THE COUNTRY How TO GET THERE. 81 



Hunter s Point depot was equal to a public school, 

 and deserved the commendation of the public. ISTo 

 man or woman who has safely traveled by., this road 

 for a year need dread &quot;the battle or the breeze.&quot; 

 Any one who can stand on a platform not more 

 than two feet wide, and, unmoved, let one train whiz 

 past in one direction and another whiz past in the 

 contrary, without allowing dress or person to be 

 caught or struck, deserves a diploma for self-com 

 mand. Of course, a few &quot;go under&quot; in learning 

 how, but the mass of the traveling public is vastly 

 improved by the experience. 



The completion of the repairs of the road was not 

 followed by an immediate return to traditional punc 

 tuality. I remember reaching Hunter s Point one 

 evening by the Twenty-third Street ferry &quot;just in 

 time to be too late ;&quot; the train did not wait for the 

 boat, which was delayed because the pilot had a cu 

 rious incapacity for steering into the dock, and usual 

 ly ran against all the pile-work of the neighborhood. 

 The train went out of the depot as I came into it. 

 There was only an hour to wait, however, and a per 

 son should never be without that amount of patience; 

 so I sat down on the platform, dangling my feet over 

 the edge, as was the universal custom, and commenced 

 to endure an hour s unnecessary existence. It is queer 

 D2 



