WAIRARAPA TRAIN SERVICE

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10587, 19 March 1912, Page 5

WAIRARAPA TRAIN SERVICE

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE QUEITON.

"Shaken up a Bit" writes asfollows to the Wairarapa. Age:—"l think something should bo said in defence of our train service. To .start with, the ■fact that the Government has remained silent Tit the face of a campaign of vituperation, of slander, and of libel without parallel, lia.ybeeii misinterpreremind the pub tie that there' aro two i

sides to every question. The Government justifiably congratulates it-self on one or ,two things. The Wairarapa. is the only line where a mail train maj bo photographed with an ordinary 'Camera, without the assistance of the expensive cinematograph apparatus. Our Government originated a system which was coolly annexed by another' ' country and advertised with a blare of ■"".nets. I refer to what is known as the ''plate-forme roulante," or moving platform. That idea has been in practical use on our 'line for many years. There is not a single one of our ordinary trains which is nob a "plateforme roulante." Everyone of them may bo boarded with perfect safety while in motion, even our mail train. On thinking it over, I doubt in. fact if there is any other line wliere travellers are shown such considerations as on ours. Our trains do not, for the sake of sensational paragraphs in the newspapers, which should rightly appear wilder the heading "JRiacing News," go in for 'break-neck speed, thereby jeopardising the lives of hundreds. There is, in consequence, with us none of that miserable oscillation which is

such an unpleasant feature on other lines. A passenger iby one of our /trains scarcely realises that lie is moving. So little in fact is the motion perceptible that, it has ibeoii proposed that a- bell should he rung when tho train stops. Further, ours is the only line where the health of the passengers is studied. Doctors r.re agreed that it is ihighly injurious .to the eyesight to rca<J in -a train. Accordingly, '"by an ingenious system of lighting, reading is made impossible after dark. Again, in our carriages you will not find showy,plush and velvet cushions, which, for all their superficial air of ease and luxury, •in reality afford a comfortable homo for 'innumerable bacilli. We must be content to sacrifice appearance to the demands of sanitatoin, even though tho 'Government' has been offered fabulous sums by curiosity dealers for some of our carriages. Moreover, Adhere else are goods, entrusted to tho Government for immediate delivery, warehoused for «o long a time freo of charge'? More "trains! Why, one will, often see as many as forty persons in 0110 compartment. There arp, of' course, plenty other signs of popular favour. Even while ;writing tihis a friend tells me that he hurried to catch the mail train to Wellington tihis afternoon, and when he got to the station 'lie found the train had just arrived, but was the morning mail going north. Hoping the Minister will further defend our service.