The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-09-17

OF the Roosevelt -street dive, TO which the very
worst class Of tramp thieves resort.
cost passers-hy on the street. pretend TO be
mechanics or laborers out of work. and manage
thus to obtain money enough to exc out an ex-
istonco. Others VISIT private houses and beg
food, money or old clothes. House heggars are
already numerous ,. and impori1n,ate; and IN
have women only to deal with. they succeed by
menaces and threats, in eNtorting food. and
sometimes, money. They choose districts
whore the beats Of the police are long, and are
seldom arrested. One lady In Brooklyn receives
from Ave to eight calls day. aud expects, from
her experience in the past, that as winter APP
proaches, the number will Increase TO twenty or
even more. In the upper part OF this city, there
by Ave or six tramps daily, some Of them boldly
Insisting upon their right to aims. Naturally
enough ladies and female servants yield rather
than take the chances, and thus the beggars
What are you going to do this wlnterI" the
writer asked OF a tramp he met ON recent
Well, guess I'll beat some hospital"
What do YOU meanr
"Ohi III play OH sick, and they're bound to
take me H."
This fellow, who Is known as "Ague Jack"
gained his nickname by pretending to have
chls aud fever at the gates OF hospitals, and be-
ing taken In for treatment. He spent most Of
last winter IN hospital on one pretext or an
other, and intends to carry out the same pro-
gramme this year IL IL his boast that no doc
tor can discover hs fraud, SO clever Ia his imta-
ton. but on several occasions, he says, the doc
fora have cd him and administered such
nauscous doses, that II was only the thought OF
the comforts he enjoyed that prevented him
from running away.
guess ! II take In the island" said another
tramp. " / don't see no good I'm laying out all
winter, when n Teller can get his three meals
certain. and not much to do
This man belongs to peculiar, but not rare,
Kind Of tramps. His "lay" TO use a thieyish
expression Ia the prisons lie has posted him
self So thoroughly as TO the law of the states
through which he travels as To lie able To aCcu-
fatcly gauge the term OF imprisonment for any
minor offence. and he has his choice of cities.
philadclphia's House Of Correction Is too severe.
Deer Island where Boston's petty criminals are
confined is too dun and quiet. and So he chooses
New York. knowing that liiackwclls Island viii
afford him support, variety. and certain kind
OF excitement. II may be deemed strange, but
Yet it L. no less true. that very many tramp= pre-
Ter prison life In the winter 10 the vicissitudes
Of yagrancy. But SO correct Is their knowledge
OF the statutes bearing upon minor offences that
few ever tnnsgreSs the limits. They don't want
to he in prison when the flowers are blooming
aud the grass Is green, and hence they aim to
make their crime ~ such a nature that no more
than three or four months imprisonment can be
attached to them.
An effort has been made TO gather through the
police authorities AT least approx inatc estimates
! Of the tramp population. hut unfortunately the
police tumble all classes Of Migrants and crimi-
mails together, and hence are unable to furnish
the required Information. They say, however,
that even at this season ~ the year at least N
per cent. Of the applications for lodgings come
| from tramps, and that in November and Deem
her there l. scarcely police station which has
not to turn away applicants nightly. Warden
Quinn 81 the Iomh- states that his tcn-day
house, which holds about - men. contains AT
| least 20 per cent ~ tramps and the Police JUS
! tees who have been consulted say that Their
commitments for short terms are chiefly Of
trainps.