SPECIAL TRAIN ROMANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 36, 11 February 1905, Page 12

SPECIAL TRAIN ROMANCE.

TET7E STORIES FROM THIS TEAR'S RAILWAY ANNALS IN BRITAIN. In the days when the telephone was a toy and the motor-car an expensive hobby, no one. save royalty, ever dreanft of chartering- a special railway train. A "special" in those days was a prohibitive loxurr. Times have changed, for this year has been a record one for special trains, says the "Daily Mail" Nowadays a special train, though costJy, may be had as a matter of coarse, and, strangely enough, at the time when the '•special" has ceasetl'to be regarded as anything uncommon, romance has stepped in to save it from being consigned to Uje prosaic positron of an "ordinary." It was only the other week that there was a flutter of excitenwDt at one of the principal termini of the metropolis. A we.lldreased gentleman rushed up to the traffic superintendent and breathlessly ASKED FOR A SPECIAL TRAIN to Bristol. Hardly had he Gone so than another young man burst into their presence. "A special for Bristol." he exclaimed, and on seeing the other man instaniiy drew ba-ck with a scowl on his face. The impatient actions and gestures of. the two charterers gave rise to much comment among Jhe railwayiaen, who, in a short space of time, had the two specials bowling from the station. It was some days before the whole story leaked out. and every gaess o£ the railway officials as to the reason of the "specials" was wrong. It was a race for a wife. The two gentlemen were stockbrokers, and both loved the same girl. who. however, loved -No. 1. He was a most inattentive lover, and it was only the merest accident that bronght to light how strongly he did lrvre. j No. 11., on the other hand, was inoet at- ' tenure. In fact, he oppressed the lady with bis devotion, so much so. indeed, that she fled to her native Bristol with a breaking heart. No. 1 was the only one for her, and So. I. was thoughtless. In the meantime No. 11. showered letters on the lady at Bristol, and in desperation >. she answered one of his piteous appeals in the affirmative. She would grant on interview at Bristol. It so hayipened that the offices of No. 1. were those of No. 11.. and by some mischance—perhaps the noetman was tired—the very letter addressed to So. 11. and making the appointment was delivered at No. I.'s. Withwit looking at the address No. I. \ opened it, and realised what had happened, i He at once sent the letter to his rival, and i the scene on the platform was the result. At Bristol the inhabitants of Terrace were treated to a ceck-and-nee.fc race between two cabs, from which two men descended in as composed a manner as possible. What took place inside it is not* known, further than that No. 11. returned to town that night, and that No. 1., arriving lat* the following morning, announced the fact that he was to be married in the first week of November. Another semi-romanpe surronnded the chartering of a special train to the north a month ago. A well-known young noblemaa (a bachelor) was billed to attend a certainaristocratic gathering in t h_e Hiehlamls and. incidentally, an American lady had designs on this young nobleman—not for her own sake, but for her daughter. But the nobleman was wary and managed to ecape north for the shooting season without leaving his address. However, the keen American lady discovered that he was te attend a certain function on a certain day and she chartered a special train. It i* liuown that she introduced her daughter, but as yet the eugagement is not announced. It was only the other day, too. that a special traiii saved a young officer from being cashiered. He was in charge of a small draft of men leaving for India. He had important business to transact, and arranged, for the senior sergeant to march the men to Waterloo. He missed the train and would have missed the boat. but. by chartering a "special," arrived at Southampton in the nirk of {iine.