Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1890-09-06
THE KING OF TRAMPS.
How Wilson Becker Harmed This
Questionable Title.
He II Only . Lad Of Twenty but the naoss
Expert Knight OF the Road IN the
COUntry-etory Of His Trans.
Continental Expedition.

Wilson Becker, alias Sailor KID, the
regularly electsd king OF the trampA
has Just completed trip which gives
him perpetual claim on the throne OF
American vagrancy, says the Baltimore
Herald. In May. the young man. whose
proud boast is that he never done .
lick O. work less had to" In his life.
was made tho subject OF o wager ct Bos-
ton. His bacler bet largo sum that
the "Sailor Kid" would travel from the
Hub to San Francisco and return In the
space Of twenty.one days without spend
ing O cent for railway fare or food. The
feat was accomplished, and the sport
who risked his money on the tramp pre-
sented him, the other evening, With
$500 of his winnings.
Becker now offers to venture this sum
the most money he ever had In his
hfe-on the proposition that he can
beat his way around the world UNDER
the same conditions rs those Of hn
transcontinentd trip IN LOO days.
Meanwhile he basks In the homage Cd
his ragged subjects, who declare that
der king can't be downed by any man
wot works der road"
It may be interesting to note how this
Lad, not yet twenty years old, has solved
the problem Of living without labor and
gained the names by which heis known.
He was born In Demarara, British
Guiana, and was chrtstened Wilson
Becker. At the age Of nine he ran
away. Working on the sympathy OF
sailors by romantic but untruthful tales
Of woo. he made voyages to Calcutea'
Hong Kong, Honolulu and England.
After an absence Of eighteen months
he reached home. But the fever OF
travelling was In his veins, and he next
essayed land journeys throughout the
United States with Q success that has
no interruption up to the present time.
In 1887 young Becker. who, because
Of his nautical experience, was known
to the fraternity as "Sailor Kid" ct
tended big convention OF tramps ct
the Esnticoke Ps.) coal breaker. It
was decided BY this convention to
choose o king. The convention de-
veloped two candidates Of about equal
strength-Patsy Bolivar and 'Sailor
Kid" Each was popular and had o
large following. After several unsatis-
factory ballots, numerous fights and the
Of oceans Of beer, the
contending factions made q COM
promise. It was agreed that the crown
should grace the brow Of the candidate
who made the quickest trip from New
York City to San Francisco and back.
via New Orleans. Becker, won with
hands down. '.'.-
While en- route he CHANGED TO learn
that Indians were allowed to ride free
On trains crossing the western prairies,
and while .sPatsy" Bolivar plugged
along" slowly in freight cars, the''Sailor
Kid" with feathers in his hair, paint ON
his face and o blanket over his shout
ders, sped westward in the smoker OF Q
express This was but one OF
the many schemes he found available,
and as result he gained the insignia
Of royalty. It took twenty-six days TO
make the race for the throne, and on
the twenty-eighth his majesty assumed
the scepter with the title Of Wilson L,
and received the submission Of his mot
ley gang Of subjects.
Organization seems to be the keynote
of modern existence, and the tramps
are. perhaps, ns we'll organized as any
body of peacesble, industrious, sober
artisans. The knights OF the Road. !"
as they call themselves, hold yearly
conventions and keep up regular COM
munication with each other by means Of
o sign language unintelligible save to
the initiated. These signs indicate
where to 90, what places to avoid and
the route taken by tho maker. They
appear cut or chalked on fences, are dis
PLAYED in paint or pencil along the cir
Of water tanks or round
houses, and dis6gure tho walls Of coun-
try depots. Door posts or gates are also
utilized for conveying information about
dogs, "hand outs" square meals" and
the possibility Of being compelled to
work for nights lodging.
One custom Is common to the million
aire,and the tramp. Each Is denizeni
of the city during the winter and seeks
the country in the summer. But while
the farmer welcomes the one, the other
is an object of aversion and distrust,
save, perhaps, in hayingor harvest timeD
when, for large compensation, the
knight of the road may be induced to do
q little work.
1t is estimated by King Wilson I. that
he has 10000 subjects throughout the
United States. He doesn't comprise in
this number the honest poor, who are
looking for employment, or the capital
istic gypsies who own horses and wagons
and journey from place to place, tinker
ing broken pots and pans, making sharp
trades and devastating hen roosts apd
melon patches. His neges arc those
only who don't have to work" and who