As to the nature of railroad accommodations, all “Jim Crow” laws provide, in substance, that the accommodations for white and colored passengers must be equal for both races. Florida provides that the coaches for colored passengers (with first-class tickets) must be equally good and provided with the same facilities for comfort as those for white passengers with first-class tickets. Kentucky, Maryland, and Virginia prohibit any difference in quality, convenience, or accommodation. Tennessee provides that the first-class coaches for colored passengers must “be kept in good repair, and with the same convenience and subject to the same rules governing other first-class cars, preventing smoking and obscene language.” There is no one point upon which the courts are more in accord than that there is no ground of action so long as the accommodations are substantially equal.[568] The great working principle was enunciated in 1885 in the Circuit Court[569] of Tennessee in the doctrine that equality of accommodation does not mean identity of accommodation. And, indeed, the railroad company is not liable for damages even for inequality of accommodation, unless it is proved that the plaintiff actually sustained damages by such inequality.[570] _Means of Separation_ The actual separation of the races is accomplished by requiring railroads to furnish on each passenger train either separate cars or one car divided into separate compartments by a partition. Each State gives the choice. In case of the division of the car into compartments, the partition must, in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kentucky, be made of wood; in Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Texas, it must be “substantial”; and in Maryland and Texas, it must have a door in it. Arkansas requires only a partitioned car on roads less than thirty miles long, but separate cars on longer roads, though a train on any road may carry one partitioned car. Maryland and North Carolina provide that, in case the car or compartment for either race becomes filled and no extra cars can be obtained and the increased number of passengers could not have been foreseen, the conductor may assign a portion of the car or compartment for one race to the passengers of the other race. _Designation of Separation_ Several States specify a means by which the public shall be notified of the existence of the “Jim Crow” requirements. Arkansas requires the law to be posted in each coach and waiting-room; Louisiana, in each coach and ticket-office; Texas, in each coach and depôt. In Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Texas, each coach or compartment must bear in some conspicuous place appropriate words, in plain letters, to indicate the race for which it was set apart. _Punishment for Violating Law_