nd
there was always a man or woman, generally a woman, standing with a flag
as the train passed. I crossed on the International Sleeping Car train.
It took ten days and ten nights and the average speed was more than
twenty miles per hour.

The berths on this train were very comfortable. They were crosswise of
the car while ours are lengthwise. The train consisted of two
first-class, two second-class sleepers, a diner and a baggage car. These
international trains ran once a week each way before the war and
sometimes one had to purchase a ticket weeks in advance to go at a given
time. When all berths were sold those who had none simply had to wait a
week for the next train. I was the lone American on the train all the
way across. There were a number of Englishmen and many Frenchmen on
board.

My roommate was an old sea captain from Scotland. He had been on the sea
forty-six years. Unfortunately his baggage was left at Harbin. He asked
the chief of the train to wire back that it be forwarded on the next
train, giving or rather offering a tip of a few shillings, but the chief
would not give him any satisfaction. The next day the captain tried
again, offering a tip of an English pound. This had the desired effect.
In a few days we discovered that the English Consul from Yokohama was on
board and laid the matter before him. Not long after this the train
chief came and apologized and gave back the tip. I have wondered many
times whether or not the captain ever received his baggage.

The dining car was a regular saloon on wheels. The first thirty minutes
were spent by the waiters in soliciting orders for drinks. If you did
not order anything to drink you were always served last. I had heard
that it was almost impossible to get anything to eat on this train
unless you were liberal in giving tips. So I started out to break the
record--to cross Siberia without giving a tip on the diner. All went
well for a couple of days. I was served all right. In fact, as long as I
had the exact change everything was lovely. But when I gave the
collector a bill he never came back with any change and I had to give it
up. Such a feat as crossing Siberia without giving a tip in the diner
could not be performed. The prices were not exorbitant, however, for one
could get a fairly good meal for a dollar at that time.

Some of the great rivers of the world are in Siberia. It is said that if
all the steel bridges on this main line were placed end to