American Railway Fires.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 4329, 1 March 1887, Page 3

American Railway Fires.

“ The Vagabond, ”in one of the latest of tbe series of delightful papers on his travels, which he is now contributing to the ‘ Australasian,’ gives a very satisfactory explanation of the strange catastrophes which have lately been reported. Writing of the very section on which the burning of tbe Montreal and Boston express train took place, he says:—“ The great drawback is that the heat in the carriages is excessive. 1 have travelled many thousands of miles although always against my will, in the North American Continent during winter, and from Norfolk to Quebec never found a railway oar which was not overheated to an extent prejudicial to health. Half the citizens of the United States have their oonstitntions ruined by this, and the changes of temperature from the oars to tbe outside air. 1 give it as an impartial opinion that after September no one should travel in America on any railway north of the Roanoke River. It is not only a question of health, bat of life. Tbe genius of the great American people has not yet evolved an efficient system of warming the oars by steam pipes from the locomotives. Each oar is now heated by a stove in the corner, from whence the hot air .is carried in pipes aroond the seats. On some railways there are special appliances for regulating the degree of heat, bat as far as my experience goes tbe nigger porter always takes care to consult his own tastes and keep tbe cars at a minimum of 80 degrees without ventilation. Then when there is a collision, or a car rnns off the rails, the stove gets knocked' to pieces,' the live opals set fire to the varnished wood of the carriages and one stands a chance of being burnt alive. This to me always seemed unfair to a railway passenger. It is an added discount on bis ordinary chances and another argument against the delights of living in a cold country. It is one of the few things in which Canadian ' railway travel is befy'nc( ‘ Australian.”