The St. Johns herald., 1886-08-05
THE TRAMPS REGISTEa.
4 vsfaeIous Record oT Arrivals and De
 paFtures.

q YeRaeIous Record oT Arrivals and De-
 partures.
 With the air of one doing his duty and whose mind was :. uly impressed with the importance or the work in hand. a young man with btonZ -i features, grimy iin- gers, rusty coat. well-fringed paItaloons aud shoes wh ch had evidently parted company with backing many months before, stood D shadow of the high fence near the narrow-Sauge ferry land ing carving the Last letter of the words "PhiIa Joe"
 Whats that for ?" he repeated in re- pyto the question Of Chronicle re- porter. "Why. I'm putting my name on the register, so my friends will know m in town.
 live been or the road from Fhiladel- v now only about month hot bad
 lle. consider IiS the way these con-
 .ctors and irakener go after fellow saen they find ham taking a free ride.
 ow I'll put down the date and tell where tn going next. Just room there next to that knot to put Los Ang.' You don't sec the good of it ?
 "I guess you never break-b -beamcl it over overland and haven't much of an idea how many friends you can pick up m that line of tra el, and about whose welfare and future travels you get to have such kindly regard. How would I know that Kalamazoo Pete, who was my chum in New Orl. ans in 1SS'1, had been here three mon hs ago and left for Portland with Charley, the Kid, If l didn't see 1t registered up there on that stringer
 Just take Q look at the records, he continued, with a wave of his hand in the direction of the fence. ''There's C. Lead vile Lew" sai he pointing to the very irregular carved lctt rs high up on one of the boards; "kncw him ill Kansa5 City two year ago. He struck town last week, anu haven't seen him yet, but hell give US a hint wh oh direction he intends to take before he leaves.
 Maybe you won't believe It, but there's a register of this kind kept at every important station along the road. You see, break-beaming isn't conducted with the same degree Of safety it was years ago, and we make shorter laps. There isn't the same sympathy shown by the train hands toward eur set.
 "You never heard of tramp3 racing across the continent, did you? Why, know two crack break k-beamerS-ShOrty Stephens and Frenchy G rard - who started out of Boston on the same day, each bent on making the best record to San Francisco. It was a good deal of satisfaction for Frenchy to register first at Omaha. but when he got to Ogden, there was Shortys s;g., with date two days back, and beat yer in big letters below. At Elko they met. and at Truckee Frenchy was ore day behind; but. as you'll see by the record over there. Stevens got beat two days. after all. A good deal of interest is taken in these long-distance contests by everybody on the road.
 How does a new arrival find the reg istering place? Why. he asks the first break-Deamer he meets OnStriking town. here comes fellow to register now. Cues I'll slide. He might want to bor- TOW my knife, and 1t would be the last I'd ever sea of it. I'm dead on to those cpmmynistic chaps, and he's one of 'em."
 The reporter watched the newcomer as he approached tho fence, pulled q huge lead pened from his pocket. and made the following entry ill the tramps' reg ister:
 "victoria Slim. Ard s. F. May 18th, 1SS6. from Fl Paso, Texas, Dec. 10th, lS65. Bound for Salem. Oregon, June the 2lst 1886. ."-lSan Francisco Chron- icie.