LIFE IN A RAILWAY TRAIN.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2211, 8 June 1908, Page 2

LIFE IN A RAILWAY TRAIN.

STRANGE BET OF A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER, From Salzburg come a story of an extraordinary bet made and won by a commercial traveller, who spent eighteen months in New York on business, made the acquaintance of a well-known American sportsman. The question arose in conversation how long a man could stand continuous travelling in a railway carriage. The traveller betted that lie could remain a whole year in a train, going up and down the same distance. The American wagered £I2OO he cotilu not hold out so long. The traveller undertook that from midnight on December 31st, 1906, lie would travel continuously on the line from Vienna to Linz, Salzburg, and Innsbruck, going and returning. The bet was duly recorded .by a Vienna lawyer, with whom the money was deposited. The traveller thereupon entered the express train, and throughout 1907 he "dined, slept, and dressed on board. His only pauses were while waiting for the next train at one of the above-named stations. At Salzburg his wife used to wait fof him. He exchanged a few hasty words with her, and then returned to his carriage. Towards the end of Ins long and monotonous task lie was seized with a violent attac'k of influenza, which threatened to make him lose his money, but his excellent constitution enabled him to hold out, and some days ago he received tlie amount deposited. llis health, with the exception of a slight nervous 6hock, is good.