Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1894-04-22

and the male tramp lightly turns his
thoughts 10 country roads ana green
trees, be looks about for woman OF
his own class, not hard TO IND In these
times, / am sorry TO say. There is no
preliminary woolng, no love-maSing, no
tender words, but in blunt, Anglo-Saxon
fashion, be addresses her In these
words: o,,
"Cullv. dear, hasyou got your 6loke?"
II the woman says ''yeS," the man,
without any feeling OF disappointment,
seeks elsewhere. II she should happen
20 be temporarily disengaged and tells
him so, be asks:
"Shal we hitcn?"
Ina majority Of cases they "hitch"
without any legal or religious sanction
TO the contract. 'ninety-nlne cases
out OF a hundred these temporary mar,
rage contracts are faithfully adhered
10 bv both parties till the winter comes
again. In leaving New York
citv. the two favored routes are up the
Hudson or over to New Jersey, the lat
ter being preferred. 1t is a rule with
the tramp never 10 walk IL be can rlde.
In Jersey City he succeeds in smuggling
himself and his wife pro TEN. IN a
freight car, but If these are tound
locked. they are not above taxing a
,,gondola." as the open freight cars are
POLITICALLY called. .
While the tramp has no fixed deStina-
ton in view when he leaves the city, he
has the plan OF his summer operations
usually arranged ia his mind. Along
the lines of the many railroads tnat
seam New Jersey between New YORK
and PHILADELPHIA there are countless
market gardens. The tramp aud MS
COMPANION leave the freight car
at proper point when
be knows even better than the
conductor, aud applies for work 10
the nearest farmer. Ia the early spring
the men and women have but little diI-
fculty in finding employment atcutting
aspararus. the man receiving seventy
five cents day. and the woman, though
Sine NAV do more work, fifty cents, out
NJ which thew must board themselves.
The farmer permits them 10 sleep in MS
stable OF barn, and where his establish
meptis large, e often has rough shanties
erected for the special use of his
temporary help. Often the woman
fnds employment as servant in the
bouse. when she is enabled 20 provide
food for ser palmer without any great
outlay. otherwise they buy what is ao-
soIuteIv necessary from their employer
M the lowest rates and live economical
w. very curious feature of this ar
raDqement is that the woman, although
never seen ain this brief alliance
was entered into, by reason OF
an rrwritten law becomes the
treasurer of the firm and the custodian
90 irs funds. Like many OF her more
rpspectabIe sisters, she carries her
money no her stocking, and when the
summer has flown and the leaves are
laIlinr,an equal division is made OF FUNDS
and tie two separate, perhaps never
10 meet again, but 20 find other compan-
ions when spring moves them once more
from the CITY. After the asparagus
season is over. the green pea season
comes on, and here the. relative wages
are the same. though il is customary TO
Day for the amount picked, rather than
by the day. Following the green peas,
come the straw berries, aud by the time
the New Jersey supply Is exhausted
the more enterpriSing OF the tramps
make their way South as faras Delaware
and Maryland, where they are ready for
the peach harvest.
Frequently the tranps are skilled
basket makers, WORK which, the world
over, seems 70 DO a calling peculiar 10
Migrants, and if the woman does not
understand it, she is quick 70 learn,
and soon excels the man 10 skill Along
the banks OF the streams they find suit
able willow saplinRs in abundance,
which they use without asking the own
ers' leave, and for the products OF their
labor they fiud a ready market among
the surrounding farmers. Many
OF these people return TO the
city with sums OF money which, If used
with the shrewdness and economy
shown in collecting it, might carry
them through the winter; but the rule
is. when the two separate they return
20 their old hauuts in the city and be-
gin a drunken debauch, which lasts Till
every cent is gone and they are forced
10 solicit aims on the street, or 10 avail