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TRAVELLERS IN TRAINS.
Some of Their Discourtesies.
By Observer
The people of Melbourne are a train-
travelling people. From practically all the
suburbs there are railways running to the
city, and it is only necessary to watch the
crowds emerging from the big central sta
tions in the mornings to realise that the
facilities offered in this way are taken full
advantage of. Statistics which appear from
time to time convey tbe same leseon in
perluips a more reliable, if not so compre
hensive, a way, and with electric traction
rapidly superseding stc&m a considerable
fricreaso in the number travelling must be
looked forward to, if only to justify the
expenditure and optimistio expectations
that were formed when the scheme was
under consideration.
On several of the lines complointB are
rife as to overcrowding In the busy bourB
of the day, and thin state of things ia
likely to ineroase. It therefore becomes
important that other conditions under
which people travel should bo made as
pleasant and convenient as possible, and
though tho major part of the convenience,
i.o., the actual carriage accommodation, is
in the hands of the Railway Commis
sioners, who are not reapo naive to justifi
able criticism, there are certain little mat
ters attaching to the relationship between
passengers themselves which may well be
called attention to with a vocw to reason
able '-djustment. It is fully recognised that
ia the main these little complaints arc
based oil conduct which arises from want
of thought, but thure are one or two which
are ontmde this category, and arc due to
selfishness and bad manners.
The question of the right of women to
travel in compartments sot apart for
smokers «3 not one which I, propose to call
attention to, as it deals with a question of
right rather than a courtesy. And this
question of courtesy is necessarily con
trolled by what I may term the instincts
and training of tlie individual. Do unto
others as you would they should do unto
you appldes in this matter as much as in
other aspects oi life, but unfortunately
there axe many people who can only see
the value of this maxim wlien it appiios
in the doing of things >to them for their
benefit.
Une of the main considerations in a
matter of the kind is the question of
tbe courtesy which should be shown to
woman travellers. There is, I think, a
tendency to diminish the attentions for
merly shown to them by men, Competi
tion in the working life of the world has
given a new consideration and assessment
to the standing of woman in the 'world,
and if she has gained immensely in some
directions she must not complain if, as
one "set oil," there is not' quite .the same
appearance of courtesy displayed to her
in public places. Men are not less cour
teous in their instincts than they were,
but the outward manifestation .of it in
not quite so marked, and 1 think, foo,
that woman, with her greater indepen
dence of thought and action, does not
desire some of those obsequious civilities
which were extended to her as the weaker
veasel in days goue by. Certainly, in rail
way travelling, where women form sucn u
large proportion of the passengers by
every train, rne'n may well be justified in
exercising discretion as to relinquishing
their scats for them, and I am entirely
with those who hold that they are now
under no social obligation to give up their
seaus unless it be to an elderly woman or
one burdened with children. There was
a time when a, man felt a certaiu sen9e
of shame in remaining , seated when a
woman stood, even though she were evi
dently young and strong. This feeling is
gradually disappearing, aud certainly for
an elderly man to. give up hia seat to a
mere schoolgirl who "flops" into it with
out a "thank you" is absurd.
Another aspect of the woman passenger
question is the practice of some young
women walking into a full carriage which
slops opposite them, if there are men in
it, without the smallest possible attempt
to find a scat elsewhere. Ag one young
woman put it, "If the men are fools
enough to give up their seats to me they
can do bo." Fortunately, this type of girl
is rare, but apparently not so rare as she
ought to be ! The woman who places her
suit case or dress basket on the seat, and
resents , the entrance of a passenger who
needs that seat is another type, and one
equally culpable as she who will not move
to make room in a crowded train for an
additional seat, if the needy passenger is
a man. An experience of my own will
illustrate -this latter type. My son and
1 occupied scats on opposite sides of a
carriage which was full. Just before the
train started two women entered. My
son and I rose and offered our scats. They
were taken in each case without a "thank
you." No attempt was mude to make
room for us, consequently we stood. Four
stations out two additional women entered.
Room was immediately made for them, and
we had to wait until the next station
before getting sitting accommodation. A
mere recital of the facts is sufficient to
illustrate the principle involved here.
I have dealt with the . little peculiarities
of the female passenger on- the principle
of place aux dames," but the inconsider
ate and selfish male passenger is much more
objectionable. He sprawls his legs over
the carriage floor, and glares at the in
offensive entrant who accidentally treads
on his favorite com; he sits anglewise in
tho corner of the carriage, and resents,
physically sometimes, any attempt to make
him ait in proper stylo.; he iads his paper
half open, at full length, so as to obscure
the light and keep the fredi air away
from neighboring passengers; be opens and
shirts tlie door and window just to suit his'
own individual inclimations, without any
thought whatever for others in the same
carriage, and not infrequently he takes up
a good deal more room than is legitimately
hia, and physically resists any attempt to
make hiia inovo up so as to give reasonable
sitting accommodation to the inan at the
and ol the sent.
A further matter affecting the convenience
of the public who travel by train may also
be referred to — the thoughtlessness , of
people who engage in conversation either
in the subway or just iuside or outside the
barriers. I have seeu people stop to con
verse just at the foot of the subway Bteps,
right in the middle of the traffic at the
busiest time of the eveniug; also' just at
the foot of the ramps and just outside the
barriers. Each of these positions is so
obviously inappropriate that it gives rise
to wonder such is not immediately appar
ent to the people themselves. I have seen
two women engage in conversation, just
immediately outside the barrier, right in
tho full tide of the outflowing stream of
people, and be literally pushed aside, and
yet apparently unable to see that in this
case, as in the otlierB I have referred to,
a change of position to oue side or the
other, or a few steps further on, would
be greatly to their own convenience and
that of otners. The mam offenders in this
regard are women, and their action arises
from thoughtlessness, and not from any
real indifference to the convenience of
others. This reference may induce -some
of those concerned to choose more suitable
places for their conversations.'
Thure are various other minor incidental
inconveniences which one recognises from
time to time, and to which it ib uot neces
sary to make special reference. All of
these things— those specially mentioned and
others— can readily be amended if passen
gers are sufficiently thoughtful to recognise
the rights and conveniences of others as
well as their own. The great majority of
peoplp who use the trains are courteous
and considerate to each other — some of
them very pleasantly so; but tbe ' email
minority who cannot be truthfully included
in this category will, it is hoped, mend
their ways when tbeir attention is drawn
to their want of consideration for others
with equal rights and needs to their own.
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