The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-07-22
Pennsylvania Railroad Of
ficers Capture Thirty
Two TTamps:
VACATIONS ON THE FARM
The Mayor Of Wilbur Kept Busy
for Hours-"Walker by Name
and by Trade"

winch lnfeSt Its Ope out at the coal
ehntes, near Milham, reached a climax
last night, when thirty-two of these wan
dcrers were arrested and taken to Wilbur
Jail.
The net result of the arrest is that
thirteen of these tramps have been SEN
fenced to the county farm, some for thir-
ty and some for sixty days
The first move in this section was made
yesterday afternoon. when Hawkins of
Wilbur. and Railroad Detectives Amos
Green, Andrew Bailey. William Allen
and John McNally descended on the gang
which was camped o u near the coal
chutes. When they saw the officers they
Immediately took to their heels, but after
firing several shots, the officers succeeded
in rounding them in near the entrance
to the Interstate Fair Grounds. 1t was
three O'Clock when they started to run
down this flock of trespassers, and it was
near seven before all had been captured.
The officers then loaded the men into a
large boxcar, which they transferred to
Wilbur. Then they marched them in
soldier fashion to the borough han, and
these uhinty-two souls were crowded into
three cells, ordinarily used for three per-
sons. By this time it was nearly eight
OsStS~n, Ain 4hdyOF btlIOW decided TO
give the culprits a hearing at once. TIL
detectives made a complaint of disorder
ny conduct against the men and then left
Tor other fields. They went from here
to Monmouth Junction, from There they
go to New Brunswick, and then to the
Wayerly Fair Grounds. At each of these
places they expec to make similar raids.
Mayor Barlow had the men brought
CUT S1NgiY- and ba took ~,
each. hFomsthe appearances of the men.
= Was very evident that many of them
WWt srS not professional Wandering
WlInes, but working men. MANY Of
lnem We're quite we'll dressed. had in
lellgent and honorable-looking faces and
Seemed 10 ieel sorely their plight. Others
ana were apparently delighted with the
A0tention they were receiving. After al;
wee We're names ansas mad been taken, the men
ralgned before the Mayor.
dHe nrSI man to be placed on the stand
Was an Euward Davis, who claimed to be
the appearance of an actor. He was ex-
~ceedingly we'll dressed, having on q naffy
p plue n sSrs Is SUI, White linen, a brown der
~ ana fashionable russell shoes. In his
Eahd was a fancy cane. He said he was
an orator and that he went to Coney
Ineersoll w Ve1is ago to- 70 work with THE Bob
troubled him, he said. and he was ohi,ead
10 return TO MS home in Philadelphia. Rot
hAoilCyt HS undertook To
,freight1 it; After giving him a lecture
mayor Barlow discharged him.
Ba ans Iolowed his companion. Clarence
ms nome Beaver and Davis looked and
we're dressed enough like to be "Siamese
i Wi5S;.r Beaver was also discharged.
Hlillam Jones. an ebony tramp. who
SAID he was a Virginian, was the ,nirtb.
maker OF the tribe. He had several
them one bearing the inscrIption ..eefI,,sss
tell them that you saw me-" like NAM
cot9red men, Jones had a razor in his
p9sngac ana ne got thirty days at the
James Smith, a weary looking wanderer.
f tpa c;4 not tel Just where he had entered
pnla. When asked if he crossed a ho6v
q water in his trip. he told the Mayar
gna3 }ust before entering the city he
the width of the canal. Mayor Ra rloug9ils
city pride was touched when a hoho re-
low is sfraa ,o tne nelaware river as a .shal-
ana Smith was given thirty lays at the
considerable amusement for those iea asl
bbein rensi When asked his occupation,
Walker. me name and I'm a walker
Tanned and to Mayor Mariow,s reference
BE- . h fa5n asgn : color he said-'Weli. you'd
pave to be done in a more limited sn mns
t5at mnn llex t;n SKY Gays as he will spend
The other men, with their alleged adj
dresses and the disposition made of tba
case OF each follows
Thomas Mclaughlin. aged % wat
ton, d. c., thirty days; Charles noGd o.
year, who said he had been a kniebt of
ane road for the past ten years, sixty
NV, Sonn BroWn, aged Is, Amsterdam.
~ =, thirty days; Richard Bigely. aged
II, Baltimore, thirty days: Holm R1rns
geo a, philadelphia, thirty days; Harry
d 5lanels, ~ years old Philadelphia, thirty
years old, thirty days; William Neisnn a
years old, Brockton, Mass, thirty DAYS:
John Wilson, Philadelphia, thirty days
I Psilss7 d d, sea B. were Robert Mccain,
York city: p. Purtell, New York civ.
William Tyrell. New York city: Foster
Anthony. Baltimore; John Kelly, Philadel-
phia; Charles Walker. New York city;
Joseph Kerns, Philadelphia; William
Hartshorn,. Franklin Park; Gustav Kram-
pert, Frank Smythe, Edgar Walker and
Thomas johnson, of Philadelphia.
There were four razors taken from tha
prisoners, but aside from this thew had
no weapons of any kind.
Wilbur wa greatly excited last night
and during the three hours the hearing
was in progress immense crowds cath.
ered IN front and around the borough
hall. The council meeting which was to
have been held was postponed until som
later date.
The crusade is the result of orders is
sued from the main office of the New
York division of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road, and has become necessary in order
to protect the train crews from violence
and injury. As a rule no effort is made
to sdislodge the men stealing rides on
freights, as they Invariably outnumber
the train crew almost ten to one, and
many of them are armed. Upon almost
every freight train passing through this
city can be counted from Is to so free rid
ers. A large majority of these free rid
ers are young men ranging in age from
is to 80 years.
Complaints of plundered freight cars,
particularly those loaded with fruit. are
not i~nfrequent. Just now the luscious
watermelon, which is being shipped from
the South by the train load. receives
more attention from the nomads than
anything else, and every tramp camp is
surrounded with watermelon rsnds.
Every water tower or tank along the
line between Jersey City and Trenton
Is a rendezvous for the trasnps, and
somewhere within a hundred yards can
be found a Shady and sequestered spot
where, at almost any hour of the day.
from one to a dozen men can be found
cooking stolen vegetables in old tomato
cans. playing with greasy packs of cards
or lying on the grass asleep. The prin-
cipal points where these tramps are To- |
Gated are Harrison, Waver1y, Railway, |
East Brunswick, West Brunswick, Mon
mouth Junction and Millham.
So many complaints nave reached the
ra 1way officials, not only OF acts of vfo-
lence committed. but from their own en-