Omaha daily bee., 1883-02-23
A Member OF the Tribe DiVulges
the Secrets of the Great
Profession,
The Various Methods Of Oh
tanning Free Passes and
Stealing Rides.
Barnacles That Cling to Freight
Trains OF Take a Seat on the
Cow atchers

Strange, Isn't tti'
swell, rather" looking him over
critically from head to foot. "Sirga.
lar coincidence. Sitdown Mr.. Tucker.
What can l do for you2"
81 am Just returning from an I'M
profitable trip to Leadville You see,
sir, In a fit of independence l ran away
from home. That wasn't go long ago.
Since then l have seer all sides of life,
principally the lower side, however,
and I've decided to brace up, 60 back
home to my mother, and DO a man.
Fac IL, I'm dead broke and want to
get to Buffalo. The Michigan Central
people say they Will pass me If I can
get a note from you"
Suppose you are lying to me-"
r sing with an injured air, II may
DO unfortunate, but 1 am honest"
"Well, I'll not stand in the way Ct
your salvation; I'll give you the note.
You look deserving. Strange about
the name, thought
"Thanks! Good day."
"Good day"
The above conversation took place
a few weeks ago between the trsfic
manager of the Illinois Central and
AN unknown YOUNG MAN
of rather prepossessirg appearance
Speaking of the matter a few days
later to a commissieaer Of The, Times,
Mr.. Tucker said: "He didn't look
like the tramp or confidence man, but
was a frank, open hearted, curly.
headed, g~entlsmanly fellow. You
should have seen how insulted he
looked when I intimated that he might
DO q person with whom truth was
more of q stranger than fiction. l
looked him square ia the eye and he
didn't finch a bit. I'mapretty tolerable
judge of human nature, and I said to
myself, "Well, Joe, you might have
been in that fix once yourself 1t was
pretty hard, anyway. Well, sir, what
do you think-the very next day 1
found that pass In a scalper's eff 20.
After this, when j F. Tucker applies
to this. ofico for a pass to go to his
mother he will be advised that walk.
ing will improve when the violets
bloom"
A few days later a commissioner for
The Times was addressed on the
streets by an auburn. haired young
man who had evidently forgotten to
don his overcost, but who in all other
respects seemed well-dressed. The
young man wished to be directed to
the ofice of r. r. Cable aud that Of
T. }. Potter. The two walked down
CLARK street together until arriving in
front Of one of those licensed places
where liquid bliss is dealt out st
prices to suit all purses. Accidentally
both turned In and q few minutes later
the
FRIEND OF RAILWAY MAaNATBs
was toying dellghtedly with . quantity
of steaming mountain dew. Having
made the fluid deposit, his spirits
frightened peroeptibly, and his tongue
wagged with apparently little friction.
swell, yes, l suppose I'm a thor.
ough bred. I've passed through the
whole curriculum In the gilded course
of q wandering life, and 1 suppose ]
ought to be about prepared to take my
degree; and, If you please, this shall
be my commencement oration-its
subject, the rise, progress and devel-
opment Of the noble art of travelling
without paying for 1t. The subject,
sir, Is so broad and comprehensive,
and there is associated with 1t such a
wreath of poetic ~oolorine, romantic
fancy, and dull, cold actually, that
volumes could not compass the subject
In detail. I've passed through It all;
have felt the ~exhilarating Influences oil
various kinds If rebuffs. You zee the
more obstacles q man meets the loftfel
his soul scars, and sometimes It geta
pretty sore, I can assure you. Probs.
bly, the lowest form of the free travel.
ling IL on the trucks Of . freight car.
It certainly Is the vilest. I've seer
fellows work that racket for thou.
sands of miles, though. Down south
It's q great snap with the pickaninnies.
The fAklr' who wants to travel badly
enough to do this, throws himself I'm.
der the q while standing, and then
seeks an easy position on the oross.bal
of the brake. Experts don't oare
whether the oar Ia moving or not, and
where the trainmen are 'onto you 1t 4
usually useless to get on while the
train IL standing, a. you are mighty
sure to get fred before starting. I've
seen fly travellers who happened u
stand near the track when o train
WAS LEAVING A STATION
ct the rate of eighteen miles an foul
suddenly turn, catch the side ladder,
and In an instant throw themselves
under the car and take q seat on thu
brake. This Is dangerous work, how
ever. A single naturalization woule
result In instant death, as the train
would pass over the body and max,
sausage meat OF an ambitious youth
This class Of oar parasites 1t Is hard
to clear from a train, though I've seer
a long freight train stopped In Cali
fornia and all hands engage in al
attempt to rid 1t of those barnacles
Stones would be used freely ant
probes, but when the train started
nine chances out of ten some ons
would catch on. OF course thi
scheme Ia worked on passenger as W IL
az freight cars. A year or two ago
saw a couple of fellows get off a Mich
igan Central express who had come I,
Chicago from Michigan City. A
that time the Michigan Central had II
use an apparatus for confining the dus
under the cars. Well, sir, when thos'
fellows got off and stood up, the dus
and sand ratified down their pantalool
legs until they could With difficult,
wade out OF the hill of Indiana ant
Michigan soil. In Montana tn
trainmen sometimes shoot salt Int,
these train crabs, and In Arizona
am informed that trains are robbsd A,