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Show f LED QOAITY C? PATIENCE. Hlghvyeys of France ! Placs for Peuettr.:n Who Vould. r.i ova in a Hurry. Tl); hiihways or Prance arc tiroad and shauea, her 'innkeepers neither exclusive nor intrusive; yet even hero 1 oedestrhiEism has its drawbacks. Chief aitoiisi thorn are the railway crossing). The French system of protection against accidents is effective, no doubt, but if monsieur the Frenchman were as impatient a being as t:ie American, the mortality would be little lit-tle lessened, for the delay involved at these "traverses du cheruin de fer" would choke with rising cholcr a3 many as might come to grief- at an unprotected crossing. On either side of the track is a ponderous "oarriere," the opening and shutting Of which would be slow under un-der the best of circumstances. Being always tended by a colossal "barrie-riere" "barrie-riere" (gate woman), who moves with the stately grace of a house being raised on jack screws, the barricade is unduly effective. Ten minutes before be-fore a train is due la barrieriere hoists herself erect, waddles across the track to draw the farther gate, closes the nearer one and, having locked them both, returns to the shade of her cottage. cot-tage. The train may be an hour late, but that is beside the question. This is the time that madame is hired to lock the gates, and locked they must remain until the -train has passed. Woe betide the intrepid voyager who tries to climb over them, for her tongue is sharp and the long arm of the law is arrayed on her side. |