The Railway Porter.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 69, 25 March 1904, Page 4

The Railway Porter.

CI fAR ALTER SKETTUII. A "ui.-riiun who recently travelled f.-.'ii': t>i:>ruu to Dur.editi supplies fiji::" :i<>tcs on his travels to the (Ua.nu naily Times, lie has a word on ;sn for the mil way porters, as under Among the peculiar tilings of the world is the irritating effect which 'the display of a red rag has upon a hull, hut it is hardly less remarkable than the fact that the sight of a strange portmanteau acts .similarly upon the railway porter. Like Taurus, the porter goes through various stages of excitement, each mole intense than the other, until finally his condition is such that he, like a bull, is a positive menace to tiie public. This development provides an interesting, nay, a fascinating, study. One proviso must he made, however, it is absolutely imperative that the student should have no belongings of his own in the particular truin to which he directs his attention. The manner of this interesting development oil the part of the porter is somewhat as follows '.—About the time the train 'is due to arrive, he displays symptoms of uneasiness and irritation. Gradually these give way to a state of excitement which prompts him, as a whistle from the engine announces its near approach, A to dance about the platform and to jump upon the toes of those who are not sufficiently active to get out of his way. The train rushes in and his excitement now becomes intense. He tears about with a threewheeled car, runs it into the backs of three-fourths of the people on the platform, yells out "By your leave" after he has done so, and then, with the lust of battle in his eye, seif.es frantically on the doors of the van, and with a savage jerk that nothing can resist, tears them open A Whilf from the leather and tin inside, and the climax in his condition is reached. Like a raging maniac he dashes into the van, seizes the unlortunnte and helpless baggage, und bur's and losses it far from him. Jhis done, he gradually subsides into the calm, even, slumberous state 01 mmd that characterises him in his ordinary moment. It was one of these rather fearful scenes that we had compelled ourselves (o witness. Altogether there were about a dozen mentally disordered persons at work sending out tin trunks and wooden boxes that crashed and cracked and portmanteaux that hopped about ike indiarubber. balls. Once a dainty little hat Ikjx, after describing u parabolic curve in the air, wenl bouncing along the platform. Only a persum with a heart of stone, or a porter, could have remained unmoved at the groan which the horrorstricken woman sent up. A violin case, containing maybe a Stnudivarius or a treasure handed down from generation to generation, was about to follow the hat box, but with a pi til ul cry a lady rushed forward and ivceiwd it full in the chest. Like -Roderick Dim, she received, but "rocked not of a wound" so long us slm saved her beloved property fw>m destruction.