RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CI, Issue 30007, 17 December 1962, Page 21

RANDOM REMINDER

NIGHT ON WHEELS

Air, sea, road, rail—however you travel today, going from place to place is considerably more comfortable than it was in, the days of lurching coaches on inadequate roads. But even with the best organisation, there is the human element to be considered, and it can lead to peculiar and embarrassing situations. There was a young lady of Christchurch ... no, that sounds like the start of a limerick, and if there is anything in this sad little story, it is that decorum was placed first This young woman was on a bus making a long evening journey, and she was compelled, at one stage, to repair to the little cubicle placed at the end of the bus for the convenience of passengers. But just as Mie was about to take possession, the bus stopped, another

drew up alongside, and the passengers were instructed to transfer, as their bus had to return to its starting point It was unfortunate that when the young woman changed over, with the other passengers, she discovered that the second bus was not as well-equipped as the first one. So she waited until the next bus stop, only to find that there too there was a singular lack of facilities. But at the stop there was another bus, crowded with passenger* certainly, but clearly one which catered properly for the comfort of the passengers. It was the matter of a moment to whip into that bus. But the bolt was hardly shut before the gears crashed and the bus rocketed off up the road. It was, as we said, a crowded bus, and our young lady had to march

down the aisle and explain to the driver how it wa* he had one more passenger than he could account for. Now even in a modern bus, being driven at high speed, a stage whisper has to be something which would have brought the cattle home across the sands of Dee in a howling gale. So passengers half - way down the bus caught on, snickered, grinned, turned to one another delightedly. But she was discarded at the next atop and regained the vehicle she was supposed to be on. Naturally, they all wondered where she had been . . her explanation to the driver took some little time. It waa relayed down the bus. with embellishments, and the passengers clearly thought the world had seldom been such a capital place.