The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-08-13
TRAMPS WELL FOR
Sisters of St. Mary's Hospital
Supporting an Idle Army
The Police Object.

The police of Hoboken are up in arms
against Johnson Brothers, the weli-known
steamship agents. who have an office oppos-
tie the Bremen steamship gate, in River
street. The Johnsons are, II always have
been peacable citizens, and even the police
men who patrolled the beat On which their
Office is located had no objections to willing
away an hour or more of time in converse
tion with either of the genial members of
the firm. But things have changed and now
the policemen pass by without even giving
the conventional s'good morning. The
breach between the steamship agents and the
police has been caused by the dirt begrlmed
Sons of Rest, who for the past few weeks
nave made it o practice to loiter IN
front of st. Mary's Hospital at
meal times Until the charitable sisters OF
institution invited them inside to partake of
the food which they always had waiting for
them. The sisters seemed to take great
pleasure in feeding the hungry horde and
the news of their hospitality spread SO
rapidly that tramps hocked to Hobeken
from all quarters.
st. Mary's Hospital is a great rambling
brick building and is situated on Willow
avenue between Third and Fourth streets
opposite the Roman Catholic Church. The
order being German, the nuns are all daught-
ers of the Fatherland. and those who have
had the fortune to partake of a meal pre-
pared by the nuns, do not wonder that the
"Wandering Willies' are SO anxious to be-
come regular table boarders.
A H~OSPITABLE HOST.
Every morning at seven O'Clock when the
great bell rings announcing breakfast, the
doors are thrown open and all those that are
hungry are free to enter and satisfy the in
ner man. This is repeated at noon n
night. No applicant is turned away. 1t
matters not whether he be clean or dirty.
All are given a welcome and a meal. Con-
%sequenrly when the tramps began to swarm
to Hoboken a few weeks ago they were not
long in discovering how they could obtain
their meals free. Manysof the Sons of Rest
were attracted to Hoboken by the offer of
free transportation to Germany made by
the johnson Brothers. 1t has been the Gus
tom of the steamship companies having
docks at Hoboken to send to the Johnsons
whenever they needed a few deck hands,
fremen or coal beavers. In return for
work the companies gave free ~Eransporta-
ton.
THE TRAMPs MOSTLY GERMANS.
Consequently the Johnsons office became
the headquarters of the tramps, many OF
whom were Germans, who, having tired OF
this country, were anxious to return to the
Fatherland. As the opportunities for free
passage were very scarce during the past
few weeks. the tramps began to grow in
numbers. They assembled in front of st.
Mary's Hospital at meal times, and finally
became such a nuisance that the police de-
cided to make a raid. Last week two raids
were made, and in all forty men were placed
behind the bars. When arraigned
before Recorder McDonough they
each received ninety days at
Snake Hill. But the number does not seem
to have diminished. The places made vacant
by the raid of thei police were filed soon
after and today the police are confronted
with a difficulty which they are vainly try
ing to surmount. If they arrest more tramps
the county will have toSsnpport them aud if
they do not lock them up the citizens will
complain. The tramps think nothing of
forcing a basement window in order to Sc
cure a place to sleep. Areaways, cellars,
and ~woodsheds, all gives rest to the Migrants
and the citizens certainly have the best of
reasons for complaining. The police believe
that the only way that the nuisance can be
stopped is to prevent the johnson Brothers
from engaging the tramps.