Genre:

Drama, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Manufactories, Industry, Environmentalism, Universities, Education, Progress

    Set in a 'First Class Carriage on the Great Western Railway', this drama includes a heated discussion between two passengers about the decision of the Great Western Railway Company to 'establish their factory at Oxford'. One of the passengers turns out to be a director of the company, who is determined to destroy the pride of the 'aughty scholars' of the University of Oxford and to show them that 'the Railway Hinterest is supreme in this hage of progress'. He dismisses claims that the company could have established a better site at Abingdon, and insists that 'It's a question of Railways against Colleges' and that 'Material utility' is 'above heverything'. He is not fussed at being called a 'vandal', while the other passenger argues that the new factory is a result of 'Oxford tradesmen' wanting revenge on the university 'for having interdicted them from dealing with the undergraduates for fraudulent practices'. (96)