Our London Letter

A Merry Christmas to all! Railways everywhere have successfully weathered the storms of the past twelve months. At Home and in New Zealand, business conditions continue to improve, and railwaymen and railway users alike may rightly look forward with hope to what the New Year has in store.

In Europe, all concerned in transportation anticipate the happiest of Christmastides. Snow and ice—regular winter visitors in some corners of the Continent—will bring increased responsibilities on railway heads, but it would take a great deal more than this to beat the spirit of Christmas. Right across the Continent, the festival will be honoured in the good old-fashioned manner, with family gatherings around the loaded table, with games and songs, and with all the dear trimmings for so long associated with this hallowed day.

Nowadays, even hard-headed railway managements do not allow Christmas to pass without official notice. Railway hotels and guest-houses carry their gay decorations; dining-cars provide seasonable fare for the traveller; while many of the principal passenger stations at Home are transformed for the occasion into miniature fairylands, with coloured lights and balloons stretched across the concourse, enormous Christmas trees on the platforms, and holly and mistletoe everywhere.