Daily Kennebec journal., 1896-12-21
Tramps From Necessity.

The lecture delivered by Rev. T. A.
Frey on tramps Sunday, in Bfddeford,
gave rise to discussion and the Bidde-
ford Record prints some Of the stories.
For instance, there was good look
ing, clean looking young man arraign-
ed In the police court that morning as
a tramp. He was under the law, as he
had applied for lodging last night.
His story was told with evidence of
truth. He had come from Norway and
was looking for work.
Marshal Harmon thinks that the
genuine tramp can be distinguished
from the man who is looking for work
by the appearance of his hands and he
applied the test to this young man.
He extended his hand willingly
enough with this remarkably hands
have done hard work but l don't know
whether yours ever did or not.
The marshal and the court We're sat
isfied that he told the truth and he
was discharged.
A Bddeford man is just back from
down east where he has been working
for several months building a pulp mill.
The job is done and 600 men are thrown
out of work. He says that the wages
of most of them were taken UP in ad-
vance upon orders for board, clothing,
tobacco, etc.
They have all struck. off by road in
different directions looking for work,
some to the Kennebec ice fields, some
up the Penobscot into the lumber re-
gions and some back towards Boston.
Here are 600 men made tramps from ne
cessity who are liable under the Maine
law though they are not the kind of
tramps that the legislators had in view.
A Biddeford man who has wife and
five children here now is trampinS
somewhere on the road.
He got out of work here and had to
strike out or call on the city for help.
His friends raised the price of rail-
road ticket to Lawrence for him. but
instead of buying the ticket he carried
the money home and gave it to his
wife and that night Jumped" freight
for the west.an act that in itself would
send him to Jail as a tramp.
A stone cutter with a wooden leg
came through here a day or two ago
and stumped his way over to Days
Siding to look for work. He could not
get any and was walking back when
he was taken into a team by a Bidde-
ford man, carried to his home and fed.
He was warned about applying at the
police station for lodging but he said
that he knew what the law was be-
cause a friend of his had had to serve
so days.
This friend while looking for work
called at house for food, was told to
- y-l,i Ia hn
of the family had skipped out and
summoned a policeman who took him
to jail.
An old man, bent and infirm from
the weight of at least 10 years, went
through town the other day looking
for work. There was nothing for him
here and he went on in the hope of
getting a job logging, though he did
not look as though he could do good
lays work in a week.
He had been driven to become a
tramp by the death of his son, his only
relative, and support, and he had taken
the road in preference to going to the
poor house.
The Record heard it estimated that
there We're 400 men in this city who
were out of work and who would be
driven to tramping but for the fact
that they either had parents who sup
ported them or had children who earned
enough in the mill to provide for them.
One man remarked that a good way
for the charitable to find out how many
there We're in this city who did not
have food enough would be to give a
free dinner at some public place or to
open up free soup house.