OUR RAILWAYS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10546, 24 March 1920, Page 5

OUR RAILWAYS

passengers; WANTS DOG-IN-MAXGEE, POLICY- ABOUT REFRESHMENTS (Special to the "Times.") The once-familiar cry" "Luncheon 'is now ready in the dining-car," •is no longer hoard by travellers on the New Zealand railways. The -.system: of providing meals' sit has been abandoned. 'Plrtrruiinmg of .dining-cars'under tiovernment control was not a paying proposition, and each year, according to the returns, there was -a heavy deficit, Private contractors' however, not only ablo to'nrnke'a, out qt the catering, but we re,""in addition, able to pay. a substantial, §um for the prmlege. A SELFISH POLICY: : When the Government took over the control, and was unable to make a business* s*«ces» 4 of/the 'catering, *the man of resouree'aWd'ettberpriso'w'as fios given another chance to show what ho could do. "It looked," stated a cam. mercial traveller, "as if the Government did not want its failure to be made too apparent to .the public, and adopted a«poUoy-»'Of" J The department! has tried and-has* ibeen unsuccessful, and care must bo taken that private individuals do not get an opportunity to make good and'thereby disclose tho delinquencies of departmental management.' '' ..; ; . It was pointed out to the commercial traveller that, thoro was probably a very different reason for taking tKo dining-car off. It was i admitted that on a narrow-gaugo railway a diningcar was not an unqualified success. The Beating accommodation" was seldom equal to the demand, and, passengers in consequence had often "to standing on" a carriage platform for half an hour or more in order to secure a seat after the,initial rush,, of hungry mortals had been satisfied. Then, again, on account of the jailing of the car it was impassible to take a meal in comfort. The air was stuffy, and to open a window courted disaster from the wind, dust, or rain. ■ "The railway station dining _ and tea-rooms are the better -proposition," said a, burly.,iarfljej^.//if .they ...were only conducted on better lines. At Marten fl.~lra.Teller can obtain a meal in some degree of comfort, but contrast that with our Frankton experi- . ence." ■ ••»*■' ■, ■- '_ * ■, .. A "PLEASANT MEAL. ... Here is a description. given- by * traveller who came down from Auckland a few days ago by the liaiu Trunk:— ■'•• -' After the mail train from Kotorua left Morrinsville : the guard •■ informed passengers that luncheon would be obtainable at Frankton. On arrival, t rush was made for the dining-roftin for seats; and ; after,.. an .interval .of ■ten minutei. waitress ~ came round for orders. "We did not expect so many for lunch," she explained—which disclosed -gross—mismanagementPresently the soup was served/ ''and with it a ticket-for the; payment of 23 6d. Before.~the~diners- were finished, a rail way- -official?- made, his-appear-ance and announced' that the • Auckland train, WW about' 'to 'move * outWomen became" 'eSciteU .~fuslied"'fi;oirt the tables, and the men made unkind remarks about' the ".'Hallway Department as .therTrelUcta'ntly parted" with--2s 6d for the honour of being per mitted to burn their throats with hot soup. .""■'. TIM AND A SANDWICH. Comparisons are said "to be odious. They t may be hateful in most, cases, but in regard to' tea rooms •on the railway lino there is- a'wiae difference between thcjso run by a : private individual and those controlled by the Railway Department: 'At Paekakaxiki or Kaitoker-an—excellent cup of tea and a sandwich* may be obtained'," is the traveller's -experience * at"■' Goverhmeut-ffin rooms? The 'so-called ham sandwiches are made of corned-beef, the tea spoiled in or~T*ither"in the stewing, and .th&'-bev«rago- nutder r-less inviting by being"ladldd"out"'of a bucket -with a "dustbin" cup. A cup with a handle is> rarity, and chipped and (battered crockery, which should find a resting-place ,in a, dustbin, is served to thirsty customers. A waitress plunges one of these earthenware wa -riors into the - black-looking fluid, pushes the aptfiogyfor a> the counter, grabs 8d and proceeds to wipe her hands, which "have coma in contact with, the tea during the cup-plunging operation.