t is
very shameful that it should be so; more shameful the fact that if
on railroads, in such cases, you ask for information or help, the
chances are you are answered _a la_ Yankee, i.e. rudely, and no
assistance or information given you. Oh, this beastly want of
courtesy in America, how I did loathe it!

The rail wars in the States are a grand feature--grand in the sense
that they produce great results, some of them very absurd. One line
tries to swamp the other by lowering its rates; the other retaliates,
and quotes still lower figures. The first comes down more still, and
the second follows suit. This goes on for months, to the advantage of
the public, to the ruin of the lines. At last the _reductio_ is truly
_ad absurdum._ 1500 miles for $5! Then the companies agree, and,
presto, the rate is $50!! On a line there may be competition at
either end, not in the middle, e.g. the Denver and Rio Grande Railway
above. Then is it cheaper to take a ticket right through than for
half the distance, and get out at your destination if you can, for
they often try to prevent your doing so! The Americans may be, nay,
they are, "cute," but common sense would be more to the purpose in
cases like the above.

Cut-rate-offices exist in all the large towns. The meaning of the
term is an office where rail tickets can be bought under the existing
rates. This is accomplished legitimately, and also by fraud; the
first, by the fact that the companies think it worth their while to
give such agents a commission on tickets sold, and they allow you a
portion of such commission; the second, by selling you, often at a
large reduction, the return ticket of another, who on arrival has
found it unnecessary, and sold it for what he could get. As such
tickets are not transferable, you have, after buying such, to
personate on the return journey the original possessor, and sign his
name. But the Yankees think nothing of this. Thank goodness, all
Americans are not Yankees!

The object "far west" being population, emigrant carriages are
supplied westward, in order that this said poor class shall go
cheaply; but having arrived, it is wiser to keep them there, and
_ergo_, if they return they must do so first, or at least
second-class, for there are no emigrant fares back, i.e. eastward. I
presume they are supposed to make so much money by even a short
sojourn in the west, that economy can be no object on their return!

In England luggage is not registere