To the Editor of the "NortTH-CHINA Daly NEws.,"
Sirn—I think it may be of interest publicly to draw attention, by means of a letter in the press, to the conditions of travel prevailing on the Shanghai-Nanking Railway, and at the same time to draw a comparison with the conditions on the Tientsin-Pukow Line.
Two first class passengers, who have recently made the journey from Peking to Shanghai by train, report that the service from Tientsin to Pukow is excellent, Clean, comfortable carriages, good food, and prompt attention, and well kept lavatories. From Nanking to Shanghai by express, very much the reverse. Filthy. carriages, food, and no bread, Silent water or soda water obtainable. No electricity for the fans, and the lavatories in a disgraceful state; filthily dirty and lacking in every ordinary convenience or appurtenance which should be found, even water for washing and other purposes having to be brought in buckets as the taps were broken and the supply of water non-existent.
May one be permitted to ask why such a state of things should exist in these days on the Railway running between the capital of China and her largest and most flourishing city? Surely it is time that the Railway Administration and those responsible for the upkeep of its passenger service looked into the matter and took some steps to ensure that passengers who pay for first class accommodation get it.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.