The Portland daily press., 1894-08-04
"ENGLISH 'ARRY" VILLIERS.
The "King of Tramps'' Paid Portland
Brief Visit.

An Interesting Talk With An Interesting
Characteristic "Hoboes" Life Told by
One of Them-Advice in Bumming a
Living-Towns to Garry the Banner
Through.
royal parsonage in town.
He did not arrive in state on the quar- ter
deck of man-o-war neither was he dressed
In purple and fine linen, despite his royal
title. He stepped modestly into town about
dusk last night and proceeded to raise the
wherewithal to make himself comfortable.
1t was English Harry, the king of tramps.
AIRY is a travelling book merchant
now, it may be said, and his first act was to
blow in his entire capital on couple of
gaudy volumes of the Decameron and Hep
cameron whic hconstitutes his stock of trade.
But they are for appearance only, for he
does not intend to sell them, as he frankly
told reporter, but they enable him to
approach people when he desires to make
raise. Harry is an odd specimen, and his
story is well worth reading. Unless he is a
most gilt edged and consumate liar, he has
enjoyed life that has few equals.
His name is fictitious, as his real name has
been dropped for years. He came from
wealthy old Yorkshire family, and after
wild boyhood enlisted and served in the
Crimea, and was also a dragon with Have
lock at Lucknow, where in the scenes that
followed the mutiny he has seen scores of
the prisoners blown to pieces at the mouths
of the cannon. He got enough of life in
India and tried to desert, but was captured
and branded on the shoulder with D, the
old punishment for that offense. Finally
he was drafted to Canada, and escaped to
the states. The life of a soldier had un-
fitted him for other work, SO he drifted
about taking odd jobs and finally becoming
a tramp.
ON THE ROAD.
He has fondness for Maine. and for
twenty years has drifted back and forth
from Portland to Bangor and Calais, living
as best he could. He is sixty-three years
old and an able bodied man of considerable
sLrewdn ess and education. and is well
posted in the habits of the professional
bum.
The name the hoboes apply to themselves
is floating people," and they have a regu-
lar clan among themselves. At all places
they seem TO. have regular haunts. and in
reply to the question as to where he would
--@AN% 0oNASA
flats behind thesGrand Trunk. They know
each other well, and exchange information
as to where to find square meal'' houses
and what places to avoid. In their dialect
to avoid town is to carry the banner
through it, and it may be said that Bidde-
ford, Newport and Bangor are places
avoided by these wanderingsgentry.
n His majesty says that the majority of
franOS sfick tn he de
wander away.sbut he drifts into the back
roads and generally meets with good re-
,ception. Among the farmers. one in four,
at least will put4up tramp if he is fairly
clean and tries to look respectable, which
king AIRY" does. For the same reason
he travels alone, and seldom fails to be put
up. His pet way of travelling is by night
on the blind baggage car of train just
behind the engine. Many hobo rides east
on the Pullman, but unless they know the
ropes they get caught at Augusta, for there
the station is light and the police are wait
ing for them. The other ways of free travel
are on the roof, and on the trucks, while
riding on the bumpers of freight is the
most dangerous. Many a hoboe has
''greased the track as they say, by being
shaken off by sudden start. On the Grand
Trunk there are plenty of empties going
West, and ride cansbe staken without
trouble but coming East they have to risk
the other means. The police are the tramps
natural enemy, and early the subject of
this sketch modestly remarked, that he had
been in every Jail iy the State except the
ones at Portland and Alfred for tramping.
There are two questions said AIRY you
can ask tramps and they cannot answer.
One is, where do you come from; the other,
where are you going. A hard question is
to keep supplied with shoes. They can
get coat often, but seldom shoe. And,
by the way, this year is an easy one for
tramps. There are SO many out of employ
ment that the buns can look up without
turning hair and tell how they are out
of work. AT all places in the state, he
remarked, 1.-THE people are very
liberal with water.'' Villiers is an erect, old
fellow. able bodied and hearty, but with an
overpowering aversion to work. He leaves
in the morning for trip to Calais with his
books, and will probably not revisit us for
some time. He says that he met his fellow
countryman, Lord Churchill at Bar Harbor
last week, but his noble ludship did not
recognize him.