The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1877-06-09
A Tramps' Camp.

SOME three miles from the ancient city
of Elizabeth, n j., and less than one
mile from the still more ancient village
of Union, which consists to-day, as it did
a century ago, of tavern, a blacksmith
shop, store, and few cottages, lies a
tract of sterile, marshy land, tianked by
hillocks. This has long been known
among the country people as the Ham
mocks. The marsh is long and narrow,
and the hillocks are covered with a
scrubby growth of underbrush. These
hillocks the tramps of Southern New
Jersey have made their headquarters and
general rendezvous for the past two
years In the hollows they have found
protection, not only from the chilling
winds, but from the impertinent scrutiny
of curious Countrymen who use the road
which skirts the Hammocks. Here they
have met at intervals and compared their
notes of travel, communicating to each
other the location of the best houses on
their different routes.
A reporter visited Elizabeth recently in
search of the camp of the tramps, having
been informed that sixty of the fraternity
had congregatea near that city. He
failed to gain any information from the
police, but, finally, found an intelligent
haCkman, who drove him to the Ham
mockS. Here, as it was still early in the
afternoon, he saw no tramps; but at the
foot of three of the hillocks, which
formed one wellprotected valley, were
the ashes of three fires, around which
were strewn the feathers of chickens,
crumbs of bread, the skin of some furry
animal, and one or two empty bottles
and tomato cans, remnants of recent
feast.
On his way back to Elizabeth, just as
the sun had set, the reporter met a tramp.
There was no installing him for any
thing else. His every motion seemed to
be protest against moving. The little
pack carried on stick thrown over his
shoulder was shifted every ten steps, and
his eyes roamed listlessly from one side
of the road to the other in search of a
convenient resting place. He wore a
blue cloth coat two sizes too large for
him, faded flannel shirt, open at the
neck, pair Of dilapidated trousers of
the Bowery style, and a SLOUGH hat, which
had served SO long as pillow as to have
lost all shape. Scraggy beard of stiff
red bristles and mustache sitter still
but of less decided color, hid his lower
face, but the cunning eyes which looked
out over the short, stumpy nose and
which refused to look straight forward
at anything or anybody told plainly a
tale of degradation.
Traveling?" asked the reporter (who
knew that tramp etiquette preferred that
word to the palmer and more obvious
one).
Yes" was the surly reply, as he of
the red head seated himself. q am
travelln'. What them"
To tell the truth, l was looking for
that camp of yours, and /"
Well, if you'll wait awhile, my pard-
ner'll be along. He's a chinner, he is,
and he'll maybe show it to you"
Then he sank down on the green sward
at the side of the road, placed his bundle
under his head, and rested.
Not long afterward his pardner, d
young fellow of twenty-five or so, with a
CHEEKY voice and melodious whistle,
came down the road. Introductions in
such company are soon over, and after
he had been grufiy informed that the
gent wants to see the camp" he took in
the situation at once, and stretching
himself alongside his older companion)
began to talk. First, however, he wanted
to know whether the reporter was free
of the road" and, this being incompre-
hensible, varied the question by asking
whether he was a highway sailor"
Finally, with a look of great surprise, he
explained that both terms were synonyms
for tramp. Thereafter he carefully
avoided the technicalities of his profess
sion.
81 seen in a newspaper the other day
that tramps marked gate-posts of houses
so that other tramps could tell what to
expect. Well, that's all bosh. But then,
mind you, an old hand kin always tell
what kind of a country he's in--that is,
if it's been travelled before by any of his
own gang. We look out for each other,
don't you see? We have our signs that
nobody else knows, and that we can read
as easy as you can read a book Four
mile the other side of Elizabeth / left a