Show III I Henry HHenry Mclemore I MOVING EA EAST CAST T BY TRAIN TRAIN- here Is n nothing like a train There t tp ip when nothing youre you're a kid kida and were here is noth nothing ng like a train trip with Jt kids S when you are nota not a Md d On this particular train which Is n now w somewhere between Dal Dal- Dalles Dallis Dallas las lis les and Memphis there are or or ar more pore soldiers sol sol- P. P 1 diers diets and and two J about ou t do dozen a en young young- g ti stera whose l ry t i ages tango range ra ge j from 4 to 11 t I wont won't wont won't in- in insult in jn- 1 j suit sult your In 1 t to by asking you to o c guess who ho ISI is I charge of off f the in tM train The r T i children children- have x j t or m e d devery every day day coach every I Pullman and McLemore I are re holding it against repeated counterattacks by the soldiers co cooperative civilian passengers I conductors brakemen and porI porters por por- por I 1 They are in complete charge e f of oC the ice water cooler and noaie nor no noone r ori one aie on n the train tram has a chance chancel i l of getting a drink until they decide to abandon this post foran foran for foran an out all-out attack on the aisles I Stern military policemen with revolvers rs s swinging singing on their hips r t are going with their t tongues hanging out from thirst Even when the children abandon I the water cooler it is doubtful i i if any anyone one will be able to get geta a drink because from the looks of the floor around the cooler they have decided d on the scorched earth policy Paper cups are knee deep around the place The water has been running running running run run- ning steadily since the first one figured out how to turn it on The aisles the aisles the only avenues of escape from the ups grown ha have hae e been blocked for hours To get to the club car the last stronghold of the adults would seem to take more strategy than any civilian or soldier on the train has The youngsters are arc swinging between the seats as children ha have ve probably done since the first train was invented invent Invent- ed Those who are tired of swinging are rolling up and down the aisles and those neither rolling nor swinging are climbing up the backs of seats looking under the seats scats for lost pennies and pieces of candy putting together jigsaw puzzles and wrestling Literally the only way to get from one end of a car to the theother theother theother other is to forget as best you youcan youcan youcan can that these little rascals constitute constitute constitute con con- the future of America and step on them as as lightly as possible To challenge their authority the least bit is to bring down parental ire on your head Im I'm convinced that statistics s would prove that no parent ever took tooka a child on a train trip either for forno forno forno no fare or half fare who didn't feel that once the all aboard signal was given the child ceased to be the parents' parents obligation obligation obliga obliga- tion and became a s sort rt of privileged privileged ward of the Pennsylvania or the New York Central l or the Southern Pacific or whatever road was being traveled My memory Isn Isn't t so bad that I cant can't remember the trains I asa as asa a youngster did my bit toward I destroying I r recall my first train trip As a member of a an fife and bugle bule c corps n s I traveled 20 n miles to play in a county I fair grammar school fife and drum contest Every mother whose son was a member of this outstanding musical unit worked right up until train tram time to fix a nice shoe box lunch for her potential Sousa The train was flagged down at our station We piled into the day coach and every mother mothers mother's mothers mother's moth moth- er ers er's s son of us was sent away to the shouts of Be a good boy and remember to eat cat your own lunch Dont Don't swap lunches with the other boys Not until this moment has the secret been revealed in print at least that the Rochelle Fife and Drum corps as one boy threw their carefully prepared lunches out of the window and scraped up enough pennies to buy candy in ina a a glass pistol or lantern a mess of bananas and a few bottles of soda pop All of a sudden I feel young again I r wish mama were here to give the porter a quarter to take me back to the observation observation tion car to watch the rails disappear dis dis- dis- dis appear I |