3 OCTOBER 1863, Page 3

The French Government has conferred a great boon upon' travellers.

All passengers by railway in France have hitherto been shown into a waiting-room and there kept locked up like wild beasts in a cage for five, waiting-room, or more minutes. The Government recently ordered that the entrance to the plat- form should be thrown open, and, in spite of the remonstrance of all railway officials, who, like other men, enjoy the sense of power, has determined that the new rule shall take effect from 1st October. Despotism, one perceives, has its uses.