Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-03-24
HomeWard Bound.

cousin, Mary Hayden Clifford, who has
/ been missionary in Corea, is in the
Valley, and she is to lecture to the
school children of the Valley on Thurs
day at the Presbyterian church, and
will come nome with you to spend that
night with US, if you will come home
and be there to bring her home"
So Thursday morning l gathered up
all of my traps, and Charley took me
to the station. As he drove along he
called at Doctor Voelkers, an acquain-
tance of old. We drove past the Vul-
can Iron Works, which had been
standing silent for several years, but
had started up just a few days before /
went up to the city, and as we reached
the station we saw the train coming,
and we had just time to hitch the
horse and the train was by Us. AS
Charley helped me aboard we saw the
car was packed full of people, and only
one seat could we find that was not
filled, and that was the last one in the
car. AS took it Charley just had
time to get off as the cars commenced
moving.
When l had got myself and traps
settled to my notion, | took time to
look around me saw the car was an
emigrant car, nearly all foreigners,
Morse or Swedes, I could not tell
which. There were two or three men
that seemed to be bosses. | thought
from the way they all acted, that it
was some company of wood manufac-
turers from way up north going south,
taking all of their old hands and their
families with them. Same as the
Clark hub factory at Ironton did. As
looked l saw good many families.
Each family would turn the car seats SO
as to face each other. Right in front of
me was a family, young man and his
wife and three little boys. They were
we'll, but plainly clothed in good sub
stantial clothing and looked as though
they were very we'll satisfied with the
world and themselves. | saw one man
that appeared to be one of those
''smart alecks," that what he did not
know wasn't worth knowing. In all
the way home, did not see that man
sit down, but just loitered along back
and forth up and down the car. He
had no hat on or coat or vest; on his
face he wore the most satisfied look,
a continual half smile. As he slowly
walked up and down he kept his eyes
on every child in the crowd. If one
cried he would stoop over the child
and caress it and try to quiet it, and if
a child was thirsty this man would
slowly walk to the water tank with
tin cup, bring the child water and
would talk to all the women. Every
time the whistle sounded he would
make his way to the end of the car
and go. out, and swing himself out so
as to see everything that was to be
seen. As soon as the train came to a
stand still he would get down to the
ground and walk over to the side of
the road and stand and look and watch
every movement until the cars would
begin to move, then he would climb
oh rI nd \ iS l.
When we reached Jefferson Barracks
the cars made quite a halt. AS the
train stopped l saw quite a lot of men
and this fellow in the lead running
back past us. AS [ looked out of the
window saw the conductor and brake
man running. Then | saw lot of
soldiers coming down the hill and all
gathered around a team in the Bar
racks ground. | could not make out
what was the matter. After while
| saw the soldiers carrying somebody
up the hill, and all of our crowd came
back, and as the man that belonged to
the seat before me came | asked what
the matter was. He caught hold OF
my aEm and pulled me forward quite a
ways, to man sitting in one of the
seats and this fellow said said some
thing to him. The man said, ''a SOL
dier got hurt; the team ran away with
him."
At every stopping, this same fellow
would be out looking. When we got
to Blackwell station the cars stopped
quite while. There was a field of
corn just over the other side of the
track and don't you think this fellow
climbed over barbed wire fence and
got his hands full of ear corn, and as
soon as he got in the car he showed
that corn to every man, woman and
child, and would stand and talk about
it as if it was some great curiosity. 1t
was real amusing to see him. When
we reached Bismarck, where the train
stopped for dinner, this fellow gather
ed all the tin cups he could find in the
| car and with a ouD on aaoh finger