A Railroad Party.
Have a "railroad party" if you like the refreshing flavor of informality at your social functions.
Have the invitations read, "an excursion on the Funville, Frolictown & Featherbrain Railway."
To begin with, the rapidly gathering guests "getting aboard" are greeted by the hostess and her receiving party, who cover their evening attire with spic-and-span linen dusters and caps. Down the line are distributed a miscellaneous collection of peregrinating paraphernalia from the red and white cotton umbrella, which the hostess resolutely grasps in the middle, to the omnipresent hand-box and the traditional bird cage.
With a final "all aboard" from a bustling man in regulation railway uniform, accompanied by the clanging of a bell, the trip to interesting cities begins. The conductor, in blue coat and brass buttons, promptly appears, to distribute tickets to the animated tourists. These tickets are in booklet form, inside the covers being an eighteen-inch pink paper ticket. At the top is a space for the excursionist's name, and further down a series of spaces where the excursionist is to write the names of the various stations at which the train is to stop. The name of the station is suggested by a preceding statement. This ticket, including "rules and regulations," as well as correct insertions for the stations, reads as follows:
The Funville, Frolictown & Featherbrain Railway.
Excursion Ticket
Issued to ...............................................
Tuesday, —— ——
Good for One Trip Only.
Rules and Regulations.
This Ticket is not transferable, reversible, or salable. It must be signed by the person to whom it is assigned.
The conductor will not punch this ticket. Punch is prohibited on this railroad.
If you cannot crack these nuts call on the brakeman.
Do not pull the bell rope; this is not a Pullman car.
The Company will not be responsible for cattle killed by the carelessness of the passengers who throw crackers out of the window.
Doctors are not provided on this train, but if you have the grip it can be checked by the baggage master.
The porter is the car-pet and he has to have his tax.
The First Station at Which this Train Stops is:
That for which our forefathers fought.
INDEPENDENCE.
The Second is:
A female habiliment.
GALVESTON.
The Third is:
A military defense and a Paris dressmaker.
FORT WORTH.
The Fourth is:
An ancient city whose downfall, after a long siege, avenged the abduction of a woman.
TROY.
The Fifth is:
An accident which generally gives one a ducking.
BATH.
The Sixth is:
An opera encore.
SING SING.
The Seventh is:
A city whose end and aim is "go."
CHICAGO.
The Eighth is:
Begins with an exclamation, appeals to maternity, ends with a laugh.
OMAHA.
The Ninth is:
A board of city fathers, in connection with a precipice.
COUNCIL BLUFFS.
The Tenth is:
Where the seat of affection is easily waded.
HARTFORD.
The Eleventh is:
One of the Apostles.
ST. PAUL.
The Twelfth is:
A woman's Monday occupation and two thousand pounds.
WASHINGTON.
The Thirteenth is:
An infernal region, a girl's name.
HELENA.
The Fourteenth is:
What a young man called when his sweetheart Anna was drowning.
SAVANNAH.
The Fifteenth is:
An afflicted stream.
CRIPPLE CREEK.
The Sixteenth is:
A small geological formation.
ROCK ISLAND.
The Seventeenth is:
What most old maids desire to find.
MANITOU.
The Eighteenth is:
A pleasing beverage and a period.
WYANDOTTE.
The Nineteenth is:
Outward sign of spiritual grace and exclamation.
SACRAMENTO.
The Twentieth is:
A young miss and a slang term of coin.
GALLATIN.
The Twenty-First is:
The father of Democracy and a large town.
JEFFERSON CITY.
The Twenty-Second is:
An extinct King of the Prairies.
BUFFALO.
The Twenty-Third is:
A girl's name, a laugh and a tumble.
MINNEHAHA FALLS.
The Twenty-Fourth is:
That upon which we rely.
PROVIDENCE.
The Twenty-Fifth is:
A bandmaster's staff and a society girl's cheeks.
BATON ROUGE.
Appropriate prizes—leather traveling bags—are awarded to excursionists who have done the most sight seeing—that is, who have guessed the names of most of the stations. In the mean time small boys in uniform pass through the "parlor cars" dispensing to the passengers such train delectables as popcorn and peanuts, while other uniformed youths pass lemonade in the time-honored tin receptacle with glasses in openings at the side.
Suddenly the station supper gong is sounded and the brisk announcement made, "Twenty minutes for refreshments." Thereupon the lively excursionists proceed in sections to the dining room where the novel feature of the railroad party is cleverly carried out. Along one end of the room is constructed a high lunch counter with every equipment of the metropolitan station. There is the steaming coffee urn, the familiar glass covers under which repose pumpkin pie and doughnuts, old-fashioned cake-stands with fruit, and so on. Bright colored placards on the wall announce the eatables, including chicken and ham sandwiches, stuffed eggs, hokey-pokey ice cream, assorted cakes, coffee, chocolate and milk.
The floral decorations in this "buffet car" are effective. The white cloth that covers the counter and extends to the floor is festooned with strings of smilax and spotted with sprays of fern. On top of the counter is a huge bowl of scarlet roses, and two immense palms behind the lunch counter make a pleasing background. In all the coaches, in fact, flowers and foliage are used in profusion.