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 ""High Five"" in Railway Conductor book from 1894 

Mistakenly removed a reference to this 1894 bit of text in my recent clean-up, the source is available on Google Books, ""The Conductor and brakeman, Volume 12 By Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen"" it is on page 225, and the text reads: ""Progressive high five was the order of the evening and refreshments were served [...]"". It's surely not a reference to the hand gesture, but any ideas what it could be? Deserves some discussion. I read the whole page, no clear idea of what it could be, but it sounds abstract, like some kind of bonhomie or pleasant ambiance rather than a tangible object or act.   "