As a car-building material wood has had its day, and the concrete floor
of the Pullman car is tacit tribute to the sanitary properties of a
widely used material. On the floor of concrete the familiar green carpet
is lightly stretched to be easily removed at the journey's end, and
after the floor has been thoroughly scrubbed, returned after a complete
cleansing with vacuum cleaners. Instead of insanitary woodwork, the
smooth surfaces of steel which form the interior of the car offer no
lurking place for germs, and soap and water at frequent and regular
intervals maintain a high degree of cleanliness. Of course, the porter
with his portable vacuum cleaners and his dustcloth, can keep the car
tidy en route, but the real cleaning comes when the trip is over and
a gang of professional workers with every appliance to serve this end
attacks the cars. Then not only are the carpets renovated but the prying
nozzles of powerful vacuum cleaners suck up every particle of dust from
seats, berths and cushions. Each mattress is given similar treatment,
and mattresses and pillows are hung in the open air for the action of
that greatest of all purifiers, the sun. Blankets are given a similar
treatment. Water coolers are cleaned and sterilized with steam. In fact,
nothing that could harbor a speck of dust is neglected.
The slight, acrid odor sometimes noticeable in a Pullman car at the
beginning of a run is caused by the disinfectants which are liberally
employed. A jug of disinfectant solution is a part of the equipment of
every car and this is used for all car washing and particularly on the
floors and in the toilet and washrooms.
To protect still further the health of the passengers, the cars are
regularly fumigated with a gas which kills all disease-producing
bacteria. Whenever a car has carried a sick person it is fumigated as
soon as it is vacated, in addition to the regular monthly, weekly, or
other schedule of fumigation for various lines and terminals. In order
that the district offices may be promptly informed as to the necessity
of this extra fumigation, the conductor is required to note on his
inspection report the fact that a sick passenger has been carried, and
the car is immediately taken out of service and thoroughly cleaned and
fumigated. Moreover, if space occupied by a sick passenger is vacated en
route, it must not be resold until the car has reached its terminal and
has been fumigated.
To provide the necessary facilities for car cleaning, the company
maintains a cleaning force in two hundred and twenty-five principal
yards, and, in addition, at one hundred and fifty-eight outlying points.
These yards require the service of over four thousand cleaners.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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