Iditarod pioneer., 1916-11-25
FOLKS WHO WAVE AT TRAINS
tJN B-ffrl i? The Great Divide


 We were riding in a Pullman thr0u2h the farm lands of western Michigan dry goods suasnan from Chicago. a lyceum lecturer from Ba;tmcre, and lIyself Here and there along the way farmers and larm boys and farmers wives waved at Us from tsl!S apd porChes. Once We came to a fell where three men, two women and 8 boy were koeing All stopped their work ard waved; they stood motionlas$ and let their eyes follow the train AS long as we c5,I ] see them they were still watching h jhst instance, ts in each previous one the l,cturer waved iu return.
 The dry goods salesman Was moved 10 speech.
 There's a example of rustic inIolen"c,' he remarked Those farmers are lazy lot, most ci them. Every time train goes through it furnishes good excuse for stop ping work.
 There was an amused look upon the ly ceGm lecturers face,
 Did you ever hoe corn in 8 field near 8 ra.road track 2" he asked the salesman.
 "No' said that worthy
 Did you grey up iii the country or the 2ityE'
 Tn 5he heart of Cincinnati"
 Then you dent know the real reason why those people stopped hoeing just now It was not because they were lazy. I'll wager each one of them man, woman and boy-socs twice as much actual labor in day as any enc of Us here would be capable of doing. But they were fasci- hated by the sight of the train, and its passing through was bit of relaxation it was break in the routine of the day.
 'To me the railroad locomotive has al ways seemed the most marvellous invention ill the world, There may be some argu- ments against this-you may cite the print ing press and the linotype and the aero tIanc I'll admit all of those are great Dat the backbone of all the civilized coun- tries is the railroad Think of all the wiI5 land it has opened wide.
 "The farmer stands there, looking in large eyed wonder at the locomotive and the coaches which follow It never loses fascination for him. The train shoots past long clean. 1.-the thing, making little noise Its whole movement is rythmic; it does not disturb. There is music in the engines puffing ard in the turning of the wheels. It Is a symbol of power, of man conQuering distance. The farmer knows there are travellers on board going to and from far places where he has never been. but hopes some day to go. There is a thrill in the thought; it lifts him. And after the train has vanished he goes on with his work with new strength.
 T grew up in a little town in Illinois, along the Rock Island and 1 used to skip from school and go up the track to carry water for a lovable old Irish section fore man end his gang We'd all wave when ever a, train went through. We were keep ing the track right so travel would be safe And it was mighty good to see folks wave back at us, as if they appreciated l A lot of folks though, used to seem bash | ful about returning the greetings.
 Somewhere at home 1 have some verses about people who wave at travellers on trains, given to me by wanderer l met down in the Southwest Indian country last wear. I don't remember who wrote them but I remember some of the lines:
 CA mick, a pick, a farmers wife
 A kid with wink to his eye,
 A girl in white on another train
 Hello-good luck good-by!
 "The words always start running through my mind when 1 see folks waving at g train"
 The dry goods salesman was thoughtful = 70 guess you're right" he said "I never l thought of it in that way before"