The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-05-29
NEW HAVEN MORNING JOURNAL COURIER MONDAY


process of getting trained they are
kicked slapped and generally maltreat-
ed, and on occasions they are loaned,
traded and even sold. 1t avails them
very little to run away from a cruel
locker" for unless they return home,
| which most of them are ashamed to do,
| they are sure to be picked up by some
one else before they have gone far. Not
all hoboes travel with boys, but there
are so many who do that it is useless
| for a runaway "prushun" who remains
in the life, to keep free of them. They
are bound to run across him somewhere,
on a freight train or at some popular
| hang and they either persuade or
compel him to take up "prushun's'
burden again.
| This burden has to be carried until the
boy is able to defend himself and come
| off victorious in fisticuff with his
locker" or until he has reached an age
when he is obviously too old to travel
any longer as a "kid" The age limit
varies in different cases, but it Is seldom
| that one finds boy in the "prushun"
class after he has passed his eighteenth
| year.
Once emancipated, to use the hobo
word, the boy is supposed to go and
| look for revenge. Some do this and
some do not but all are told that the
| revenge when they get it will offset all
the misery and trouble they have had to
put up with as "prushuns. Indeed,
this is the one reward held out to them.
From the time they get into tramp life,
as boys, until they enter into the joys of
the emancipated they are led to believe
that when emancipation comes they can
go and Snare some other boy of ro-
mantle temperament and make him
slave for them as they have for others.
West of the Mississippi river there is a
regular gang of these "ex-kids," as they
are called, and the bulk Of them are sup
posed to be looking for revenge. In GER
tain parts Of the country, thanks to the
intelligence of magistrates and court
Judges, who have learned what 1t means
when boy is found in the company of
hobo it is very dangerous to attempt
any "snaring," or to be arrested with
boy Sin tow" because very severe SEN
fences are meted out to men who travel
with youngsters, and this is one of the
reasons why some "ex-kids,' as we'll as
a number of the hoboes, have given up
'prushun' companionshp. Another
reason is that some find the business
heartless and cruel There are so many,
however, who favor the custom that
tramp life in the United States is con-
tinually being recruited from the boys
of the country, and every year number
of them take the places Of these who
have finished their apprenticeship.
Those who come to New York generally
arrive in winter, the time their cookers"
travel to the large cities to get the ben
eft of lodging-h house shelter and cheap
restaurant living. They also put in an
appearance in summer for a day or so,
but at this time of year the bulk Of
them are scattered along the different
railroads. They are the most difficult
lads in the world to locate and get hold
of. Excepting during the coolest
months, and even then, If they so south
they are. continually on the move, and it
is impossible to keep track of them long
enough to do them much good. When
they have committed crime and are
put in such prisons as the Tombs to
await trial, they get the benefit of that
very worthy institution, the Tombs
school, and come under the good influ-
ence of men and women connected with
such reforms, but only a small number
commit crimes sufficiently grave to be
lodged in Jail and the reform school
seems also to have but very little effect
on their natures. The great majority of
American tramps have spent part of
their boyhood in reformatores, but they
went on tramp life again when released.
1t is exceedingly hard to reform boy
who has once been in tramp life and |
fear that the most of those who are now
"prushuns" are destined to develop into
full-fedged tramps. 1t Is possible, how
ever to prevent a great many boys
from ever becoming "prushuns," or
learning much about life among tramps,
and my purpose in writing this article
is to call attention to the methods which
I believe will accomplish this end. I
have referred to the fact that some mag |
istrates are acquainted with the position |
of the boys in hoboland, and punish |
their seducers very severely, 1t seems |
to me that this is the best remedy that |
can be applied. The boys themselves |
have been sinned against more than |
they have sinned, and punishment for
them does not seem fair, and, as has
been stated, is in many cases ineffectual |
If it were recognized, however, through
out the tramp world that every man
caught in company with boy, who was
known to be his "prushun, would re-
ceive, say, year in the penitentiary-
such sentences have already been given
for this offense--tramp boys would not
be so numerous as they are to-day, and
hoboland would be deprived Of one of it's +
main resources in keeping up It's
strength. AS yet there is no uniform
legislation in all the states by which a
severe punishment can be given tranps
who travel with boys, hut 1t is at least
possible for magistrates to give tramps
the full benefit of the law as 1T applies
to vagrancy, and in some communities
this is now so severe that special legis-
lation is unnecessary to secure the de-
sired ends.-Josiah Flynt in the New
York independent.