HHHmmm, nothing in paticular. My great-grandparents lived on the Missouri river near Jefferson City. My great-grandfather was in charge of the local rail-road station (don't remember the posistion title) around the 50's and 60's. My father always said that my ggf dis-liked the hobo's, but my grandmother would always give them handouts. They were never threatened or had a "bad" hobo to my knowledge.
I'll use GGF for great-grandfather.....
A few years ago a local hotel 5 miles away was being auctioned. This was a brick building 4 stories tall and squarish shaped. This hotel was almost 100 years old. The current occupant had died. They sold everything in the old hotel right where it sat in the house. In all honesty, the house looked like it hadn't been cleaned or touched since the 1950's. On the back step which was only about 15 yards from the railroad track, painted on the concrete, was like a tic-tac-toe grid, each square was about 2x2 inches, and consisted ot squares 3 wide by about 10 long. The paint was very fresh and new. It did not look faded from age a single day. Some of the squares had letter in them. There were quite a few people staring at it wonderig what it was. My father spoke up and said it is a marking left by hobos to which houses gave hand-outs. He remembered seeing them at the railroad station his granfather worked at and they were occasionaly left on his granparents sidewalk. Remember, the hotel was auctioned in 1999.
Come to find out, the old man who lived in the old hotel was a hobo himself and was known for giving handouts.
I live near St. Louis about 75 yards from the track. Occasionally, the musem of transportation in STL will run one of there steam locomotives down the RailRoad. They always blow the old steam whistle all the way through town. Every time I hear and see the steam engine and the whistle I get enormous goose bumps on my arms and neck! It is a sight and sound to behold!
I never knew my GGF, I have always heard my father talk about him, but other than that he is someone who lived long ago. My GGF died in the real early 70's and he always seemed like a history figure, someone I could never grasp onto. Remember that I am only 22. When I was doing my Paramedic internship for class I was at an ambulance district that runs along the Missouri River. We were transporting an eldery gentleman from the hospital back to his nursing home. The man said he used to work for the railroad in Missouri. I told him my grandfathers name and asked him if he knew his name to which he exclaimed he knew my GGF and worked with him. This again put goosebumps on my arms. I asked him a few questions while trying to get a feel for if he really knew who he was. It was confirmmed when he said "didn't he pass away in the early 70's?" The gentleman couldn't belive he was talking to the great-grandson of his former boss. We talked during the 10 min drive. When we finally got to the nursing home, my partner who was driving hopped out of the ambulane and gave me a wierd look and asked what we were so deep in conversation about!
This is truely a small small world.
