Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1884-08-18
IRAMPS ON THE RAILROADS
A Tranlp-s " Universal Ticket and
Other Methods 0f Getting a Ride.
Without Paving Fare.


the reporter of a ar-Western conductor
who was discoursing on the magnitude Of
tramp evil on the railroads.
Well, 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 small, thick. board, about foot and
half long and three or four inches
broad; a 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
scaled 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 washoutsg' broke in the scribe.
"Well, no. Your tramp always brings
along with him a 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 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
/ 4ras I I.
on the San Marcial division of the road
until i ruptured myself and had to get a
! lighter job around the depot. The smart
est tramp / recollect in my time had only
one leg. Heshad 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 for
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,"
I" Is the train stopped every time a
tramp has to be put OFF,"
Well, passenger trains are, but with
! freight trains 1T 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.n
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 to
accompany him. They made a tour of the
junction buildings and then wendell their
way to side track, on which number
of cars loaded with coal were standing.
This is where they get their stuff for
the fires you see yonder,o observed the
conductor as he passed the cars.
ct seems to me that could be easily
prevented.
''Not quite so easy, but it wouldn't
pay, anyhow When a tramp has to
camp out, if he can't get any other fuel
easy, he burns up the ties. Ties delivered
on the track cost from four bits up to
seventy cents, and I've passed tramps'
| fires near the track with as many as half
dozen tics burning at the same time
! Ties have to be placed along the line at
intervals for the use of the section hands
in repairing the track It's better to let
them have the coal They don't put of
tramps as frequently on the Southern
/ Pacific as on this line. because wood Is