--------------------+-------------------+------------ Route. | Distance in Miles.| Berth fare. --------------------+-------------------+------------ Paris to Rome | 901 | $12.75 New York to Chicago | 912 | 5.00 Paris to Marseilles | 536 | 11.00 New York to Buffalo | 440 | 2.00 Calais to Brindisi | 1,373 | 22.25 Boston to St. Louis | 1,330 | 6.50 --------------------+-------------------+------------ While it would seem that the luxuries of railway travel in America have reached a maximum, and the charges a minimum, yet in this progressive age it is very probable that in the not far distant future we shall witness improvements over the present methods which will astonish us as much as the present methods surprise us when we compare them with those of the past. FOOTNOTES: [23] See "Safety in Railroad Travel," page 195. [24] See "Safety in Railroad Travel," page 224; also, "American Locomotives and Cars," page 142. [25] See "Safety in Railroad Travel," page 204. [26] See "Safety in Railroad Travel," page 191. THE FREIGHT-CAR SERVICE. BY THEODORE VOORHEES. Sixteen Months' Journey of a Car--Detentions by the Way--Difficulties of the Car Accountant's Office--Necessities of Through Freight--How a Company's Cars are Scattered--The Question of Mileage--Reduction of the Balance in Favor of Other Roads--Relation of the Car Accountant's Work to the Transportation Department--Computation of Mileage--The Record Branch--How Reports are Gathered and Compiled--Exchange of "Junction Cards"--The Use of "Tracers"--Distribution of Empty Cars--Control of the Movement of Freight--How Trains are Made Up--Duties of the Yardmaster--The Handling of Through Trains--Organization of Fast Lines--Transfer Freight Houses--Special Cars for Specific Service--Disasters to Freight Trains--How the Companies Suffer--Inequalities in Payment for Car Service--The Per Diem Plan--A Uniform Charge for Car Rental--What Reforms might be Accomplished. I. THE WANDERINGS OF A CAR.