Chris's Restaurant was in the heart of downtown just a block from the courthouse and it never closed. I was fascinated by that machine playing such beautiful music. There were at least 20 or more other recordings on the machine, but “Marie” was too beautiful for me not to play.
I had a hamburger for a midnight snack and continued to play “Marie.” It only cost a nickel to play and I played it until I had to leave to catch the train. A man came into the cafe about 5 a.m. wearing a cap with the name of a cab company on it. I asked him if he was a cab driver, and his answered yes. I told him I had to catch the 6 a.m. train for Fort Worth and needed a ride to the depot. He said, “I'm your man.”
I visited with him while he ate breakfast and shortly before 6 a.m. he said it's time to go. He delivered me to the station and only charged me a quarter. I thanked him for his service, entered the station and bought my ticket to Fort Worth. The ticket agent said the train was waiting and to board it now. I boarded the train and at 6 a.m. there were two short blasts on the train's whistle and we were on the way.
Shortly after we crossed the Santa Fee railroad line coming to Lubbock from Sweetwater, the train stopped. The conductor told us a passenger was on the train coming to Lubbock and they were going to Floydada and this train is the only railroad that serves this area. Soon, here came the Santa Fe train. It stopped and discharged
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the passengers, who boarded my train and we were slowly on our way again. This branch line of the Fort Worth and Denver wandered all over the south plains and served several of the small towns. It joined the main line at a small village named Esteline. At Childress, we changed trains and were now on the main line to Fort Worth and also on a real passenger train moving along pretty fast.
I had not eaten anything since breakfast and was hungry. I wondered when or where I could find something to eat. I asked the conductor if there was a place on the train where we could get something to eat. He said the News-Butch should be coming around at anytime. The News-Butch finally came through pushing a small cart with sandwiches and several different magazines. I bought a sandwich and it didn't take long to eat it. The train made good time even though it stopped at every station along the track. We arrived in Fort Worth just a few minutes after midnight. It was too late for me to continue to my grandmother's house in Arlington. I left the train and walked out to the widest street I had ever seen. When I finally saw a street sign, the street's name was Lancaster. I had never seen a street that wide. I was thinking of how dangerous it would be to cross a street that wide in so much traffic. I stood there by myself watching for a chance to cross. A man on crutches came and started to cross. I thought now is my time to cross and I walked beside the man on crutches. After crossing, I thanked the crippled man for his help. The first hotel I came to, I rented a room for the rest of the night. The room rent was 50 cents and the bed wasn't that good but I was so tired it didn't matter.
Transportation between Dallas and Fort Worth was something we could sure use today. Every 30 minutes, a nice bus left Fort Worth for Dallas and the same left Dallas for Fort Worth, and this continued daily. The bus would stop anywhere along the road, if you let the driver know you wanted a ride. The fare from one city to the other was 30 cents.
I had breakfast early and caught a bus to Arlington. When we came to the street where my grandmother lived, I pulled the cord to notify the driver I wanted off. He stopped and I left the bus and walked up to her house. She was out feeding her chickens, and when she saw me she dropped the chicken feed and ran to where I was. She grabbed me with both arms and really put a squeeze on me. Then she wanted to know if I had eaten breakfast. I told her I had. Then she wanted me to bring her up to date on how mother and daddy were doing, and the kind of country they were living in. I told how they were getting along and told her about the country and my love for it. She said, “Douglas, you must be kin to me for I always fall in love with the country, before the people.”

World War II veteran Doug Carver is a longtime Keene resident who likes to hang out weekday mornings at Keene restaurants. Mr. Carver celebrated his 92nd birthday Oct. 8. On Oct. 28, 2010, he received the Keene Chamber of Commerce Pioneer Award, presented to an organization or individual whose long-ago contributions and influence helped make Keene what it is today.