Evening star., 1942-11-21

nehry mcLe""Ie' speak du-
thoritatively, having just come
back from an extended railroad
trip. Wise civilians soon will at
tempt to conduct their business by
smoke signals, tom-tom beating,
pony express or Indian runner
rather than face the perils and
rigors of the combination mems
smoking dressing washing room on
the trains of today.
In peacetimes that little room
with the black leather seats was no
haven of delight. It's washing IA
cilities were worked out on ratio
of one chromium basin for each
100000 passengers handled, and on
most roads there used to be stand
ing prize for the man who was
smart enough to get towel and a
mirror at the same time. Add to
this the fact that the Pullman por-
ter considered the room his private
boudoir and could nearly always be
found sleeping across one length
of it, and you could always be sure
of merry congestion no matter
what hour you decided to do your
primping.
Now, in 1912, those bygone days
in the Pullman smoker seem like
the good old days. Even midgets
bearing letters from their members
of Congress have trouble getting in
now. A few days ago, thanks to
brilliantly executed pincer move
ment I worked on a couple of fellow
passengers, I forced myself into the
smoking room, hoping to shave and
get little of the train dust of of
me.
Unable to get within 4 feet Of a
mirror, l used the shiny bald head
Of fellow in front of me as a
mirror. 1t didn't work though. 1t
was very unsatisfactory. With the
| jostling of the crowd and the move
ment of the train, shaved the man
next to me, while the man on the
other side of me, washed my ears.
I thought, of course that I was
shaving myself until the fellow I
was giving such good going-over
said, Not so close, buddy. And no
powder when you finish, please"
"Okay," I said, Il won't use any
powder, but if you get a chance tell
that fellow back of me to stop try
ing to part my hair in the middle.
want it parted on the right side"
The problem of getting into your
clothes-the old habit men have Of
coming into the smoking room in
their bathrobes and with their
clothes slung over their arms still
persists-is even worse than trying
to wash and shave When you hold
out your trousers to step into them
somebody nearly always beats you
to it.
In my case I finally got worn out
trying to get into my own clothes
and took the line of least resistance,
and as a result stepped of the
train wearing some small tweed
trousers, the blouse of major of
! artillery and large black derby.
Fearful of being arrested as an i'm
poster I rushed back on the train
to find the major in his own pants,
my coat and salt and pepper cap.
None of us was angry. After all,
we realized that the railroad COM
panies are doing the best job rail-
roads have ever done. Called on
overnight to handle millions Of extra
passengers, they are handling them.
After all, no one has asked the
civilians to clutter up the railroads
when troop transportation is so i'm
portant.
But as I said before, civilians are
voluntarily going to quit riding the
rails for the duration. It's getting
too tough for those who haven't had
basic and advanced training in how
to take 1t. Besides. with razor
blades as scarce as they are, a man
can't afford to take a trip where he
has to waste precious blade shaw
Ing fellow he never saw before and
never will see again.
distributed by McNausht Syndicate, Incl