Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-30
Some of the Queer Experiences Of a
Wandering Worker.
BLANKET STIFFS And THEIR WAYS
They Are Foregathered From the
Four Corners of the Earth.
ART OF STEALING RIDES

Written for The Evening Star.
1t would fill your heart with sadness,
As you walked along the tracks,
To the buns Accounting.
Their blankets on their backs.
They said the work heavy
And the grub they couldn't go,
Set out on railroad tables,
Away cut in Idaho.
R r. Song. The Oregon Short Line.
If you see n man in the Rocky noun
tain or Pacific coast states carrying
bundle of blankets you may conclude that
his hands are calloused. Those who hire
foot-loose laborers in these states furnish
them with place to sleep If the conditions
are such that men will not sleep in the
open. The laborer furnishes his own bed
dirg.
Tramps call such laborers blanket stiffs
and gay cats. Blanket stiffs call them
selves such sometimes. They also call
themselves hoboes. They call tramps pro-
fessional hoboes, buns stiffs and thorough
bred stiffs
blanket stiff may follow one kind of
work only. In that case he travels to To-
cations where he thinks he can do best; or
he may hunt a climate to suit his clothes,
in which case he is probably less particu-
lar about the kind of work he does.
Wandering Workers.
Some men go to the Dakotas for harvest
and winter in Oregon and Washington.
Many enter Colorado every summer from
the south. More than are welcome go into
southern California and Texas every win
ter. Some seek cool summer and go only
few hundred miles to comparatively
cool climate. A few save enough in sum-
mer to keep them in a city for the winter.
Others, perhaps most, simply go from one
job to another blowing in and going belly
up between jobs A few. though, instead Of
going belly up. start up to look for work
while they have q Colorado stake left. A.
Colorado stake is s. and bottle of whisky
or six bits and plug of tobacco.
. The most ubiquitous blanket stiff is the
railroad section hand. He is about the
poorest-paid laborer in the west, too. He
is always ready to bundle up his blankets
and hit the road a welt, as most blanket
stif1s are. Section men are called snipes.
ferries. tarriers and chaws. The section
foreman is called king snipe. Having full
control of a crew of from one to twelve or
more men, he is the butt of many jokes.
His sleep is supposed to be fl led with Wis
ions of switches and frogs, broken rails
low joints and wrecked hand cars. Such
sayings as the following are attributed to
him:
The "King" and Queen"
I'm king and never wore a crown"
Take the hand cyar off tn thrack. Now
put her on again. I'll show yez who's boss
here
king who had two men working for him
fired one of them. Turning to the rest of
the force he said i've got some more of
yez spotthed'
An old queen is reported to have said to
an old king in the dead of night: Listen to
thin min. slapin' and snorin'. An tn
rain a fallin out there our thrack"'
Another queen told her husband of two
travellers thus: 9TH Michigan Shlim an
tn Montreal Sharty We're here tn day.
They cut their montegolians on tn 'wather
tank. / tould EN- We wanted min, but tn
Michigan Shlim said he wCr goin mouch-
In in Frisco An tn Montreal Sharty said
he was goin' down near Los where he cud
Shape under a Tucson blanket and shake his
brikfast off a tree. An TIL passenger came