Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1884-08-22
TRAMPS ON THE HERAILROADS
z0w soNE DEApHEADs ARE CAR
RIED ON TRAINS.
4 Tramp's - Universal TicISet" and
O'h7r Methods OF Getting IL Ride,
Without Paying Fare.

tllc ICpOllCI vi Il lar w 6SJeTil COHuuCtOI
who was discoursing on the magnitude of
tramp evil on the railroads.
We'll, there are lots of ways. The
old vets use the universal ticket,
which is good on every railroad in the
United States and the Canadas, while the
beginners work the box cars and the
blind baggage. The universal ticket
is a small, thick board, about foot and
half long and three or four inches
broad; groove is cut midway in it deep
enough to allow it to sit without slip
ping across any of the connecting rods or
the break beam of freight car Once
safely under the car the tramp fixes his
board, which gives him an Al seat, and
as long as he don't fall asleep he can
travel in perfect safety. No one can see
him except by getting under the car, and
neither freight conductors nor brakemen
have time for that.
"Fellows who are a little too nervous
for the universal ticket try the box-car
racket They watch cars that are be-
ing loaded for some point they want to
go to, and manage before the car is
sealed to get in and hide themselves
away with some grub and bottle or two
of water The wool cars that leave Las
Vegas are infested with these tramps.
You see, the cars are not loaded by the
company but by the men who charter
them, and the laborers are only too ready
to help fellow to stow away. Sealed
cars are never opened until they reach
their destination, and once locked in. the
tramp is safe from all interference until
the end of the journey"
"Rather rough, should imagine, to
be locked up with limited rations in the
season of washouts?' broke in the scribe
"Well, no. Your tramp always brings
along with him fish-plate by the aid of
which he can always pry back the door
sufficiently to squeeze his body out at
any time. The chains to which the seals
are attached are nearly always long
enough for that. For short journeys
tramps prefer the blind baggage. The
blind baggage is the car right after the
locomotive. The doors are on the side,
and the conductor can not pass through
it as through an ordinary car The
tramp, when he sees a passenger train
about to move out from the depot, sta
tions himself on the off side of the train
from the platform, and waits until the
| conductor has jumped aboard, when he
lightly swings himself on to the front
| platform of the car and is safe until he
| gets to the next station. Of course, the
tramp must slip off and on at every stop
page, and so the blind baggage is
usually used only for night travel.
1t requires fellow to be sharp, too,
for conductors never jump on until the
train is we'll in motion l used to brake
on the San Marcial division of the road
until ruptured myself and had to get a
lighter job around the depot. The smart
est tramp recollect in my time had only
one leg. He had Grand Army of the
Republic badge, and used to make plenty
of money in all the towns along the line
from Deming to Ration. To see that
fellow hop on and off the blind bag
gage with that game leg of his was a
sight. We never fired him"
Don't the engineers look out fol
tramps p
"Not they. That is no part of an en-
! gineer's duty. He'd just as soon haul a
tramp as not, and he hates the trouble Of
having to stop to put them OFF,"
"Is the train stopped every time q
tramp has to be put OFF,"
"Well passenger trains are, but with
freight trains it depends. If the brake
men are strong enough, they make him
jump for it. Sometimes the fellow
alights all right, sometimes, he gets hurt
and an odd time he gets killed. When
he gets killed you will generally read an
item about an unknown tramp while try.
ing to steal ride having fallen between
the wheels, or something of that kind,
but we know better"
Here the conductor intimated that he
had some freight cars to look after, and
that it was about time for him to make
his rounds, and invited the reporter tC
accompany him They made tour of the
junction buildings and then wended theii
way to side track, on which a number
of cars loaded with coal were standing.
''This is where they get their stuff fol
the fires you see yonder," Observed the
conductor as he passed the Cal
SIT seems to me that could be easily
prevented"
''Not quite so easy, but it w uldn't
pay, anyhow. When a tramp has tC
camp out, if he can't get any other fue
easy, he burns up the ties. Ties delivered
on the track cost from four bits up tc
seventy cents, and I've passed tramps
fires near the track with as many as halt
dozen tics burning at the same time.
Ties have to be placed along the line al
intervals for the use of the section hand:
in repairing the track. It's better to lei
them have the coal. They don't put of
tramps as frequently on the Southern
Pacific as on this line, because wood is
scarce and they don't want to have then
burning it."
"There are a good many men who
travel cheap by fixing the conductor
amt there r.
"Not many on this line now. There
are too many spoilers lying around, and
conductors don't care to take the risk
When they do each conductor can only
pass the man to the end of his division
The brakeman can be seen for about S:
each division, but the passenger has t.
ride in box-car, If he fixes the conduc
tor he rides in the caboose, which il
more comfortable than Pullman if i
haint got fiat wheel"
"What is fiat wheel9" queried you
CORRESPONDENT, to whose uncultureC
mind it sounded like
Straight down the crooked lane,
And all around the square.
"A fiat wheel is wheel which, from
imperfect casting or wear, has lost it,
rotundity. 1t gives a fearful joltins
motion to any car it is on"
"When conductor or brakeman i
fixed by a passenger, don't the othe