Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland | Page 9

carpet bag.
Man's attire has changed for the better; and woman's, with all its
abbreviations and shortcomings, is, on the whole, more rational; though
in the domain of Fashion her vagaries will last no doubt as long
as--woman is woman; and if ever that shall cease to be, the charm of
life will be over.
With man the jacket suit, the soft hat, the soft shirt, the turn-down
collar, mark the transition from starch and stiffness to ease and comfort;
and Time in his course has brought no greater boon than this; except,
perhaps, the change that marks our funeral customs. In those days,

hatbands, gloves and scarves were provided by the bereaved family to
the relatives and friends who attended the obsequies; and all of kinship
close or remote, were invited from far and near. Hearse and coaches
and nodding plumes and mutes added to the expense, and many a
family of moderate means suffered terrible privation from the costliness
of these burial customs, which, happily, now are fast disappearing.
Beds, in those days, were warmed with copper warming pans, and
nightcaps adorned the slumbering heads of both sexes. Spittoons were
part of ordinary household furniture. To colour a meerschaum was the
ambition of smokers, swearing was considered neither low nor vulgar,
and snuffing was fashionable. Many most respectable men chewed
tobacco, and to carry one's liquor well was a gentlemanly
accomplishment.
Garrotters pursued their calling, deterred only by the cat-o'-nine tails,
pickpockets abounded and burglaries were common.
The antimacassar and the family album; in what veneration they were
held! The antimacassar, as its name implies, was designed to protect
chairs and couches from the disfiguring stains of macassar oil, then
liberally used in the adornment of the hair which received much
attention. A parting, of geometrical precision, at the back of the head
was often affected by men of dressy habits, who sometimes also wore a
carefully arranged curl at the front; and manly locks, if luxuriant
enough, were not infrequently permitted to fall in careless profusion
over the collar of the coat.
Of the family album I would rather not speak. It is scarcely yet extinct.
A respectable silence shall accompany its departing days.
Perhaps these things may to some appear mere trivialities; but to recall
them awakens many memories, brings back thoughts of bygone
days--days illumined with the sunshine of Youth and Hope on which it
is pleasant to linger. As someone has finely said: "We lose a proper
sense of the richness of life if we do not look back on the scenes of our
youth with imagination and warmth."

CHAPTER V.
EARLY OFFICE LIFE
In the year 1867, at the age of sixteen, I became a junior clerk in the
Midland Railway at Derby, at a salary of 15 pounds a year.
From pre-natal days I was destined for the railway service, as an oyster
to its shell. The possibility of any other vocation for his sons never
entered the mind of my father, nor the mind of many another father in
the town of Derby.
My railway life began on a drizzling dismal day in the early autumn.
My father took me to the office in which I was to make a start and
presented me to the chief clerk. I was a tall, thin, delicate, shy, sensitive
youth, with curly hair, worn rather long, and I am sure I did not look at
all a promising specimen for encountering the rough and tumble of
railway work.
The chief clerk handed me over to one of his assistants, who without
ceremony seated me on a tall stool at a high desk, and put before me, to
my great dismay, a huge pile of formidable documents which he called
Way Bills. He gave me some instructions, but I was too confused to
understand them, and too shy to ask questions. I only know that I felt
very miserable and hopelessly at sea. Visions of being dismissed as an
incompetent rose before me; but soon, to my great relief, it was
discovered that the Way Bills were too much for me and that I must
begin at more elementary duties.
A few weeks afterwards, when I had found my feet a little, I was
promoted from the simple tasks assigned to me in consequence of my
first failure and attached to the goods-train-delays clerk, a long-bearded
elderly man with a very kind face. He was quite fatherly to me and took
a great deal of trouble in teaching me my work. With him I soon felt at
ease, and was happy in gaining his approbation. One thing found
favour in his eyes; I wrote a good clear hand and at fair speed. In those
days penmanship was a fine art. No cramped or sprawling writing
passed muster.