Delaware tribune, and the Delaware state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1877-18??, 1877-08-16
TRAMPS IN DELAWARE.
NOW fAE DIRTY LOUNGERs TALK
. AND LIVx.



Whe They Ass-one Group Enti,ciy
Yoretgaers-Ths wages.
Of Evsrr evening and Commerce.,
Dover, August 13.-The ttainps literally |
swxfm over the State. They overrtn tho
alarm the women and brighten
the railroad company into submission.
They are no longer mere nuisance.
They have become an alarming problem.
Get on the coming train on the Delaware
road, and il you are an observant person,
the evidences of their presence and num-
hers will not fall to fll your mind with the
gravest approximations. They may be.
counted at times by scores and hundreds.
Their oaths and loud songs greet the train
at every station, and the lights of their
camping fires blaze out at almost every
mile. tl .4 =
"We dare not" said an old housewife
to me yesterday, ''refuse their demands
for food. At first they were In the habit
of asking for what they wanted, now they
assume al the airs OF masters, and their
overbearinE iiiauhets a1artn I'll more every
day. am afraid of them"
This is not the nervous timidity ofa
single aud excitable woman. The feeling
of uneasiness which she expressed is
universal, and the merchants are led into
sometimes slashing liberality towards
these arrogant mendioants, by n
vague feeling Of uncertainty as to the
safety Of their property, in case they should
4 incite their illwill, ..
Instances 10 the point are so numerous
that it would be impossible to ,enunierate
them. That the feeling has its foundation
in cause there can be no doubt. Last week
two of the tramps wentto the house of Mr..
Mcintosh, near Frederick, knocked down
his son and then proceeded to rob the
premises. They decnmped with their plum
der before the return Of Mr.. Mcintosh and
have 40 far gone scott free. At Wyoming,
on Tuesday last, they demanded food ut
the house of Mrs. Hubbard. were ut first
refused, but with threats and attempted
violence, compelled Mrs. Hubbard to give
them meal.
At the Five Points canning establish.
ment, where large number of young
girls and women are employed and
furnished with sleeping apartments in {
building erected for that purpose, ias
week large gathering of these trampinl
l SukhOOuub tAlLehtCACu lAC BApptlttbi WIN
q siege and bombardment, producing {
panic among the working women ant
causing many of them to leave the place
But an attempt to chronicle such occur
rences would be tedious, if not impossible
They multiply each day, and it has tipall.
been discovered by the good people dow,
here that they are face to face with ,
serious difficulty.
"Why not work. said to solitar
one of the class, yesterday. ''We do no
intend to be compelled to work at ninet.
cents by our necessities. We will tigh
first, starve first, steal first"
An answer so direct, apt and to tn
point, encouraged further questioning. A
nearly as l caught it, this is what he said
and was vigorously assented to by part.
of approaching comrades who came up a
this point. 'If we are refused food, W
shall fight. Hunger may make II
, desperate. We are somewhat organized
can do good deal of damage and you ha'
better not force us to the wall" passe
on. A drum was beating the band t
order in a distant building. Forcing m
way through blockade of tramps neo
the depot, stopped moment to her
Q the following rather significant tail end {
A the conversation 81 say, Jim, them's I'll
militia being called out, We had bett,
skip"
e militia be - I go when am goc
y and ready. Tom, do you know - yoi
? cowardly soul that there is enough of us
this - little State to whip outthe milit
'e in two minutes. There aint but one col
lie pany anyhow. Dbl the militia
t. Perhaps it would be surprise to ma
Ia people to learn how many OF the dangG
o GUS class of men we have in the Sta,
y OF course there can be only approxima
ly figures presented Any evening here
as the depot and along the Streets You mig
NJ easily count hundred and fifty or "
- hundred. At the depot last Wednesd
night, sixty-four were counted from t
ns ladies' waiting room door. AT Camd
te camp there has not been less than rom
Ia hundred each day during the continual
of the meeting. l have within the pi
to week run over good portion of the De
en- ware railroad, and l do not know Il
ks there is any more evidence OF udmbt
ro here than elsewhere. They may 61
w little thicker at the capital, but not muC
al II this is true, the boast that they In
ny no cause to fear our military is not -,
" warranted. Taking the tramp popuati
:. of the State capital at basis Of calculate
and making all allowances for ii is /
e. easy TO figure them up within the 1T
ty dreds, their numbers are among
;ta thousands. This is startling truth, q
IA their constantly increasing numbers Il
M insolence, are facts which may well
H. viewed with serious alarm.
m Who the tramps are, is question
:, cation of them and you will find TINT
~ more than two in ten are native b.
American citizens, and that aiority
-, comparatively newly arrived immigrar
aS- At Middletown, the other day, succeed
ng in ascertaining from themselraS
is nativity of six, encamped beneath the
IN hedge of Gov. Cochran, near, the del
Two were Irishmen, one an Eihl,AEE.
two from Prussia and one from Italy in
ger group, not a native of the soil.
oss have mentioned that the railroad &C
ole pany yield to the pressure of their III
-; bers. This is true, and perhaps is v
MI policy, in the absence of better @
Use Hundreds of them can be seen any
all bounding freight trains with tha n
of nonchalancs possible. When possible t
-. are excluded, but it is not often that {
''' ductor has the temerity to make 1t an o
ant fight. Whenever it comes to an issue
i've railroad authorities do wise thing in :
oh hitting until they are in a position to
b. tain their authority. Sometimes, but
use often, they are bold enough TO insist u
OF running upon the passenger trains,
, a have been known to force ride on til
not While the tramps, the strikers
o.. Stanley Matthews denounce ninety c
Is per day, it will not be uninterestin
know how much more muniticentiy
study workingmen down here in the +
IN districts are paid.
me, The members of the Legislature,
tier recently went to Rehoboth to attend
his reunion, witnessed an exhibition Of ?
lib and contentment which I am afrai'!
DAD many of them to the blush. On on
est Harry Hickman's farms, an old sil
nm. headed man, with but single leg, dras
80 along his crutch with one hand while
~ other hand managed eultivator
the guided pair of heavy oxen. From
to sun, for week in and week out, thi,
man, contented and happy, as he tol
himself. did his full share of farm W