Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-11-27
MRS. MARY GREEN TELLS
Of EARLY RAILROAD|NG
Retired Matron at French Street
Station Recalls Her Early
Experiences There.

wv hat has become oi the pleasant little
matron who used to he here or Where
is Mrs. C;reene?" and s,milat questions
can still he heard in the waiting rooms OF
the French street station OF the PcnnsNt-
wanna railroad. where Mrs. Mary thecn.
1915 West Seventh street retired ms head
matron on November J. when she was
placed on the Roll Of Honor Fo5 thirty
three wears she had been matron and her
cheerful countenance and helpful WAYS
were familiar to everyone Of tho thous-
ands of travellers and commuters who
use the station
Mrs Green Is 20 wears old and was re-
tired only because she had reached the
age limit In spite Of her age she IS very
active. her ewes SHINE brightly through
her steel rlmmed glasses and her snow
white hair only adds charm to her pleas
ant countenanCC.
ut seems so strange. she remarked TO
an Every Evening reporter rs a cloud
fitted over heI usually smiling eyes not
10 so down to the station and he IN the
1 hustle and hustle 81 people going and com
ing through the station know the faces
| of thousands of people who travel on the
! Delaware road and they all know me J
/ never tired to remember then names u
/ was no use But they all know me and
/ want TO say never had a cross word with
/ any person IN all the years ] was matron
/ loved nv work and loved to do what
ever could 70. anyone
| To that bit Of philosophy she attributes
! her congcnlal relations with the public
and only casual glance showed that she
| lived up 10 II
Mrs Green was born IN the northcrn
nart ~ Ireland and came TO Phlladelphls
81. old Alter
the death Of her husband she came ta
Wilmington and took over the duties ot
the matron ~ the French street station
/ The station was then only small building
/ with two waiting rooms
! There were no trolley cars then, only
{ little old horse cars that ratified along m
+ front Of the station and the cab drivers
lined up their rigs along French street.
she said. recalling the past All the
trains stopped at Wilmington and there
we're no al Pullmans roaring through the
station. I remember when they put on
/ the Jim Crow cars The Negroes were
allowed 10 travel IN any Of the cars until
they reached the Maryland line, near
I Elkton. when they had 10 leave their seats
and go baSk INTO the Jim Grow cars.
"E.verythiHg has changett even the
! poople are not the same. Everybody Is IN
a hurry ! believe many Try purposely
20 wait until the last minute 10 catch 3
train When first came here girls very
seldom travelled alone Now It really
surprises me the way girls, Just little BITS
Of things. come into the waiting room,
dab powder puff all over their face, and
top il off with little rouge, and 60 their
way as bold As a man.
1T certainly is different; | remember
-. RatI hand n
horror at q woman who used powder.
The girls nowadays are as good as they
were then, believe, she said, smiling
indulecntlv Il believe they have bet
ter time too
You would be surprised AZ the care
lessness of many people she said. Hard
IL dav went past that did not pick UP q
pocketbook. 8 piece of iewelry or some
/ money MANY times some one would
come rushing into the waiting room and
tell me they were robbed and after the
person had told me what the missing
articles were ! walked to the locker and
brought them out | hsd picked them
up where they were carelessly y dropped
Here she paused while and again
her fac took on q wistful expression. Il
miss ali these things, but | try TO content
myself al home Oh, yes, ! voted at the
Presidential election ] don't think the
women need the vote, but because We
had the privilege | thought | might as
well make use of Ii
A woman can do as much good at
home as at the po1s ! believe. If they
raise their children right II would be fan
better than neglecting them 20 run away
to political meetings think the men
can run the country.
Here the door bell announced another
visitor and Mrs. Green smiled as she recog'
nized the newcomer and said: his II
one Of the persons whom met when first
became a matron at the station"