The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1895-07-31
TALES OF THE TRAMP
CLASSES, HAelTs AND DolNes or
THESE TRAVELLERS.

Cook No Reference to the Temporarily
Unemployed.
Whether the word tramp originated
In ENGLAND or America Is not known II
y freely used In England In common con
t,rsatipn. but has no place in the statutes
II Great Britain or Canada. IL made its
appearance in the New Jersey statutes IN
1876. aud by lsg2 II other states had adopt.
I'd IL. The tramp himself repudiatcs the
name and habituAlly substitutes for IL the
word "bumn and fastidiously divides his
guild into "train buns, who travel on
railroad trains; "pike buns, who travel
ON foot; "shoyel buns" who affect city
life, and "pllgous buns" who frequent
the gospel missions. The train buns are
regarded az the aristocracy of the frnterni-
ty and rejoice in the additional appsllation
OF "bobos.n
The travels Of n tramp take a much
wider range than most people would sup
pose Several Of them have been found
who claim To have visited nearly every
state and territory in the Union, and their
exact knowledge Of the geography and of
the railroad lines bore out the assertion.
One reason of this Is TINT the ranks OF the
tramps are often recruited from the rail
road brakemen, and this il proved by the
tender regsrd which the brakeman always
exhibits for the tramp in not only permit
ting him to stow himself awny on the
trains, but frequently In feeding him also.
Massachusetts, which 81 the only state
that has undertaken TO collect the stats.
tics of its tramps, entertains 500 of them,
and II they nre found IN other states In the
same proportion TO the population the mum.
b,r In the United States il 1896, which
II 10, 900 below the current guess estimates.
Among these is u limited number Of fe.
MALI framps. whom their brother tramps
call "petticoat buns" "magpies" and
"bags."
Careful investigations lead to the con.
clusion that ~ per cent of the American
tramps have trades or professions, IL per
cent are unskilled lnborcrs, 3.B per cent are
weavers, one in 90 of them Is under 90
years old, three out OF five under 30 years
old, rs out of 100 under 40 years old. Only
&. per cent of them in the winter of the
grip claimed to bo in i'll health, So. D per
cent claimed specifically to enjoy good
health. In answer to the question, "Why
did you take to the roadi" SO. 8 per cenl
complained of wunt Of employment, some
were "tired Of work" some wanted TO
"seo the country" some charged it to
drink, and . per cent declared their inten.
ton never TO work again.
OF American tramps So per cent are Of
American nativity, and then follow Ire
land, England, Germany. Canada, Nor
way, Sweden and Scotland. More than 90
per cent are unmarried and less than 10
per cent are unable 10 read and write. The
fact is that in intelligence and educntion
the average tramp IL not appreciably diff.
ferent from the general population. In the
winter 80 per cent Of them manage Ia get
sick and 10 live in hospitals. Others are
migratory and walk down south in Octo-
Der and return north regularly in April, rs
the railroad men can testify. OF those
questioned 20 per cent say they beg thei.
| food, g. per cent that they beg and work
and per cent TINT they beg and steal. It
Is estimated that it costs 5000 year e
support Trump and $40, 0O0, 900 - sup
port all of the tranps in the country for
one year.
Only per cent Of t;amps confess that
they have been convicted OF crime, though
80 per cent freely admit that they have
been convicted of drunkenness. They re
gard things to wear and things to eat ms
common property. But felony is confined
to tho few, assault being the felony com.
monest among them. 1t il rare thing
that they carry concealed weapons. Some
of them complain Of the criminal tenden
cies OF others. whom they characterize NJ
"mean enough for anything" They claim
that it is the train buns that disgrace the
whole calling 10y their crimes.
A circular relative TO tramps that WIS
mailed to 35 chiefs OF police elected some
interesting information about them and
about the way the tramp nuisance was or
| should be treated. Twenty replies said that
they furnished lodging to tramps without
any condition of cleanliness and 90 that no
conditions of work were prescribed. Six
teen said that the same tramps returned
frequently; ., occasionally; 10, that the
same tramps did not return. Twenty
en- said that the applicants were always re-
ceived, O that they were liable 10 be arrest
ed and 9 that they were imprisoned IL they
returned too often. Twenty-Five put the
able bodied tramps mt from so to 100 per
cent, and only put it as low Gs so per
cent. Sixteen thought 1t advantageous to
lodge tramps, and IS Were of the opposite
opinion. OF the 10 who thought It advan-
tageous favored it on humanitarian
grounds, 9 because small per cent were
deserving, on grounds of public policy, 9
for the protection of property and l for the
protection Of the person.
AS to the treatment of the evil, IL Of
these chiefs recommended compulsory
work, confinement, 9 corporal punish
ment, | the shotgun, | severer laws, the
enforcement of existing laws, furnishing
employment, 3 believed in the workhouse,
thought encouragement ought to be re-
fused. Not one advocated moral measures,
not apparently because they attached no
Importance 10 moral measures, but because
they regarded the tramp as impermeable
to them. On the other hand, moral meas
ures, when tried, have generally been I'M
successful. Nagabondism grows out of
idleness, intemperance and uncleanness,
and moral means are usually pow
erful remedy for such habits. But forcible
restraint appears to be necessary In the
first instance. Yet as long as tramps are
left TO roam at will, restrained only by an
occasional and spasmodic enforcement of
the vagrant laws, II would be an immense
advantage IL soft hearted people would re-
frain from giving them money, for, al
most without exception, 1t goes for drink
or worse. The person who will give any
beggar coin just because it seems too hard
to refuse him ought on similar grounds to
give razors and guns TO madmcn and chill
dren. John j. McCook in Charities Re
view.