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South Canterbury Times, Volume XV, Issue 2072, 12 November 1879, Page 2

The very handsome Pulman railway cars which have recently been rendering railway travelling b>tw<en Christchurch and Oamaru a luxury, have not been made according to measure. Their fine, lofty, omnibus Ike roofs, ornamented with movable glass ventilators, are an effectual impediment to their progress. The low-crowned rabbit-like tunnels that make travelling between Oamaru, Dunedin, and Invercargill a thing of lights and shades defy the incursions of the beautifully furnished strangers. The American agent has aimed too hiUi, and it the Members for Otago and Southland can manage it his lofty ambition will be brought low. The symmetrical grace of an American ca rriage lias proved too much in these latitudes for southern humility. Unlike Frenchmen, ladies of fashion, and the polite portion of the sterner sex, railway cars refuse to bow. If a Pulman car could only be invented that would by some clever mechanical contrivance bow and scrape its way through a dreary Otago tunnel, there might be some hope for the cities of the South enjoying tha fleeting presence of high art and exquisite taste on wheels. American genius is fertile, nnd there is no telling but that some day the novelty of an obsequious railway car may be added to their list of “notions.” It seems a pity that the dignity and grace of Yankee land should be unable to get nearer the capital of Otago that} Oamaru, and that, in the meantime, the residents of Southland paust be content with the old-fashioned, vulgar orthodox, prison-like vans. We have no doubt the Government railway agent in New York will be severely reprimanded for quietly ignoring the dark recesses of our southern friends, and if he is not absolutely beheaded bo wifi be invited to see that the Pulman cars of the future are deprived or their ventilating, much decorated, and stately crowns,