82 Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists
There each person has to look out for his own “luggage,” as it is called,
and see that it is put in and taken out at the right station.
The first sight of an English train gives anything but a favorable
impression. The cars are lower, narrower, and shorter than the Ameri-
can cars; and they look even shorter than they really are, because they
have no projecting platforms at the ends, and no overhanging roofs.
The platform is not needed, because the car is entered from the side.
As you approach the train, a gentlemanly official opens the door of
a first, second, or third class compartment, according to your ticket,
and if you object to one in which smoking is permitted, he finds one
in which it is prohibited. Entering through the narrow door, you find
yourself in a little room about seven feet by nine, with two seats and
two doors, a seat on each side and a door at each end. The end of
the compartment is the side of the car. On each side of the doors are
stationary windows, and in the upper part of the door is a window
which can be lowered or raised according to the amount of ventilation
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desired. Just before the train leaves the station, the doors are all closed
and locked, and are at once unlocked on reaching another station. The
conductor walks along a foot-rail on the outside of the car, clinging to
rods placed there for this purpose, and receives the tickets through the
window. On fast trains the tickets are usually examined at the stations.
The English engine is a plain, homely-looking affair, without
polish or ornament. There is no bell, no immense cow-catcher, no
great head-light. These things are not necessary, because the track
is thoroughly protected either by high walls or by strong fences or
hedges, and all the road-crossings, foot-paths, and intersecting lines
are generally built above or below the grade. Where they are not thus
built, trustworthy persons are employed to guard the crossing, and at a
certain signal to close the entrance to the track, either by gates, bars,
or chains. Accidents rarely occur; but when one does, the laws are
very severe on the railroad company.
The ride from London to Dover occupied several hours, and was
very pleasant. Although it was September, the country through which
we passed looked as fresh and green as though it had been spring-time.
This formed a striking contrast to the dry, brown fields of a rainless
California autumn, and is no doubt due in a large degree to the humid
climate of England. Were it not for the numerous manufacturing towns