Of his own. This IS a
miniature factory whistle, something
like those with which our own subway
cars are equipped. But its sound Is
none of the ear-splitting below Of its
Interborough brethren. 1t is a milder,
follower. more personal note--a small,
contemptuous boot, the voice of one
who says: "Ya-as, heard you the first
time. Why all the row? Pm starting,
amt u"
The French have generous views as
10 the amount of room passengers need.
The Metro Sars, while of the same width
AZ our Interborough or Elevated cars;
have double side" seats on only one
side. In these seats there is, moreover,
room for two persons to sit. Not one
and one-hah average persons, or two
living skeletons, or one fat person ano
a child No. Two average people.
Still, one factor that prevents over
crowding on the Metro is due to no ac-
cident of traffic conditions. As the signs
in the cars say, each is allowed to con-
tain thirty-seven standees. Oddly
enough-to New Yorker-this rule is
enforced. During the hour of affiuence
only thirty passengers at time are Al
lowed on the station platform. TO
reach the platform you pass through a
wicket; and when the allotted numbe'
have passed through, the wicket is
closed and those behind it must wait
for the next train. You may not like
ms. You may, as a good American,
feel that if you are compelled to wait
three minutes for that next train life
is hardly worth the living. Neverthe-