Evening star., 1896-12-03
AFFAIRS
Tranps Lodged at the :. Police Staten
Nightly.n7i.
Packed In Like sardincs - Narrow
Escape-Local Notes, Of General
Interest to ReslSent..

fS0I
| But few people ever Viii III the police sta
| ton at night. II they dida so q most in
| teresting sight would meet their gaze But
few people know that this self same police
station is used as q municipal lodging
| house. where, during the present cold snap,
between forty and fifty dodgers are accom-
| modated nightly. About o'clock In the
evening, oftentimes earlier, the "hoboes"
begin to come in. One sees woolly
and dirty head stuck In the door, Can 1
git a nights lodgin', boss?" Yes come
in and shut that door. Do you want 20
heat up the street?' Thank you boss
Which way?" lover there" says the off,
Ger in charge, as he points to the large door
| leading into the cell room. A short shuttle
and one hobo has gone to rest. Hardly has
this tramp gotten in before another enters
and begins to parley.
Its awful cold outside" A gruff Yes"
Can 1 sleep here tonight?" Without a
| word the man Is pointed to the cell room
door. and he quickly enters and is soon
quietly reposing. This goes on until nearly
midnight, and by that hour the cells. cell
room and every available space is occupied
by mass of sleeping and snoring tramps
for many of them sleep soundly and some
Justify.
Does the city provide free beds for
tramps?" has been asked. Yes" But the
beds are composed Of nice red salmon
brick. with sheets Of whitewash, while the
covering Is composed of such clothing as
the men have on. Those who come first,
however, have the pleasure of choosing the
soft side of long board bench, one of
which Is in each cell. The large room in
which the cells are located is kept heated
with a roaring fire all night long,
1T Is motley crowd this gang of tramps,
white and black. all mixed in together like
In hrp t.,
noise made by them, and they apparently
sleep as peacefully and calmly as II they
were ensconced in feather beds, with uuilts
or eiderdown and pillows of snowy white
ness.
The warmth of the station house. even
though the beds are hard. is far preferable
10 spending these cold, chilly nights outside
At an early hour in the mornine tbasn
men are formed into a squad, placed In
charge of two policemen and marched to
the city limits. where they are told to
make for other climes. Many of them re-
turn at night, however SO much pleased
are they with the comfort offered gratis
by the city. If they return too often they
are placed under arrest and sent to the
chain gang vagrants.
An amusing occurrence happened last
night. Yesterday afternoon Officer Sher-
wood was patroling his beat on the river
front, when the captain of q large three
mast schooner met him and asked him If
he knew where he could get a man to ship.
Mr.. Sherwood told him about the large
Lumber at the station house eyery night.
The captain asked him II he would not see
them and try and get him a man, at the
same time stating that he would pay good
wages and good grub. When Officer Sher-
wood came to the station house about 10
o'clock last night. there were forty hobos
stretched the floor In the large cell
room. The officer walked in where they
were and made known the captains offer
Not man Of the forty men at first said
word. but in a few minutes several Of them
Jumped q 9kp1 he nfT
what he meant by insulting them in that
manner. The officer. more 'disgusted than
pleased. and utterng words that were not
taught him in Sunday SCHOOL, left to tell
the captain Of his success.
A Narrow Escape.
John Bowman. young negro man, was
this morning fined $40 In the police court
for recklessly shooting a pistol in the
street. Last night Bowman was in Whit
ing's saloon on Gibbon Street and the
night being cold. he proceeded to fill up on
bad whisky. and consequently wanted to
whip everybody in the house. He
finally gotten out of the place. Shortly
afterward he was standing in front of the
saloon talking to another colored man
named Napoleon Baker, when he drew his
revolver and fired at Baker, the ball scrap
ing the side of his head. Baker gave a
yell. and the police were soon upon the
scene and Bowman was placed under ar
rest At the trial this morning Bowman
claimed to know nothing of the occurrence,
saying that he was drunk. The mayor did
not take his excuse. however, and after Civ
ing him a severe lecture in regard to carry
ing concealed weapons fined him $40. in de-
fault Of which he went to Jail for sixty
days, subject to the chain gang.
Young Dean Sues for $4,000.
A suit entered in the corporation
court yesterday by John NJ. Johnson. at
torney for young Winfield Dean, against
the Washington Southern Railway Com
pany for personal injury; amount of dam
ages. 10000. Young Dean, it will be re-
membered was injured by, he alleges,
being pushed from the steps of one of the
Washingt gton-Southern railway trains by one
of the train employees.
Advent Services.
At Grace Church last night the first of a
series Of Advent services, to be conducted
by the Brotherhood Of St. Andrew of that
church. attracted large congregation.
MIR. Barnabas Bryan of the District of CO.
lumbia Brotherhood delivered an inter-
esting address.
LOrtOn Lodge, 1. o. o. F.
Lorton Lodge, I.O.O.F, will be instituted
at Lorton station, Fairfax county, tonight
Delegations from Potomac and Sarepta
in the institution.
George Mason Council, Royal Arcanum,
held regular meeting last night Two
new members were initiated and several
applications for membership received.
Policeman James Dean is confined to his
home by sickness.
Jackson Council, Jr Order U.A.M., held
its regular weekly meeting last night
Cards are out for the marriage of Mr..
M. b. Case, formerly of this city, and Miss
Elise V. Senner of Lexington, Va.
MIlHANIGAI