The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-02-04
TRAMPS IN THE FAR WEST.
How They Differ from the Eastern Frater-
nifty.

Tramps in the west surpass tramps of the
east in everything, says Denver letter
in the New York Sun. Their wol thlessness
is more con firrled, their spirit Of wandering
more pronounced. Their recklessness, their
| poverty. their resources, their effrontefy,
in short. all their characteristics outstrip
those of their eastern brothers. Just where
| the tramp of the west merges into the des
| perado is hard to say. Ali vagabonds OF
the plains are dishonest and willing to do
anything that will bring money into their
clutch. Most of them are too lazy or too
shiftless to become desperate outlaws. The
life of the outlaw is a hard one. He who
| lives it must always be on the alert. he
| must improve every opportunity. losing not
one chance. He must be fearless and must
have plenty of nerve. His ends can only
| be accomplished by stalking his life against
another. The tramp fancies none of this.
He loves life too well to continually place
it in the balance. Moreover, the desperate
is busy man. That fact alone bars the
tramp.
But while the tramp is not Desperate in
The western acceptance of the term, his
surroundings compel him to adopt in a
measure the methods of the desperate. The
result Is that the tramp lives half outlawed.
Des perados despise him because he has not
the get-up to become full-fedged outlaw.
Law abiding citizens loathe him. They re-
gard the desperate man whose courage
in measure atones for his crime. 1t is this
feeling on the part of the two classes of
western people that makes the tramp's life
among them hard at all lines and frequent
| ly uncomfortable. Eastern tramps are aware
| of this state of affairs in the West. and
they wisely stay away. The feeling of the
people, does not assume the form of open
hostility. 1t manifests itself 10 the guise
| of Indifference. The tramp finds himself
| ignored. He asks for food and does not get
it. He seeks a bed and does not find it, He
begs for money but remains penniless. de
enduIes this state of affairs as long pos
sible. Then he either becomes citizen who
earns his living by legitimate labor, or an
outlaw who is not yet plunged deep in
crime In either event he betters himself
One difference between the eastern tramp
is this: Crime in the East frequently makes
a man a tramp: crime in the West fire.
Quently makes a tramp a man. This. of
course, from the western staLdpoint. For
on the plains it is more honorable to be
desperate than tramp.
1t will readily be seen that no tramp
mains tramp long in the West. The make
up of the floating population of tramps
changes continually, although its general
character remains the same. When de-
scIiption of the typical man OF the plains
is given, there fore, it must be descriptio
of the man WHO has not yet really settled
down in tine West. or if he has settled down
once, is undergoing change in his plan of
life either from the desperate to the citizen
or vice versa. The proper tion of such
change is about four from desperadoes to
citizens to 10 from citizens to desperadoes.
The tramp represents the intermediate
state. And i'll this he also differs from the
eastern tramp, who is a confirmed charao-
terra state unchanging and Interchangeable.
There is one element IN western trampdom
not made up desperadoes or citizens in
process of change. The element is made
up of the vagabond class from the east.
They last usually year or Is months. The
conditions of western life cannot change
them. and they cannot change the conditions
of western life. Both are con firmed. There
is nothing left for the vagabond but to get
out. He does this. coming back to the east.