THIRD-CLASS SLEEPERS
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Sm,—When Colonel Applin suggested in the House of Commons that the British railway companies should provide sleepers for third-class passengers, the idea, according to a newspaper report, simply caused laughter among members of Parliament, who, apparently, thought it good as a joke, but scarcely worthy of their consideration as a serious reform. While not wishing to take up your space with an essay on " Sense of Humour," may I suggest that those aloof gentle- men, our Parliamentary reformers, should try to cultivate a slightly less insular sense of fitness ?
The third-class sleeper is nothing new. It has worked with complete success (from the railway companies' point of,view as well as from the passengers') in Sweden for something like twenty years. The night-traveller in that country, even though he is only a common person and not a member of Par- liament, is provided with a bunk for the equivalent, roughly, of five shillings above the ordinary fare. Other European countries have followed suit, and none of them, so far as I know, sees anything uproariously funny in the spectacle of hard-working, but poor, people sleeping comfortably in a train at night.
I suggest that, as an experiment, the London to Edinburgh and Glasgow night expresses should put on one or two third- class sleeping coaches, with four bunks in each compartment, the charge per passenger being five shillings or seven-and- six above the normal fare. I think they will find that it pays. And is it really necessary for them to obtain permission from the first-class passengers before doing so ?—I am, Sir, &c.,
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