Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1899-04-14

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| base my estimate on over ten years
acquaintance with American tramp
life, aud on travels with tramps which
have taken me into thirty States. In
winter, there are easily five hundred
tramp boys i'll New York City alone.
OF course, there are more than this
number who have to pick up their
living i'll a more or less tramp fashion,
but refer to the lads who actually
belong to the tramp fraternity and are
part and parcel of its manifesta-
tions. They are called "kids" and
"prushuns" in the hobo's vernacular,
and when they take tramp names, al
ways have to add the suffix kid" to
the name of the town from which
they claim to have come, aud by which
they are distinguished, but they are
known to the general public merely
as truauts and ''incorrigibles." No
one acquainted with the tramp world,
however, would mistake them for
anything but what they are. Stylish
clothes ana bath could not change
their shambling gait, rounded
shoulders, harsh voices and ex.
aggerated tough manner. Even
upon the youngest the life has had
its effect, and q tramp could easily
single them out in n miscellaneous
collection of boys. Their average age
is about fourteen years, but there are
some nearly eighteen and others not
yet ten.
They are in tramp life, to use a
hOmey expression, because the tramp
needs them in his business The
tramp, Us a class, or the hoboes
hautes beeuxl, as Iprefer to call them,
came upon the scene not long after
the Civil War, and many Of them soon
discovered that it was much easier for
o boy to excite sympathy than for a
man, and they began to entice young
ators into the life. 1t was immaterial
10 them where they found the boys or
who were their parents, so long as
they We're quick, Intelligent and will
ing. These are the necessary qualiti-
cations for q successful ''prushun,
and although there are some boys
much more willing and active than
others, tho great majority Of them are
bright and attractive. Rich aud poor
alike contribute to their class. A
millionaire's son, if hobo can catch
him near a railway watering tank and
fascinate him with interesting stories,
is as liable to conscriptiOn as the
Young hopeful Of o poor workingman.
The 0nl Y thing necessary is that the
lad should have romantic tempera.
mont. If he has gone through a
course of "dime novels" before the
hobo meets him it makes it all the
easier for the latter to fire his imagin-
alton with accounts of wild Western
life, but there are youngsters unable tc
read that he has influenced,
In New York City 1t is the boy OF
the slums that the hobo is most likely
to reach. While in the city he spends
most OF his time IN the congested dis.
tricts, they are the best places for
him to find charity, as we'll as to hide
his yagabondage, and he naturally
sees 4 great deal of the local boys
II he is il search of one to take away
with him on his travels, he prowls
about the streets, acquainting himself
with the boys Fairgrounds and gath,
ering places. Before long he is sure
to find a collection Of lads which he
thinks he can influence, and then he
tries to get the boy who seems to hin,
the most promising. Watch him al
his preliminary work. He IS seated
on an ash barrel, a crowd of gamins
gazing up at him with admiring eyes,
When he tells his stories, each one
thinks that be is being talked to Just
es much as the rest, and yet, some
how, little by little, there is a favoritc
who is getting more and more thai
his share OF the winks and smiles
soon the most exciting parts OF the
stories are gradually devoted to hin
alone, but i'll such an artful way tina
no himself fails to notice it at first
1t is not long, however, before h'
feels his importance. lie begins *
wink, too, but just as slyly as hi
charmer, and his little mouth curl
into return smile when the Others
are not looking. "I'm his favorite,
am" he thinks. "He'll take me will
him. he will, and show me things"
He is what the hobo calls 'petritied,
which means as much as anything
else, hypnotized. The stories that h
has heard amount to very little IL
themselves, but the way they are told
the happy-go-lucky manner, the subtI
Partially, the winning voice and tn
constituencies OF the boys nature f
things of wonder, all combine to turn
his head. Then his own parents can
not control him as can this slouchini
wizard.
In the country tho favorito gather
ing place for boys likely to be ut
tracted by tramp life as well as 70
the hoboes is the railway watering
tank. For over twenty years the no
boes have used the railroads rs thor
oughfares, beating their way on train
and sleeping at night in box-cars
sand houses and at camp fires nea
the track. The watering tank is thei
depot" because they can boarc
freight trains here while the trains ar
taking water.
In our provincial towns it is we'll
known to the boys that there is gen
orally collection of interesting wan
dcrers 10 be found at the waterin
tank, and during the long summe
months, when time often drags heay
lily on their hands, they like to ioi
the hoboes and listen to their tales 0
adventure. II one Of them appeals t.
some member of the gang who is look
ing for ''prushun." the same process