Railway Adventures and Anecdotes Part 34

Owing to the various dialects in the South of India, as a matter of convenience the English language is much used for personal communication by the natives of different parts of the Presidency of Madras. Mr.

Edward Lear, who has travelled much in that part of the country, gives the following interesting account of a journey:-"I was in a second-cla.s.s railway carriage going from Madras to Bangalore. There was only one other pa.s.senger beside myself and servant, and he was a Brahmin, dressed all in white, with the string worn over the shoulder, by which you may always recognise a Brahmin. He had a great many boxes and small articles, which took up a great deal of room in the compartment, and when at the next station the door was opened for another pa.s.senger to get in, the guard said:-

"'You cannot have all those boxes inside the carriage; some of them must be taken out.'

"'Oh, sir,' said the Brahmin in good English, 'I a.s.sure you these articles are by no means necessary to my comfort, and I hope you will not hesitate to dispose of them as you please.'

"Accordingly, therefore, the boxes were taken away. Then the newcomer stepped in; he was also a native, but dressed in quite a different manner from the Brahmin, his clothing being blue, green, red, and all the colours of the rainbow, so that one saw at once the two persons were from different parts of India. Presently he surprised me by saying to the Brahmin,

"'Pray, sir, excuse me for having given you the trouble of removing any part of your luggage; I am really quite sorry to have given you any inconvenience whatever.'

"To which the Brahmin replied, 'I beg sir, you will make no apologies; it is impossible you can have incommoded me by causing the removal of those trifling articles; and, even if you have done so, the pleasure of your society would afford me perfect compensation.'"

MR. FRANK BUCKLAND AND HIS BOOTS.

Mr. Spencer Walpole furnishes some interesting and amusing gossip about the late Mr. Frank Buckland, describing some of his many eccentricities, and telling many stories relative to his peculiar habits. He had, it seems, a great objection to stockings and boots and coats, his favourite attire consisting of nothing else than trousers and a flannel s.h.i.+rt.

Boots were his special aversion, and he never lost an opportunity of kicking them off his feet.

"On one occasion," we are told, "travelling alone in a railway carriage, he fell asleep with his feet resting on the window-sill. As usual, he kicked off his boots, and they fell outside the carriage on the line.

When he reached his destination the boots could not, of course, be found, and he had to go without them to his hotel. The next morning a platelayer, examining the permanent way, came upon the boots, and reported to the traffic manager that he had found a pair of gentleman's boots, but that he could not find the gentleman. Some one connected with the railway recollected that Mr. Buckland had been seen in the neighbourhood, and, knowing his eccentricities, inferred that the boots must belong to him. They were accordingly sent to the Home Office, and were at once claimed."

DRINKING FROM THE WRONG BOTTLE.

An incident has occurred on one of the suburban lines which will certainly be supposed by many to be only _ben trovato_, but it is a real fact. A lady, who seemed perfectly well before the train entered a tunnel, suddenly alarmed her fellow-pa.s.sengers during the temporary darkness by exclaiming, "I am poisoned!" On re-emerging into daylight, an awkward explanation ensued. The lady carried with her two bottles, one of methylated spirit, the other of cognac. Wis.h.i.+ng, presumably, for a refresher on the sly, she took advantage of the gloom; but she applied the wrong bottle to her lips. Time pressed, and she took a good drain.

The consequence was she was nearly poisoned, and had to apply herself honestly and openly to the brandy bottle as a corrective, amidst the ironical condolence of the pa.s.sengers she had previously alarmed.

-_Once a Week_.

HORSES VERSUS RAILWAYS.

A horse for every mile of road was the allowance made by the best coachmasters on the great routes. On the corresponding portions of the railway system the great companies have put a locomotive engine per mile.

If a horse earned a hundred guineas a year, out of which his cost had to be defrayed, he did well. A single locomotive on the Great Northern Railway (and that company has 611 engines for 659 miles of line) was stated by John Robinson, in 1873, to perform the work of 678 horses-work, that is, as measured by resistance overcome; for the horses, whatever their number, could not have reached the speed of fifty miles an hour, at which the engines in questions whirled along a train of sixteen carriages, weighing in all 225 tons. There are now upwards of 13,000 locomotives at work in the United Kingdom, each of them earning on the average, 4,750 per annum. But we have at the same time more horses employed for the conveyance of pa.s.sengers than we had in 1835. In omnibus and station work-waiting upon the steam horse-there is more demand for horseflesh than was made by our entire coaching system in 1835.

A SLIGHT MISTAKE.

An Irish newspaper is responsible for the following:-"A deaf man named Taff was run down and killed by a pa.s.senger train on Wednesday morning.

He was injured in a similar way about a year ago."

EXPENSIVE CONTRACTS.

An interesting glimpse into the inner working of State, and especially Russian, Government railways was afforded in a recent discussion on railway management in Russia, published by the _Journal_ of the German Railroad Union. During this debate it appears that the details were published of the famous contract of the late American Winans with the Government concerning the Nicholas Railroad. By the use of considerable money, Winans succeeded in making a contract, to extend from July 1st, 1866, for eight years, by which the Government was to pay him for oiling cars and small car repairs at an agreed rate per pa.s.senger and per ton mile. In addition to this he received a fixed sum of about 15,000 (78,000 dols.) per year for painting and maintaining the interior of the pa.s.senger cars; 6,000 for keeping up the shops, and finally 8,000 yearly for renewing what rolling stock might be worn out. The St.

Nicholas line was eventually taken over by the Great Russian Company, which in 1872 succeeded in making the Government annul the contract by paying Winans a penalty of 750,000, which the Great Russian Company paid back with interest within four years. If the contract had been continued it would have cost the company more than one-third of its net earnings, since the saving amounts to nearly 523,000 per annum. Another contract which the Government had made for the same road with a sleeping-car company was settled shortly afterward by the Government taking from the company the few cars it had on hand, and paying 75,000 for them and 10,000 a year for the unexpired seven years of the contract.

MR. BRa.s.sEY'S STRICT ADHERENCE TO HIS WORD.

The following is one of such stories, ill.u.s.trative of one phase of Mr.

Bra.s.sey's character-his strict adherence to his word, under all circ.u.mstances.

When the "Sambre and Meuse" was drawing towards completion, Mr. Bra.s.sey came along as usual with a staff of agents inspecting the progress of the work. Stopping at Olloy, a small place between Mariembourg and Vireux, near a large blacksmith's shop, the man, a Frenchman or Belgian, came out, and standing up on the bank, with much gesticulation and flourish, proceeded to make Mr. Bra.s.sey a grand oration. Anxious to proceed, Mr.

Bra.s.sey paid him no particular attention, but good naturedly endeavoured to cut the matter short, with "Oui, oui, oui," and at length got away, the Frenchman apparently expressing great delight.

"Well, gentlemen, what are you laughing at, what is the joke?" said he to his staff as they went along.

"Why, sir, do you know what that fellow said, and for what he was asking?"

"No, indeed, I don't; I supposed he was complimenting me in some way, or thanking me for something."

"He _was_ complimenting you, sir, to some tune, and asking, as a souvenir of his happy engagement under the Great Bra.s.sey, that you would of your goodness make him a present of the shop, iron, tools, and all belonging!"

"Did he, though! I did not understand that."

"No sir, but you kept on saying, 'Oui, oui, oui,' and the fellow's delighted, as he well may be, they're worth 50 or 60."

"Oh, but I didn't mean that, I didn't mean that. Well, never mind, if I said it, he must _have_ them."

It must be borne in mind, that at that time, at best, Mr. Bra.s.sey knew very little French, and his staff were well aware of the fact."

Sep. 13, 1872.

S. S.

EXTRAORDINARY ACCIDENT.